When all was said and done, we saw 19 different race winners, including first-time winners Davies, Julien Beaumer, and Chance Hymas in the 250 classes, and Malcolm Stewart getting a popular first 450SX win after all these years. (Speaking of which, I didn’t have Mookie going to FXR for a combo SMX/Fishing contract on my bingo card this week, but then again, I did not have Pete Rose getting reinstated by baseball either.)

So, the practice tracks are buzzing all over the country as everyone transitions over. The Stopwatch Nationals, now the four-day-long Moto Fest, are going on all weekend at Glen Helen Raceway, and you can watch them streaming on Motocross Action’s YouTube page (Colt Nichols topped the first motos on Thursday, and there's another pro race on Saturday). Jason Weigandt went down to ClubMX and spotted Jorge Prado, the multi-time FIM World Champion, pounding out laps, along with Alexander Fedortsov, the SMX Next Champion who was just added to the Club MX pro squad for the summer, and those other new ClubMX neighbors, the Reed Family. The Lawrence brothers have been getting back up to speed down in Florida, and the GOAT Farm is probably buzzing with the blue Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing crew right now.

Related: Alex Fedortsov Signs Pro Deal with ClubMX

Looking ahead to next weekend, the Racer X Pro Motocross Preview Shows, hosted by Jason Weigandt, Steve Matthes, and Jason Thomas, will run all week here on Racer X Online. There will also be a press conference next Friday afternoon at the Pala Casino, followed by a press day ride. That will be our first chance to catch a glimpse of everyone outdoors together. It should be an excellent summer.... Just when I was finishing up, Vital MX’s Michael Lindsay sent me this press release on the Jerry Robin Benefit Auction that he’s helped pull together with Road 2 Recovery and MX Locker. Jerry is, of course, one of the popular privateers on the circuit, but he suffered a life-changing back injury at the East Rutherford Supercross. Michael Lindsay immediately jumped in to help his longtime friend, as have many others in the industry. Now everyone has a chance to help out Jerry Robin right here:

Road 2 Recovery and MX Locker Launch First Round of Jerry Robin Benefit Auction.

Road 2 Recovery and MX Locker are proud to announce the launch of the first wave of auction items to support Jerry Robin’s recovery. The benefit auction kicks off today and runs through May 26, featuring over 80 exclusive items up for bid — including signed jerseys, helmets, gear sets, plastics, and VIP experiences from the biggest names in motocross.

Each auction begins at just $1, with staggered closing times on Monday, May 26, giving fans multiple chances to win rare memorabilia and support a fellow rider.

This is the first of two auction waves. The second round — featuring nearly 100 additional items — will go live on June 1and remain open for seven days.

Browse and bid now

Featured Items from Round One:

• Ryan Villopoto – Signed 2007 Motocross of Nations Jersey
• James Stewart – Signed 2014 Anaheim 2 Jersey
• Haiden Deegan – Signed Alpinestars Helmet & Thor Gear Set
• Ryan Dungey – Signed FOX Jersey from 2022 Comeback Season
• Dustin Poirier – Signed UFC Gloves & Bottle of Poirier’s Hot Sauce
• Lance Smail – Front number plate from 1997 Daytona Supercross (historic first four-stroke to qualify for a Supercross main event)

All proceeds from the auction will go directly toward Jerry Robin’s medical bills and recovery efforts. Join the community in giving back and scoring one-of-a-kind collectibles from the legends of the sport.

And lastly, tune into this weekend’s seventh round of the Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC Racing) season, the Hoosier GNCC at Ironman Raceway. The Hoosier GNCC will have both Saturday’s pro ATVs (2 p.m. EST/11 a.m. PST) and Sunday’s pro bikes (1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST) broadcasted live by the RacerTV crew. That series has been exciting and unpredictable, and has some 250cc stars in the making, just like SX did. 

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

A short respite from the relentless chaos that is the 2025 SMX schedule—that is this off-weekend that separates Monster Energy Supercross and Pro Motocross. Most riders were hard at work this past week, putting in testing hours and long motos. It's counterintuitive to think the off week would be filled with hard work, but such is the training schedule of the moto elite. There is little time to lock in final settings and game plan for when the gate drops next Saturday. Starting this evening, though, most will completely check out for 48 hours. They will put in recovery rides on their spin bicycles or road cycles, but as far as the hard training their lives revolve around, that will be shelved until Monday. They will get to leisurely walk to the coffee machine on Saturday morning instead of being laser-focused on that day's race. Attention will shift to family and friends for a brief time, providing a reset and recharge on life outside of racing motorcycles. Activities will vary, but the point is that for the first time in two months, riders' entire mental scope won't center around their profession. It's a welcome change from what will return to normalcy on Monday morning.

When the alarm does sound on Monday, it will be race week and the beginning of a new championship. Engines will fire, revs will rise. Early in the week, riders will be full tilt, fine-tuning themselves and their setup. As the days draw near to Saturday, they will taper that effort and focus on recovering. The ultimate goal is to always be at peak form on Saturdays. I have seen many riders (including myself) just bury themselves and try to be heroes on Thursday but have no burst to give on Saturday. That's self-mismanagement and short-sighted. No one cares if you're great on Thursday but lackluster on Saturday. It's easy to get lost in "more" in a sport that asks so much of riders' minds and bodies. More is great but only if given time to process it, heal, and recover. More is time-sensitive when the schedule just keeps coming. More can be less if riders wake up tired on Saturday morning because they didn't listen to their bodies. Those who get the timing right for 11 Saturdays this summer will show up, especially on the hot days. With so much parity seemingly on deck, these subtle differences might loom large. I'm so ready to see who's got what. Just not quite yet.

MXGP in Spain (DC)

Over in Spain, Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre put a stop to Lucas Coenen’s recent run, but only for a moto—the Belgian Coenen went 4-1 to the Frenchman Febvre’s 1-2. There’s still a long way to go (12 rounds), but here’s a cool bit of trivia: The Frenchman Febvre last won a world title in 2015. If he holds off Coenen, that would make him the rider with the largest gap between a first and second title in the history of MXGP and the FIM Motocross World Championship. As it stands, Febvre has a 49-point lead. He took over when Honda’s Tim Gajser went down hard in Switzerland and ended up needing season-ending shoulder surgery, leaving Febvre and Coenen in what is essentially a two-horse race.

Not so in the MX2 division, where Husqvarna’s Kay de Wolf got back on top of the results with the Spanish GP overall win, notching 1-4 moto finishes. KTM’s Andrea Adamo went 5-1, and Sacha Coenen (Lucas’ twin brother) finished 6-2 to Liam Everts’ 2-6. Having a not-so-great day was Simon Langenfelder, who finished sixth overall with 8-3 scores. Defending MX2 world champ De Wolf now holds a 15-point lead over the German Langenfelder, with ’23 champ Adamo another six points back.

MXGP is taking this coming weekend off, but next weekend they will be back up and running in Ernee, France. Let’s hope the rain stays away because they’ve had enough of it already for the rest of the season!

When the Cowboy Finally Met Dale Jr. (DC)

Red Bull KTM's Aaron Plessinger has made it no secret that he's a huge fan of the late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, and when he landed on the podium at the 2025 Daytona Supercross, he told the massive crowd gathered in front of him that he was "Doing it for Dale!" That caught the attention of another Earnhardt—Dale Earnhardt Jr., the host of the popular The Dale Jr. Download Podcast on Dirty Mo Media—and through some mutual friends, he reached out to AP7 about someday joining him on the podcast as his guest.

Well, someday turned out to be this week! Plessinger joined Earnhardt Jr., a NASCAR legend in his own right, on this week's Dirty Mo podcast.

"When he got on the podium, he was acknowledging me and my dad, which I thought was incredible. People were sending this to me; Noah Gragson [NASCAR driver] and his friends were sending this to me, and I was like, 'Hey, let's have this guy on the show,'" explained Dale Jr. in the intro. "Let's learn about him, let's learn about his career, let's learn about the sport he's in. I've followed it for years, in the past, in and out, depending on who the big players are. But I don't know much about it. And it's fun to have non-NASCAR, non-stock car folks in here, and we get to try something new."

Very cool of Dale Jr. to reach out to Plessinger. Give it a watch/listen; he’s an excellent host.

This Week's Win Ads (DC)

With Monster Energy AMA Supercross concluding, there was much to celebrate, especially with Yamaha. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb claimed the cover of Cycle News for his third 450SX title, which Yamaha celebrated, along with Haiden Deegan, who won the SLC East/West Showdown as well as the 250SX West title. Yamaha also produced a spread for the 2025 AMA Rookie of the Year in Cole Davies, who, of course, missed the final race after that horrific crash with Jordon Smith in practice. Yamaha also added a cool ad for the “bLU cRU Domination” as they captured the manufacturers’ cup for Monster Energy Supercross (and two weeks ago, they had Alexander Fedortsov’s win in the SMX Next National Championship to boot). Dunlop celebrated all three championships—Webb’s, Deegan’s, and Vialle’s—which now gives them 186 in the history of AMA SX/MX/SMX. FMF Racing also boasted about their two titles, courtesy of Webb and Deegan. The Red Bull KTM team celebrated the second straight 250SX East Championship for Vialle.

Seth Hammaker did not get the championship he so badly wanted, but he did end up in a spread from the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team’s sponsor Maxima. Another non-win ad but a cool one was for Muc-Off/FXR/Club MX’s Coty Schock, courtesy of FirePower and WPS.

AWRCS Honors Ed Lojak Sr. (Mitch Kendra)

At the AWRCS Coal Hollow round in Wellsville, Ohio, the late Ed Lojak Sr. was honored in a memorial race. The AMA Hall of Famer was remembered for his grit, which led to multiple off-road championships, as well as his role with Lojaks Cycle Sales in providing bikes, parts, and more in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. Both Lojak’s sons, Eddie Jr. and Ryan, were at the AWRCS race competing. Brandon Croney was on hand for the race and took a number of photos, then later received a full tour of some of Lojak Sr.'s trophies and various memorabilia via Eddie Jr. Check out some awesome photos by Croney as we remember a local legend and his contributions to the off-road racing scene.

#301 is Ryan Lojak and #310 is Eddie Lojak Jr. 

Hey, Watch It!

SMX Insider - Season 3 - Episode 19 - Supercross Season in Review

Weege Show: Jorge Prado Hammering Sand at ClubMX

Donn Maeda of Swap Moto Live got Eli Tomac on the horn to discuss his SX season as well as the upcoming MX series, and the fact is this: “I’m not done racing.”

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week 

"Police find naked man in Lowe’s display shed with Vaseline and phone" -WAFB

“Franklin County traffic stop uncovers 65 guns in socks; Man pleads guilty”—WGAL

“Student brings World War II mortar on school bus in Cumberland County”—WGAL
(Once again thanks to our buddy the Stump Grinder for the funny finds)

Random Notes

We’ll end with a preview of the 2025 Racer X Pro Motocross decals, which will be available at every event for free. This year’s batch features a mix of old-school legends and current heroes of AMA Pro Motocross, co-designed by Racer X’s own Garrett Holiday and Vance Coombs: