Jordon Smith Will Be a Champion if He Stays at Star

Notice that this column now has a sponsor? That’s right! Troy Dog joined the Blu Cru and you should too! I have one in my garage right now and I can’t wait to go shred it! Thank you to Yamaha for believing in my ELITE columns on this dirt bike website enough to sponsor me. What a dream come true! BTW: Have you seen the all-new YZ450F? OH. MY. GOODNESS. I can’t wait to test that bad boy.

I really like the setup with Jordon Smith at Monster Energy/Yamaha Star Racing this year and I think that if he can get another chance with the team in 2024 that he will be a 250SX champion. Smith has a second year option on his current deal, which I’ll assume that the team will be exercising.

Why do I think this? Well, for one it’s hard to beat experience and speed, which are two luxuries Smith definitely has. It’s hard to believe that he’s a veteran at this point, but he just turned 27 and he turned pro in 2015. He’s also been in championship contention before and could have had the 2017 250SX East Championship had he not endoed his brains out at Las Vegas that year.

I’m seeing history repeat itself with Smith just as the team had success with Christian Craig the past couple of seasons. In 2021 when Christian first came over to Star his results were a bit better with 1-3-2-5-2-1-3 compared to Jordon’s year so far in 2023 3-15-2-4-3-DNQ-2. Sure, not as consistent, but you can see the similarities. The class is different this year as well because Hunter Lawrence is riding the best he ever has and on a roll. Craig was clearly the best Star rider on his coast those two years, but Smith is on par with Nate Thrasher and (as we’ve seen) Haiden Deegan.

Smith will win on this bike. I have absolutely no doubt about that. If he can stay injury free for the duration of this year, and for his potential contract extension, he will only get better. I’m honestly impressed by the consistent rebuilding of a season that Smith was able to accomplish last season with Fire Power Honda.

The two previous years (2020 and 2021) were haunted by injuries with the ghost of Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Did Smith think that since he was on PC that he was expected to win and just literally sent it every main event ultimately putting him out for the season each year? I don’t really think that is the case because now that he’s at Star they have a winning reputation as well. It’s a winning culture that seems worse than Pro Circuit these days. If you can’t win at Star, well you’re gone. If you can’t win at PC, it seems that Mitch Payton is able to stand behind his riders and give them a couple more chances.

It’s way too early to figure out the structure of each 250SX coast in 2024. A lot of moving parts need to happen and we have no idea who is going to step their game up in the offseason. All we really know is that Jett Lawrence will be 450 class bound at the Pro Motocross kickoff at Pala and I’m not sure if Hunter is staying in the 250 class next year. My guess is that Hunter will stay down for Supercross and race West next year before moving up to 450 for outdoors. No one can really run with those guys this season as we’ve seen, so the 250 class is wide open for 2024 and at least one coast will have a new champion. No one racing in the 250 divisions other than Jett has SX Championships at the moment. So, indeed, it’s exciting times. I believe Jordon will be able to put all of his veteran SX skills to use and build on his speed from this season to get the job done.

It was a great idea for Star to bring Smith on to its roster this season around all of the young talent that they have. Who knows what the dynamic looks like now after the Deegan altercation at Detroit, but his knowledge and speed is very beneficial to any team in the paddock. I even say that Smith is a dark horse for the East/West Showdown win this weekend in New Jersey. Let’s see how far Smith can take this opportunity.

Main image: Yamaha