The exact same thing played out in the 250SX West Region class: Husqvarna's RJ Hampshire won A1, but then also floundered in the San Francisco mud—both Jett and RJ finished ninth in their respective classes. And like Jett it would take four rounds for RJ to get back into the winner's circle. Both would rebound and win their championships, but it wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed after that first race win at the opener.

The 250SX East Region opener, held in early February '24, was a much different scenario. A huge first-turn crash put several of the main title contenders on the ground to start their season. Haiden Deegan would finish 16th, Tom Vialle would be 18th, and Cameron McAdoo would finish 15th (and unfortunately expose himself to a series of jokes after his Fox Racing pants were ripped open and his manhood will never be questioned again). But at the end of the series Red Bull KTM's Vialle recovered completely to win the title while Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Deegan would climb back up to second in the final rankings, so the East opener didn't tell us much on how it was going to end. The winner of the opener was Austin Forkner, then on Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. He didn't make it to the finish of the second race before he crashed violently, ending his season and, eventually, his long tenure with Pro Circuit.

My point here is that no matter what happens next weekend under the Big A, there will be 16 more SX races factored into the championship that pay the same points (and nine more for the 250SX West Region, including the three East/West Showdown races at Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City).

Let's back up more and look at the 2023 Anaheim opener. Eli Tomac won, Cooper Webb was second (and still on a KTM), Chase Sexton was third (and on a Honda). By the next-to-last round it appeared that Tomac would repeat as champion, but he ended up tearing his Achilles tendon in Denver and that gave Sexton the title. Webb would finish third in the final rankings. And in the 250 class Jett Lawrence and RJ Hampshire would go 1-2 at Anaheim and finish the series 1-2 in the standings, so that opener did offer more of a preview. Hunter Lawrence won the 250SX East opener in February and then would go on to win that title. And speaking of Hunter, his '24 Anaheim 450SX debut went the exact opposite of little brother's. He failed to even qualify after getting chopped off in the first turn of his heat race by Vince Friese and then failing to make enough passes in the LCQ to get into the main. But by the end of the series Hunter had only climbed as high as ninth in the rankings. I expect him to be much more aggressive in the opener this time around. Same goes for Tomac, who was ninth in his return to AMA Supercross for the first time since his injury the previous May in Denver. Tomac has signaled this will be his last season of full-time racing. He not only wants to add to his second all-time career haul of 52 450SX main event wins, he is aiming for that third 450SX title that eluded him in '23.

Beyond all that, there is one cool stat that sums up where we are in 2025, and that is the fact that for the first time in Monster Energy AMA Supercross history, five premier-class SX champions will be lining up together. (Thanks to Clinton Fowler and We Went Fast for figuring that statistical gem out.) Besides Tomac, there is two-time champion Cooper, current champion Jett Lawrence, and past champs Jason Anderson (2018) and Chase Sexton (’23). How has this never happened before? Well, in the eighties there was the unlucky injuries to Donnie Hansen (at the end of the ‘82 season) and David Bailey (’87 preseason) that ended their careers, as well as the fact that Broc Glover and Ron Lechien never actually won the SX title, so those deep fields that also included Rick Johnson (’86 and ’88), Jeff Ward (’85, ’87), Johnny O’Mara (’84), Bob Hannah (’77-’79), Mike Bell (’80), and Mark Barnett (’81) somehow never quite lined up all together after they won their first championships. In the ‘90s both Johnson, Jeff Stanton (’89-’90, ’92), and Jean-Michel Bayle (’91) all retired relatively early, while guys like Damon Bradshaw, Mike LaRocco, Mike Kiedrowski, Guy Cooper, and Jeff Matiasevich never won the SX title. And then you get into the multi-title era of McGrath (seven), Ricky Carmichael (five), Ryan Villopoto, and Ryan Dungey (four each), James Stewart and Chad Reed (two each). Even the “Perfect Storm” Anaheim 2005 race only had McGrath, Carmichael, and Reed with SX championships already in hand. Add it all up, and those five champions we will hopefully see all season long make this the deepest field ever, on paper anyway. It’s also why we’re featuring Jett, Eli, Cooper, Jason, and Chase on the cover of the 2025 Souvenir Yearbook for Monster Energy Supercross, which you can pick up at every round of the series.

And Josh Gagnon's (@alwaysbelieve331) countdown to A1 continues...

And check out some photos from the Fox Raceway at Pala supercross track today, by Simon Cudby.

Wanna Bet? (DC)

As you probably saw earlier today, SMX sports betting is finally a go for the 2025 SMX season. The SMX League has appointed ALT Sports Data, the leader in trading and consumer data for action, alternative and emerging sports, as the official data distribution partner to unlock new markets in the world of regulated sports betting. According to the press release, “the exclusive partnership will leverage ALT Sports Data and its proprietary simulation trading platform to enable legal and official sports betting on the entire SMX World Championship Series, including Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Pro Motocross, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, and the SMX World Championship Playoffs…. This exclusive agreement will provide ALT Sports Data with access to SMX World Championship events, allowing them to collect, analyze, and distribute data to licensed sports betting operators across the globe.”

In a nutshell, fans can bet on the 450SX class, whether it’s who will win the championship or who will win each race. They can also bet on who get the main event holeshot, who will make up the podium for any given round, head-to-head main event matchups, heat race winners and more. There will also be Better/Worse parlays, from three to eight riders, where you have an over-under finishing odds, like 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, etc. If you pick all three correctly, you win back ten times what you bet; pick all eight right and right and you win 180 times your bet, which would be quite the pay day! Here’s the press release that went out earlier and explains it all in better detail than I can.

And to see where and how you can bet, check out NXT Bets’ website.  

Bet wisely, and good luck!

Preview Shows! (Jason Weigandt)

Merry New Year, our annual Monster Energy Racer X Preview shows for the season are here! The first three episodes are up on our YouTube channel and on the website. There will be five total episodes which means over two hours of preview content with Anaheim 1 just a week away! 

Myself, Steve Matthes, and Jason Thomas have been doing these preview shows for a dozen years now, and while other media groups do their own previews now, no one else packs the constant bickering and arguing that we do. Is that good or bad? Eh, good question. You can find vanilla content elsewhere. We try to make these shows spicy. This is hot salsa. You can find mild stuff elsewhere.

Some arguments for this year? Well, last year I thought Eli Tomac would be just as good as he was before his injury. JT thought he would not. JT was right—we didn’t see 2023 Eli in ‘24, but we all agree he will be better this time. But, is that good enough now to challenge and beat Jett Lawrence? Are Chase Sexton's bike issues fixed? Will Jett embracing the haters impact his results long term or short term? Is Hunter Lawrence part of the elite group that can win 450SX races on any night? Did we diss out Ken Roczen by leaving him until show three? Everyone agrees that Cooper Webb will be a contender, now and forever, but there are many, many more arguments to have, now and forever. Enjoy the shows, people, even if that means you’re just hate-watching Matthes.

In other news, I recorded a Chad Reed podcast which I’ll release Monday, so stay tuned to our Racer X podcast network. I ask Chad about amateur-dad life and then get his takes on the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross field. You know Chad. He never, ever holds back.

Then this morning, I called up Kyle Peters to ask about his status going forward in AMA Arenacross. KP has won five straight titles which ties the all-time record in the series, held by Buddy Antunez. But now he’s going to have to call it on this season due to a neck injury, as his Phoenix Racing Honda team announced this morning. Is this the end of the road for Kyle? He says no, he wants to come back next year even though neck injuries are scary. Why? Well, first, he feels like he’s still competitive. Also, he spends his summers working for his dad’s used car business, so he has learned that racing dirt bikes is way more fun than a real job! He wants to stay out there as long as he can. Have a watch or listen to our show with KP, one of the most underrated riders of his generation. The dude existed in the 5-8 results range of 250SX for about ten years, which, unfortunately, is usually right out of the range that people tend to notice. KP is legit good!

Oh, and one more thing, check out the SuperMotocross season preview show that aired on NBC last Sunday. This is not anything like our Racer X preview shows, which are full of bickering and arguing. This is a high-end network-quality show. Heck, we’re wearing sport coats! The show is packed with interviews with the stars of the sport like Tomac, the Lawrences, Sexton, Webb, Roczen, Deegan, and more, and analysis from the whole TV crew. Huge tip of the visor to Feld’s Doug Cabrera and his team for whipping this show together and getting so many interviews with the riders at their homes over the holiday season. Doug was the man behind those legendary Bar-to-Bar season review DVDs, so he knows his stuff. I believe this show is a great high-water mark for the sport in professionalism. Have a look.

Brand Updates (DC)

The world is well aware of the financial distress that KTM’s parent company has been in, hoping for better news for the Austrian brands that now includes Husqvarna and GasGas. Those teams will all line up next weekend at Anaheim, as it doesn’t sound like the situation in the board room has affected what’s happening out on the track or inside the race shop in America.

As far as some of the other brands go, Triumph has announced that their two riders for the 250SX West Region will be the veterans Austin Forkner and Jordon Smith, with the returning Jalek Swoll and Stilez Robertson in the 250SX East Region. Whichever one of these four wins first will have a place in SX history as the first-ever winner for the British brand (any British brand, actually). Triumph has also added MXGP veteran Max Nagl to their team over in Europe to help with R&D and also racing in Germany’ MX Masters of ADAC, which he won in 2024.

Like Triumph, Beta is also in their second year of SX racing and have added Mitchell Oldenburg to line up alongside Benny Bloss. Their highwater mark so far was the eighth place finish that Bloss grabbed in Nashville last April.

Meanwhile, over in Europe, Ducati has added Jeremy Seewer to compete in MXGP, and there’s some buzz that we may be seeing Antonio Cairoli here (in America) for a race or two later this summer, if Ducati can get their Desmo450 MX on the assembly line in time to meet AMA homologation rules. And still no word on where exactly Ducati will set up for their planned arrival on the SMX circuit in 2026, though that Troy Lee Designs rumor hasn’t gone away.

More Industry Moves (DC) 

We've come to know the time of the year when riders switch teams, trainers, gear brands, and whatever else as silly season. It began early in 2024 with several midseason changes as the effect of the new SuperMotocross World Championship playoffs, as everyone wants to be as good a position as possible for the calendar's endgame. 

But it's also been a busy one for the racing industry itself as we've seen several fairly high-profile moves shake out as the year came to an end, including Bobby Hewitt and Triumph parting ways, Jeremy Coker going from Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing to Triumph, Daniel Blair leaving KTM's amateur program for a new endeavor (stay tuned), former Troy Lee Designs team manager Tyler Keefe coming on board with The Family to help manage riders, Michael Antonovich leaving Swap Moto Live (and being replaced by our old friend Kellen Brauer) for a new endeavor (another stay tuned), and more. 

The latest move was the New Year's Day announcement that Ryan Sipes is going Stew Baylor's Rocky Mountain/Red Bear Racing Kawasaki Off-Road team for 2025. Sipes, an incredibly versatile rider who had an excellent professional SX/MX career, followed by an excellent excursion into off-road racing, where he became the first American to win the individual overall honors in the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), will bring his expertise to Baylor's growing Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) and National Enduro program. In his Instagram post making the announcement, Sipes said, "The atmosphere is just different in offroad, in a good way. And although I won’t be racing, it’s going to be fun passing along my knowledge to our riders and helping them be their best and achieve their goals. Huge thanks to @stewardbaylor514 for trusting me with this. Now that we aren’t competitors, I can finally share my secrets with him!"

The Lives They Lived 2024 (DC)

On New Year's Eve we posted our annual feature "The Lives They Lived" about all of the moto friends and strangers that we lost in the last lap around the sun. Some lived very long and productive lives; others were lost tragically young. It's never an easy column to pull together but it's became an important tradition. Unfortunately, there's never enough room to include everyone, so we try to make it as broad a collection of stories that we can. Please check it out if you haven't yet.

One person that we did not include, simply because we had no idea he was into motorcycles, was former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who passed in December at the age of 100. As a young man, Carter rode motorcycles, and he when he was running for governor in Georgia in the 1960s, he rode around on a Honda S50 with "Carter for Governor" on the rear plate. I don't recall any other U.S. President riding a motorcycle, but I do recall former candidate Jon Huntsman of Utah being an avid fan and rider himself—I took him on a lap around Budds Creek when he was running in 2012. Also, another former candidate, Minnesota's Walter Mondale's, I recall his son being a regular amateur racer. And soon-to-be-U.S.-President-again Donald Trump's grandkids are into motocross and you'll see dirt bikes on the social media channels of that family. And back in the mid-2000s U.S. Attorney General Dan Ashcroft once came out to the St. Louis SX and rode an RM250 out for opening ceremonies. But as far as I can tell (or Google) the late Jimmy Carter appears to be our only motorcycle-riding U.S. President so far.

And one more thing on The Lives They Lived: We included Nancy Ritchie, the matriarch of the RedBud Ritchie family, who followed her husband Gene (2016) into the afterlife. I knew there was an amazing photo of Nancy on the front of a Honda ATC with the late, legendary Doug Domokos—AKA the Wheelie King—at the controls. Domokos was from nearby Niles, Michigan, and got his start wheeling around RedBud during intermissions. We could not locate the photo in time for our New Year’s Eve feature, but then Amy Ritchie was able to find it and scan it in. It’s a remarkable shot of what RedBud looked like in the mid-eighties, as well as what life was like in those simpler times… This is the way we should remember both Nancy Ritchie and the Wheelie King.

And our man Mitch Kendra found these photos in his archive of Ed Lojak and James “Jammer” Golliher Jr.

Renthal Factory Tour (Keefer)

I had the chance to do something really cool before the holidays that will be up on Racer X here shortly. I got a tour of the Renthal factory in England and came away mind-blown on how much is involved into making handlebars. Over the course of the two days I went through every step/station that it takes to make a handlebar. There are 19 steps that go into making a 7/8 handlebar and nearly 30 that go into making a 1-1/8 handlebar! Not only did I learn about how the product was made but I also learned that Renthal employees take their specific job seriously and a lot of them have been there for over 15 years! I went through and spoke with each person at their dedicated station to really understand what each specific role was and how important it is in the process. Over 90 employees are employed at the Renthal factory in Bredbury Park, and each have a crucial role into making each handlebar. The tour didn't stop with handlebars, however, as I had the chance to watch how sprockets are made starting from a huge sheet of aluminum. Renthal also surprised me with my own handlebar! Yes, I got to design my own bend of handlebar as well as go through each process myself. I don't want to give away too much of the video, but we got it all coming to a Racer X Films shortly. 

2025 WMX Schedule (Mitch Kendra)

The 2025 Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship schedule was announced earlier this week. Returning for a second season in this new incarnation, the ’25 WMX schedule will feature six rounds in a slightly different schedule than the 2024 season as this year’s schedule will have each round attached to an AMA Pro Motocross Championship round. The WMX races will all take place on the Friday before the respective Pro Motocross round, kicking off at the Pala National at Fox Raceway on May 23 and ending on the August 22 Budds Creek National in Maryland. We expect to see 2024 WMX Champion Lachlan Turner, runner-up Kyleigh Stallings, and many more fast women competing this summer.

2025 WMX Championship Series Schedule

Take Our Readers' Choice Survey!

A lot of passionate, creative people work to make Racer X the best it can be, but our biggest source of inspiration is, quite simply, you! All of us at Racer X would really appreciate it if you can take a few minutes to complete our Readers' Choice survey. The better we know our readers and audience, the better we can make everything we do. For completing the survey, you'll receive a free 3-month digital subscription to Racer X Illustrated and a $20 gift card to MotoSport.com! You'll also be entered to win a Denago Powersports MX4 bike, five pairs of Sidi Crossair boots, an OGIO Dozer gearbag, a Risk Racing starting gate, a MotoSport shop stand, a 6D ATR-1 helmet, and a FXR 2025 Clutch Pro Moto gear kit! Winners will be announced January 3.

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Hey, Watch It!

Challengers! 2025 Monster Energy SX Preview Ep. 1: Tomac, Webb & Sexton

The Targets: 2025 Monster Energy SX Preview Ep. 2: Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence

They Can Win! 2025 Monster Energy SX Preview Ep. 3: Roczen, Anderson, Plessinger and More

GoPro: Is it Possible to Go ANY FASTER? Carson Brown at Pax Trax MX on KX125

Chase Sexton at work on getting that #1 plate back in supercross:

Here’s a look at what Anaheim 1984 was like, for some retro vibes:

Finally, who’s got the best race craft? Peacock asked: