Supercross 450 and 250 class fields are deep for upcoming 2024 season | Motorsports on NBC

Jason Weigandt and Jason Thomas sift through the top storylines before the Anaheim season opener, previewing the track layout, 250 West contenders led by RJ Hampshire, Levi Kitchen, and Jo Shimoda, and a deep 450 field. #NBCSports #Supercross #SuperMotocross
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Supercross 450 and 250 class fields are deep for upcoming 2024 season | Motorsports on NBC
https://www.youtube.com/motorsportsonnbc

Okay so the countdown is on to Anaheim 1 and the countdown is on with the 32 board Hot Topics in the sport yeah countdown to A1 we already set off the top it’s to me better than Christmas and New Year’s and to me especially last year JT the crowd during Opening

Ceremonies was extra loud you might think that’s just Hy but I have a theory that Riders are racing longer and they’re doing a better job establishing their brands and their personalities I feel like there’s more of a connection they’re not just guys with a bike and a

Number and a color on the motorcycle and then think about this year with Eli Tomac coming back the reception he’s going to get so I think even Opening Ceremonies going to be Dynamite yeah and it’s it’s infectious right everybody gets excited and yes the personalization of these Riders and fans are truly

Becoming fans of the personalities of these Riders too and you can feel it uh if you’ve ever been to this event I don’t have to explain it to you but for those that haven’t there’s simply no electricity in the air at Anaheim that’s really hard to replicate now we’ll go to the actual

Racing part of it you studied this track map for Anaheim 1 so what do you see when you look at it you know in years past I’ve often wondered if the track builders were trying to ease the riders in maybe get everybody through the first one or sometimes just create some really

Tight racing because the track is a little bit easier so when I look at this one I see some of that those same kind of Dynamics a lot of open straightaways a lot of fast sections not too many technical aspects to it so that leads me

To think it’s the start’s going to be critically important and we also might see some really close racing because some of the sections to pass you might have to get in there and be really aggressive okay yeah we’ll see how that affects the racing but there are two

Sections of whoops but you don’t think that’s necessarily going to be that crazy I don’t think they’ll be too tough but it will be a really nice passing opportunity the two bull burms before and after will give Riders a chance to really slingshot so you think about a

Guy like Malcolm Stewart if he doesn’t get the best start he’s going to really try to carry a ton of momentum slingshot past the the weed Rider and get in front of him on the inside of that next buber so while they may not be too difficult

It’s going to be one of the biggest passing zones on the A1 track now into the depths of racing we were talked so much in the preseason about 450s we probably haven’t talked enough about the 250 class we at least have and this is rare a pretty good idea of who is

Actually going to be racing 250 West so we’ve picked out a couple that we think are at least the contenders on paper for this Nate Thrasher Levi kitchen RJ Hampshire Joe shimoda Jordan Smith Garrett marchbanks those are the names that are jumping out to us but I’m going

To start here with those Monster Energy Yamaha Star riders with Thrasher and Smith man I would not be surprised if either one of them were title in fact if one of them is not it might be as surprising as if one of them is these

Are guys that have won a lot of races before yeah those are two names that we weren’t really sure where they were racing but yes they’re going to be in the mix now the question mark on Thrasher is where is his health where is his recovery he had a huge injury in

2023 so is he back to that level that we lost uh last saw him in Atlanta and then Jordan Smith all the drama surrounding he and Hayden Degan last year but you you think about where he was in in the middle of that Los Angeles SMX finale we

Were talking about him being the surprised champion of the class we all know that Jordan’s capable he was this close to being your 2017 uh East Coast Champion so we’ll see how it all plays out but those were two names that I didn’t expect that are now right

Squarely in the mix and then I go to what I consider the new guys Levi kitchen and Joe shimoda who I think are both positioned to maybe become the guy or the next guy of the 250s you can see a world three years from now where they’re the hot rookie moving into the

450 class will this be the year that it clicks for one of those two yeah that well even the three I I think one of these becomes Champion I really do um and you look at RJ Hamshire season last year outside of A2 which was an absolute Disaster by every measure he was

Phenomenal the rest of the series now you could also say his uh last ditch pass attempt and East Rutherford was a little mistimed and probably a bad idea too but every other round I believe he was second place yeah I think my question there is going to be if RJ’s

Exactly as good as he was in 202 three he should be the best of the group but the question is can the younger guys like say kitchen and shimoda take a big step from where they were last year okay that’s a 250 West we might be wrong

There might be a seventh guy we didn’t even mention here who ends up winning the title that’s kind of the nature of that class 450s is much more established we’re counting 19 riders with significant titles under their belt who should be on the Starting Gate for

Anaheim one in the 450 class if you compare it to last year Marvin musan is not racing this time we lost him Joey aachi we’ve lost him as well he’ll be back from Motocross but we’ve gained Hunter and Jet Lawrence and Justin Cooper as rookies Jorge prao coming over

From the mxgp world championship and then oddly last year this happens because the field is so deep Shane MRA Benny Bloss Kyle Chism did not make the main in Anaheim last year add those names in man it’s going to be tough getting into the main event for anybody and I

Guess that’s your point a good Rider like math could not make the main that’s how hard it is holy cow this lineup is ridiculous and everybody should be terrified uh because how do you how do you slot in guys that have been legitimate top five guys in this class

Before a guy like Kyle Chisum may not make the main event it’s just a really tough thing and uh for us fans it’s incredible because there’s going to be Talent all the way through the field and there may be a battle going on in 12th

Of a guy that’s won a race before that’s the incredible thing about especially early in the season where most of the Riders are healthy so thankfully I’m not a rider anymore I don’t care care I get to sit back talk about the races and uh bring all the you know the excitement to

The people at home but uh man for these Riders it’s going to be really nerve-wracking old versus new this is kind of the theme I feel of Supercross 2024 when you have these rookies coming in we already mentioned adding Justin Cooper and the Lawrence brothers in and then this very established group with

Eli Tomac returning uh Jason Anderson hoping to get back to where he was I don’t know if we consider Chase ston or he’s kind of in between but we definitely consider m time Champs like Tomac web and Ken roxon not a Supercross champ but a champion in many series I

Like this battle young guys established guys this is going to be cool it’s always a fluid situation and for a lot of these guys they have you know a guy like Eli Tomac probably like man I’m I’m the old guy now right and he probably feels like he should go out there and

Win but you’ve got a kid like jet Lawrence who’s like no no this is my time I have arrived now and then Chase Ton’s like uh hello I have have the number one plate on my bike I just won this thing and I’m 24 years old so uh

There’s a lot to unpack there but it’s always interesting to see that kind of ever evolving situation amongst the paddock of who thinks they’re the alpha who’s the The Old Lion that’s trying to hang onto his territory a little bit yeah I like it you can categorize pretty

Much every Rider except seon he’s like dead set in the middle he’s not the youngest guy but he’s not one of the veterans either he’s right there in the middle and he has the number one plate so isn’t that interesting symbolically how that plays out all right only one

Significant detail left how to actually watch all this from Anaheim we’ve mentioned it several times we’ll remind you again we’ll have a pre- show screaming on peacock at 4:30 local time in California that’s 7:30 Easter with myself and Katie osbor who’s covered a ton of different Motorsports including

Supercross she also got a really cool F1 podcast so it’ll be fun to hang out with her for our pre-race show show you opening ceremonies and then at 8 Eastern 5:00 local time that’s when the racing begins you continue watching that on peacock with the super motocross video

Pass outside of America or also air on television on USA Network again starting at 8 Eastern and there’ll be a reair of the racing 2:00 Sunday afternoon Eastern the next day on NBC hi folks Lee DIY from NBC Sports here if you truly enjoyed what you just watched you can

Get more news interviews and highlights by subscribing to the Motorsports on NBC YouTube p you can get it all so go for it