There was also a big press conference for the season’s end of Pro Motocross and the upcoming SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX), which begin in two weeks at zMAX Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In it we learned that 2025 is Eli Tomac’s absolutely, positively last full season of SX/MX/SMX, though he may do selected rounds here and there. We also learned that tomorrow’s Ironman National is the last outdoor national ever for Dean Wilson, who is here trying to crack the top 20 in SMX points in order to qualify automatically for each round. He’s on the bubble with Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki’s Kyle Chisholm. It’s also Phil Nicoletti’s last dance in Pro Motocross, and he was part of the presser as well—and he’s locked in for the SMX top-20, which means no LCQs for Uncle Phil. Jett Lawrence was not at the presser, as he’s home in Florida riding and training for his comeback, which starts at Charlotte, but his brother Hunter is here, hoping to round out his first 450 MX season with a win, after coming close several times.

And Ken Roczen is back, and he’s riding a Suzuki RM-Z250 for fun. He sat at the kids’ table during the press conference, joking about how he last raced the 250 class in 2013, back when “these guys were still in diapers!” When asked how old he was in 2013, Deegan, the youngest rider up there, laughed and said he was actually seven. At the other end of the spectrum is Drew Adams, who will make his U.S. professional debut here tomorrow in the 250 class on the #593 Kawasaki KX250.

We also found out that tomorrow’s Spanish-language broadcast of Ironman will be airing domestically on Telemundo Deportes, and so will the Las Vegas SMX grand finale. Another bonus is that at each of the three SMX rounds (Charlotte, Texas, Las Vegas) there will be a live Friday night SMX Insiders show that fans are welcome to attend, as well as what is being described as a “live moto podcast mashup show” featuring the hosts of Title 24 Podcast(Ricky Carmichael and/or Ryan Villopoto), Bubba’s World Podcast (James Stewart), PulpMX (Steve Matthes and friends), and even Gypsy Tales (Jase Macalpine). Those guys all together sounds like a lot of quality bench-racing!

Beyond all of that, Ironman Raceway is pretty much packed as the amateurs did practice sessions today in between all of the other on-track racing and riding, and then they will race on Sunday. They are getting ready to start the second half of the Moto Combine so I need to get back out there. Here’s Keefer on Roczen’s 250… (Editor’s note: Cole Davies won that second Combine moto with Minnesota’s Avery Long a very close second, California’s Landen Gordon third and first-moto winner Kayden Minear fourth. Davies got the overall with Minear second overall and Gordon third overall).

Ken Roczen (Keefer)

We all know how picky Roczen is with his set-up on his bike and I have ridden his race bike last year, so I can attest on how unique it feels. The #94 likes a soft-feeling fork and a rear end that is higher than other factory bikes I have tried. This kind of set up also makes his bike corner well and that gives Roczen more front-end traction where maybe there isn't much. He is light on the bike so having softer stuff makes sense. As I was testing with Mark from REP Suspension Thursday, he casually mentioned that Roczen had a set of his stuff on his RM-Z250 and really liked it. Being that this is a unique situation for Roczen, racing the 250 class at Ironman, having a choice in what he wanted to race was interesting to me. Basically, the RM-Z250 that he will be racing is a BAR X package (engine and suspension) and REP does the BAR X team's stuff. It makes sense and is seamless. When a factory rider like Ken Roczen chooses to run your suspension settings, it's a big deal to these independent suspension companies like REP and Active Ride Suspension, and I just think that was pretty cool!  

Team USA, Great Britain, France: (DC)

As I mentioned in the intro there is a lot of buzz surrounding Team USA right now, and even more uncertainty. In a nutshell, Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton is committed as our MXGP class rider, but that’s about it. His teammate Aaron Plessinger would like to return—he raced in both 2018 and ’23—as the Open class rider but Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac asked the AMA and team manager Roger De Coster to give him these two comeback races (last weekend’s Budds Creek and Ironman tomorrow) to see if he feels he’s competitive. Eli has raced exactly one Pro Motocross event—Budds Creek last weekend—in two years due to injuries. But he loves the event and did not get to be part of a Team USA defense last year.

So what’s the dilemma? If Tomac doesn’t feel up to it, he will simply let Team USA know, right? The problem is, if Eli doesn’t go, his young teammate Haiden Deegan might not go either. Our newly crowned AMA 250 Pro Motocross Champion would be everyone’s first choice for the MX2 class, but he’s thinking about getting a small procedure done on his wrist at some point in the off-season, the sooner the better. On the other hand (pardon the pun), the opportunity to be on Team USA alongside his teammate Tomac, one of the all-time greats, would probably lock him in. I spoke to his dad Brian today during press day and we talked about the Matterley Basin track in the UK where the MXoN will be held, how it reminds me of the old Steel City track, and just how crazy the fans are at any MXoN. In other words, I was campaigning for Team USA… If Haiden decides not to go, we would still some very fast options in Levi Kitchen or Chance Hymas, or even Ty Masterpool, but hopefully we will hear by Monday or Tuesday what is decided.

I also spoke to Max Anstie, and he said the Tomac/Deegan situation has Team Great Britain on hold too, as without those two going, it would be really expensive for Star Racing to just send him and his bike for the home team. But if his American teammates Eli and Haiden go, it will be much easier to help him out. The last time the race was held at Matterley, a muddy 2017, Anstie had the race of his life and swept both motos outright. He really wants to go this year, and the British could certainly use him.

Whoever we send to Matterley Basin on October 5-6 they will have their hands full with the defending champions, as Team France announced this week that they are going with last year’s winning lineup: Tom Vialle in MX2, Romain Febvre in MXGP, and Maxime Renaux in Open.

Numbers for Now (DC)

With Ironman being the last round of Pro Motocross and the 28th round of the SuperMotocross World Championship, the annual guessing/projecting game of what exactly next year's AMA SX/MX/SMX numbers will look like. The AMA has a slightly complicated semi-permanent numbering system that see some riders get permanent numbers (or at least for as long as they continue to race professionally). And no, the SMX playoff points do not count towards the AMA numbers, only Monster Energy Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross. So how will it all shake out? Our friend Brett Smith of We Went Fast did a deep dive on it earlier this week.

MXGP Stuff (DC)

Last weekend the MXGP of the Netherlands took place at the relatively new Arnhem track and national hero Jeffrey Herlings put on another amazing display of sand-riding to go 1-1. It was his first win at home since 2020, and it helped him stay in the points battle behind Tim Gajser and Jorge Prado. It also marked a record-extending 107th career Grand Prix win. But the weekend wasn't a total loss for Prado and Gajser. With his 2-2 finishes and Gajser's 4-3, Prado tightened up the points battle to the point where he has it down to single digits—801 for Gajser to Prado’s 792. But for Gajser to not drop any more than that to a pair of sandmasters like Herlings and Prado was a small win unto itself. And with the FIM Motocross World Championship now moving onto the hard pack of Switzerland this weekend, Gajser is in a good spot to hold on to the red plate.

Also, last weekend in Arnhem was the MXGP debut of the Ducati Desmo 450MX under the retired legend Antonio Cairoli. He qualified 14th fastest and then placed 15th in the first moto, which was a fine debut. He DNF'd the second moto early on but Antonio felt it was a good maiden voyage and seemed to really enjoy being back on a starting gate.

The MX2 class saw Lucas Coenen take the win over his Husqvarna teammate and pre-race favorite Kay de Wolf. What's interesting here is that in the 16 rounds of this series to date, either a Dutch rider (de Wolf) or a Belgian (Coenen, his twin brother Sacha, or Liam Everts) has won the overall. De Wolf has been the points leader pretty much the whole way, but his second moto crash allowed Lucas Coenen to tighten up the points slightly, bringing it down to 44 points (777 to 733) with four rounds left in the championship.

And keep an on Lotte Van Drunen, the Dutch girl that topped both motos of WMX in a fierce duel with defending champion Courtney Duncan. Like pretty much every Dutch rider, Van Drunen is an excellent sand rider—she's the girl who scored a championship point in MX2 when they raced at the bottomless sand pit of Lommel, Belgium. She's got a 17-point lead over Spanish rider Daniela Guillen with a single round of the FIM Women's World Championship left, the September 8 MXGP of Turkey. 

Finally, a nod to Switzerland’s own Jeremy Seewer, who will make his 200th straight MXGP start—a record by far—this weekend on home soil.

Pulp MX Ride Day (Keefer)

Looking to ride with Damon Bradshaw, Andrew Short, Travis Preston, Weston Peick, and more? Head out to Thunder Valley MX in Lakewood, Colorado, on August 31 and September 1 for the Pulp MX Ride Day(s). It is OPEN to ANYONE and each day we will be riding from 10-5. Steve and gang will also have a live show from the track Saturday night so be sure to stick around and bench race about how you smoked Matthes! I am looking forward to seeing everyone and getting to ride a fully prepped Thunder Valley. The weather looks awesome as well! 

Remembering Olaf (DC)

Recently a French journalist and friend named Antoine Legendre contacted me about any coverage I might be able to find of the 1985 U.S. 250cc Grand Prix at Unadilla. He was specifically looking for a shot of rider #43, his friend Olivier Perrin, for whom he has a tribute page on Facebook called "In Memory of Olaf." I wasn't at that race way back when, but I checked the Cycle News Archives for him and found some race coverage, and you could barely see #43 in a black and white photo of the start, but that was about it. Olivier did not finish in the points. 

I asked Antoine who exactly Olivier Perrin is, or was. Turns out he was a very fast and popular French rider in the 1980s and '90s that was nicknamed Olaf. He was a very generous and charismatic guy who was the ringleader for his friends, always organizing fun events with them like BMX races, moped races, marbles races, even slot-car racing championships. And his friends included some of the best with French riders and journalists of the era, including Jean-Michel Bayle, the late Pat Boulland and also Marc Blanchard, now one of the co-owners of 100%. Antoine also told me that, unfortunately, Olivier Perrin was killed in a moped race back in 1997, and the Facebook page is just meant for Olaf's countless friends and family to share memories of his life.

We've mentioned a few times that Thom Veety of Action Photos retired from shooting and donated all of his old photo books and archives from races throughout the '80s, '90s, and '00s that we like to share here online and with our social media. Earlier this week I noticed a book labeled "1985 Unadilla" and it dawned on me that there wasn't a national at Unadilla that year, but they're that 250cc USGP, the race where Johnny O'Mara ran out of gas and the win went to Bob Hannah. So, I went digging through the old photos, and in the very back of the book, and on the very last page was a photo of Kawasaki rider #43, wearing JT Racing gear, just like many Frenchmen did at the time, including FIM World Champions Bayle and Jacky Vimond. I sent it to Antoine to see if it was his old friend Olaf, and indeed it was. Now it's at the top of the In Memory of Olaf. Thanks again, Thom Veety!

https://www.facebook.com/OlafPerrinMx

Hey, Watch It

First glimpse of Ironman press day posted was Vital MX’s First Laps video:

In case you missed it, here’s Weege’s post-race show from last weekend’s Haiden Deegan title celebration:

And here’s the Deegans themselves celebrating Haiden’s first AMA Pro Motocross Championship:

Here is what Ironman looked like when it first joined the AMA Pro Motocross schedule in 2014:

Shane McElrath had a rough weekend at Budds Creek in his second race for Maddparts.com Kawasaki team:

Matt Burkeen weighs in on the Team USA question, Tomac or Plessinger? Or Justin Cooper?