Unfortunately, that’s about it for the 450 class, as injuries have defending champ Eli Tomac on the sidelines, as well as Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia, Christian Craig, Malcolm Stewart, and more. Hopefully some of them are back sooner than later.

The 250 class is absolutely loaded, and with Jett moving up, there will be a different champion. Hunter Lawrence, Jo Shimoda, and Justin Cooper are the favorites, but not far off are Jeremy Martin (a two-time 250 Class Pro Motocross Champion), Max Vohland, Levi Kitchen (who was hurt around the midway point of last summer), rookies Haiden Deegan and Ryder DiFrancesco and Chance Hymas, and even Jett Reynolds—finally. Reynolds got hurt on press day at supercross last year and hasn’t been in a pro AMA SX or MX race yet.

And then there’s Tom Vialle, the two-time FIM Motocross World Champion in the MX2 Class who will also be making his AMA Motocross debut. The Frenchman made it through supercross mostly unscathed. In other words, the hard part of moving here is over—Vialle is a second generation motocrosser who really knows how to ride outdoors. Like Jeremy Martin, I watched Vialle all through SX with my fingers crossed for him, hoping he would be able to line up this summer healthy, ready and able. He should be very competitive tomorrow.

So if either Vialle or Jett Reynolds win in what will be their AMA Pro Motocross debuts, they will join a very short list of riders who won the first national they ever entered. How many others can you name? That answer will be below!

Enjoy the first round of Pro Motocross, which you can watch streaming live on Peacock—and they are telling me uninterrupted motos. God, I hope they weren’t kidding… They are also calling me on the radio so here’s the rest of Racerhead.

Press Day At Pala (Jason Weigandt)

Nice look for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship to hold the preseason press conference over at the Pala Casino’s concert venue. That provided for a really cool setting instead of the standard deal inside the press tent at the track. I’ve driven past the Pala Casino countless times, and I didn’t even know it had this venue back there, with a stage, pools, a bar, and more. Anyway, it added some class to the proceedings.

I hosted the press conference and I wanted to add some new news to the event. I announced some of the payouts for the $5.5 million SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX), which, as far as I know, haven’t really been circulated anywhere. I think, once Monster Energy AMA Supercross started, we just dove back into the normal supercross talk and forgot to shine more light on this year’s new addition. Anyway, there’s huge money on the line for the three playoff-style races at the end of the season. Each race features a $404,000 purse, with the 450 race winner getting $100k, the 250 race winner getting $50k, last place (22nd) makes $2,400. The LCQ has a payout, also, down to 30th, which means every rider who qualifies for the playoffs will get some money.

The individual purse at those three races totals $1.2 million. The rest of the $5.5 million goes into the points fund bonuses. The winner of the SuperMotocross World Championship takes home $1 Million in the 450 class, and $500,000 in the 250 class. But here’s what I think is the best part: fifth place in 450 points pays $150,000. Eighth place pays $100,000. Fifteenth pays $32,000, and 22nd pays $25,000. Plus, you can stack the individual race purse money on top of this. Here’s what I see about this money. First, some privateers will make some good dough. If a guy gets 22nd at all three races and gets 22nd in points, he’s making more than 30 grand. That’s traditionally a position earned by a privateer, so that’s awesome. Also, the top dudes have a lot to fight for. Normally, it feels like it’s title or bust for a factory rider, but there’s a real incentive to at least try to get fifth in points, because that pays $150,000. We see a lot of guys on the sidelines right now, but there’s incentive to get back out there by September instead of shutting it down for the season. This means we haven’t seen the last of guys like Justin Barcia and Christian Craig, who were both on hand yesterday to talk about their comebacks from injury. I would not rule out seeing Malcolm Stewart, Jason Anderson and more later this summer, plus, Cooper Webb has already returned. This could get interesting.

Speaking of that, I asked Webb if he watched the Denver Supercross. He said he did not, because he went on vacation. Then he woke up Sunday morning, watched the highlights, saw Eli Tomac had gone out with injury, and “I punched the wall.” Cooper said he spent about three hours contemplating it all, then he moved on.

Webb looked pretty darned fast yesterday. He said he has three days under him now after getting back on the bike on Friday. He’s done 35-minute motos and doesn’t feel that bad, actually. Will be interesting to see where he slots in, and how much ground he can make up after missing time with that concussion.

I couldn’t really tell who looked “best” of the 450 riders yesterday, because the track was super smooth. You could tell who was charging on 250s. Haiden Deegan, man, I don’t know if it was fast on a stopwatch, but it sure looked good, he was aggressive, wheelieing out of corners and slamming his YZ250F into berms. Max Vohland and Ryder DeFrancesco also looked good to my eye, and those are both riders that have logged a lot of time on this track. Our video man Tom Journet also said Jeremy Martin was looking pretty sweet out there. The 250 class is gonna be awesome.

That’s it from the track. Be sure to join us on Peacock Saturday for our qualifying coverage at 10 a.m. Pacific, then motos begin at 1 p.m. Pacific. New this year is a 30-minute halftime break between motos, and we’ll host a show with highlights and analysis. I’ll be joined by James Stewart and Jason Thomas for all of those shows. Can’t wait!

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

The great outdoors, baby! It's that time when everyone takes a good, long, hard look in the mirror and primes themselves for what's to come. Simply put, you can't fake it in Pro Motocross. Finesse and technique will only take you so far when it's hot and rough. If you haven't put in the work, you will be exposed, full stop. I found calm in that when I was racing. I didn't need to worry about the uber talented sprinters that I just couldn't match on a short run. Give me 70 minutes of suffering, though, and I would be laughing last. For the hard workers, they can rely on that reality. Hard work shines through when conditions are at their most brutal.

For those that are ready, this should be a weekend of confirmation. All of those invisible days of riding, training, and discipline will start to pay off as summer rolls on. For those that were focused on SX a little too long, or neglected to put in the long hours that this championship requires, it might be a rough stretch. They will be trying to play catch up each week as the rest of the field continues to improve, too. I have been in both of these scenarios and being prepared is much more fun. It's easier to sleep at night knowing the work has been done and now it's simply a matter of execution. Which riders fall into each category is yet to be decided but one thing's for sure, Pro Motocross always tells the truth.

The Great Outdoors (Matthes)

It's here! As always near the end of the SX season I'm pining for the motocross year to begin and then near the end of moto, I'm looking towards...SMX? Not sure, guess we'll see on that one but yeah, motocross is here! There's something about being trackside with the guys tapped in fourth gear and jumping as far as they can that gets your blood racing. The weather should be great this weekend in Pala as well. Let's take it outside.

As we saw in SX, the amount of injuries to the 450 class has really hurt the depth of the field. We expect Jason Anderson and Justin Barcia to be back soon but for now, with a barely-ridden Cooper Webb committing to the series, we've got six factory guys showing up in the 450 Class this Saturday. Thankfully, all six are past outdoor champions so we should have a nice little breakaway battle with the stars of the sport. Sexton, Lawrence, Ferrandis, Cianciarulo, Plessinger, and Webb all have big time outdoor credentials although I do think it'll take Webb some time to get up to 100 percent. 

All in all, thanks to injury (Tomac, Craig, Stewart, Anderson, Barcia, Bloss, Hartranft), the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) (Savatgy, McElrath, Roczen, Wilson), or just retirement (Dungey, Cairoli, Alex Martin), and switching classes (Marchbanks), 16 out of the top 20 in the 2022 450 Class points will not be lining up this weekend! 

This is a chance for riders like Freddie Noren on HEP Motorsports Suzuki, Grant Harlan (although he's also doing WSX which conflicts with two rounds of MX), Tristan Lane, and more to really gather up some points to get themselves into SMX. Two races a day as opposed to one makes these guys odds better to get into at least that top 30 overall and get an invite to the three SMX races.

Or even our own Kris Keefer who's racing Pala, Lakewood, and maybe Washougal as he attempts to be the oldest man in the 40-rider field! Last time he tried this it didn't go well but I'm confident it'll go much better for our guy KK on the BluCru! 

Motocross Opener (Keefer)

Some of you may be more excited about A1 but to me nothing gets me more pumped up on a Saturday morning knowing that there is a Pro Motocross on TV. Motocross is for us hardcore fans that actually do the damn thing, so we know what those guys (and gals) are going through for 30 plus two! I will always remember walking into Unadilla on one fogging morning in 2013 and looking out over the green rolling hills as I could faintly smell the race fuel coming from the pro pits. I just don't get that feeling or vibe when I am at a supercross. Even though we are missing a few top factory riders in the 450 class to start the series don't let that deter you thinking that this series is going to be boring. The amount of really good riders that are in the 10-25th place area for the Fox Raceway opener is staggering. I think A LOT of the privateers got a whiff of some points as they knew some factory riders would not be attending the first few rounds. Off-Road riders like Dante Oliveira as well as Ryan Surratt should be in the points, MXGP rider Jose Butron will be fun to watch, Derek Drake has been bumped up to 450s and those are just a few of the riders mixing it up in the points. I think that 10th-20th place spot will have A LOT of guys we normally don't hear about in the mix so hopefully the broadcast will show those guys more this summer. Will Jett challenge Sexton? I think he can, and I think he will. I know that a lot of people think that Sexton is going to have a runaway summer, but I really do think that Jett as well as Ferrandis will each have overalls this summer. We are only less than a day away so strap in, grab your coolers and your straw hats, IT'S MOTOCROSS SEASON!  

More Magazine Guys (DC)

Our man Kris Keefer is not the only magazine editor/contributor that will be lining up tomorrow. Turns out that Motocross Action Magazine’s Josh Mosiman is also racing the 450 class, as well as at the Hangtown and Thunder Valley rounds. Josh, the older brother of Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas pilot Michael Mosiman, is planning on riding three different brands in these first three rounds, and if he qualifies in each, that might be some kind of record—three brands in three nationals in three weeks! He’s starting this project on a Yamaha YZ450F. He will switch Honda next week at Hangtown and then a GasGas at Thunder Valley. Mosiman is also going to race a Kawasaki later this summer at Washougal. Look for him tomorrow wearing one of those trademark orange MXA helmets. (And if you spot two of those orange helmets, the other would be worn by Justin Jones, a part-time test rider for both MXA and Dirt Bike Magazine. Justin, the son of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Gary Jones, scored 20th in the second moto here at Fox Raceway last year.)

Back to Keefer. He will be wearing #255 tomorrow. Last week I asked him a trivia question: Can you name the one rider in AMA Pro Motocross history to win a national moto wearing #255? He could not. The correct answer? Don “Killer” Kudalski, a Honda 125 Support rider in the 1976 Midland Motorsport Park in Midland, Michigan. Kudalski ended up second overall that day with 4-1 moto finishes, with only Bob “Hurricane” Hannah beating him.

GRATES (Matthes)

One big change to the outdoors this year is the addition of metal grates for the starting line. SX went to this years ago and of course it's been in the FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) series for years. I get the fact that it'll help with the track maintenance behind the gate (450s chew it up badly) but in my opinion, we're moving in the wrong direction. From my understanding the teams were saying that they develop start maps/techniques, etc., all winter long on grates and it's easier to just keep that rolling into outdoors. Yeah, I mean you have 40 years of tech on dirt starts, oh the time it must take to develop new settings? 

Motocross IS dirt starts! That's what it is... We've got front starting devices, we have rear lock-downs in some cases, we have lights on the handlebar to tell the rider they are in the right RPM, we have specially-designed start maps in the ECUs. I mean, why would you want to make it harder and have to deal with imperfect traction? OH NO THE HORROR of that! I don't want to be the old man waving my fist at a cloud, but I don't like this one bit, we're taking the skill out of starting! There might be more crashes in the first turn as well with forty bikes all more evenly matched because getting a good start is easier. We'll see about that, I guess. Yeah, the MXGP guys don't seem to have that issue but not all of their races have forty guys, or thirty, or even twenty... LOL. I don't know man. I just don't like it. 

(DC Note: They use metal grates at the Motocross of Nations too, so maybe this will help Team USA. I’m not fond of them either but the teams almost unanimously requested the change.)

Jago Geerts Out (DC)

Last Saturday afternoon in Villars-Sous-Ecot, France, MX2 FIM World Championship points leader Jago Geerts had a brutal endo in the qualifying race and suffered a broken wrist. Despite not racing in Sunday's MXGP of France, he still holds the points lead, but only by a single point. Now there's word that the Belgian will miss the next two rounds of the series and lose his red plate as points leader, but there's hope that he will be back by the end of June.

"Monster Energy Yamaha factory rider Jago Geerts has gone under the knife at Genk Hospital and looks to be back in action at the MXGP of Indonesia on June 25," reported MXLarge.com. "The operation was performed by renowned Belgian hand surgeon Joris Duerinckx, who also treated famous cyclist Tadej Pogacar after his fall in Liège-Bastogne-Liège bicycle event."

According to MX Large's number-crunching, Geerts could drop as low as seventh in the standings during his time out. Right now he now holds 319 points, one more than Red Bull KTM rider Andrea Adamo of Italy. Husqvarna's Kay De Wolf has 307 points, last weekend's winner Thibault Benistant has 303 points, GasGas rider Simon Langenfelder has 259 points (though he too is out with an injury), and then comes Roan Van De Moosdijk (254) and Liam Everts (235).

Here's a look at Jago's ugly crash:

RM aRMy Boot Camp #2 (Keefer)

Suzuki Motor USA and the Pipes Motorsports Group had its second in a series of RM Army Boot Camps Wednesday at Perris Raceway for riders of Suzuki RM and RM-Z motocross bikes.

The Suzuki RM Army Boot Camp lets Suzuki RM and RM-Z owners hang with some of their favorite Suzuki racers at select MX tracks around the country. The RM Army Boot Camp is a one-day event featuring an exclusive, friendly experience with MX track ride sessions, bike setup coaching and tech tips from the Pipes Motorsports Group’s Supercross racing team technicians and pro riders*, a Suzuki product display, rider interaction, food, refreshments, and fun at some of the best pro and amateur motocross tracks in the USA. Attendees also walked away with exclusive RM Army Boot Camp gear to commemorate their day at the track.

Based on the outstanding success of the first RM Army Boot Camp held earlier in April at DT-1 MX Park in Tulare, CA, the momentum behind the second event in the series was strong and great building for RMaRMy members. With almost 100 attendees enjoying the hospitality and expertise of the Pipes Motorsports Group and Suzuki staff, a great day was had by all.

All current Suzuki RM and RM-Z owners are encouraged to attend these events, which are complimentary for being loyal Suzuki owners and honorary RM Army recruits. Attendance for on-track riding is limited, and offered on a first-come, first-served basis, so pre-register today to ensure you have a chance at a great MX experience for Suzuki fans. For more information and to keep an eye out for each event’s announced date and when signups will be accepted, visit. Here are some shots from Spencer Owens from the event.

Ty Masterpool Update (Mitch Kendra)

After joining the BarX Suzuki team in the off-season, Ty Masterpool once again quickly disappeared from the races during Monster Energy AMA Supercross shortly into the season. He posted on Instagram he got the flu at the opener and then not much was known about what happened after that. Until last week. On May 16, Masterpool posted an update, stating he lost 14 pounds while he was ill. His full update read:

Then on Thursday, Masterpool posted “So hyped to have SportClips on board and added to the great people who help me out” with photos of his Kawasaki KX250 with its full livery for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

Now, Masterpool’s camp has released a press release about his relationship with title sponsor SportClips. Read it below—and watch for the #81 on the track this weekend.

MXGP-TV/Racer X Trivia (DC)

Here was last week's question: Upon what brand of motorcycle did American motocross pioneer Jim Pomeroy score his last FIM World Championship points? The guesses included Bimbo's trademark Bultaco, as well as his 500cc USGP moto win aboard a Honda at Carlsbad, but the correct answer was Beta. Pomeroy rode one in 1980 and the 500cc Grand Prix of France, where he finished in the points with a 10th place in the second moto. That was the last point of the Yakima Flash's GP career. And we had two winners, due to a mistake on my part in spotting the first correct answer! "GlenDale" and "Jim M. from OC" are the winners. Each will get a complete set of the 2023 Racer X AMA Pro Motocross decals, featuring old-school pit pass art for all 11 rounds.

For this week, let's stick with 1980. Pomeroy was not the only American to score a point that year in the 500cc MXGP races. As a matter of fact, ten other Americans scored points in the 500cc GPs in 1980. The first person that can make at least eight of those American riders (not including Pomeroy) in the comments below, wins. Go! 

And on the subject of trivia, my friend Claude Giguere likes to send around old photos of the day, on a thread that includes a bunch of industry friends. In today’s batch he sent this photo of Gary Jones at the 1973 Daytona “Supercross” though it was actually an outdoor national that year. Jones was debuting the new Honda Elsinore CR250M, which didn’t go very well due to come teething issues. But if you look closely at the photo, you might recognize a couple of people in the background.

Turns out the guy in the orange painter hat with the white shirt and red slacks, holding a little instamatic camera, is future Honda, Harley-Davidson and Rokon factory rider Don “Killer” Kudalski of Florida—the same guy that went on to win a national moto in ’76 aboard the #255 Honda. And if you look to the far right the guy in the green Hawaiian-looking shirt and another orange hat is also a future Honda factory rider (as well as Kawasaki, Husqvarna and Suzuki) “Bad” Brad Lackey, as our publisher Scott Wallenberg pointed out. And then Bryar Holcomb, the current Factory Effex boss and back then a Bultaco and Maico factory rider, pointed out, “And I think Joe Bonnello also with a Trelleborg orange hat standing behind Gary.

Oh. And huge rut (that is said to only happen in modern day races?  Ya right!”

First-Race Winners (DC)

Guys who won the first AMA Pro Motocross race they ever entered: Jeffrey Herlings (2017), Eli Tomac (2010), James Stewart (2002), Grant Langston (2001), Sebastien Tortelli (1999), Jean-Michel Bayle (1989), Marty Smith (1974), Pierre Karsmakers (1973), Brad Lackey, Sonny DeFeo and Barry Higgins (all 1972). Did I miss anyone?

Hey, Watch It!

GoPro: Carson Brown Ripping a 1980 YZ125 Two-Stroke

FLY RACING | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

2023 Pro Motocross Preseason Press Conference - Pala, CA

2023 Fox Raceway Press Day Riding RAW | Racer X Films

First Look: 2023 Fox Raceway National 

Swap Moto Live with the raw footage from yesterday's press ride at Fox Raceway:

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week

“Yours for $6,000 a scoop: The world’s most expensive ice cream tastes like fungus.”—Morning Brew

“Man Hospitalized After Mistaking NOS Octane Booster Racing Formula For Energy Drink -He did not receive the horsepower boost promised by the packaging.”—IFL Science website

"Some Maniac Crashed His Car Into His House Then Chopped His Roommate's Door Down With A Pickaxe"—Barstool

Random Notes

Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races.