It has been quite the week for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. On Wednesday, 250SX East Region Championship competitor Seth Hammaker suffered a broken wrist/arm in a practice crash. Then, just two days later, the team announced fellow 250SX East Region rider Jo Shimoda suffered a broken collarbone in a practice crash of his own on Friday. With a week to go before the 250SX East Region opener in Houston, Texas, Mitch Payton’s team lost both of their riders for the championship. These injuries came after the team already lost Austin Forkner for the remainder of supercross with a wild crash and subsequent knee injury during the start of the first 250SX West Region main event of the year.
Then, during a qualifying session at yesterday’s Anaheim 2 Supercross, 250SX West Region competitor Cameron McAdoo had a gnarly crash of his own when his left hand slipped off the bars as he made a blitzing run through the whoops. The #48 was slammed down to the ground but luckily checked out okay. McAdoo is known as a gritty rider as we all remember his never-quit night at the 2021 Atlanta Supercross when he went down hard but somehow lined up for the restart of the main event.
McAdoo went back out for the final qualifying session and then when the bikes were being loaded into the gates for the first of the three Triple Crown races, McAdoo was right there loading his #48 into the gates. It was not pretty by any means, but the Iowa native finished 8-7-5 for sixth overall as he did his best damage control. While McAdoo is banged up, he will have some time to recover before the next 250SX West Region race—the rescheduled Oakland Supercross now set for February 18.
“I felt really confident coming into this weekend, so the crash was tough to swallow and started things off on the wrong foot,” said McAdoo in a post-race statement from the team. “It ended up being a survival night, but we made it happen. I am thankful that nothing was broken and now we have a few weeks to get back to 100 percent to come out swinging in Oakland.”
With Hammaker, Shimoda, Jett Reynolds (wrist injury from 2022 still bothering him), and soon to be full-time pro Ryder DiFrancesco suffering a thumb injury that has sidelined him for the immediate future, the team was left without a single rider for the upcoming Houston Supercross. During the day yesterday we heard some rumors of possible fill-in riders. But this afternoon we received an official word: the team has signed Chris Blose for the 250SX East Region.
While 2022 was set to be Blose’s final season of professional racing, he rode a Kawasaki KX250 in the inaugural FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) as a member of Bud Racing. Blose finished 2-4 for third overall in the SX2 (250cc) championship. While Blose was on his way to a possible post-racing life, the Arizona native is a solid rider who will bring a lot of experience with him: he first competed in an AMA Supercross main event in March 2006, over 16 years ago!
"Chris Blose 🤝
@pcraceteam welcomes @cblose to contend the 2023 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Eastern Regional Championship. Blose continues with #TeamGreen after an impressive season abroad with third overall in the World Supercross SX2 Class and second overall at the 2022 Supercross de Paris. Blose looks to continue his success aboard the #Kawasaki #KX250 when he joins the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team at Houston SX on February 4th."
Below is the full press release from Kawasaki.
Chris Blose Joins Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki for AMA Monster Energy Supercross Eastern Regional Championship
Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki racing team welcomes Chris Blose to contend the 2023 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Eastern Regional Championship. Blose continues with Team Green™ after an impressive season abroad with the Bud Racing Kawasaki team in which he secured third overall in the World Supercross SX2 Class and second overall at the 2022 Supercross de Paris. Blose earned seventh overall in the 2022 250SX Western Regional Championship and aims to continue his success aboard the Kawasaki KX™250 when he joins the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team at Houston Supercross on February 4th.
“It’s an honor to be gearing up to race with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team,” said Blose. “I’ve seen the success of the team firsthand throughout my career and I’m really looking forward to going racing with their support. While Houston SX is coming up fast, I’ve had a lot of comfort on the KX™250 recently so the bike is familiar and we should be competitive right out of the gate.”
Blose has begun working with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team in preparation for the Monster Energy Supercross Eastern Regional Championship opener on Saturday, February 4th at Houston SX in Houston, Texas.
