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2025 Charlotte SMX Research
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Round 1: Charlotte SMX
Charlotte Motor Speedway’s zMax Dragway was etched into the record books on September 9, 2023 when the first ever round of the SuperMotocross World Championships ran up and down the lanes of the drag strip. The Queen City is no stranger to Supercross or motocross and it now holds a special spot in the sport’s history.
zMAX Dragway was established in 2008 as the first ever drag strip with four racing lanes and it’s that width that makes a SuperMotocross course possible. The track is adjacent to, and a sister venue to, Charlotte Motor Speedway and The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
For iconic moments and race results…
450SMX Facts
- Chase Sexton was the #1 seed in both 2023 and 2024 but has finished 3rd and 7th, respectively.
- Chase Sexton has ‘crashed’ out of the SMX World Championship Finals round in both 2023 and 2024. He enters the 2025 series as the 6th seed.
- Speaking of 6th seed, Jett Lawrence won the 2024 SMX series after starting the series as the 6th seed. Does history repeat itself in 2025?
- Jett Lawrence returned to the 2024 SMX series with just 66 days of recovery from a thumb injury.
- Hunter Lawrence came up one point shy of securing the #3 seed this year. He also lost the #4 tiebreaker with Cooper Webb. He is seeded in 5th. A single point cost him 3 seeding points! Considering he lost the 2024 SMX series by virtue of a tiebreaker, he understands just how costly those 3 points may end up being.
Low(ish) Seed to Great Finish:
- 2023: Colt Nichols was a 19 seed and finished 9th, winning $102K total.
- 2023: Phil Nicoletti was a 23 seed and finished 12th, winning $46K total.
- 2024: Eli Tomac was an 11 seed and finished 3rd, winning $335K total.
- 2024: Ken Roczen was a 13 seed and finished 6th, winning $148K total.
- 2024: Colt Nichols was a 28 seed and finished 14th, winning $43K total.
250SMX Facts
- 5 different riders (Deegan, Shimoda, Hunter (2), Smith, and Kitchen) won the 6 motos in the 2023 SMX World Championships.
- Haiden Deegan won 5 of 6 motos in the 2024 SMX World Championships. Pierce Brown won the final moto of the season.
- Six different riders have won motos or mains against Haiden Deegan this year (SX + MX) – Jo Shimoda, Julien Beaumer, Seth Hammaker, Cole Davies, Chance Hymas, and Jeremy Martin.
- Jo Shimoda returned to the 2024 SMX World Championship series from a broken collarbone with just 4 weeks to heal. He finished 3rd in the series.
- Jo Shimoda has not finished outside the top 5 in 12 career SMX motos (1 moto win, 6 moto podiums, and 12 top 5 motos).
- Cole Davies turned 18 on August 29.
- Garrett Marchbanks finished 7th in the 2023 450 SMX World Championships after starting as a 13 seed. His 6-7 for 6th at the final in Los Angeles was key to moving +2 positions after 2 rounds.
Low(ish) Seed to Great Finish:
- 2023: Cullin Park was a 27 seed and finished 16th, winning $15K total.
- 2024: Cameron McAdoo was a 23 seed and finished 10th, winning $22K total.
- 2024: Garrett Marchbanks was a 19 seed and finished 12th, winning $20K total.
- 2024: Lux Turner was a 36 seed and finsihed 18th, winning $13K total.
SMX Next Facts
Enzo Temmerman (18) has to be the favorite coming into the two race series.
- He’s the 2025 AMA Motocross Horizon Award winner. He won 5 of 6 motos in the 250 and Open Pro Sport classes en route to winning both titles.
- He also went 2-2 for 1st overall in the Ironman SMX Next round.
- He has 1 win (Birmingham) and 4 podiums in 5 SMX Next indoor starts this season.
- If that’s not enough, he finished 18th (18-17) at Pala, 35th (24-DNS) at Hangtown, and 13th (14-13) at Washougal.
- Kayden Minear (18) won the SMX Next (1-1) at Hangtown, raced to 16th (Thunder Valley) and 18th (High Point) in his first two Pro Motocross events, but injured his thumb in qualifying at High Point that ultimately required surgery.
- Kade Johnson (17) has one SMX Next victory – Foxboro 2025. He also scored his first professional points at Ironman with 34-16 moto finishes for 20th overall.
- At Loretta Lynn’s he finished 4th (7-3-2) in 250 Pro Sport and 2nd (4-3-2) in Open Pro Sport.
- Landon Gibson (16) has yet to get that elusive SMX next overall win. He finished 2nd at this years Hangtown and Ironman races. He also finished 2nd in the St Louis SMX Next round in 2024.
- He finished 3rd (3-2-5) in 250 Pro Sport and 5th (5-11-3) in Open Pro Sport at Loretta Lynn’s.
- Notably didn’t qualify for the motos at Unadilla but went 23-14 for 20th overall at Budds Creek to score his first career professional points.
- Caden Dudney (16) finished 1-8 for 5th in the SMX Next Ironman round and then went on to impress at the final two rounds of Pro Motocross. 7-13 for 11th at Unadilla and 17-13 for 14th at Budds Creek
- He did not race Loretta’s this year due to injury, but in 2024 he won 5 of 6 motos to take the 250B and Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C. He was the Amateur Rider of the Year and won the Oakley Fastest Lap award.
- Carson Wood (15) has finished 4th (6-5), 7th (10-6), and 7th (3-13) at the SMX Next outdoor rounds this season. Not too bad for one of the youngest competitors.
- Notable: Wyatt Duff (14) is the youngest competitor in the field. He qualified with a 2nd overall (11-5-3) in the 250 B Limited class at Loretta Lynn’s.
- Landon Gordon has 3 SMX Next victories this season – Glendale, Daytona, and 4-1 for 1st overall at RedBud. Notably finished 2nd at both Foxborough and Pittsburgh SMX Next rounds.
- Loretta’s was strong this year with 2nd (2-4-3) in 250 Pro Sport and 4th (2-1-9) in Open Pro Sport.
450 SMX Title Favorites
Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence, Chase Sexton, and Eli Tomac have to be considered the favorites entering the third SMX World Championships. What’s interesting is each had an injury that required them to miss a good portion of the 2025 season.
*Reminder: all columns can be filtered by tapping black column headers
2025 SX+MX Season Stats
- Jett Lawrence has won 5 of the last 7 premier class titles (2023 MX, 2023 SMX, 2024 SX, 2024 SMX, 2025 MX). Most important he’s the defending SMX champion and he’s coming off a dominant summer where he won 16 of 22 motos and 9 of 11 overalls.
- Hunter Lawrence just finished 2nd in the 2025 Pro Motocross series where he got his first career Pro Motocross overall win at Ironman (2-2 for 1st). He was also the only rider to top 5 every single moto. Unfortunately he comes in -5 points to his brother Jett.
- Chase Sexton is the 6th seed, but the 2023 Supercross and 2024 Pro Motocross champion is one of very few riders to beat Jett Lawrence straight up. He’s 1 of 3 riders to win more than once in 2025 and has won the second most races (29) over the last 5 years.
- Eli Tomac only won the San Diego Supercross this season (11th consecutive season with a SX win – most ever), but he did so beating Jett in head-to-head fashion. A broken fibula at the Tampa Supercross cut his season short, but he still returned to finish 3rd in the Pro motocross championship with 2 moto wins and 7 of 11 overall podiums.
450 SMX Title Contenders
As if there’s not enough favorites, there’s easily another 6 riders that could battle for podiums. Each of these riders have at least 1 podium in 2025.
2025 SX+MX Season Stats
*Reminder: all columns can be filtered by tapping black column headers
- Justin Cooper is your #1 seed and 1 of 2 riders to race all 28 rounds of SX and MX. He finished 3rd in the Supercross series and 4th in Pro Motocross. 7 podiums and 18 top 5’s was impressive, but maybe most notable was the speed he showed as 5x fastest qualifier (tied for 3rd most with Webb behind Sexton and J Lawrence).
- Malcolm Stewart is 1 of 2 riders to race all 28 rounds of SX and MX – he also got his first career Supercross win (in his 109th start) at his hometown race in Tampa, FL. That win was impressive, but most notable is 2025 was his career best year finishing 4th in Supercross (2nd best – 3rd in 2022) and 7th in Pro Motocross (2nd best – 6th in 2024). Maybe most important was his season best 7-6 for 6th overall to jump +2 positions in the final standings.
- Cooper Webb is your 2025 Supercross champion (3x), but he’s not raced since the 6th round of Pro Motocross where he twisted his left knee and had to have surgery to repair his meniscus.
- Aaron Plessinger finished the Supercross season strong with 1 win (Foxboro) and 5 podiums in the last 9 starts. He maintained that momentum at the Pro Motocross season – 2 overall podiums in the first 3 rounds. He unfortunately struggled with health issues starting at Southwick and ultimately retired from the series after moto 2 DNS’s at round 6 RedBud and round 7 Spring Creek.
- RJ Hampshire is just 11 starts into his premier class career and he’s shown incredible improvement especially considering the injuries he was recovering from entering the Pro Motocross series. He finished 5th in Pro Motocross and top 5 overall in the last 6 rounds including his first career overall podium at Ironman (3-4 for 2nd)
- Ken Roczen is in his 12th premier class season and continues to win and battle for podiums week in, week out. He finished 5th in the Supercross season even after missing the last 2 rounds, but most notably was his victory at Daytona! Don’t count the likeable German out – he finished 2nd in the 2024 SMX World Championship!
250 SMX Title Favorites
Haiden Deegan is the clear favorite considering he’s won back-to-back SMX titles and he’s now won the last 5 of 6 series championships he’s entered (exception was 2nd in the 2024 East Supercross. He lost to Vialle).
That said, Jo Shimoda has finished 2nd (2023) and 3rd (2024) in the 250 SMX World Championship series. Shimoda is coming off 2nd in the 2025 Pro Motocross series and the trend is good for Jo. Plus, he’s healthy.
- Jo Shimoda won 5 of the last 12 motos, dating back to round 6 at RedBud.
- Haiden Deegan has also won 5 of the last 12 motos dating back to round 6 at RedBud.
Deegan vs. Shimoda – 2025 SX+MX Season Stats
Let’s also not forget that Jo Shimoda won A1 to start the season (Deegan, 5th) but his series was derailed by a broken finger (from a competitor’s pitboard) at the next round in San Diego. Keep an eye on the qualifying sessions at Concord – we won’t be surprised if Deegan tries to play ‘head games’ early in the series.
250 SMX Title Contenders
While Haiden Deegan and Jo Shimoda have consistently been the best in the class all summer, there are handful of riders that have shown potential to mix it up, up front.
2025 SX+MX Season Stats
- Garrett Marchbanks is the 3rd seed because of consistency. He has the 4th best average finish (5.8) with 10 or more starts. His challenge has been starts. He’s averaging 12th on the first lap!
- Tom Vialle won the 2025 East Supercross championship again, but his Pro Motocross season has not been spectacular. No wins has to be a surprise to him and his fans. That said, his 11 podiums in 2025 is 2nd most behind Haiden Deegan.
- Seth Hammaker has shown great speed (4x fast qualifier) and is 1 of 5 riders with more than 1 win this season. Consistency was a struggle in 2025 Pro Motocross having finished 7 of 22 motos outside the top 10. But lets not forget he came within 3 points of Tom Vialle for the 250 East SX title!
- Levi Kitchen was 2nd in the 250 East SX series after winning in Detroit at the second round. He unfortunately crashed hard at the next round in Daytona and missed the rest of the SX season. He’s struggled in the 2nd half of Pro Motocross (7 of last 12 motos in 10th or worse). So which version of Levi shows up in Charlotte is the big question!?
- Julien Beaumer finished 2nd in the 250 West SX championship even after a shoulder injury held him back for much of the series. He actually led the SX West points from rounds 2-4 after going 2nd-1st-2nd to start. But he was 15th or worse in 9 of 18 motos this summer. Same question as Levi Kitchen – which version of Beaumer shows up in Charlotte!?
- Cole Davies is 1 of 12 riders to get his first 125/250 Pro Motocross moto win in just 3 starts. He also got his first 125/250 SX win in just his 7th start. All of this at just 17 years old (note he turned 18 on August 29th). Can the rising superstar deliver on the sports most prestigious stage!?
Seeding Rank (to Championship)
250SMX
The #2 and #1 seeds have gone on to win the series title.
- 2023: Haiden Deegan #2 seed to champion. Hunter Lawrence was the #1 seed and finished 9th after missing the final round.
- 2024: Deegan #1 seed to champion. He’s the first and only #1 seed to also win the SMX World Championship.
- 2025: Deegan is the #1 seed.
450SMX
The #3 and #6 seed have gone on to win the series title.
- 2023: Jett Lawrence #3 seed to champion. Chase Sexton was the #1 seed, entered the final round with a +2 point lead but would crash out of the final moto and finish 3rd in the series.
- 2024: Jett Lawrence #6 seed to champion. Chase Sexton was the #1 seed, entered the final round -1 point to Hunter Lawrence (the #2 seed) but would get landed on in the first moto at the final round and 7th in the series.
- 2025: Justin Cooper is the #1 seed.
SMX Championship Recaps
Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan enter the 2025 SMX World Championship Finals as both back-to-back and defending SMX champions. Here’s how they won…
2023 250SMX
- Haiden Deegan (riding with a triple digit #238) was the #2 seed entering the inaugural SMX World Championship playoffs, but Hunter Lawrence, the 250 East Supercross and 250 Pro Motocross champion, was the title favorite.
- Haiden Deegan (1-5 for 3rd) and Jo Shimoda (4-1 for 1st) capitalized on a bad first round for Hunter Lawrence (9-7 for 8th). Deegan and Shimoda (42 pts) held a 3 point lead over Lawrence (39 pts) heading into the second round in Joliet, IL.
- Hunter Lawrence responded with a dominant 1-1 for 1st overall at the double-points-paying second round. Shimoda (2-2 for 2nd) and Deegan (3-3 for 3rd) were still very much in contention headed to the LA Coliseum. Lawrence (89 pts) held a 3 point lead over Shimoda (86 pts) and a 7 point lead over Deegan (82 pts). The difference between 1st and 2nd at the triple-points-paying final round is 9 points and that meant it was a winner-take-all for all 3 of these riders.
- Haiden Deegan would win the finals 5-2 for 1st overall beating Jo Shimoda’s 4-4 for 2nd overall. Hunter Lawrence DNS after a crash in practice on Friday.
- Notable that Deegan (157 pts) beat Shimoda (152 pts) by just 5 points for the title. It came down to the final moto and Deegan’s 2nd vs. Shimoda’s 4th was enough to secure the title.
2024 250SMX
- Haiden Deegan was the #1 seed entering the finals and he went on to absolutely dominate the playoffs and finals!
- Deegan won 5 of 6 motos and was fastest qualifier at all three rounds. He left no question he was the man to beat entering 2025.
- Julien Beaumer made a statement at round 1 in Charlotte with 2-4 moto finishes for 2nd overall. It was his first professional podium – his first career top 5 for that matter. While he did finish in the top 5 the rest of the SMX rounds, it was a signal of what we’ve seen in 2025.
- Pierce Brown would make a statement at the final round with 2-1 for 1st overall. His first professional victory in his last race with the factory GASGAS team.
2023 450SMX
- Jett Lawrence was the #3 seed after jumping up to the 450s for the 2023 Pro Motocross season. Chase Sexton was the #1 seed and Aaron Plessinger #2.
- Chase Sexton came out swinging in Charlotte and went 1-1 for 1st overall – extending his 5 point lead to 12 heading to Joliet, IL. Jett went 7-2 for 4th overall.
- Jett Lawrence would then win 3 of the final 4 motos – AND – it would’ve/should’ve been 4 of 4 except he waved Ken Roczen by in the second moto at round 2. His math may not have ‘mathed’, but he sure did win.
- While Chase Sexton entered the final round with a +2 point advantage, a crash in the final moto in LA and a 20th in the moto dropped him to 3rd in the championship.
- Notable, Ken Roczen finished 2nd in the championship. He finished top 3 in all 6 motos including fastest qualifier at the second round in Joliet, IL.
2024 450SMX
- Jett Lawrence was the #6 seed after winning the Supercross championship as a rookie, but missed the majority of his sophomore Pro Motocross season due to injury. Chase Sexton was the #1 seed for the second consecutive year.
- Jett Lawrence immediately took control of the series with a 2-1 for 1st overall finish in Charlotte and moved from 6th to 1st in the standings. His competition’s good, not great, start was very helpful – Sexton went 4-3 for 3rd and Hunter Lawrence’s 3-6 for 4th.
- Hunter Lawrence came out swinging in Fort Worth with a 1-3 for 1st overall and his first career premier class victory. It gave him a +1 point lead over Chase Sexton (4-1 for 2nd) and +9 point lead over Jett Lawrence (3-2 for 3rd). It was, yet again, a winner-take-all scenario for all 3 riders.
- Jett Lawrence delivered a 1-1 for 1st overall performance in the sport’s return to Las Vegas. He tied his brother Hunter Lawrence (3-2 for 2nd) but won the title based on 3 moto wins to Hunter’s 1 moto win.
- Notable, Eli Tomac went from #11 seed to 3rd in the series standings. He went 2nd, 4th, and 3rd overall with 1 moto win (Charlotte M1).
SMX Points Structure and Payout
The points structure was built with a few principles in mind; specifically reward riders for the first 28 rounds, keep everyone in the title fight through the last round, and keep it simple for the fans.
Here’s a breakdown of the SMX points system and payout:
- The top 20 riders earn SMX seeding points based on 17 rounds of Supercross and 11 rounds of Pro Motocross.
- The top rider starts the playoffs with 25 points, while the 20th place rider gets 2 points.
SMX Playoff Berths and Seeding Details
- The top 20 are automatically given a gate for every round. Note, if a rider in the top 20 is injured or opts out of the SMX Playoffs, that opens one more transfer spot in the LCQ but does not give the 21st rider an automatic spot in the motos.
- Anyone that wins a Supercross main event or Pro Motocross moto gets an automatic bid into the LCQs. Keep in mind, they have to race the LCQ every single round of the playoffs to earn a spot in the motos.
- Top 21-30 get a spot on the LCQ gate and have to finish 1st or 2nd to earn a spot in the motos. Keep in mind there will be invitations for the LCQ if riders are injured or opt-out of the SMX Playoffs.
In each playoff moto, riders are awarded points using Olympic-style scoring: 1st place gets 1 point, 2nd place gets 2 points, and so on. The lower your score, the better. The points from Moto 1 and 2 are added together to determine your championship points payout for each race.
IMPORTANT: ties are broken via the better second moto score. Since championship points are NOT awarded per moto (like they are in Pro Motocross), a 2-2 in SMX will beat a 1-3.
During the 3 World Championship Finals races, the stakes increase each round:
- Playoff 1: The points are the same as seeding (aka single) points.
- Playoff 2: The points double—the winner gets 50 points for an overall win and 21st place earns 2 points.
- At the World Championship Final, the points triple! —the winner earns 75 points, and 21st place gets 3 points.
SMX Points System
450 SMX Purse Payouts
- There’s $250K up for grabs in each of the 3 playoff rounds.
- Additionally, there’s a $3M championship fund for the final standings.
250 SMX Purse Payouts
- There’s just under $150K up for grabs in each of the 3 playoff rounds.
- Additionally, there’s a $1.2M championship fund for the final standings.