Earning Points Across the Season
In both Supercross and Motocross, every race counts toward the overall season championship. Points are awarded based on finishing position in the main event (or moto), and they accumulate throughout the entire season. The rider with the most points at the end of the year is crowned champion.
The Points Breakdown
Here's how points are awarded for each race:
- 1st place: 26 points
- 2nd place: 23 points
- 3rd place: 21 points
- 4th place: 19 points
- 5th–10th: 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13 points
- 11th–15th: 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 points
- 16th–22nd: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points
Notice the gap between first and second place is 3 points, while the gap between second and third is only 2. This rewards winning without making a single bad race catastrophic. A rider who finishes second all season long will still accumulate a massive point total.
The Red Plate
The championship points leader earns the right to display the red number plate on the front of their bike. This is one of the sport's most iconic symbols — when you see a red plate on the track, you know you're looking at the rider leading the championship. Earning and defending the red plate is a point of pride for every competitor.
Breaking Ties
If two riders finish the season with identical point totals, the tiebreaker system kicks in:
1. Most wins — the rider with more race victories takes the title 2. Most second-place finishes — if wins are equal, second places are compared 3. Most third-place finishes — and so on down the order
This system ensures that a rider who took risks and won races is rewarded over someone who played it safe.
The Consistency vs. Winning Debate
One of the sport's great ongoing debates revolves around strategy: Is it better to win races or be consistent? The math tells an interesting story. A rider who wins 10 races but DNFs (Does Not Finish) three times could lose the championship to a rider who never wins but finishes on the podium every single round.
Some of the sport's greatest champions have been masters of consistency — always finishing in the top five, minimizing mistakes, and letting the points take care of themselves. Others have been aggressive attackers who rack up wins and accept the occasional bad result.
Why Points Matter Every Round
The beauty of the points system is that every position matters. Whether you're battling for the win or fighting to move from 15th to 14th, there are valuable championship points on the line. This keeps the racing competitive throughout the entire field, not just at the front of the pack.