2024 Supercross: Madd Parts Kawasaki Team Preview

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Welcome to the offseason and our new ongoing “Team Previews” column. Every week from now until the Monster Energy Supercross season starts in January we will be profiling a big team in the sport. We’ll go through the changes that have been made, analyze results, and give each team a grade on all of their offseason moves. This week we have the Madd Parts Kawasaki team and you will find the full schedule below.

The Biggest Question Mark: Will Freddie Noren continue to improve in SX and back up his success from 2023?

Who’s In:
#22 Freddie Noren – 450SX/MX
#74 Josh Cartwright – 450SX
#282 Bubba Pauli – 450SX

Who’s Out:
John Short

Last Season’s Supercross Results:
Freddie Noren – 21st (450SX)
Josh Cartwright – 23rd (450SX)
Bubba Pauli – N/A

Last Season’s Motocross Results:
Freddie Noren – 8th Overall (450MX)
Josh Cartwright – Did Not Race.
Bubba Pauli – Did Not Race.

Best 2023 SX Finish:
Freddie Noren – 11th (450SX/East Rutherford)
Josh Cartwright – 12th (450SX/Denver)
Bubba Pauli – N/A

Best 2023 MX Finish:
Freddie Noren – 7th Overall (450MX/RedBud)
Josh Cartwright – Did Not Race.
Bubba Pauli – Did Not Race.

Offseason Grade: B+

The Rundown:
The Madd Parts Kawasaki team is owned and operated by Bubba Pauli and it’s definitely a team on the rise. Last year was another big step in the right direction for the program as they had success making a lot of mains. Freddie Noren actually had his best 450SX season in his career, which is saying a lot because he’s been racing in the United States for a very long time. When the SX season was over the team went motocross racing for the first time, supporting Colt Nichols at select events. It wasn’t the entire series, but it was practice for 2024. For the first time in the team’s history they will race indoors and out with new #22 Freddie Noren leading the way.

For 2024 the team has brought on Derek Rankin to be the crew chief. This adds a lot of knowledge and help to the team and will allow Pauli to focus a lot more on his racing. Pauli has everything on his plate when it comes to this team, so the added help will be nice for him, but also will help out Noren and Cartwright as well. Pauli is coming back from losing most of his thumb at the Indianapolis Supercross, however he says that he is good to go for the new season.

Josh Cartwright is the rider that everyone knows because he works a full-time job and actually has a Bachelor’s Degree. He’s also set himself up for success next year. He moved up to the 450SX class full-time in 2023 with help from the Madd Parts team, but not exactly on a full team ride. He used that to his advantage and made 14 main events with his best finish being a 12th. He also had three other top 15 finishes during the season. Cartwright has shown that he can make the main events in a stacked field and he should better in his sophomore season.

Freddie Noren is one of a kind. He’s the nicest guy in the sport and he is coming off of his best season of his veteran career. It’s going to be hard to look at the number 22 and try to fathom that it really isn’t Chad Reed out there. Noren used his experience and consistency to put himself in a good position through the 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship. It was interesting to watch and see who truly benefited from the long grind of 31 races and Noren was one that shined the most. The Madd Parts team is all in on Freddie and they have a game plan in play to make sure he backs his performance up next season as well.

2024 Rider Projections:
Freddie Noren – He’s not just a motocross specialist anymore! Noren will be playing the long game and putting up as many consistent finishes that he can.

Josh Cartwright – He’s a main event guy that will be trying to break into the top 15 all season.

Bubba Pauli – Team owner/manager/rider guy, he’s going to be very close to making the main events at every round. Expect to see him in a few.

Thanks for reading my series of team previews for the coming season. If you’d like to talk about these or any of the other stories that I’ve written you can email me at [email protected] You can also reach me on Twitter/Instagram: @troydogvurb.

2024 Team Preview Schedule:

10/13 – Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / GASGAS Factory Race Team

10/20 – Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki

10/27 – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

11/5 – HRC Honda

11/12 – Monster Energy Kawasaki Factory Racing

11/18 – AEO Powersports KTM

11/21 – Partzilla PRMX

11/27 – Heartbeat Hot Sauce/Team Solitaire

11/28 – Rock River Yamaha

12/4 – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

12/6 – Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha