Through 9 rounds of the 2024 Pro Motocross season, Chase Sexton has a 28 point lead over Hunter Lawrence. However, Sexton is 3rd on the season in the 450 class for laps led. He trails both Jett Lawrence and Hunter Lawrence. Jett Lawrence hasn’t raced in four rounds and impressively still leads the class in laps led (for now). There has been 288 total laps so far through 9 rounds in 2024:
| Championship Pos. (thru 9 rounds) | Rider | Total Season Laps in 2024 (thru 9) | Laps Led (thru 9) | Laps Led % |
| 8th | Jett Lawrence | 288 | 77 | 26.74% |
| 2nd | Hunter Lawrence | 288 | 70 | 24.31% |
| 1st | Chase Sexton | 288 | 68 | 23.61% |
Barring a disaster, its likely that Chase Sexton will win the 2024 title, however, he may not have led the most laps when the season ends.
How often does this historically happen? Hard to say, but we do have Pro Motocross laps data back to 2004 (missing a few rounds here and there – pages aren’t available in the AMA archives). I’ll break down both the 450 Class and 250 Class.
Did the 450 Class Champion Lead the Most Laps?
| Year | Champion | Led Most Laps? | Laps in Season* | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2004 | Ricky Carmichael | Yes | 371 | 359 | 96.77% |
| 2005 | Ricky Carmichael | Yes | 357 | 300 | 84.03% |
| 2006 | Ricky Carmichael | Yes | 300* | 196 | 65.33% |
| 2007 | Grant Langston | No | 309* | 19 | 6.15% |
| 2008 | James Stewart | Yes | 382 | 369 | 96.60% |
| 2009 | Chad Reed | Yes | 371 | 120 | 32.35% |
| 2010 | Ryan Dungey | Yes | 383 | 187 | 48.83% |
| 2011 | Ryan Villopoto | Yes | 385 | 144 | 37.40% |
| 2012 | Ryan Dungey | Yes | 387 | 224 | 57.88% |
| 2013 | Ryan Villopoto | Yes | 401 | 257 | 64.09% |
| 2014 | Ken Roczen | Yes | 396 | 140 | 35.35% |
| 2015 | Ryan Dungey | Yes | 391 | 153 | 39.13% |
| 2016 | Ken Roczen | Yes | 390 | 324 | 83.08% |
| 2017 | Eli Tomac | No | 379 | 114 | 30.08% |
| 2018 | Eli Tomac | Yes | 375 | 138 | 36.80% |
| 2019 | Eli Tomac | No | 383 | 105 | 27.42% |
| 2020 | Zach Osborne | No | 300 | 72 | 24.00% |
| 2021 | Dylan Ferrandis | No | 386 | 93 | 24.09% |
| 2022 | Eli Tomac | Yes | 384 | 149 | 38.80% |
| 2023 | Jett Lawrence | Yes | 357 | 329 | 92.16% |
* = Certain rounds are missing from this season. Missing rounds are 2006 Round 1, 2006 Round 8 (Moto 2), 2006 Round 11, 2007 Round 4 and 2007 Round 11.
We can see the big outlier in terms of laps led % is Grant Langston in 2007. Other than that we see Eli Tomac twice, Zach Osborne and Dylan Ferrandis in recent memory.
So who beat these champions in these seasons?
One last note: The “Laps in Season” column is all the total laps that occurred in the season. It is NOT the rider’s personal total.
2007
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 6th | Ricky Carmichael | 309* | 103 | 33.33% |
| 7th | James Stewart | 309* | 79 | 25.57% |
| 2nd | Mike Alessi | 309* | 40 | 12.94% |
| 5th | Kevin Windham | 309* | 37 | 11.97% |
| 1st | Grant Langston | 309* | 19 | 6.15% |
* = Round 4 and Round 11 data unavailable
Of the data we have, we can see Langston was 5th in laps led in 2007 and ended up as champion. Makes sense he was way behind Carmichael and Stewart, but trailed his other competition even after Carmichael’s retirement races and Stewart’s injury.
2017
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Marvin Musquin | 379 | 120 | 31.66% |
| 1st | Eli Tomac | 379 | 114 | 30.08% |
After a 10 year gap, the 450MX champion didn’t lead the most laps again in 2017. Eli Tomac led more laps than Marvin Musquin going in to the final round at Ironman. However, Musquin led 14 laps at the final round to Tomac’s zero laps led in the final round.
2019
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Ken Roczen | 383 | 151 | 39.43% |
| 1st | Eli Tomac | 383 | 105 | 27.42% |
Ken Roczen finished second to Eli Tomac in 2019 in the championship, however, he lead 46 more laps than Tomac. Often this season, Roczen would lead many laps only to be chased down by Tomac late and lose the moto to Tomac.
2020
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Adam Cianciarulo | 300 | 131 | 43.67% |
| 1st | Zach Osborne | 300 | 72 | 24.00% |
In the covid shortened championship of 2020, Adam Cianciarulo led by far the most laps on the season. In fact, AC even lapped Zach-o at Millville (due to Osborne having a flat tire)! If not for a DNF in Moto 2 at the season opener, AC very likely could have been the 2020 champion.
2021
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 3rd | Ken Roczen | 386 | 144 | 37.31% |
| 1st | Dylan Ferrandis | 386 | 93 | 24.09% |
Ken Roczen finished third in the 2021 championship despite leading the most laps. Roczen was second in the championship going into the final round, but a DNF in Moto 2 allowed Eli Tomac to pass him for second in the championship.
Onto the 250 Class.
Did the 250 Class Champion Lead the Most Laps?
| Year | Champion | Led Most Laps? | Laps in Season* | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2004 | James Stewart | Yes | 338* | 289 | 85.50% |
| 2005 | Ivan Tedesco | No | 345 | 46 | 13.33% |
| 2006 | Ryan Villopoto | Yes | 295* | 90 | 30.51% |
| 2007 | Ryan Villopoto | Yes | 309* | 135 | 43.69% |
| 2008 | Ryan Villopoto | Yes | 347* | 226 | 65.13% |
| 2009 | Ryan Dungey | No | 364 | 87 | 23.90% |
| 2010 | Trey Canard | Yes | 377 | 106 | 28.12% |
| 2011 | Dean Wilson | Yes | 378 | 150 | 39.68% |
| 2012 | Blake Baggett | No | 384 | 60 | 15.63% |
| 2013 | Eli Tomac | Yes | 396 | 154 | 38.89% |
| 2014 | Jeremy Martin | Yes | 388 | 157 | 40.46% |
| 2015 | Jeremy Martin | No | 385 | 102 | 26.49% |
| 2016 | Cooper Webb | No | 381 | 55 | 14.44% |
| 2017 | Zach Osborne | Yes | 382 | 102 | 26.70% |
| 2018 | Aaron Plessinger | Yes | 373 | 149 | 39.95% |
| 2019 | Adam Cianciarulo | No | 375 | 97 | 25.87% |
| 2020 | Dylan Ferrandis | Yes | 298 | 112 | 37.58% |
| 2021 | Jett Lawrence | No | 383 | 99 | 25.85% |
| 2022 | Jett Lawrence | Yes | 380 | 147 | 38.68% |
| 2023 | Hunter Lawrence | Yes | 354 | 103 | 29.10% |
* = Certain rounds are missing from this season. Missing rounds are 2004 Round 9, 2006 Round 1, 2006 Round 11, 2006 Round 11, 2007 Round 4, 2007 Round 11 and 2008 Round 2.
Since 2004, the 250MX champion hasn’t led the most laps seven times vs the 450MX champion five times.
2005
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Mike Alessi | 345 | 96 | 27.83% |
| 6th | Broc Hepler | 345 | 62 | 17.97% |
| 1st | Ivan Tedesco | 345 | 46 | 13.33% |
Tedesco has the lowest season laps led % of any 250MX champion since 2004. Broc Hepler led the second most laps despite finishing 6th in the championship.
2009
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Christophe Pourcel | 364 | 148 | 40.66% |
| 1st | Ryan Dungey | 364 | 87 | 23.90% |
Christophe Pourcel finished 11 points behind Dungey in 2009 despite leading far more laps.
2012
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Justin Barcia | 384 | 138 | 35.94% |
| 3rd | Eli Tomac | 384 | 79 | 20.57% |
| 4th | Ken Roczen | 384 | 79 | 20.57% |
| 1st | Blake Baggett | 384 | 60 | 15.63% |
Blake Baggett was 4th in laps led in 2012 in the 250MX class. Baggett never led a moto from start to finish at any point in 2012. He led laps in 11 different motos in 2012, in only 3 of those did he lead more than 5+ laps.
2015
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Marvin Musquin | 385 | 117 | 30.39% |
| 1st | Jeremy Martin | 385 | 102 | 26.49% |
Marvin Musquin appears once again in this article, this time in the 250 class where he led more laps than Jeremy Martin in 2015.
2016
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 3rd | Joey Savatgy | 381 | 71 | 18.64% |
| 2nd | Alex Martin | 381 | 66 | 17.32% |
| 1st | Cooper Webb | 381 | 55 | 14.44% |
2016 is our first back to back season in the 250 class, this time with the champion Cooper Webb leading the third most laps on the season behind Joey Savatgy and Alex Martin. Troll Train!
2019
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Dylan Ferrandis | 375 | 112 | 29.87% |
| 1st | Adam Cianciarulo | 375 | 97 | 25.87% |
Dylan Ferrandis finished the 2019 250MX season with more laps led than Adam Cianciarulo. AC was super consistent finishing the overall podium in all 12 rounds. AC’s average moto finish in 2019 was 2.33! Interestingly, of AC’s 97 laps led, 70 of those came in Moto 2.
2021
| Championship Finish | Rider | Laps in Season | Laps Led | Laps Led % |
| 2nd | Justin Cooper | 383 | 146 | 38.12% |
| 1st | Jett Lawrence | 383 | 99 | 25.85% |
Justin Cooper led Jett Lawrence in laps led in 2021. I think if Justin Cooper doesn’t crash at Washougal and hurt his hand, he wins this title over Jett Lawrence. Not sure if that is a hot take or not, but here is a hot take: If Jeremy Martin stays healthy for the 2021 Pro Motocross season he beats both Jett Lawrence and Justin Cooper for that title!
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