Suzuki Teams Wrap Up The 2024 Triple Crown Championship
Brea, CA (April 1, 2024) – The Dome at America’s Center played host to Round 12 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season. The final covered stadium of the season was also the third and final 2024 Triple Crown-format Supercross race. The legendary St. Louis dirt was excellent, though the soft soil rutted up more than was typical for the venue.
Race Highlights:
- Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki
- 450 Class
- Ken Roczen adapted to some dramatic twists at the Triple Crown and came back to earn a top-five result in Race 3.
- 450 Class
- Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance
- 450 Class
- Shane McElrath brought home his second top-ten result of the year, earning a better result in each race as the evening progressed.
- Kyle Chisholm completed his 200th Supercross main event start, and earned his season-best Triple Crown race result in Race 3, when the track was at its toughest.
- 450 Class
- Toyota Redlands BarX Suzuki
- 450 Class
- Derek Drake had impressive speed, but an existing injury held him back from a top performance in St. Louis.
- 250 Class
- Anthony Bourdon was fast and consistent, continuing to impress during his first year of racing in America.
- Max Miller earned points in St. Louis to move up one position in the championship.
- 450 Class
Ken Roczen (94) had great speed at the St. Louis Supercross and put it all on the track in the night’s final race.
Ken Roczen (94) was caught up in a second-turn pile-up in Race 1. Roczen came off his Suzuki RM-Z, but didn’t hit the ground. Unbeknownst to Roczen, hard contact with another bike in the pile-up damaged his radiator. His Suzuki survived the 12-minute plus one lap race, but overheating caused some power loss. Due to the quick turn-around time, the Triple Crown rules allow each rider a spare bike. Roczen struggled in Race 2 riding his back-up bike. By Race 3, Roczen had his back-up bike dialed in and delivered a solid top-five result.
“Tough weekend in St. Louis,” said Roczen. “The Triple Crowns can cause chaos, and we were on the receiving end of it. It will be nice to reset on the off-weekend to go into the home stretch of the championship firing on all cylinders.”
Shane McElrath (12) ran with the front runners and improved his result in each of the three races.
Shane McElrath (12) had a night of steady progression and improvement inside The Dome at America’s Center. When the final checkered flag flew, McElrath used his Suzuki RM-Z’s power and precise handling to pull in his season-best Triple Crown individual race result with a seventh place.
“Overall, it was a pretty good day for us in St. Louis,” said McElrath. “We made set-up changes yesterday at press day, and all day today, and my Suzuki just kept getting better. I'm really excited about that, what we're learning, and the positive changes we're making. I feel I was competitive today, and I kept getting better with each race. I kept getting more aggressive, and my last race was my best one. Also, I had three good starts tonight, which I'm really pumped about; we've been working on starts and it's nice that work paid off tonight. My starts are feeling a lot more natural now, and we’re building up that muscle memory. I'm excited for a weekend off to rest and recover, give my mind a break, and come back ready at Foxborough, because we have some more work to do.”
Kyle Chisholm (11) moved his Twisted Tea Suzuki RM-Z450 up two positions in the championship standings.
Kyle Chisholm (11), like both of his teammates, delivered his best result in the final race of the night. And like McElrath, Chisholm topped his previous season-best race finish to end the night on a high note.
“My Suzuki RM-Z worked really well for me all day,” reported Chisholm. “The St. Louis dirt was a little softer than normal this year, so it was a little more rutted than I'd say a typical St. Louis track would be. But overall, the dirt had really good traction, it was loamy, and was enjoyable to ride. I liked it. I finished 14th overall and moved up two spots in the points, which is always good. My riding was good in the last moto, so I was happy with that. And just a side note stat: tonight was my 200th Supercross main event start, 250 and 450 combined. Another little fact on top of that, my first Supercross ever was here in St. Louis in 2006; where I had a top-ten finish. It’s cool that my first one was here in St. Louis and that I also hit the 200 main milestone here. It made me look back, and it’s great my career has gone on as long as it has.”
Derek Drake (52) was unable to match previous high points in his rookie 450 Supercross season.
Derek Drake (52) had a poor start in the Last Chance Qualifier earlier in the day to get into the Triple Crown’s night show. Drake moved steadily forward through the pack in the LCQ but ran out of time. Drake was unable to secure a transfer spot, despite logging fast lap times.
“St. Louis was another tough one,” admitted Drake. “It’s difficult to get the results I want while only being able to ride on Saturdays due to my back issue. I’m looking forward to getting that fixed and getting back to 100%!”
Anthony Bourdon (100) was consistent and fast in each race in St. Louis.
Anthony Bourdon (100) put in another impressive performance in his rookie US Supercross season. Bourdon was consistent and earned points to hold his top-ten position in the championship standings.
“I started the weekend off the right way with an eighth overall position in timed practice, which was my best of the season,” said Bourdon, “I am disappointed about this Triple Crown because I think I could have done better. I had bad starts all weekend, which didn’t help. It has been difficult physically for me because I couldn’t train like I wanted to for the last two weeks after a big crash in training. I will begin training normally again to be ready in three weeks for the next 250 West round in Nashville.”
Max Miller (87) showed great speed for a rookie, qualifying directly into the night show thanks to fast lap times in the morning qualifying sessions.
Max Miller (87) earned his season-best Triple Crown race finish in Race 2. It was Miller’s second-ever Triple Crown event and he earned points to move him up in the championship standings.
“St. Louis was a step in the right direction,” declared Miller. “I qualified for the Triple Crown night show straight through daytime qualifying. I finished 15th in Race 1, and 13th in Race 2. I started Race 3 with some carnage and went down. I made my way to 17th but then had a mishap on the final lap that caused me to finish 21st. I earned 17th overall on the day.”
“Shane McElrath finished tenth overall,” reported Larry Brooks, Team Manager for the Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance team. “I’m super stoked for Shane; he's riding to his potential now. Everything we thought he was able to do at the beginning of the year – he's getting there. With the way we now have the bike set up, and a few different things, he's starting to take advantage of that and ride the Suzuki like we thought he could. Ken Roczen had a really difficult day. On the opening lap at the first moto Roczen jumped into the back of another rider [who was slowed from a pile-up], and that punctured a hole in his left radiator. All the coolant came out of the bike, and it overheated. It didn't break, but it definitely lost power. That setback ruined Ken’s night because we had to switch to the spare bike, and had issues for the rest of the night. Ken finished 12th overall. Kyle Chisholm rode consistently, just like Chiz does, and he finished 14th overall. It definitely wasn't the night we thought we were going to have, and I know our team and our riders are way better than the performance we put out there. We're going to tuck our tail, go home, work hard, and come back stronger.”
“Tonight was another good race,” said James Coy, the Toyota Redlands BarX Suzuki Team Manager. “The Triple Crown format really makes it exciting. Our Suzuki RM-Zs are working great, and we are going in the right direction. This upcoming break will be good for the mechanics and riders to rest up and be ready for the last push to the end of the season.”
The Supercross season takes one weekend off, then returns to racing on Saturday, April 13th inside Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Suzuki teams will be ready to deliver more strong performances at the final five races of the 17-Round 2024 Supercross season.
Please visit SuzukiCycles.com/Racing/Motocross and HEPMotorsports.com for more team news.
Photos by BrownDogWilson Photography
