The weather interfered with round one of the SuperMotocross World Championship playoffs over the weekend in Concord, N.C.
Playoff tracks are hybrids of Supercross and Motocross tracks. Supercross tracks are traditionally indoors with tighter, technical tracks. Motocross tracks are larger and outdoors, leading to faster racing.
In the 250 class this past weekend, title favorite Haiden Deegan had a rough start, finding himself in seventh on the first lap. During Deegan’s struggles, Seth Hammaker, the 250 East Supercross runner-up, was battling for the lead with Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda.
Hammaker held his ground when Shimoda tried to put a pass on him. Shimoda ended up going down and had to claw his way back into third after falling into 12th place. Hammaker was leading the race until the last two laps, where Deegan made a comeback to win the moto and the day.
In the 450 class, reigning champion Jett Lawrence rode another dominant race. He led every lap of the moto, but he still had pressure behind him. Fan favorite Eli Tomac was racing close with Lawrence until he tipped over, and Chase Sexton made the pass on him. This ended up being the podium lineup and the event finish for the 450 class.
Traditionally, the racers run two motos in a day, but the weather did not cooperate. At the end of the first and only 450 moto, winds were reaching up to 40 miles per hour. The event ended early because of lighting concerns. This came as a disappointment to some racers, who wanted a second race to try to improve their position and boost their points in the standings.
This weekend, round two will take place in St. Louis at The Dome at America Center. Coverage for qualifying starts at 1 p.m., and the racing action starts at 7 p.m. This action will be live on Peacock throughout the day.
After hard feelings were expressed after this past weekend, next weekend’s races should feature plenty of action.
