For the first time in more than 40 years, the SMX World Championship is coming to Pittsburgh on Saturday.
This will be the third time in city history that there will be a supercross race here. The first two such motorcycle racing events occurred in 1978 and 1983 in Three Rivers Stadium, which was demolished in the winter of 2001. Saturday’s race will be at Acrisure Stadium.
Spectators and fans can expect a slight chance of perception during the day for this 15th stop of the season. Rain is expected Friday night into early Saturday morning, which will help to make the track hold up well. Qualifying begins at 1 p.m. Saturday and the racing action starts at 7 p.m., live on Peacock.
Pittsburgh will feature the 250 East and 450 classes of racing, along with the 250 Futures class championship. The futures class is for racers who are high-school aged and are fighting for the chance to race professionally. Pittsburgh will be the finale for their supercross racing before they shift over to motocross racing in the summer.
In both the 250 East and 450 classes, the championship points race is very close, with only three races left in the Supercross season.
In the 450 class, Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton are fighting for the title in a close race. Webb only has a nine-point lead over Sexton. Webb is looking for his third career 450 SX championship title and Sexton is looking for his second.
If Sexton wins the last three races and Webb gets second each time, Sexton would win the title on a tie because he would have won the last race of the season.
There is no question that these two racers will be acting aggressively towards each other to have an edge in the title race.
In the 250 East division, there are only two races left, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City. There is a three-way battle for the title featuring Seth Hammaker, R.J. Hampshire, and Tom Vialle.
Hammaker has a three-point lead over Hampshire. Vialle is seven points behind Hammaker. Hampshire is looking for his second career 250 Supercross title, and Vialle is looking to defend his 250 East title.
Hammaker was one of the most surprising names to see in the title race because he was not expected to be as fast as he has been this season.
He could win his first 250 Supercross title and break Mitch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team championship drought. In 2017, Justin Hill brought the team a 250 Supercross title, and since then there has not been another team title.
The Purbalite will have live coverage from Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, along with select moments from press day on Friday.
