2024 Supercross Schedule & Historical Guide
By
Major changes in the 2024 Supercross schedule, most notably the return of two markets that haven’t held supercross races within the lifetime of every rider competing today.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship schedule (and some stuff you didn’t know you needed to know):
2024 Supercross Key Highlights and Changes
– 17 rounds, starting Saturday, Jan. 6 in Anaheim, ending in Salt Lake City on May 11.
– NEW: Series visits two new venues
– IN: Birmingham, Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis.
– OUT: Atlanta, Tampa, Oakland, Houston
– WOAH: Atlanta’s 35-year-long streak ends.
– MOVED: Detroit’s round is in early February, five weeks earlier than usual.
– REST: Two off weekends (similar to original 2023 schedule).
Birmingham: Supercross in the Magic City
For the first time since 1984, Supercross will run in the the Yellowhammer State. While the state’s third largest city (pop. 198,000) has never hosted a race, Talladega Superspeedway (45 minutes east) held an AMA-sanctioned Supercross* in March 1984 (winner: Jeff Ward) and Pro Motocross rounds in 1972 and 1973.
Venue: Protective Stadium, is an open air, 47,100-capacity football stadium in downtown. It is the home of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers and the Birmingham Legion Football Club (soccer)
– Opened October 2, 2021.
– First sell out: Birmingham Bowl, December 28, 2021, #21 Houston beat the Auburn tigers.
– An estimated 50,000 packed the place for a garth Brooks concert in June 2022.
– Must do: Visit the Barber Vintage Motorsports museum at Barber Motorsports Park. It features a collection of 1600 motorcycles and is less than 20 minutes east of Protective Stadium.
– Distance from Atlanta: 150 miles west on I-20.
– Birmingham fun fact: It is the founding city for the recognition of Veterans Day and hosts the largest and oldest Veterans Day celebration in the country.
Philadelphia: Supercross in the City of Brotherly Love
Jimmy Carter was president and motocross bikes were still air-cooled the last time Supercross came to Philadelphia. On a dry August 1980 weekend, Yamaha teammates Mike Bell and Broc Glover split wins at a double header held around the perimeter of the football field within John F. Kennedy Stadium (promoters were not allowed to build on the grass).
Bell wrapped up the 1980 Supercross championship in Philly.
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field is an open-air, 67,594-capacity football stadium and home of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. It is part of the larger South Philadelphia Sports Complex. JFK Stadium, located within the complex, was demolished in Sept. 1992.
Opened on August 3, 2003.
Must do: I could geek out on you for many paragraphs here but I’ll keep it brief. Philadelphia is a city of firsts and if you love American history, then do yourself a favor and make it a long weekend. This is where the first Continental Congress was held in 1774 and where the Declaration of Independence was written, read and signed.
Two words: Rocky Balboa. Be cliché and don’t be ashamed about it. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Rocky sprinted the steps in the Academy-Award-winning movie of the same name, are just 5.2 miles (walking/running) from Lincoln Financial Field. Be like Balboa.
Complete 2024 SMX Schedule and Guide
2024 Supercross Schedule Fun Facts
In 2024, the Monster Energy Supercross Championship will visit 14 different states vs. 12 in 2023.
13 of the venues are primarily football fields, three are primarily baseball fields, Daytona is a speedway.
12 stadiums are 100% open air (no roof option)
Supercross returns to San Francisco for the first time since 2010. Oracle Park is in San Francisco, whereas Levi’s Stadium (2015-2016) is in Santa Clara, 42 miles to the south on 101.
Truck drivers rejoice! You’ll drive 330 fewer miles in 2024** The driving distance between all 17 rounds (assuming a start point AT Angels Stadium) is 16,065 miles in 2024. **This accounts for the Oakland adjustment in 2023 and what drivers/teams actually ended up doing.)
Detroit’s date is 37 days earlier in 2024 (accounting for 2024 being a Leap Year)
Seattle will move into sole position of fifth place for most Supercross rounds held in the market. Seattle and Atlanta have both hosted 48 rounds.
Atlanta’s Streak Comes to an End
While some cities rotate with others (Foxborough/East Rutherford), seeing Atlanta/metro Atlanta dropped from the schedule is the biggest historical shakeup. Atlanta held at least one round of Supercross for 35 straight years.
With the exception of 1987 and 1988, Atlanta has held at least one round of Supercross every year since 1977, a total of 48 races. Scoring by rounds, it’s the fifth most-visited market in Supercross history and will lose that ranking to Seattle in 2024.
Atlanta’s races happened in four different venues: Fulton County Stadium, The Georgia Dome, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta Motor Speedway.
*A Note on 1984
One could argue that the true Supercross championship has never been held in the state of Alabama. The two main promoters of Supercross at the time, Pace and Stadium Motorsports, split from the AMA. So, 1984 was a complicated year in the sport.
In the words of Cycle World at the time, “If it all sounds a bit confusing, that’s because it is.”
The Talladega round was an AMA event, round two of what was called a “Triple Crown of Supercross” (Daytona, was round one). But round three of that championship (San Jose, CA in June) never happened.
Jeff Ward won in Talladega, a very sparsely attended event by both teams and spectators. Yamaha and Honda didn’t send their riders at all. So Johnny O’Mara, the eventual 1984 Supercross champion didn’t race at Talladega.
Gary Bailey designed the track and even though his son David competed, he did so on a production Honda and on his own dime.
Forty years later, this is a good moment to be thankful for what we have now.