The first Triple Crown of the season happened over the weekend in Glendale, and as always it provided plenty of excitement for fans. Especially when series points leader in the 250 West Region, Julien Beaumer, got out to the early lead and then went down in the first two races. Working his way from behind, he was only able to finish on the podium in the final race and ended up fourth overall on the night. A major disappointment for the Arizona native, but still he is looking to the positives as he told Steve Matthes after the race:
“We could have lost 15 points tonight. I mean, first off, first lap crashes are always dangerous, you’ve got a whole pack behind you, everyone is pretty close. So, I got out of those two pretty lucky, and then I mean, I rode good all night, I salvaged a lot of points. I rode my ass off and I did everything I could to salvage as many points as I can. So, to have a fourth tonight, after being on the ground on the first lap of the first two motos, I’ll take it.”
Considering how hard it is to come through the pack after a first lap crash, especially with the shortened Triple Crown races, fourth overall is a good salvage job when every point matters. Julien was able to hold on to the red plate even with his crashes, and now holds the lead over Jordon Smith by just two points.
So, how exactly did the young rider make two drastic mistakes?
“First one too much front brake, second one too much gas!" he said with a laugh. "We went from one extreme to the other, we just flipped it.” He continued, placing the blame on himself, “I underestimated the way the track was going to be a little bit. The first one for sure was my fault. I came in there standing up, and I leaned, and there was nothing. No bite at all. And then the second one I just came around, I slid a little bit and I caught the edge of that off camber jump and it was game over. Two little mistakes, but I feel like they were complete opposite mistakes. I tucked the front in one and I spun the rear in the other."
Fact is that fourth in Glendale is the first time he has finished outside of the top two in 2025. Which is impressive considering last year, as a rookie, his best finish in supercross was a sixth. It wasn’t until the first SMX Playoff round in 2024 that he would land on the podium.
It's safe to say that coming into the 2025 season, Haiden Deegan has been the favorite to win. However, Beaumer made it known that he is going to be a threat right from the beginning when he topped qualifying at A1. In fact, he has now been fastest qualifier in three of the first four rounds. Though, as he told Matthes, Glendale held extra incentive to be fastest.
“I had a bonus for fastest qualifier tonight, because we didn’t have heat races [with the triple crown format]. So, tonight, I wanted it. So, I was happy with it. I was like, ‘I will take that three grand.’ So, no, tonight obviously, I won’t say I rode any different than I have been riding in qualifying, I just feel like I put my laps together and I felt good on the track tonight.”
Money is great, but sending a message to your competitors might be the biggest incentive of all.
“Yeah, my lap was really good and I’m gonna be honest, like I saw him [Deegan] go for another one at the end and I was like, ‘If he beats that lap that I just put down, I will honestly be so impressed.’ I don’t think I could beat that lap. I think maybe if I cleaned some things up I could, but it’d have to be a damn perfect lap. When I ran that lap, I was like ‘If he beats this, wow, that’s gonna be a fast lap.’
Message sent. While Deegan likes to trash talk his competition on the podium (much to fans enjoyment), Julien takes a quieter approach of letting his riding do the talking. It’s anybody’s guess as to how this season will playout with so many races left, but if there is a statement to be made, it is heading into this two week break with the red plate.
