(UPDATE: SuperMotocross date changes for Chicagoland Speedway (to Sept. 16) and the L.A. Coliseum (to Sept. 23) were announced in a Jan. 23 release.)
The new SuperMotocross World Championship announced the venue lineup for its inaugural playoff, which will feature the reopening of Chicagoland Speedway and the dirt bike debut of zMax Dragway.
The three-round playoff to determine the first SuperMotocross world champion will open Saturday, Sept. 9 at zMax Dragway (which is adjacent to Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina) and then will move Saturday, Sept. 16 to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. The final will occur Sept. 23 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The announcement of the SuperMotocross World Championship was made Friday during a news conference ahead of Supercross’ season opener Saturday night in Anaheim, California.
SUPERCROSS 2023 OPENER: How to watch Anaheim I on USA, Peacock
“The design from the get-go was to make sure that each part of the country was represented so fans would have an opportunity to experience SuperMotocross firsthand,” Dave Prater, vice president of Supercross, Feld Motor Sports, said in a release. “It was important to have one playoff in the East, a second in the Midwest, and then the final on the West Coast making each round easily accessible to each region. zMAX Dragway, Chicagoland Speedway and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum all provide the perfect footprint to create world-class SuperMotocross tracks and a one-of-a-kind fan experience that will blend elements from both Supercross and Pro Motocross.”
Check out the Track Map for the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff Round 2 at @chicagolndSpdwy on September 23rd#SMX #SuperMotocross #SupercrossLIVE #ProMotocross #Yamaha #YamahaMotorUSA pic.twitter.com/cCcPPovYWA
— SuperMotocross (@supermotocross) January 6, 2023
It’ll be the first major racing event at Chicagoland Speedway, which opened in 2001 has sat dormant since its most recent NASCAR Cup Series race June 30, 2019 (which marked the first career victory for Alex Bowman).
Chicagoland’s Cup race in 2020 was moved elsewhere because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 1.5-mile speedway has sat unused since then while questions loomed about its future. NASCAR will race on the streets of Chicago this year but has given no indication of returning to the Joliet track that also played host to IndyCar from 2001-10.
SuperMotocross World Championship officials were intrigued by Chicagoland’s 900 acres (a larger footprint because the track isn’t holding NASCAR races) that will allow creative track layouts. The Supercross layout will cover much of the frontstretch grass down through Turn 1 of the oval.
With the addition of Atlanta Motor Speedway to the Supercross schedule two years ago joining longtime prestigious venue Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR-oriented tracks have proved suited to dirt-bike racing.
“As a proud partner of Supercross at Daytona International Speedway for over 50 years, we look forward to welcoming the first-ever SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs to the Midwest at Chicagoland Speedway,” NASCAR senior vice president and chief track properties officer Chip Wile said in a release. “With a thrilling season of motorsports ahead, we are excited to see riders return to Daytona and Chicagoland for intense two-wheel action this season.”
Check out the Track Map for the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff Round 1 at @zMAXDragway on September 9th. #SMX #SuperMotocross #SupercrossLIVE #ProMotocross #Yamaha #YamahaMotorUSA pic.twitter.com/Zo90GyrFSo
— SuperMotocross (@supermotocross) January 6, 2023
The zMax Dragway event will be designed to have a Pro Motocross vibe, situating fans to be able to “line the fence” or watch from above because of the venue’s grandstand and suite layout.
“Innovation and entertainment are at the core of everything we do, so adding a SuperMotocross event to our portfolio at zMAX Dragway just makes sense,” Charlotte Motor Speedway Executive vice president and general manager Greg Walter said in a release. “Fans who visit us expect big action and big fun, and that’s exactly what SuperMotocross provides. We couldn’t be more excited to make some playoff history in September.”
Over 19 seasons of playing host to NASCAR, Chicagoland Speedway delivered some memorable moments -- namely the famous “Slide Job” that Kyle Larson tried to pull on Kyle Busch to win the 2018 race. There also were memorable skirmishes between Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.
The SuperMotocross World Championship will begin its inaugural 31-event season Saturday night in Anaheim, California. Click here for how to watch the season on NBC Sports and Peacock.