It was something of a rough start to the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki organization as team racers Levi Kitchen, Garrett Marchbanks and Ty Masterpool were all ultimately out of action and on the sidelines for the opening phase of the 250SX West Region Supercross.
Enter young Drew Adams. The 2024 AMA Nicky Hayden Horizons Award winner, the 16-year-old Adams made his highly-anticipated AMA Pro Racing debut last summer when he motored to 12th overall at the curtain-dropping Ironman National. Debut number two for the kid out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, came at the third round of Monster Energy Supercross when first Levi Kitchen got sick before Anaheim 1 and was forced to switch regionals, and then two of his two teammates – Garrett Marchbanks and Ty Masterpool – suffered injuries and were forced out of action.
Drafted into action by Mitch Payton for the Anaheim 2, the rookie rode encouragingly well, starting the main event in sixth and ultimately finishing eighth. His pending plans for ’25 plan for SMX Next ended before they started, #98 Adams has been absolutely fine with the reality of his new racing surroundings.
“Chattanooga, where I’m from, it’s pretty cool,” said Adams on Thursday afternoon while testing and training at the K1 Kawasaki test tack in Corona, California. “I lived there until I was nine years old. Then we moved to Georgia and now I live in Florida. I’ve just been a southern boy my whole life. But I’ve been out here in California for the past week and just riding with the team and riding the bike and whatnot. It’s been going pretty solid and I’ve been stoked all week. We rode today and I can’t keep a smile off of my face.”
Forced to put his race face on and line up behind the starting gate the second Angel Stadium 250SX West round, Adams, while admitting he was shocked at times with the speed and fierceness displayed at this level, was pleased with his debut.
“It was sick, you know?” said Adams. “I didn’t really have any expectations coming in. I just kind of wanted to learn and I think I did just that, you know? I think I learned a lot and I think I’m only going to get better every weekend. I’m really looking forward to this weekend. I’m pretty happy coming off of last weekend. Obviously, not many rookies get eighth in their first pro supercross race, so I was happy with it. Yeah, there are a couple of things that we need to work on, but like I said, I’m so very excited for this weekend.”
Looking back at Anaheim 2, Adams explained, “I was in the B practice all day because it was my first race. I didn’t really get to ride with everybody until the night show. All day I was pretty calm and whatnot. The nerves weren’t really high and I was just having a good time. Then we did the hat race and that was super sick. I got to be in the first heat race when the track was fresh and that was awesome.
“And then lining up for the main event, I was like, ‘Man, I’m nervous right now.’ It kind of hit me when I was in staging. I was kind of like, ‘Phew.’ My hands were sweating. It was cold outside and I was sweating. Yeah, it kind of all just hit me like a freight train. As soon as the gate dropped the adrenaline went up and I kind of just forgot about everything after that. I was just out thee riding. The day was awesome and I’m happy with how it went. The pace is pretty gnarly right now. The season has just stated and right now the pace is super-fast in the beginning. All the guys are going really fast. After you do those four or five sprint laps, you kind of just settle into a smooth and consistent pace. It is definitely a hard pace to conquer, but like I said, I got used to it in the heat races. But it is all definitely something that I’ve never seen before.”
So how did his supercross debut compare to last year’s first Pro Motocross race?
“It was a little bit different,” explained Adams. “I was actually talking with some friends about this during the week. I felt like the Pro Motocross days were longer and it kind of felt more chill. In the outdoors you do practice very early in the morning and then you only get an hour and a half until the first moto. So it’s really not that long. And you do a full 30 minutes and then you get 45 minutes to rest. Then you go do another 30 minutes. I feel like it is a long but quick day. In supercross you get a lot more time to rest. You’re first practice is at 10 am and then the night show gets going around 5:30 or 6:00 o’clock, so you have a long time to rest and take a nap and to eat all your food that you need. So I kind of like the layout of supercross. It definitely felt pretty chill. The outdoors is a long, but hectic day. The vibe in the supercross pits was really cool too. Cool to see the kids smiling all day. Kids dream of going to supercross races. I know I used to, that’s for sure. The vibe is just so good. Everybody is having a good time. Then once the opening ceremonies happen, then the vibe completely switches up and you get in the serious mode and the race mode and the fans are acting crazy. It’s just a whole hoot out there. I love the vibe at supercross. It’s definitely a good vibe.”
So how did he feel once he pulled off the racetrack after his first 250SX West main event?
I thought, ‘Damn, that’s hard.’’ That’s what I thought. I was sitting there in the pits after and thinking, ‘Man, that was one had race, that’s for sure.’ It started during our main event, too, and that definitely made it 10 times harder. Yeah, I just kind of took it all in and I was super-pumped with it. I was happy to be where I was.”
Trying to remain calm after becoming a supercross racer at the eleventh hour, Adams forced himself to hold back a bit at Anaheim in order to “not chase too much too soon… Yeah, That’s the thing about rookies that have been doing good in the amateurs and then coming into the pro classes. They just want to really show everybody what they’ve got, you know? I think that’s a good thing to do, but I also think it doesn’t work out all the time. So I just wanted to go out there and learn and not get hurt and make the good laps. And that’s just what I did. With the weekends now coming up, like Glendale, I want to drop the hammer a little bit. I think you can kind of drop it a little bit more the weekends after your first race.”
And what did Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team boss Mitch Payton make of his youngest rider’s debut?
“He was pretty impressed,” offered Adams. “Obviously, Mitch is a winner and he wants to win everything because all of these years Pro Circuit has been one of the best teams. Mitch expects winners on his team. He was happy, but he also said, ‘There is stuff that we’ve got to work on.’ And that’s what we have done all week. Me and Mitch have a really good bond. I live just down the street from him in Corona when I’m out here. We hang out a lot and we have a pretty good bond and I would say he’s happy with everything and how it has went so far. I’m just taking it race by race, really. Obviously we are not looking at a championship because I missed the first two races. We are just wanting to learn every weekend and just trying to get better. We just want to move up a position, ride one lap at a time, and just be better, you know? Like get a holeshot. We just want to get better every weekend and just look at the little things.”
Next stop for Drew Adams is State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“I’m looking forward to Glendale, for sure,” said Adams. “I’m super excited to race there. That’s a big stadium and it’s enclosed, so there is not going to be any rain for sure. The track map looks awesome, too. It looks like a fast track and I like fast tracks.”