For the fourth time in Monster Energy Supercross history, the series visits Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts for Round 13 of the 2024 season with a tightened points battle in the 450 division.
The venue has been on an every-other year rotation with MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford since 2016 and if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, it would have hosted four races by now. Along with the former Sullivan Stadium, which held events in 1983, 1984 and 1990, the region has hosted six races since the series’ inception.
And while the record book is not long, it is rich with dramatic comeback performances in its formative years. According to Clinton Fowler at WeWentFast.com, David Bailey’s 1983 victory there erased a 27-point lead for Mark Barnett and allowed Bailey to actually leave the venue with six-point advantage. Bailey would go on to win the title the following round in Pasadena, California.
In 1990, Jean-Michel Bayle scored his third victory of that season and closed to within nine points of the leader despite missing two rounds earlier in the season. Bayle came up seven points short of Jeff Stanton that season.
With Jett Lawrence’s problems at St. Louis, after he was wrecked in Race 3 of the Triple Crown by Justin Barcia, the points’ battle has already tightened to eight over Cooper Webb. That eight-place overall finish for Lawrence has also allowed Chase Sexton to get back into contention.
Since the circumstances that cost him so many points were out of his control, Lawrence remains the favorite to win the 2024 SX championship and should he do so, he will be only the third rookie to take the title. Jeremy McGrath won in his maiden campaign in 1983 and Ryan Dungey did so in 2010.
The good news for the competition is that an eight-place finish in St. Louis wasn’t the first time Lawrence has struggled this season. A ninth in San Francisco and sixth overall in the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown also cost him points while Webb enters the weekend with a six-race streak of top-fives, two of which were victories and two that were runner-up results.
Eli Tomac added his name to the list of 2024 winners in the last round by sweeping the Triple Crown format. That came with a little assist from the rule book when Lawrence was penalized for jumping in a red cross flag section of the course. Without that, Tomac would not have been perfect, but he would nevertheless have won the overall.
Tomac’s win helped solidify his position in the record book. He has now tied James Stewart (2005-2014) for the most consecutive winning seasons at 10. Notably Tomac’s streak began the year after Stewart’s ended, in 2015.
Seventh in points, Jason Anderson is the highest-ranked rider still looking for his first win.
If Anderson, or for that matter any rider deeper in the standings, can pull out the victory, it will be only the second time in 50 years that there have been seven winners. In 1997, Jeff Emig topped the winners’ list at five with Doug Henry and Ezra Lusk as the only other riders to score multiple victories.
So far Lawrence with five and Webb with three are the only multiple winners in 2024.
In the 250 class, Levi Kitchen scored the 299th win for Pro Circuit Racing.
As the focus shifts from the 250 East to West division, Cameron McAdoo and Seth Hammaker each have the chance to get the milestone 300th.
Previous Foxborough Winners
450s
2022: Jason Anderson (followed by Chase Sexton, Marvin Musquin)
2018: Marvin Musquin (Eli Tomac, Jason Anderson)
2016: Ken Roczen (Eli Tomac, Ryan Dungey)
250s
2022: Austin Forkner (Jett Lawrence, Pierce Brown)
2018: Zach Osborne (Jordon Smith, Kyle Peters)
2016: Martin Davalos (Jeremy Martin, Malcolm Stewart)
By The Numbers
St. Louis
Seattle
Indianapolis
Birmingham
Daytona
Arlington
Glendale
Detroit
Anaheim 2
San Diego
San Francisco
More Supercross News
Jeremy Martin out for remainder of 2024 SX
Levi Kitchen becomes a more confident cook
Adam Cianciarulo set to retire at end of SX season
Austin Forkner underwent Lasik surgery
Track maps revealed for the SMX World Championship
Justin Barcia on Jett Lawrence crash: “wrong place, wrong time”
Eli Tomac becomes third rider to sweep Triple Crown
Dylan Walsh to miss remainder of SX season
Cooper Webb wins the close ones
Jo Shimoda: Riding well, making smart decisions
