2019 Monster Energy Supercross to visit Nashville; return to Detroit, Denver, Jersey - MotorSportsTalk

The 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross schedule will have a good mix of returning markets, one brand new market and three other markets that will see a return by the series.

“The 2018 season proved once again that Supercross is a very exciting sport,” FIM president Vito Ippolito said. “It kept us on the edge of our seats until the final round in Las Vegas.

“Supercross is also a demanding discipline and one that brings the best out of the riders and their teams. But most of all, it is an unpredictable sport that can take us all by surprise!”

The series will feature 17 events in 16 markets over 18 weeks. Nashville is new, while the series returns to Ford Field in Detroit and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., after both were last on the schedule in 2017.

And then there’s a long overdue return to Denver’s Broncos Stadium (formerly Mile-High Stadium), which last hosted the series in 1996.

Nashville’s Nissan Stadium will play host to the Supercross series for the first time in its 45-year history.

The five-month schedule kicks off, as is tradition, at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California on January 5, 2019 and concludes in Las Vegas on May 4.

“Much kudos goes to the 2018 AMA Supercross FIM World Champion Jason Anderson, who is a worthy successor to Ryan Dungey,” Ippolito said. “We are looking forward to a successful 2019 season.”

Technology both on and off the courses continues to be a hallmark of the Supercross series.

“We’re continuing to improve the fan experience and live entertainment aspect of the sport by using state-of-the-art technology, from spidercam footage and live heart rate monitor displays, to featuring a festival-like atmosphere in the paddock,” said Dave Prater, Senior Director of Operations for Two-Wheel, Feld Entertainment. “As we head into 2019 with a brand-new defending champion for the first time in four years, Jason Anderson will certainly be the one to watch.

“That, combined with the sport’s first-ever developmental platform for Supercross amateur racing, will ultimately set the stage for years to come.”

Jason Anderson won the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX championship last season for the first time in his career.

Anderson earned his first career 450SX Class crown in the final round of the 2018 season this past May 5. It was also the first time that Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing has earned the 450SX Class title.

Also new to the schedule is the eight-race Supercross Futures, which culminates in an AMA Amateur National Championship. for the first time. The first Futures event will be Jan. 13, in Glendale, Arizona.

The Futures championship will be decided Oct. 20-21, 2019, following next year’s Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas.

Tickets for the 2019 season will go on sale on Tuesday, October 23 with a presale date of Tuesday, October 9.

Before that, though, the top Supercross riders will take part on Oct. 13 in the invitation-only Monster Energy Cup all-star event in Las Vegas.

Marvin Musquin won last year’s Cup event at Sam Boyd Stadium and is seeking to become the first rider in Supercross history to ever win the “Monster Million” twice.

“AMA Supercross is among the most impressive displays of two-wheeled motorsports in the world, and for many amateur AMA racers, it represents the pinnacle of their competitive dreams,” said AMA President and CEO, Rob Dingman. “Since the first AMA Supercross Champion was crowned in 1974, the sport and spectacle have grown and evolved, thanks in large part to the close cooperation with our promoting partner, Feld Motor Sports.

“Generations of some of the world’s greatest motorcycle racers have held high the AMA Supercross No. 1 plate, and I can’t wait to see who earns that honor in 2019.”

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Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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