Meet the new bosses, same as the old bosses. Out on the outskirts of Sin City for the first time in a long time, the stars of SMX competed for a grand total of 5.5 million dollars of purse money in this year's three-round "World" Championship, and despite a different landscape in both classes, nothing changed. Haiden Deegan, who has now won 6 of the first 12 250 SMX Motos in history, claimed a second consecutive half-a-million dollar prize and World Title, and the same went for Jett Lawrence in the 450 class, going 1-1 in Vegas, securing his second consecutive 450 SMX Crown.
(1x5)+2 = $500,000
Don't bother breaking out the calculators; the math checks out. As far as the night for Deegan, I cannot believe they didn't get him to back down just a little bit once Vialle went down. It was maybe two laps later that he launched it into that split section out back. It was probably not the smartest thing in the moment, but hey, it worked, and he played the situation great, so who am I to judge?
I was also definitely surprised that Deegan wasn't able to get a good second Moto start from that inside gate in the left lane. That could've easily done him in like it did Chase Sexton in that first 450 Moto. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, and he made some great passes. I liked the patience he showed trying to get by Ty Masterpool, not rushing into things like Tom Vialle here.
Now, my only real question is how much time does he have left on a 250? My hunch is that he'll run the full year on a 250 again, but is there a chance Star would bump him up after Supercross like Honda did with Jett and Sexton? That would put them to four 450 entries, but if they think he's ready and Bobby Reagan has the budget for it, why not? Think of everything those guys gained in those two seasons, and not that title expectations should be thrust upon him, but I don't think theres much downside to having him forgo a final 250 outdoor season.
Inevitability
The second Jett made that pass on Tomac in Moto 1, you could've simmed to the end of Saturday night and missed nothing. I knew right there, and then this was over. Hunter didn't have the long speed to keep up, and we'll never know how deep Sexton would've gone into the tank after his brutal first Moto incident (which we now know is a hand injury).
I don't know how Jett was this good with only two months of recovery time out of surgery, and I don't think we'll ever know, but as much of a broken record it's been this last 18-ish months, the kid is simply unreal. His starts were on point; he was able to track down Tomac and leave him in the dust in that closing stretch of Moto 1, and then he had another vintage shutdown ride to seal the deal. He still has Des Nations and some offseason races in the books, but Jett Lawrence is as good as it gets, and it's going to take a ton to usurp him indoors or outdoors for the foreseeable future.
Main Image via Honda HRC
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