By John Goolsby, Prep Sports Editor
Birmingham is set to host the best off-road motorcycle riders in the world when round nine of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship takes place inside Protective Stadium on Saturday, March 9.
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, comprised of technical courses in stadiums over 17 races, makes up half of the SuperMotocross World Championship.
The AMA Pro Motocross Championship, outdoor racing on larger and faster natural terrain tracks, forms the other half.
The two combined series create a 28-event “super series” that crowns the SuperMotocross World Champion after a season-ending three-round playoff.
Riders in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series compete in two different classes.
The 450cc class is the premier class and showcases motorcycles with powerful 450 cubic centimeter four-stroke engines.
The 250cc class features slightly less powerful 250 cubic centimeter four-stroke engines and is generally contested by younger riders.
The 250cc class is split into East and West Regions.
Manufacturers Beta, GasGas, Honda, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha make bikes for the series.
What does it take to turn Protective’s field into a world-class track? Five hundred truckloads of dirt totaling 5,500 cubic yards and weighing 26 million pounds.
The course in Birmingham will be tight and challenging. The series describes most supercross tracks as “featuring whoop sections (brutal washboards where riders skim along the tops of the bumps), rhythm sections (irregular series of jumps with a variety of combination options), and triple jumps (three jumps in a row that riders normally clear in a single leap of 70 feet or more). Many of the turns have banked berms, but some are flat.”
Superstar Jett Lawrence, a 20-year-old Australian who turned in a historic 2023 year by going undefeated in the Pro Motocross season and winning the SuperMotocross World Championship, headlines the 450cc class.
Americans Jason Anderson, Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac, and Chase Sexton, all past champions, will compete against international stars Ken Roczen (Germany), Dylan Ferrandis (France), Hunter Lawrence (Australia), Jorge Prado (Spain) and Dean Wilson (Scotland).
Americans Aaron Plessinger, Justin Barcia, Malcolm Stewart, and Shane McElrary look to claim their first championship and are in the top 15 in points through the first seven rounds.
Alabamian Austin Cozadd, a native of Attalla, is on the 450cc entry list for Birmingham.
450cc Top-10:
1. Jett Lawrence, 135 points
2. Cooper Webb, 132 points
3. Aaron Plessinger, 128 points
4. Chase Sexton, 127 points
5. Eli Tomac, 122 points
6. Jason Anderson, 118 points
7. Ken Roczen, 116 points
8. Dylan Ferrandis, 93 points
9. Hunter Lawrence, 86 points
10. Justin Cooper, 75 points
Round eight of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship takes place in Daytona, Floida Saturday before heading to Alabama for the first time.
The race can be seen on Peacock, beginning with 250cc qualifying at 12:30.