Complicating matters in the 250 class is the fact that this final round is an East/West Showdown, which brings the added spectacle of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammates Haiden Deegan and Cole Davies. One week after they tangled in Denver, young Davies went down, Deegan clinched the 250SX West title, and then promptly ended up in the doghouse after responding to some boos from the grandstands with an offensive “suck it” shout-out, followed by an apology and a hefty fine. I have a feeling that #38 (who will likely wear #1W tomorrow) will be ready to make a statement tomorrow night, though being able to purchase that Lambo at 19 is quite a statement too. (I will admit, I was one of the 105K people who liked it on his TikTok.)

So that’s where we are after 16 rounds of supercross, which included a record 19 different winners between the two classes. Congratulations to all who made it to the finish line, and good luck to all tomorrow night. And congratulations to everyone at Feld Entertainment for producing what’s been an exceptional championship and a lot of fun to watch!

So how should the riders in the thick of it approach tomorrow night? Here’s our resident pro to give us his opinion…

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

And then there was one. The finale of the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship is here, and there’s a lot on the line. Most of the riders are facing unique situations as the gate drops in Utah. Let’s take a look at how I view each one’s particular plight, shall we?

Sexton: He just needs to go out and win the race. Playing games or “bunching” is unlikely to do much of anything positive, and you also don’t look great in the process. He will win by 10 seconds or more, I believe.

Webb: Have a solid, clean day. Don’t make mistakes, nail the starts, and avoid any drama. Putting yourself in good situations all night will make life easy.

Hampshire: Go win the race. You win, you’re a two-time champ. It’s unlikely he will holeshot and run away, but that should be the mindset. Don’t save anything, don’t hold back, don’t be situational. Drop the hammer.

Hammaker: Nail the starts you’ve been consistent with and focus forward. Don’t think about the points or anything else. Rely on your speed edge to take you to the title. You’ve been the fastest guy. Use it.

Vialle: Put yourself in the same mindset as Pittsburgh. Your back is against the wall. No one expects you to do this. Ride carefree and leave it all on the racetrack. Use your championship experience to find a way when it looks unlikely.

Deegan: Ride with purpose and intent to quiet the noise. Prove that you can get the start and ride a mistake-free main event. Lean into the removal of championship pressure to uncork your best effort of 2025. No one will be able to say a word if you dominate the finale for the second year in a row.

Davies: Grab the start and disappear. Your speed is your biggest weapon, and your starts put you in prime position to wield it. Make good on what should have been in Denver.

Beaumer: No one is talking about how well you rode in Denver. You were one start away from a fight for the win. Don’t let that speed go to waste in SLC. Leave everyone with the impression that you’re a title favorite in 2026.

For the full championship math, check out this post from earlier this week.

The Returns (DC)

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross half of the season is ending this weekend, which means the AMA Pro Motocross Championship is in the staging area. Gathering there are a bunch of very fast men who have been absent from SX for one reason or another. At the top of that list are multi-time champions Eli Tomac and Jett Lawrence, each of whom was knocked out of SX early with knee injuries. (Ironically, neither actually crashed when they were injured.)

Three years ago, Tomac was both 450SX and 450MX Champion, but he’s had a tough run of injuries since. The last 450 National he won was the ’22 season-ender at Fox Raceway. But Eli did look solid to start his ’25 SMX season, winning the San Diego main. Unfortunately, he broke his leg at Tampa, ending his SX season.

Jett is the two-time and reigning SuperMotocross World Champion, but he vacated his 450 Pro Motocross crown early last June after winning four of the first five rounds. Going back to the start of his 450 Pro MX days, when he went 11-0 and won every moto in 2023, Jett Lawrence has a career winning percentage of .9375 in this division outdoors. He’s also 6-0 in six visits to Fox Raceway, where the series opens. However, with how quickly he returned from the ACL tear he suffered on February 1 at Glendale, it’s hard to think of him as the pre-race favorite, though he is coming back so soon.

There’s also Hunter Lawrence, who injured his shoulder the same night as Tomac’s injury in Tampa. The ’23 250 Class Pro Motocross Champion was runner-up last year to Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton but was close pretty much every time.

Another multi-time champion returning is Jorge Prado. His four titles are all FIM Motocross World Championships. The Spaniard knew that his first season in supercross was going to be a learning curve, and unfortunately, it ended after just three rounds with a crash and a shoulder injury at Anaheim 2. Motocross should be a different story, as he absolutely flies in the great outdoors.

And then there’s the curious case of Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jason Anderson, who started out strong in SX but then began slipping in the results. Before the Seattle round, Jason and the team decided that he needed to take a leave of absence for an undisclosed family emergency/health situation. He did not return for the remainder of SX, though he is back on the bike getting ready for a return to Pro Motocross.

Suzuki’s Ken Roczen is also out with several injuries. He’s still third in the 450SX standings, though Justin Cooper is just 10 points behind him and Malcolm Stewart is 16 down. Roczen is undergoing surgery and was not planning on racing outdoors anyway, or at least not until later in the season.

GasGas rider Justin Barcia is also out after injuring his knee in a big crash in East Rutherford while holding on to a podium position. His sights are set on the outdoor opener as well.

That’s just the 450 class. The 250 class has even more guys who are out and hoping to return for Pro Motocross. Here is the Salt Lake City injury report.

One other bit that caught our eye was the breaking news from Steve Matthes that Jeremy Martin is finally returning to the racetrack to do at least three rounds of 250 Pro Motocross. The former two-time champion will be under the Monser Energy Yamaha Star Racing tent for the third different stint. He has not raced since at the ’24 Indianapolis SX because he suffered two significant concussions in short time, and many thought he may never return to the racetrack. Martin hasn’t raced outdoor motocross since breaking his arm in a pileup in the start of the ’23 Hangtown Motocross Classic.

Lucas Coenen is Streaking (DC)

For the second race in a row, and this time under much more difficult conditions, Red Bull KTM's Lucas Coenen had a 1-1 sweep in MXGP, this time in Portugal. The 18-year-old rookie in the premier class of the FIM World Motocross Championships only won his first MXGP overall two weeks ago in Switzerland, on a relatively dry track. This time in Agueda, the rains hammered the event, but Coenen did not miss a beat. The Belgian was perfect, winning the Saturday qualifying race and then both motos over new points leader Romain Febvre of the Kawasaki team. Febvre took over the points lead in the absence of Tim Gajser, who was leading comfortably until a big crash in the second moto in Switzerland left him with a dislocated shoulder. The HRC Honda rider was forced to miss the race in Portugal and was hoping for a comeback as soon as Spain this coming weekend. But then he and the team announced that he must undergo season-ending surgery on his right shoulder. Get well soon, Tim.

With this huge reset, Febvre now has a 25-point lead over the sidelined Gajser, while the streaking Coenen is 13 points further down.

My friends in Europe, including MX Geoff Meyer of MXLarge.com, have been talking about the Coenen brothers for a couple of years now—Lucas has a twin brother named Sacha who is in MX2 right now—and that Lucas may very well be the next Jeffrey Herlings. He moved up to the 450 quickly—even quicker than Jett Lawrence did—and is picking up steam after a modest start to the season. Both brothers are represented by Lucas Mirtl, who has also mentioned that these guys are legit, and they have mentioned having their ultimate sights on America. Here's more on Lucas' win in Portugal, from MX Geoff.

In the MX2 class, Red Bull KTM got a sweep there as well, but not from Sacha Coenen—he went 19-2 in the mud, crashing in the first moto while running up front. Instead, the win went to Andrea Adamo, the '23 MX2 World Champion from Italy. Defending champ Kay de Wolf of the Husqvarna team went 3-3 for second, while KTM's Simon Langenfelder went 2-4. In the points, De Wolf still has the red plate, four points ahead of the German Langenfelder, and a 10-point gap on Adamo.

This Week's Win Ads (DC)

A nice variety of win ads and, in the case of Yamaha, another championship win. One week after Mac-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha rider Alexander Fedortsov won the SMX Next National Championship in Pittsburgh, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Haiden Deegan clinched the 250SX West Division by overtaking his teammate Cole Davies with an aggressive pass that put the 17-year-old over a berm and knocked him back far enough for Deegan to push his lead to 25 points, clinching the title before the Salt Lake City East/West Showdown. (The best Davies could hope for was to tie if he won and Deegan finished 22nd or just doesn't qualify, as Haiden has him in the tiebreaker too.) FMF also put together an ad for Deegan, as did Dunlop, sharing the win ad with Chase Sexton of the Red Bull KTM team. Chase won in Denver and received a win ad from KTM, with the optimistic "Chase's Fight Isn't Over" line as the headline. Also, Stew Baylor received a win ad from Kawasaki for winning an extremely muddy Powerline Park GNCC in Ohio, and Beta rewarded Dare DeMartile for winning the WORCS race at Glen Helen. Finally, Fly Racing put together an ad with Cooper Webb, even though he didn't win in Denver, but he's one weekend away from giving the brand their first 450SX crown if all goes according to plan...

Factory Bike Vids (Keefer)

It's that time of year again when I geek out on all the factory bikes and talk to the mechanics about what their riders prefer as well as what they are picky about. In Denver last week, we got a chance to go over, in detail, Chase Sexton, Cooper Webb, Haiden Deegan, Julien Beaumer, Dean Wilson, and Jo Shimoda's factory machines. I always get a lot of interesting feedback from the mechanics, and I can say this year was no exception. I mean, I didn't even know you could 3D print titanium, but I guess KTM can! CRAZY! These videos will be popping up on our homepage shortly. Our guy Tom Journet kills it with these videos, and I am excited for you guys to watch. To hold you over until then, I made a couple of homemade videos that are up on my YouTube channel on Coty Schock's Muc-Off FXR Club MX machine as well as Enzo Lopes' BarX Yamaha. You can check them out here:

Triumph 450 Supercross Debut (DC)

Did anyone else notice that privateer Julien Benek, who hails from Mission in British Columbia, Canada, showed up in Denver aboard the #500 Triumph TF 450-RC Edition? Riding for Compass Rose International Triumph Racing, Benek qualified 27th fastest, then finished 14th in his heat race and ninth in the LCQ. He did not make the main event, but he did make AMA history as the first rider to enter and make the night show on a British-made motorcycle, the Triumph 450. He is back on the entry list for this weekend’s SLC finale.

17th annual Racer X Inter-Am (Scott Wallenberg)

The 17th annual Racer X Inter-Am went off last weekend at the historic OMC Raceway in Boise, Idaho, drawing riders, legends, and fans from across the region. Multi-time AMA Motocross and Supercross Champion Rick Johnson served as the Guest of Honor, kicking things off Friday night with the Yamaha Blu Cru party. RJ met with fans and signed limited-edition replica bibs modeled after the one he wore at the 1986 FIM Motocross of Nations in Maggiora, Italy, while live music came courtesy of Blues Addicts—featuring Racer X Publisher Scott Wallenberg on guitar and engine guru Ted Boyko sitting in on drums.

Saturday’s racing saw more than 300 entries take on the same grounds that hosted Inter-Am races back in 1970 and 1971. Former factory stars like Rodney Smith, Trey Jorsky, Dave Coupe, and Joe Kopp lined up for a piece of the action. A heavy Saturday night rainstorm threatened to derail Sunday’s schedule, but the OMC crew pivoted quickly, shifting racing to their sand track for a full day of motos in completely different conditions. Industry icons like Broc Glover and JT Racing founder John Gregory were on hand, and two local TV stations stopped by to cover the scene. The 2026 Racer X Inter-Am is already on the books for April 17–19—mark your calendars.

The site of the Racer X Inter-Am is one of the oldest motocross tracks in America. Check out the history of the Owyhee Motorcycle Club right here.

Road 2 Recovery for Jerry Robin

The Road 2 Recovery Foundation has some upcoming events that are noteworthy, some of which are directly benefiting Jerry Robin following his injuries at the East Rutherford SX. Check them out below.

May 11: Here is the link to the Radio Show: Friends and family can listen live on AM 1170, online, or on iHeart Radio (Racer Radio with Dave Stall). Robin will be on from 4 to 5 p.m.

Live Listen Link

May 25: Additionally, we are dedicating the majority of proceeds from the 5th Annual Whiskey Throttle Golf Tournament that’s coming up in a couple weeks (May 25, day after Pala) to Jerry specifically. Confirmed golfers so far are: Levi Kitchen, Julian Beaumer, Ronnie Renner, Jeremy McGrath, Chase Sexton, Adam Cianciarulo and more… Let’s encourage golfers of ALL LEVELS to come out and play and support Jerry! Note - the registration bag alone is worth more than the entry fee - and then we have some amazing raffle items!

June 8: Then, we are hosting a huge festival at Blackmore Ranch in Murrieta for Nicky Hayden Day on June 8. We’re doing a 69k bike ride lead by Victor Sheldon, Free Stacyc demos, Stacyc races for the kids (10 classes) and Stacyc will be on hand for the event. There will hot air balloons, wine tasting, 805 is doing a beer garden, etc… TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW FOR 6.99 on our website. All proceeds from this event will benefit the general athlete fund and go to riders who need our help. We will also have a huge raffle at this event and GREAT prizes! 

Hey, Watch It!

A Day In The Life | Jett Lawrence At The Met Gala

K-Dub still has it! 

The Cowboy goes to Denver: Aaron Plessinger

Align Media's latest YouTube video, by Chris Post: THEY KEEP GOING // SX 2025

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week 

"Shedeur Sanders fan sues NFL for $100 million over ‘emotional distress’ caused by low draft pick"—Independent

“Raccoon with meth pipe in its mouth found during drug bust traffic stop”—The Sun

“Two of Alex Alexeyev’s teeth found by Capitals Ice Crew during overtime intermission”—Russian Machine Never Breaks

"Reset The Counter: Golfer Michael Kim Claims Someone Shit Their Pants During RBC Heritage, Left The Underwear In A Porta Potty On The Course" -Barstool Sports

"Former student returns college library books checked out 20 years earlier"—UPI

"Cardinals are watching ‘Conclave’ the movie for guidance on the actual conclave"—Politico

"'I panicked:' Kentucky mom able to return her 8-year-old's 70,000-lollipop order"—Yahoo

"They came to the Met Gala. They left their pants at home."—Yahoo News

Random Notes

FMF DROP has Teamed up with Racer X to bring our EXCLUSIVE members something special to kick off the start of the Pro Motocross Series.

• Sign Up before May 31 to get on board the coolest subscription service on 2 Wheels
• For just $34.99 each month you will receive an exclusive FMF Tee Shirt and special gift delivered right to your doorstep
• These exclusive FMF T’s will never be available, that’s right NEVER. Members ONLY!
• The FMF/ Racer X DROP will ship June 15
• Ships Globally as well

Sign up now!

Sad news here in Morgantown, as we lost another old moto friend, Wayne Long. He passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. He was one of my first racing friends, and we both rode for Team Appalachia Lake in competitions my dad put together with other tracks like Diamondback in Florida, Team Honda Hills, Antietam MX in Maryland, and Cedar Ridge in Virginia. I'm not sure that we ever won anything, but I do remember those road trips with 20 or 30 vans and pickups all convoying down the highway. Wayne was fast and always had the cool gear, perfect stickers on his bike and helmet. As I mentioned on Facebook, it was no surprise that later in life Wayne got into collecting and restoring beautiful vintage automobiles as well as motorcycles. Godspeed, Wayne, and thanks for all of the great memories.

Wayne Long (right) battling another Morgantown racer, Mark McCaulley.