Let me preface what I'm about to say by saying that Chase earned the championship no matter how he got it. He crashed more and technically "backed into" the championship but the other two crashed (Even though ET3 didn't crash) worse. It's fair to say that even though he was the fastest racer at the majority of the rounds his mistakes put him in 3rd place going into round 15 with no way to overtake Webb and Tomac barring injury.
The big what if: Did Jett cost himself a 450 SX championship by not moving up after the MXdN last year? Even taking a championship out of the equation how much of an effect will not racing 450 have on his final career stats? Did he cost himself 1 win or 10 wins in the final tally or is SX a different story than outdoors and the boys would have ate him up?
I grant you the question may sound ridiculous because the kid has never raced a 450 SX but if we've learned anything about Jett it's nothing is too far out of his reach. If he raced SX this last season, he most likely would have been as fast as Chase or pretty close but Jett has never been a huge crasher. He very well could have been sitting in third when Coop and Eli went out. Then again if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.
I do not think it cost him a 450 title, but helped him on the path he is on now. A full summer to really learn the 450 and how it handles set him up well for SMX. Now he will have a while offseason to learn his SX settings and be that much better for SX. It played out exactly how it should have.
If Jett raced, maybe he would’ve won
If Webb hadn’t hit his head, maybe he coulda won
If Eli hadn’t gotten hurt, he probably would’ve won
Jett didn't crash this year. His prior few years in SX he crashed plenty. That crash trying to keep up with DF was scary. He rode over his head and took out Forkner in Arlington. He crashed leading into last years SX season and had to switch from West to East. If anything, Jett has been extremely fortunate with the lack of injuries or timing of his injuries. All that to say, I don't think 450 SX in 2023 would have been as smooth sailing as outdoors was for Jett, but I also didn't think he'd dominate outdoors or SMX like he did either.
What if he had crashed just once in 450 Supercross and it put him out of contention for the Nationals? We'll never know.
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What if he tore his Achilles at A1? Shit happens, that's why you line up and race.
Ferrandis would be a two time 450 pro motocross champion, and looking for a ride lol
Sexton would have won 13 of the 16 motos he entered
Jett knows motocross; he grew up and learned motocross techniques from the best.
He’s relatively new to supercross.
I think his career path makes sense for most riders - learn the 450 outdoors and then progress to 450 SX. I wouldn’t be surprised if more riders go that way in the future.
Going 22- 0 shows he didn't need a full year to "learn the 450," he freaking knew pretty quickly. haha
That's why one of the options was If my aunt had balls. lol
It's just bench racing. He may not have won the title but he surely would have won some races and made some noise. The time to discuss this is really in ten years when we see where he is in the list of all time wins.
Spot on, similar with Hunters plan, French sx will be his first 450 sx against Jett. Can’t wait as there demo rider for there junior coaching is the currant prince of Paris and he will be there also.
What if jett started 450s in sx an crashed out like alot of 450 rookies. Maybe not undefeated in outdoors or smx champ now. I don't think it could of went any better. Now everyone has to go into 24 sx racing for 2nd and hoping for a injury to jett to win it.
I think Jett's entry into the 450 class was the perfect way to go about it. Could he have won the 450 SX title Maybe! but he would have also taken on a lot more risk of injury adjusting to the 450 in a technically more difficult series compared to Motocross. Going MX was the perfect way for him to get comfortable to that HRC 450 and after all the success he had on the bike he'll be heathy and ready for his AMA SX debut in 2024. I think it's the model all up and coming rookie 450 riders should adhere to.
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