2024 San Francisco Supercross | A Mud Race is Fun, Once in a While

By Billy Rainford

Mark Twain may or may not have once famously said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but its weather can be very unpredictable. Unless we’re having a Supercross…then it seems to be very predictable.

Remember last year when they had to cancel the Oakland round of the series? I do. I had to drive out to Arizona to catch a bunch of SX regulars at a Prescott Valley round of the AMA Arenacross Series.

Last year, there was massive flooding in the area in and around Oakland, so cancellation was understandable. The track in 2023 could not have been any worse than what greeted the riders Saturday for Round 2 of the 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series at Oracle Park.

I was in East Rutherford, NJ last season when they had to evacuate the entire building while a lightning storm passed through the area. I said it then and I’ll say it again now: “A mud race is fun, once in a while!“

The schedule was shortened with riders set to only get 2 practice/qualifying sessions of 8 minutes each. After the first session, it was decided that the Dirt Wurx crew would need more time to get the track in a rideable condition for the night show, so the 2nd session was cancelled.

On to the night show.

Race Day Live is something I always look forward to on the rare occasion I’m not physically at the races. I mention the broadcast here because I want to say that I am very impressed with the pit reporting from “Lurch” – rarely called by his real name, Steven Scott. A name so infrequently uttered that I just found myself Googling it!

In case you don’t know, it’s Lurch who you hear live over the speakers when you’re live at a stadium screaming his head off like a maniac in a way only he can.

His pit reports are well-crafted, to the point, and spoken in a very calm way, getting the pertinent information to us quickly and concisely. I really like his addition to the team in this capacity. He’s also a very good dude when you talk to him in person. He stepped away for a brief time and it’s great to have him back.

Qualifying:

#24 RJ Hampshire was fastest 250 qualifier.

Fastest in 250 West qualifying was #24 RJ Hampshire (1:06.054) who you’ll remember won Round 1 and was running the red plates. Our Canadians ended up as follows:

#71 Cole Thompson – 21st (1:13.569)

#551 Guillaume St Cyr – 25th (1:13.862)

#500 Julien Benek – 38th (1:17.262)

#500 Julien Benek was still suffering from mono and a broken thumb.

Julien came into the race still fighting the effects of mono while nursing a broken right thumb suffered at A1. He told us he decided to line up this week because his surgery wasn’t covered in the USA and San Francisco is on his way home to Mission, BC (where he’ll get the needed repairs), so he figured he’d take the pain and see what he could do.

ROund 2 didn’t go as well as Round 1 did for the rookie #929 Julien Beaumer.

I found it interesting when they played an interview with rookie #929 Julien Beaumer and when asked about A1 he said, “I wasn’t going fast enough through the red cross and yellow” flag areas.

In the 450 class, everyone noticed that when #27 Malcolm Stewart crashed over the bars, #9 Adam Cianciarulo stayed where he was and directed traffic around where Malcolm was. I don’t think that gesture missed anyone and his street credit just increased tenfold.

Heading into the rain race, everyone was just about ready to crown #7 Aaron Plessinger due to his past off-road racing and his self-proclaimed love of a mud race. He made us al look good by taking top honours after the first session. He said in his post-qualifying interview, “I’m gonna get that start and run away with it!”

They say mud is the big equalizer because anything can happen and usually does. It did.

Opening ceremonies went on with rider introductions, but none of them were able to get on their bikes and whip the crowd into a frenzy because the track was simply in no condition for that to happen.

As always, Plessinger got the biggest cheer from the diehard fans who still showed up in droves despite the weather. It was 12C and raining.

Did anyone else notice that #18 Jett Lawrence actually has UFC announce Bruce Buffer do his intro voiceover for him? I’ll admit, being old school I’m a bigger fan of Michael Buffer, but it was cool to see something different. I’m guessing it’s just one more thing that the rest of the 450 field resents, but whatever…

“Iiiiiit’s tiiiiiime“

The new photos and graphics for the introductions are top notch this season. They made a few changes to the track in an attempt to make it passable and we headed into the night show. It continued to rain, but most will agree that it’s better that way than to have it start drying up a little and become even gooier.

250 Heat 1

#500 Julien Benek got off to a good start from the next-to-outside gate but got pushed off the track in turn 1 and had to go out on the slick plywood down the following section. He was back in last place. We’ll have to talk to him about his positions because, if you believe what live timing and scoring was showing, he was up and down like a yo-yo in this one!

They showed him last, 18, last, 18, 12, 11, 9, 11, 16, 14, then he messed up on the last lap and is scored with an 18th to have to face the LCQ again.

Jo Shimoda took an easy win in 250 Heat 1.

#30 Jo Shimoda took off with the win in the first Heat and had a solid 20-second lead over #31 Jordon Smith in 2nd, followed by #26 Garrett Marchbanks, #55 Mitchell Oldenburg, and #100 Anthony “Don’t Call Me Chef” Bourdon from France.

250 Heat 2

#551 Guillaume St Cyr was also in the 2nd Heat.

Cole Thompson and Guillaume St Cyr were in this one and both got off to decent starts but both also moved back a little. Cole managed to stay in the top 9 to move on while Guac started in a transfer position but got shuffled back to 11th by the time the soggy flag waved.

#34 Ryder DiFrancesco was well out front at the end of Heat 2.

#34 Ryder DiFrancesco was very impressive in this one and took the win and crossed the line 20 seconds ahead of A1 winner RJ Hampshire.

450 Heat 1

Holeshot to #111 Jorge Prado! He admits he’s not known to be a great mud rider but perhaps compared to the riders in the USA he stands out as far above average in the slop. The reigning MXGP champion never looked back in this one, but if he did he would have seen #1 Chase Sexton gaining ground on him to finish just over a second behind him at the flag. #94 Ken Roczen was a distant 3rd followed by #3 Eli Tomac in 4th.

450 Heat 2

Holeshot to #7 Aaron Plessinger with #96 Hunter Lawrence in tow. #14 Dylan Ferrandis got around Plessinger on the last lap to take his first-ever 450 SX Heat win. Webb got by Aaron on the last lap also to take 2nd.

#14 Dylan Ferrandis gets his first-ever 450 SX Heat win.

Plessinger was doing the huge double that I didn’t see anyone else doing in either heat race!

As we headed to the LCQ’s, the crew decided to flatten the whoops section into a couple of mellow rollers so we could actually have some decent racing. At this point, it was a good idea. The rain was coming down even harder than before.

250 LCQ

We had St Cyr and Benek in this one.

Julien came from way back to finish 6th in the LCQ.

Even a guy from the Lower Mainland of BC found the conditions tough.

Benek did not get a good start and found himself outside the top 15 with not much chance of moving on, but he made a charge and came pretty close!

Guillaume was forced to pull his goggle and was in a transfer spot until the last lap!

Guillaume got more TV time than some of the factory riders! He started out in 6th, moved up to 4th, then 5th, took off his goggles, moved back up to 4th, but then bailed off the side of a jump on the final lap and dropped back to 7th at the flag, one spot behind Julien. So close.

450 LCQ

I didn’t see what happened in the first 450 Heat, but, last I saw, #15 Dean Wilson was behind #125 Vince Friese for 9th and 10th. When the flag waived, it was Wilson who moved directly to the Main while Friese dropped a couple spots and headed to the LCQ. These two did not exchange Christmas cards.

#22 Freddie Noren looked solid with the holeshot and rode well but it was Friese who got to the front on lap 1 and led the first 2 laps before trouble forced him out of the race.

#51 Justin Barcia had to head to the 450 LCQ and snuck into the Main with a 4th. He was under the weather (pardon the pun).

#81 Cade Clason moved up from a bad start and found himself up in 3rd place at the flag as Barcia finished behind him in 4th to move on.

It was a tough day for #82 Mitchell Harrison who ended up 17th in the 450 LCQ.

Our old friend #11 Kyle Chisholm took a DNF in the LCQ after blindly hitting a wall in turn 1. He thought he’d broken his leg but X-rays show no breaks.

It was Sweden followed by #144 Jason Clermont from France at the flag.

Somehow, it managed to rain even harder for the start of the Mains.

250 Main

Somehow, it was raining even harder when we headed to the Mains. The only Canadian in this one was #71 Cole Thompson. He got a bad start and found himself outside the top 20 as they headed out for lap 1. If there was anyone who hadn’t signed up for a race like this, it was Cole! At the time of this column, I hadn’t spoken to him, so we’ll be sure to see how much fun he had.

He kept moving forward and found himself in 13th late in the race until he fell and crossed the line to take 15th.

Things started well for #20 Max Vohland but his bike let go early.

It was another tough day at the office for #57 Nate Thrasher and he finds himself out of contention early this season.

At the front, it was #31 Jordon Smith who grabbed the holeshot and never looked back. #57 Nate Thrasher was dead last and charging. Behind Smith it was #20 Max Vohland, #55 Mitchell Oldenburg, #30 Jo Shimoda, and #100 Anthony Bourdon.

Partzilla PRMX rider #85 Hunter Yoder cracked the top 10 with an 8th in the 250 Main.

Shimoda was down on lap 1 and then couldn’t get his Honda to move, forcing a DNF for one of the early series favourites.

Bourdon fell on lap 1 and took Hampshire with him on the upside of a jump.

Vohland was in 2nd when he suffered bike troubles to also take a DNF.

#36 Phil Nicoletti had 3rd place until the last lap…

#26 Garrett Marchbanks took 3rd away from Phil on the last lap. Dinner at…Bojangles? Wendy’s? is on Garrett!

#36 Phil NIcoletti was up in a podium position and looked good in the horrible conditions, but his teammate #26 Garrett Marchbanks was putting on a charge and closing the gap.

Levi Kitchen was less than a second behind Smith at the flag.

Kitchen got around Nicoletti late in the race to take 2nd and start catching Smith out front, as the two riders tried to find ways around lappers and dead bikes.

Smith led this one from the drop of the gate but it was close at the flag.

Marchbanks would get around Phil on the last lap to take 3rd while Kitchen crossed the line less than 1 second behind Smith!

250 podium: Jordon Smith, Levi Kitchen, Garrett Marchbanks.

Smith did a mud puddle dive afterwards and will head into Round 3 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego next week.

450 Main:

The 450 Main was shortened to 15 minutes as the rain found a way to come down even harder.

#21 Jason Anderson reached for a tear off on the start and went down hard.

#21 Jason Anderson reached for a tear off as they headed into the first turn and crashed pretty hard into the mud.

#94 Ken Roczen stalled his bike after turn 1 while pulling for a tear off and found himself at the back of the pack. His night was *not* done though.

Ken Roczen grabbed for a roll off and stalled his bike as they headed down the first rhythm section after the first turn, finding himself well outside the top 10 early.

#1 Chase Sexton timed the gate drop to perfection and found himself out front and out of harms way right off the start, something everyone dreams of in conditions like these.

#9 Adam Cianciarulo got off to a good start but dropped back to 8th at the flag.

Behind him, it was Tomac, Cianciarulo, #12 Shane McElrath, Plessinger, #18 Jett Lawrence, Webb, H Lawrence, Prade, and Roczen.

Sexton gapped the field early and looked as comfortable as anyone can in these conditions. I think we all expected Tomac to put on one of his charges and go for the win, but he stayed in 2nd while McElrath took advantage of the conditions and moved to 3rd place ahead of AC and now Roczen.

It was a night to forget for #2 Cooper Webb. He ended up 11th and a lap down.

A1 winner #18 Jett Lawrence also found himself struggling in the mud and could only muster 9th place to lose the red plate.

Roczen has to get “Man of the Match” honours for his charge up to 3rd place!

Roczen would move up to 3rd as the leaders started to lap riders like Webb and J Lawrence in the slop.

Tomac crossed the line in 2nd place. We’ll have to wait for Round 3 to see if he’s back in form.

That’s how you ride a mud race! Sexton took the win and the red plates heading into Round 3.

At the flag, Sexton took the win 7 1/2 seconds ahead of Tomac, who had 20 seconds on Roczen in 3rd. McElrath hung on for 4th as Plessinger closed in on him late.

450 podium: Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac (wrong side!), Ken Roczen.

Sexton took over the points lead and will head to Round 2 with the red plates.

I watched this round, like I will the entire western swing, from the comfort of my living room couch. Jessica Longname from Tree Three Media is calling California home for the first 4 rounds. I think I sent her the same massage a couple of times: “Man, am I ever glad I’m not there tight now!” And she responded exactly how she should have: “A mud race is fun, once in a while!“

At this point, the forecast for San Diego looks good…

Let’s end with a few choice Tree Three Media photos: