Jordon Smith Scores Fifth Podium of Season
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Jordon Smith and Haiden Deegan finish third / Apr 30, 2023 /
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Jordon Smith returned to the podium, finishing third at the penultimate round of the 250SX East Championship at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. His rookie teammate Haiden Deegan had another strong performance in the challenging conditions and crossed the line fourth.
With rain preceding the 15th round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, riders were met with challenging track conditions for the day race schedule. Smith got off to a flying start topping free practice and qualifying second in the combined times. He grabbed the holeshot in the first 250 heat race of the day and led from start to finish. The North Carolinian got another great start in the main event in second and quickly claimed the lead. Smith led the first five laps but unfortunately went off track and rejoined in third. The veteran kept his cool in the changing conditions and tried to charge back to the runner-up spot, but ultimately crossed the line third for his fifth podium of the season.
Deegan qualified fourth and had a good start in his heat race, slotting in behind his teammate to finish second. In the main event, he didn't get off the gate as he had hoped but was in the top five. The Californian kept pushing and made his way to fourth with an outside pass after the whoops. He tried to close the gap on the frontrunners, but there wasn't enough time, and he crossed the line fourth. Deegan maintains his runner-up position in the 250SX East Championship as the regional class gets a weekend off before the season finale in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Next weekend Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Levi Kitchen returns for Round 8 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Championship and the 16th round of the SuperMotocross World Championship at the Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, on May 6.
Jensen Hendler - Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 Team Manager
“The weekend went, with Smith ending the day on the podium and Deegan fourth. They qualified great, with Smith second and Haiden fourth, and they both raced Heat 2 and finished 1-2 to get great gate picks for the main. “They both had good starts, and Smith found himself in first on the first lap, but a small mistake shuffled him back to third. He put in a late charge to try and secure second but was a little short and finished third, which is great to go into the final round with a podium. Haiden fought his way through some guys to finish fourth. It's not what he wanted, but he can continue to fight and go for a podium spot at the finale.”
Jordon Smith - Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“We started bright and early this morning, but it was a good day for us. I was right there with the top times in each practice and won the heat race. Then I got off to a great start in the main, passed for the lead, and led the thing for maybe five or six minutes. I made a mistake and went off the track and got a little tight after that. The track was really gnarly. It was really hard to keep pushing all the way through the main event, especially with a little bit of arm pump. The track just broke down a lot. The track crew tried fixing it, but it was just soft and hard at the same time. One of the rhythm sections was already foot-peg deep which they fixed before the main event, so it was constantly changing, and you had to stay on your toes the whole main. I'm happy to get my fifth podium of the season and battling for the win. It's been a long time since I've been consistently on the podium, so I'm not taking that for granted. We're just going to keep working.”
Haiden Deegan - Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a good day overall. Qualifying was alright, and then the heat race was good. I had good speed and got second. In the main event, I got a bad start and tried to push through, but I just didn't have enough time at the end. I ended up getting close, which was good. It was the first time I was able to catch the front guys, so I'm happy with that. The track did break down a lot more than I thought it was going to, watching previous videos of this place. It had quite a bit of ruts, and it was hard-packed, dry, and sketchy. So fourth place on the day. We will just keep getting better.”
