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Charlotte (SMX)

zMax Dragway

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.

Fast Facts

Venues

zMAX Dragway was established in 2008 and is 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.

zMAX was the original, planned venue for one of the two USGPs in 2016, but was moved to The Dirt Track.

Iconic Moments

Below you’ll discover highlights from zMax’s SuperMotocross history. Swipe left on the photo to see more.

2024: "Yeah, I'm back"

Just 66 days after surgery on his left thumb, Jett Lawrence (2-1) won the opening round of the 2024 SuperMotocross World Championships by tracking down Eli Tomac (1-2) in the second moto.

Tomac’s first moto win was a welcome surprise for the fans and the series. He missed the 2023 MX and SMX seasons. Of the 26 laps run in Charlotte, Tomac led all but 4; he led wire to wire for the moto 1 win and had to work around his teammate Justin Cooper in moto two.

Lawrence started third and worked his way into second on lap 4. He battled Tomac late in the moto and made his move on lap 11.

Chase Sexton (4-3) finished third overall and was overhead saying he battled his setup. Sexton left Charlotte with a +4 advantage over J. Lawrence in the points.

Haiden Deegan (1-1) won the 250SMX class in an absolute statement ride.

Chase Sexton, Honda 2023 Charlotte
2023 450SMX Winner: Chase Sexton

On a hybrid track that caused suspension techs to sweat and riders to make critical bike setup decision, Chase Sexton (1-1) played it masterfully to win the first ever round of the SuperMotocross World Championships in the 450 class.

Sexton couldn’t beat his Honda teammate Jett Lawrence (7-2) during the Pro Motocross season, but started the playoffs perfectly as Lawrence struggled to his first ever loss on a 450.

The top four in the overall results were represented by three different nationalities, as the American Sexton was joined by Germany’s Ken Roczen (3-3) in second and France’s Dylan Ferrandis (2-4) in third. Australia’s J. Lawrence was fourth.

Notably, pure privateer Ty Masterpool (11-12 for 11th) who delayed an appendectomy to race the SMX Playoffs, pulled both holeshots at zMax.

2023 250SMX Winner: Jo Shimoda

Star Racing Yamaha’s Haiden Deegan (1-5) owns the trivia question answer of “who scored the first ever SuperMotocross moto victory”.

After Seth Hammaker (5-8) grabbed the first ever holeshot, Danger Boy tracked down his teammate Levi Kitchen (2-11) and led the final six lap en route to the win.

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda (4-1) won the second moto to take the overall victory, which paired nicely with his Ironman MX win two weeks earlier.

Tom Vialle (3-2) led 10 laps of the second moto but missed out on the overall win by one point. Hunter Lawrence (9-7) had a rare bad day. He struggled with a pair of early crashes in each moto and finished 8th overall.

Below you’ll find three interactive table: All-time Leaders, Venue Winners, and full Race Results from the Charlotte SuperMotocross round. Each table has several filters. Get in there and get dirty! On mobile, slide left to access more columns.

All-Time Leaders

Winner History

Race Results