There is always some debate about how to give out points at Triple Crowns. Currently, the event is scored with an Olympic scoring style, that is, the least points across three Triple Crown races wins. And from there, the overall is determined and points are given out like a typical Supercross race.
But how would the season points standings change if each individual Triple Crown gave out the full amount of points a normal Supercross race does?
For this, I’ll look at both the 450 Class and each coast for the 250 Class since Triple Crowns debuted in 2018.
The points structure will reflect how it was in the corresponding year. The points structure changed in 2018 through 2023. In 2024, it changed again and has stayed the same from 2024 to 2025.
450 Class
2018
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Jason Anderson | 483 | 1 | 356 | 1 | 0 |
| Marvin Musquin | 449 | 2 | 347 | 2 | 0 |
| Eli Tomac | 440 | 3 | 318 | 3 | 0 |
| Justin Brayton | 399 | 4 | 285 | 5 | 1 |
| Blake Baggett | 380 | 5 | 275 | 4 | -1 |
| Weston Peick | 342 | 6 | 251 | 6 | 0 |
| Dean Wilson | 272 | 7 | 208 | 7 | 0 |
| Cooper Webb | 247 | 8 | 184 | 9 | 1 |
| Justin Barcia | 247 | 9 | 181 | 10 | 1 |
| Malcolm Stewart | 232 | 10 | 177 | 11 | 1 |
Not much change for 2018 in the 450 class.
2019
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Cooper Webb | 513 | 1 | 379 | 1 | 0 |
| Eli Tomac | 484 | 2 | 361 | 2 | 0 |
| Marvin Musquin | 471 | 3 | 350 | 3 | 0 |
| Ken Roczen | 424 | 4 | 319 | 4 | 0 |
| Blake Baggett | 374 | 5 | 290 | 5 | 0 |
| Dean Wilson | 319 | 6 | 223 | 6 | 0 |
| Joey Savatgy | 294 | 7 | 208 | 8 | 1 |
| Cole Seely | 270 | 8 | 211 | 7 | -1 |
| Justin Bogle | 231 | 9 | 171 | 9 | 0 |
| Justin Hill | 231 | 10 | 162 | 11 | 1 |
Even less change in 2019 vs 2018.
2020
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Eli Tomac | 472 | 1 | 384 | 1 | 0 |
| Ken Roczen | 448 | 2 | 354 | 3 | 1 |
| Cooper Webb | 413 | 3 | 359 | 2 | -1 |
| Jason Anderson | 369 | 4 | 287 | 4 | 0 |
| Justin Barcia | 339 | 5 | 272 | 5 | 0 |
| Malcolm Stewart | 311 | 6 | 252 | 7 | 1 |
| Zach Osborne | 299 | 7 | 252 | 6 | -1 |
| Dean Wilson | 288 | 8 | 239 | 8 | 0 |
| Justin Hill | 275 | 9 | 213 | 10 | 1 |
| Justin Brayton | 266 | 10 | 227 | 9 | -1 |
2020 only had two Triple Crown rounds before the covid shutdown. A bit more variation in 2020 vs the two previous years.
2021
2021 didn’t have any Triple Crown rounds as the schedule was fully impacted by covid.
2022
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Eli Tomac | 490 | 1 | 359 | 1 | 0 |
| Jason Anderson | 473 | 2 | 350 | 2 | 0 |
| Malcolm Stewart | 420 | 3 | 314 | 3 | 0 |
| Chase Sexton | 414 | 4 | 292 | 6 | 2 |
| Justin Barcia | 411 | 5 | 312 | 4 | -1 |
| Marvin Musquin | 400 | 6 | 305 | 5 | -1 |
| Cooper Webb | 354 | 7 | 278 | 7 | 0 |
| Justin Brayton | 250 | 8 | 176 | 9 | 1 |
| Brandon Hartranft | 239 | 9 | 178 | 8 | -1 |
| Dean Wilson | 208 | 10 | 152 | 10 | 0 |
2023
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Chase Sexton | 501 | 1 | 372 | 1 | 0 |
| Eli Tomac | 466 | 2 | 339 | 2 | 0 |
| Ken Roczen | 426 | 3 | 304 | 3 | 0 |
| Cooper Webb | 425 | 4 | 304 | 4 | 0 |
| Justin Barcia | 371 | 5 | 267 | 5 | 0 |
| Jason Anderson | 352 | 6 | 242 | 6 | 0 |
| Aaron Plessinger | 332 | 7 | 236 | 7 | 0 |
| Justin Hill | 273 | 8 | 212 | 8 | 0 |
| Adam Cianciarulo | 271 | 9 | 210 | 9 | 0 |
| Dean Wilson | 271 | 10 | 200 | 10 | 0 |
Absolutely zero change in the Top 10 in 2023.
2024
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Jett Lawrence | 467 | 1 | 351 | 1 | 0 |
| Cooper Webb | 437 | 2 | 336 | 2 | 0 |
| Chase Sexton | 422 | 3 | 307 | 3 | 0 |
| Eli Tomac | 397 | 4 | 282 | 5 | 1 |
| Jason Anderson | 378 | 5 | 282 | 4 | -1 |
| Ken Roczen | 318 | 6 | 223 | 7 | 1 |
| Justin Cooper | 308 | 7 | 227 | 6 | -1 |
| Aaron Plessinger | 295 | 8 | 198 | 11 | 3 |
| Justin Barcia | 294 | 9 | 217 | 8 | -1 |
| Hunter Lawrence | 289 | 10 | 207 | 9 | -1 |
2024 brought a lot more variation compared to the other years.
2025 (so far through 5 rounds)
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Chase Sexton | 138 | 1 | 101 | 1 | 0 |
| Cooper Webb | 136 | 2 | 96 | 2 | 0 |
| Ken Roczen | 123 | 3 | 84 | 4 | 1 |
| Eli Tomac | 121 | 4 | 83 | 5 | 1 |
| Jason Anderson | 110 | 5 | 80 | 3 | -2 |
| Jett Lawrence | 102 | 6 | 77 | 7 | 1 |
| Malcolm Stewart | 102 | 7 | 71 | 6 | -1 |
| Justin Barcia | 94 | 8 | 69 | 9 | 1 |
| Hunter Lawrence | 93 | 9 | 68 | 10 | 1 |
| Justin Cooper | 90 | 10 | 62 | 8 | -2 |
Some variation in 2025 so far, but we are only through 5 rounds and the Triple Crown would be weighted higher for this year.
Overall we see fairly little change in the Top 10 standings over the course of each season with Triple Crowns. Never has the champion changed, and only once has the second place rider changed. I was surprised to see this. I figured there would be more changes to the end of season standings if each TC race counted as much as a normal one. However, over the course of the season, points will balance out. Furthermore, the same top riders will be within each other at most Triple Crowns, limiting points swings.
But what about the 250s?
250 Class
2018 – West Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Adam Cianciarulo | 250 | 1 | 209 | 2 | 1 |
| Aaron Plessinger | 246 | 2 | 211 | 1 | -1 |
| Joey Savatgy | 242 | 3 | 193 | 4 | 1 |
| Shane McElrath | 233 | 4 | 193 | 3 | -1 |
| Chase Sexton | 196 | 5 | 167 | 5 | 0 |
| Justin Hill | 163 | 6 | 136 | 6 | 0 |
| Kyle Chisholm | 161 | 7 | 134 | 7 | 0 |
| Christian Craig | 147 | 8 | 106 | 9 | 1 |
| Mitchell Harrison | 138 | 9 | 121 | 8 | -1 |
| Hayden Mellross | 129 | 10 | 101 | 10 | 0 |
We have our first championship change! In this scenario, Adam Cianciarulo wins the 2018 250W championship over Plessinger.
2018 – East Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Zach Osborne | 283 | 1 | 196 | 1 | 0 |
| Jordon Smith | 270 | 2 | 188 | 2 | 0 |
| Jeremy Martin | 255 | 3 | 175 | 3 | 0 |
| Austin Forkner | 204 | 4 | 137 | 4 | 0 |
| Sean Cantrell | 162 | 5 | 108 | 7 | 2 |
| Brandon Hartranft | 157 | 6 | 103 | 8 | 2 |
| Luke Renzland | 155 | 7 | 118 | 5 | -2 |
| Kyle Peters | 142 | 8 | 112 | 6 | -2 |
| Anthony Rodriguez | 122 | 9 | 76 | 9 | 0 |
| Josh Osby | 98 | 10 | 56 | 12 | 2 |
While the 2018 West title changes, no changes to the East coast at the top.
2019 – West Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Dylan Ferrandis | 319 | 1 | 226 | 1 | 0 |
| Adam Cianciarulo | 285 | 2 | 211 | 2 | 0 |
| Colt Nichols | 267 | 3 | 180 | 3 | 0 |
| RJ Hampshire | 244 | 4 | 168 | 4 | 0 |
| Cameron McAdoo | 213 | 5 | 149 | 5 | 0 |
| Michael Mosiman | 197 | 6 | 144 | 6 | 0 |
| Jimmy Decotis | 187 | 7 | 133 | 7 | 0 |
| Chris Blose | 173 | 8 | 120 | 9 | 1 |
| Shane McElrath | 167 | 9 | 123 | 8 | -1 |
| Garrett Marchbanks | 144 | 10 | 113 | 10 | 0 |
The 2019 championship battle between Cianciarulo and Ferrandis has a larger gap in this scenario, with Ferrandis winning the title by an even larger margin.
2019 – East Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Chase Sexton | 233 | 1 | 193 | 1 | 0 |
| Justin Cooper | 221 | 2 | 180 | 2 | 0 |
| Austin Forkner | 204 | 3 | 152 | 3 | 0 |
| Martin Davalos | 182 | 4 | 148 | 4 | 0 |
| Alex Martin | 173 | 5 | 139 | 5 | 0 |
| Mitchell Oldenburg | 161 | 6 | 128 | 7 | 1 |
| Kyle Peters | 154 | 7 | 126 | 8 | 1 |
| Brandon Hartranft | 150 | 8 | 130 | 6 | -2 |
| Kyle Cunningham | 136 | 9 | 110 | 9 | 0 |
| Jordan Bailey | 119 | 10 | 101 | 10 | 0 |
After a few examples, we see more changes in the 250 classes (as expected) vs the 450 class.
2020 – West Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Dylan Ferrandis | 246 | 1 | 200 | 1 | 0 |
| Austin Forkner | 223 | 2 | 176 | 3 | 1 |
| Justin Cooper | 212 | 3 | 180 | 2 | -1 |
| Brandon Hartranft | 193 | 4 | 158 | 4 | 0 |
| Michael Mosiman | 173 | 5 | 139 | 5 | 0 |
| Alex Martin | 152 | 6 | 124 | 6 | 0 |
| Derek Drake | 149 | 7 | 120 | 7 | 0 |
| Mitchell Oldenburg | 140 | 8 | 109 | 8 | 0 |
| Luke Clout | 129 | 9 | 106 | 9 | 0 |
| Jacob Hayes | 124 | 10 | 89 | 11 | 1 |
Not much change here, for the most part in all these example have riders only moving up a spot or two.
2020 – East Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Chase Sexton | 264 | 1 | 218 | 1 | 0 |
| Shane McElrath | 256 | 2 | 209 | 2 | 0 |
| Garrett Marchbanks | 155 | 3 | 119 | 4 | 1 |
| Jo Shimoda | 146 | 4 | 122 | 3 | -1 |
| Jeremy Martin | 144 | 5 | 105 | 6 | 1 |
| Enzo Lopes | 138 | 6 | 107 | 5 | -1 |
| Jalek Swoll | 128 | 7 | 104 | 7 | 0 |
| RJ Hampshire | 123 | 8 | 80 | 10 | 2 |
| Kyle Peters | 96 | 9 | 94 | 8 | -1 |
| Pierce Brown | 92 | 10 | 92 | 9 | -1 |
Lots of variation for 2020 on the East coast, no change to the title.
2021
As mentioned before, no Triple Crown races in 2021.
2022 – West Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Christian Craig | 278 | 1 | 230 | 1 | 0 |
| Hunter Lawrence | 266 | 2 | 220 | 2 | 0 |
| Michael Mosiman | 227 | 3 | 197 | 3 | 0 |
| Jo Shimoda | 201 | 4 | 162 | 4 | 0 |
| Vince Friese | 185 | 5 | 150 | 6 | 1 |
| Nate Thrasher | 185 | 6 | 152 | 5 | -1 |
| Garrett Marchbanks | 151 | 7 | 117 | 8 | 1 |
| Jalek Swoll | 140 | 8 | 106 | 10 | 2 |
| Chris Blose | 137 | 9 | 120 | 7 | -2 |
| Robbie Wageman | 132 | 10 | 109 | 9 | -1 |
2022 – East Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Jett Lawrence | 264 | 1 | 192 | 1 | 0 |
| RJ Hampshire | 256 | 2 | 158 | 2 | 0 |
| Mitchell Oldenburg | 155 | 3 | 132 | 4 | 1 |
| Pierce Brown | 146 | 4 | 149 | 3 | -1 |
| Jordon Smith | 144 | 5 | 116 | 6 | 1 |
| Enzo Lopes | 138 | 6 | 117 | 5 | -1 |
| Cameron McAdoo | 128 | 7 | 114 | 7 | 0 |
| Jace Owen | 123 | 8 | 101 | 8 | 0 |
| Phil Nicoletti | 96 | 9 | 76 | 12 | 3 |
| Austin Forkner | 92 | 10 | 98 | 9 | -1 |
We see the largest improvement for the 250 class so far, Phil Nicoletti moves up 3 spots in this scenario.
2023 – West Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Jett Lawrence | 311 | 1 | 223 | 1 | 0 |
| RJ Hampshire | 258 | 2 | 186 | 2 | 0 |
| Levi Kitchen | 241 | 3 | 156 | 3 | 0 |
| Enzo Lopes | 205 | 4 | 149 | 4 | 0 |
| Mitchell Oldenburg | 194 | 5 | 131 | 5 | 0 |
| Max Vohland | 177 | 6 | 121 | 6 | 0 |
| Pierce Brown | 168 | 7 | 98 | 8 | 1 |
| Derek Kelley | 150 | 8 | 87 | 9 | 1 |
| Cameron McAdoo | 133 | 9 | 101 | 7 | -2 |
| Cole Thompson | 132 | 10 | 87 | 10 | 0 |
Jett’s dominance this year looks just as dominant.
2023 – East Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Hunter Lawrence | 284 | 1 | 241 | 1 | 0 |
| Max Anstie | 218 | 2 | 182 | 3 | 1 |
| Haiden Deegan | 213 | 3 | 183 | 2 | -1 |
| Jordon Smith | 199 | 4 | 159 | 4 | 0 |
| Chris Blose | 174 | 5 | 143 | 5 | 0 |
| Jeremy Martin | 169 | 6 | 132 | 6 | 0 |
| Nate Thrasher | 161 | 7 | 120 | 7 | 0 |
| Tom Vialle | 156 | 8 | 120 | 8 | 0 |
| Cullin Park | 137 | 9 | 117 | 9 | 0 |
| Henry Miller | 107 | 10 | 86 | 11 | 1 |
2024 – West Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Levi Kitchen | 295 | 1 | 203 | 2 | 1 |
| RJ Hampshire | 288 | 2 | 208 | 1 | -1 |
| Jo Shimoda | 258 | 3 | 181 | 4 | 1 |
| Jordon Smith | 258 | 4 | 185 | 3 | -1 |
| Nate Thrasher | 193 | 5 | 123 | 5 | 0 |
| Garrett Marchbanks | 177 | 6 | 121 | 6 | 0 |
| Julien Beaumer | 176 | 7 | 118 | 7 | 0 |
| Anthony Bourdon | 156 | 8 | 106 | 8 | 0 |
| Phil Nicoletti | 147 | 9 | 105 | 9 | 0 |
| Ryder DiFrancesco | 142 | 10 | 88 | 12 | 2 |
We have our second title change! In this scenario, Levi Kitchen is the 2024 250 West Champion.
2024 – East Coast
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Tom Vialle | 213 | 1 | 172 | 1 | 0 |
| Haiden Deegan | 211 | 2 | 168 | 2 | 0 |
| Pierce Brown | 163 | 3 | 131 | 4 | 1 |
| Cameron McAdoo | 162 | 4 | 120 | 6 | 2 |
| Coty Schock | 160 | 5 | 132 | 3 | -2 |
| Max Anstie | 145 | 6 | 125 | 5 | -1 |
| Chance Hymas | 143 | 7 | 116 | 8 | 1 |
| Jalek Swoll | 138 | 8 | 116 | 7 | -1 |
| Daxton Bennick | 135 | 9 | 111 | 9 | 0 |
| Seth Hammaker | 123 | 10 | 95 | 10 | 0 |
The close title race between Tom Vialle and Haiden Deegan in 2024 remained extremely close in this hypothetical.
2025 – West Coast (so far)
| Rider | New Points Amount | New Rank | Original Points | Original Rank | Change |
| Jordon Smith | 127 | 1 | 85 | 2 | 1 |
| Julien Beaumer | 124 | 2 | 87 | 1 | -1 |
| Haiden Deegan | 122 | 3 | 84 | 3 | 0 |
| Cole Davies | 116 | 4 | 72 | 4 | 0 |
| Jo Shimoda | 90 | 5 | 68 | 5 | 0 |
| Michael Mosiman | 89 | 6 | 52 | 8 | 2 |
| Coty Schock | 89 | 7 | 63 | 6 | -1 |
| Anthony Bourdon | 79 | 8 | 54 | 7 | -1 |
| Garrett Marchbanks | 72 | 9 | 43 | 9 | 0 |
| Parker Ross | 59 | 10 | 35 | 12 | 2 |
If the 2025 250 West title ended today, it would be Jordon Smith as the champion instead of Julien Beaumer.
Takeaways
Overall, I am surprised by how little this changed things. I am personally of the mindset that the Triple Crowns can be a bit boring, especially in the 3rd race when the top rider only needs a top 5 to clinch the overall. I don’t think each Triple Crown race should pay points, I think this puts too much weight into these individual races. And they are essentially a glorified and extended heat race.
However, I would be in favor of a championship points bonus for winning each race. Not a lot – maybe 3 or 5 points, but enough to motivate the riders to try to win all three races.
Thanks for reading! Any questions, hit me up on Twitter or Instagram @MXReference
