2024 RedBud Motocross Fantasy Picks and Tips [7 Fast Facts]

It’s the midway point in the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series. Just three points separate the top three riders. However, there’s a spanner in the works. This week, defending 450MX National Champion Jett Lawrence had a practice crash that tore his UCL. The same thumb injury knocked Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb out of this year’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series. Lawrence hopes to be back for the first round of the 2024 SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff. But that’s in the future, and we have to make some fantasy motocross picks now for RMFantasyMX.com players as the 2024 RedBud National beckons.

1. Chase Sexton and series leader Hunter Lawrence have a lock on the top two positions. The only question is, what order do you put them in? Hunter has a 2-3-2-3 scorecard in the last four motos, with Sexton boasting 3-2-3-1 finishes. Hunter will have to adjust to not having his brother around, and Sexton won’t have to push as hard as he did to keep up with Jett. Sexton appears to have the slimmest of advantages in what is essentially a toss-up choice. So, go with Sexton to win and put Lawrence in the #2 spot.

2. Look for Justin Cooper on the podium. Cooper’s overall results in the last three Nationals is 4-5-3. With Jett out of the picture, Cooper gets promoted to the #3 spot. Also, Cooper has four overall top-fives in five rounds, so he is always in the mix.

3. Plessinger is next in line, with three overall top-five finishes. Those are more top-fives than any rider that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Plessinger will undoubtedly want to be on the podium to wave the stars and stripes in front of the rabidly patriotic RedBud crowd, so that might be enough to get him on the podium. However, I will reluctantly have to put him in P4.

4. With a strong showing last week, Dylan Ferrandis gets the call for P5. Ferrandis has finished between P5 and P9 in every National moto this year. Also, with two overall top-fives, he’s the cream of the P5 candidates. Justin Barcia also has a pair of top-fives. However, he won’t be lining up, as Barcia is attending to injured knees.

   

5. Jason Anderson is a dark horse top-five choice. The knock on Anderson in the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series is that he can’t put two good motos together. Anderson has a top-five finish in at least one moto at each National round. Unfortunately, in the other motos, he has gone 10-5-10-7-31. So, you can take Anderson for P5, but it’s a risky proposition.

   

6. The Wild Card is P16, so there’s no way to have a decent prediction that far downfield. Really, that could be anyone around P16 in the overall standings, so give priority to Marshal Weltin, Shane McElrath, Cullin Park, and Romain Pape. Harri Kullas is in P15 in the standings, but he’s a better finisher than that, as he didn’t ride two rounds. You might even want to consider fill-in rider Broc Tickle. I think Tickle is fast enough to do better than P16, but he may not be in race condition to finish higher. Tickle will benefit from mild race-time conditions—the high forecast for Buchanan, Mich., on Saturday is 75 degrees. However, Tickle isn’t available as a pick on the RMFantasyMX site, so I’ll go with Shane McElrath as my backup Wild Card.

   

7. To watch, Peacock is doing the normal streaming thing, with NBC and CNBC in the mix. Check out our 2024 Pro Motocross Television Schedule for details. If you have Peacock, Race Day Live starts at 10 a.m. EDT, with racing getting underway at 1 p.m. EDT.

2024 RedBud Motocross Fantasy Picks

1. Chase Sexton
2. Hunter Lawrence
3. Justin Cooper
4. Aaron Plessinger
5. Dylan Ferrandis

Wild Card P16: Broc Tickle (Shane McElrath backup)

Exclusive photography by Tyler Maillet / Ajak Photos

2024 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series Standings (after 5 of 11 rounds)

1. Hunter Lawrence, Honda, 213 points (5 overall podiums; 5 overall top 5)
2. Jett Lawrence, Honda, 210 (4W, 4P, 4 T5)
3. Chase Sexton, KTM, 210 (1 overall win, 4P, 5 T5)
4. Justin Cooper, Yamaha, 176 (1P, 4 T5)
5. Aaron Plessinger, KTM, 162 (1P; 3 T5)
6. Dylan Ferrandis, Honda, 152 (2 T5)
7. Jason Anderson, Kawasaki, 148 (1 T5)
8. Justin Barcia, GasGas, 148 (2 T5)
9. Malcolm Stewart, Husqvarna, 133
10. Freddie Norén, Kawasaki, 90
11. Christian Craig, Husqvarna, 83
12. Phil Nicoletti, Yamaha, 77
13. Grant Harlan, Yamaha, 70
14. Marshal Weltin, Yamaha, 63
15. Harri Kullas, KTM, 54
16. Shane McElrath, Suzuki, 49
17. Cullin Park, Honda, 38
18. Romain Pape, GasGas, 39
19. Derek Kelley, KTM, 37
20. Justin Hill, KTM, 35
21. Kyle Webster, Honda, 20
22. Kyle Chisholm, Suzuki, 20
23. Jerry Robin, Yamaha, 18
24. Dean Wilson, Honda, 17
25. Garrett Marchbanks, Yamaha, 17
26. Gert Krestinov, Honda, 15
27. Lorenzo Locurcio, GasGas, 15
28. Alvin Östlund, Honda, 11
29. Jeremy Hand, Honda, 11
30. Scotty Verhaeghe, GasGas, 9
31. Anthony Rodriguez, KTM, 9
32. James Harrington, Yamaha, 8
33. Henry Miller, Honda, 8
34. Max Miller, Suzuki, 6
35. Bryce Shelly, Yamaha, 4
36. Tristan Lane, KTM, 3
37. Jake Masterpool, GasGas, 1