2024 Budds Creek Motocross Fantasy Picks [9 Fast Facts]

Series leader Chase Sexton faces match point at the Budds Creek National on Saturday, the penultimate round of the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series. Sexton comes into Budds Creek MX Park in Maryland 28 points ahead of Hunter Lawrence. If Sexton leaves with a 50-point lead, it’s over. That’s unlikely, but the possibility is there. However, several intriguing storylines in this round involve your RMFantasyMX.com choices, so let’s begin the 2024 Budds Creek motocross fantasy picks.

1. Three past Budds Creek National 450MX winners will be lining up on Saturday, and none of them are named Chase Sexton. Jason Anderson (2022), Dylan Ferrandis (’21), and Eli Tomac (’18-19). Not there will be 2016 winner Ken Roczen and re-injured Cooper Webb. Those wins aren’t enough for me to dethrone Chase Sexton from the #1 spot in RMFantasyMX, but if you need a Hail Mary, you’ve got three guys to consider. Otherwise, Sexton is still dominating and is the guy to pick to win.

2. Hunter Lawrence looked great on the 2025 Honda CRF450R at Unadilla, so he has earned his way back to the P2 slot. Lawrence broke Sexton’s moto win streak at Unadilla by taking the first moto victory. However, Sexton re-established himself as the top 450MX dog in the second moto. Feel free to take a chance on Lawrence for his first-ever 450MX overall win. I’ll stick with Lawrence as the runner-up.

3. There are five riders to consider filling out the podium—Jason Anderson, Justin Cooper, Dylan Ferrandis, Aaron Plessinger, and Eli Tomac. All five are legitimate choices, so let’s break it down.

4. Over the last four rounds, Plessinger has the best results of the four riders in contention for P3. Plessinger has five moto podium finishes, a pair of P4s, and a P5. That makes him the guy for P3 at the 2024 Budds Creek National.

5. Jason Anderson and Justin Cooper will battle it out for P4. Over the last four rounds, these two have been going at it back and forth, neck-and-neck. However, Anderson is a former Budds Creek winner, and Cooper has been lagging a bit. In the last three motos, Anderson has gone 2-5-5, compared to Cooper’s 7-4-7. With that in mind, it’s Anderson for P4 and Cooper right behind him.
   

   

   6. Dylan Ferrandis is certainly a top-five threat. After a six-moto streak of P5 and P6 finishes, Ferrandis was on the second-moto podium at Unadilla. Ferrandis is also a former Budds Creek winner. That’s not enough for me to lock him into the top five, though he’s a good selection for someone willing to take a risk to gain some points in leagues. A podium seems very unlikely, though he certainly could make the top five.

7. Like Cooper Webb last week, Eli Tomac is an unknown quantity. I left Webb out of the top five last week, and that was the right call. There’s no way to tell how Tomac will do over two motos, so I’ll just wait and see. Tomac’s two Budds Creek Nationals came a long time ago, so it’s hard to argue they make a big difference. Also, Tomac is simply prepping for the FIM World Motocross Championship Series, so he’s not likely to want to take a lot of chances. Consider Tomac a longshot for the top-five, but still an option.

8. RMFantasyMX.com is going full-send on the Wild Card—P15. That’s pretty much a guess, so here’s a list of riders with a P15 moto finish this year—Cullin Park (twice), Harri Kulas (twice), Derek Kelley (twice), Kyle Chisholm (twice), Christian Craig, Jerry Robin, Romain Pape, Jeremy Hand, Garrett Marchbanks, Broc Tickle, Anthony Rodriguez, Lorenzo Locurcio, and Phil Nicoletti. The P15 overall list is Craig, Pape, Kelley, Park, Justin Hill, Gert Krestinov, Phil Nicoletti, Freddie Norén, and Cooper Webb. With two P15 moto finishes and a P15 overall, your two best choices are Derek Kelly and Cullin Park. Of course, both had miserable Unadilla Nationals, but Park was P15 the round before. I’m going with Park for P15.

9. It’s an East Coast round, so tune in early. Race Day Live starts at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. local time) and racing begins at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. locally). Check our 2024 Pro Motocross Television Schedule for Encore Broadcast showings a day later on USA and CNBC.

2024 Budds Creek Motocross Fantasy Picks

1. Chase Sexton
2. Hunter Lawrence
3. Aaron Plessinger
4. Jason Anderson
5. Justin Cooper

Wild Card P15: Cullin Park

Photography by Align Media, Octopi Media, and BrownDogWilson Photography

2024 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series Standings (after 9 of 11 rounds)

1. Chase Sexton, KTM, 407 points (5 overall wins, 8 overall podiums, 8 overall Top 5s)
2. Hunter Lawrence, Honda, 379 (8P; 9 T5)
3. Aaron Plessinger, KTM, 319 (4P, 7 T5)
4. Justin Cooper, Yamaha, 317 (3P, 7 T5)
5. Jason Anderson, Kawasaki, 295 (1P, 5 T5)
6. Dylan Ferrandis, Honda, 273 (3 T5)
7. Malcolm Stewart, Husqvarna, 238
8. Jett Lawrence, Honda, 210 (4W, 4P, 4 T5)
9. Christian Craig, Husqvarna, 188
10. Freddie Norén, Kawasaki, 160
11. Justin Barcia, GasGas, 148 (2 T5)
12. Phil Nicoletti, Yamaha, 141
13. Harri Kullas, KTM, 137
14. Grant Harlan, Yamaha, 128
15. Marshal Weltin, Yamaha, 126
16. Shane McElrath, Suzuki/Kawasaki, 97
17. Romain Pape, GasGas, 80
18. Derek Kelley, KTM, 72
19. Cullin Park, Honda, 67
20. Kyle Chisholm, Suzuki, 59
21. Garrett Marchbanks, Yamaha, 50
22. Kyle Webster, Honda, 45
23. Anthony Rodriguez, KTM, 41
24. Justin Hill, KTM, 35
25. Ken Roczen, Suzuki, 31
26. Dean Wilson, Honda, 28
27. Lorenzo Locurcio, GasGas, 25
28. Jerry Robin, Yamaha, 22
29. Alvin Östlund, Honda, 20
30. Broc Tickle, Kawasaki, 17
31. Gert Krestinov, Honda, 15
32. Jeremy Hand, Honda, 15
33. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 14
34. Henry Miller, Honda, 13
35. Max Miller, Suzuki, 13
36. Scotty Verhaeghe, GasGas, 9
37. James Harrington, Yamaha, 8
38. Colt Nichols, Suzuki, 8
39. Bryce Shelly, Yamaha, 6
40. Henry Jacobi, KTM, 5
41. John Short, Kawasaki, 5
42. Trevin Nelson, Yamaha, 5
43. Ryder Floyd, Honda, 4
44. Carson Brown, Yamaha, 3
45. Tristan Lane, KTM, 3
46. Jake Masterpool, GasGas, 3