The inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs final dates have changed, creating a more compact schedule for the three-race finale.
Playoff Race 1 will still kick off Saturday, September 9 at zMax Dragway, but Round 2 at Chicagoland Speedway has been moved to September 16 and the series finale will now be run on September 23.
The move was made to accommodate the newly released Pac-12 Conference college football schedule to avoid conflict with USC Trojans’ home games which are played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The season finale was initially set for October 14, which created some concern among riders and teams because of the extended length of the season - extending from early January through mid-October. The new combined season features 17 Supercross races and 11 rounds in the Motocross series and three playoff races for a total of 31 events.
Beginning two weeks after the completion of the 11-round Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season, which ends on August 26 with the Ironman Nationals in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the SuperMotocross World Championship originally featured off weeks between each round. The adjustment now creates a schedule without interruption and that ends three weeks earlier. That will allow riders additional time to train during the offseason.
Additionally, an added benefit of the playoff adjustment means the 31-race schedule will now end prior to the 2023 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, which runs on October 22 in Ernee, France.
Drivers will qualify for the SuperMotocross by accumulating points in both the Monster Energy Supercross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross seasons. The combined points will seed the top 20 drivers into guaranteed positions in the three playoff Main events. The remainder of the field will be determined by a Last Chance Qualifier each week.
Although he has not yet signed a Motocross contract with any team, and therefore puts his participation in the 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship in question, Eli Tomac has taken the early lead in the championship standings with back-to-back wins in the season opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California and last week in San Diego. Cooper Webb finished second in both races.
SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs and Final Revised Schedule:
- SuperMotocross Playoff 1 – zMAX Dragway - September 9, 2023
- SuperMotocross Playoff 2 – Chicagoland Speedway – September 16, 2023
- SuperMotocross World Championship Final – LA Memorial Coliseum - September 23, 2023
