2024 THUNDER VALLEY MOTOCROSS PRE-RACE REPORT: INJURED LIST, TV SCHEDULE & MORE (2024)

The motocross series is headed to Thunder Valley this coming weekend for the third round of the year. Last weekend Jett Lawrence who had a 24-0 streak went down hard in Moto One and with that came an end to that streak. Chase Sexton capitalized on Jett Lawrence’s mistake and won both motos, taking over the points lead in the process. But the racing still won’t come easy for Sexton as Jett Lawrence’s brother Hunter Lawrence is still in the running and has finished second in the first two rounds. A lot of racing is still to come and for the full pre-race report, read down below.

2024 THUNDER VALLEY NATIONAL // FULL COVERAGE

STATS LEADING LEADING INTO THUNDER VALLEY

Jett Lawrence fought through injury at the Hangtown National after his crash in moto one.

The streak is over. Honda and Jett Lawrence had won 12 consecutive overalls and 24 consecutive motos, but Jett Lawrence crashed hard on the first lap in moto one and finished 24th. Honda had won 15 of the last 17 450MX rounds. Jett Lawrence went 24-6 for 12th overall, by far his worst ever finish on a 450. Jett now sits in 6th place in the points standings, 24 points behind Sexton.

Chase Sexton grabs the points lead and will run the red plate at Thunder Valley.

Chase Sexton achieved his first 450MX win since Round 11 at Ironman in 2022. This marked Sexton’s 7th 450MX win, and in the second moto, he impressively moved from 40th to 1st. Sexton helped KTM break its 49-race winless streak; the last win for KTM was by Cooper Webb at Millville in 2019. At Round 12 in 2017, KTM secured a 1-2-3 finish with Herlings, Musquin, and Baggett. Despite having led only four laps in two rounds, Sexton is now in the points lead.

Haiden Deegan has won the first two overalls of the season.

Haden Deegan went back-to-back 1-2 for 1st overall, joining Glover and Hannah as the only Yamaha riders to win Rounds 1 and 2. Deegan secured Yamaha’s 255th MX win. Since 2014, Yamaha has won 49 250MX races and 5 championships.

Statistics By: Ben Bridges

INJURED LIST:

COOPER WEBB – THUMB

Cooper Webb had closed the points gap on Jett Lawrence in the 450 Supercross Championship only to injure the ulnar ligament in his left thumb. He kept racing, but it was obvious that he had trouble holding on—that allowed Jett Lawrence to pull away in the Championship points chase.

Cooper Webb said, “It’s disappointing to be missing the beginning of Pro Motocross, but fixing this thumb injury is a must to be at my best for the remainder of the year. The goal is to come back for the final stretch of the outdoor season and come into the SMX playoffs swinging.”.

ELI TOMAC – THUMB

Eli Tomac will be sitting out this weekend and possibly in the near future as the crash in Denver resulted in a fracture and torn ligaments in his thumb that will require surgery. Eli will sit out the opening rounds of motocross.

Eli Tomac States: “This is not the news I wanted to break to everyone, but at the Denver Supercross in free practice I crashed on my thumb, and it’s resulted in a Bennett fracture and some torn ligaments that will require surgery to stabilize my thumb. This is a tough one to swallow, knowing that I’m going to miss the opening rounds of motocross, but I’m optimistic I will be able to race the later portion of the outdoor season and the SMX rounds. I want to thank all my fans and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing for being so supportive through the Supercross season. We will be back stronger in the later half of this season.”