The culmination of the 53rd season of the world’s most prestigious off-road motorcycle racing series has arrived for the 2024 Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.
On Saturday, the 11-round summer campaign will make its last stop on a 10-state journey to crown a pair of AMA National Champions. Championships will be on the line as racers make their annual visit Crawfordsville’s Ironman Raceway for the 11th running of the Tucker Freight Lines Ironman National Finals.
As the sport’s newest venue, Ironman Raceway has cemented itself as the place where champions are crowned, having hosted the final round for seven years during its decade on the racing calendar.
Given its geographical location, Ironman Raceway may also be Pro Motocross’ most unique venue as well. Ironman Raceway is a topographic marvel, featuring some of the most dramatic elevation changes in the sport. Its most celebrated and daunting obstacle, simply known as Godzilla, is a towering and awe-inspiring uphill jump accompanied by a similarly spectacular descent in which riders launch skyward.
Beyond Godzilla, the dynamic layout traverses in and around trees, across more elevation shifts, and even under a covered bridge. Its natural amphitheater-style setting makes for spectacular vantage points for spectators, who fill the hillsides and line the fences. Despite its immense size and imposing presence, Ironman Raceway somehow stays hidden amongst fields of corn, farmland, sitting just a mile from a local high school.
On the track, the title combatants will make their final push to walk away victorious. American Chase Sexton is poised to capture his first championship, but the incredible consistency from Australian Hunter Lawrence during his first season of premier class competition has allowed him to remain within reach of the title. They’ll not only have to race against one another, but also 38 equally motivated racers all eager to take the checkered flag, including other Americans like former champion Eli Tomac, Aaron Plessinger Jason Anderson, and Justin Cooper, in addition to Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis, another former champion.
The SuperMotocross World Championship is a comprehensive 31-race season that combines the winter AMA Supercross Championship, which takes place on man-made racetracks in major stadiums across the country from January to mid-May, and the summer Pro Motocross Championship, the original homegrown series that visits the most iconic, rural venues in off-road motorcycle racing from late-May through August. At the conclusion of these two series is the SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs and Final in September, which will crown the ultimate champions across a full calendar year.
