Indianapolis brings us round nine and the first 250 showdown of 2025. A city that has undergone arguably the best upgrade of any on the calendar, it’s almost unrecognizable from my first trip here in 1997. The sleepy industrial town has been revitalized with a fun downtown and modernized city center. For the riders, it’s generally well-liked, too. The soil can be soft and sticky but Dirt Wurx does a great job of keeping it within reason. We have seen great racing here, too. Roczen’s win here in 2023 stands out and is timely with him on rails this season. The 250 East/West Showdown will be the focus for me as the 250 divisional championships are so often determined in these formats. All in all, Indy is the most underrated race of the season. Book a hotel downtown, take in the nightlife on Friday night, and walk over to Lucas Oil Stadium for a fantastic Saturday. The crowd will be huge and into it. You won’t regret it.
The track this weekend will be influenced much by how soft the dirt is. The ability to jump triples and quads can be immediately removed or reduced if it’s a ruttier version. If it does get nasty, finding rhythms and lines that can be executed every lap without variance is important.
The start cuts across the middle of the track and I’m never a big fan of the shorter start. It allows for more track creativity because they don’t have to waste a massive space in the middle of the stadium, but it’s not ideal for starts specifically. Riders don’t have room to move around and often are bunched up and making contact in the first corner. It also favors the inside gates much more as there isn’t enough distance to make up for the longer run from the outside gates.
After the first corner, riders will come back parallel to the start straight and underneath a tunnel before a right hand 90. The first rhythm is similar to A1 where riders will either hop over or hop on and off the top of the small tabletop. That will lead to a triple on and off or a step on-step off in option two.
A right hand 180 leads to five jumps that will either be 3-2 or 2-3. That choice will depend on soil firmness and also the angle of the jump build. After the five jumps, riders jump over the tunnel that they went under after the start and then rip past the Mechanics’ Area.
A long left hand sand corner with a double apex spans the entire width of Lucas Oil Stadium. The inside line should be the way to go but riders could also push deep into the beginning of the sand before pivoting back across the inside of the second apex.
After exiting the sand and crossing the first corner, there is a six pack of jumps that riders will aim to go 3-3. A 180 left brings riders back the other direction and will ask them to triple again. These triples won’t be easy, though, as the big compression on take-off will create ruts and inconsistency on take-off. Keep an eye on these in the second half of the main events.
Riders will twice rip across the starting line diagonally before heading into the whoops. These will be a critical section (as usual) but riders may be able to enter with more speed than usual. That favors riders like Malcolm Stewart and Roczen as they like to utilize that entry speed to make passes and also lower laptimes.
After the whoops, a long, flat left hander brings riders to the finish line jump and then immediately into a sweeping right hander that goes back under the tunnel (merges with the same lane that riders use on the start). Riders will want to hug their inside through this tunnel even though momentum will want to push them up against the tunnel wall.
Who’s Hot:
Ken Roczen is putting in his best season in years and has to be feeling good about Indy.
Cooper Webb now has a 10 point lead in the championship and while the Daytona win still eludes him, he’s executing his game plan big picture.
AP7 finally looked like the 2024 version of himself. He had to exhale in relief at some point late Saturday night.
Justin Cooper is quietly hanging around the top 5 week in and week out.
RJ Hampshire did the thing and is now thinking championship again. This showdown race is where he made his money in 2024.
Who’s Not:
Chase Sexton. I wish I had more answers. There’s something missing here. It’s either confidence or self-belief or letting the doubts creep in… something.
Cameron McAdoo gave it everything he could but finally had to make the decision to get surgery.
Levi Kitchen had one of the nastier crashes I’ve seen in a while. I don’t know how much worse it could have gone (injury notwithstanding).
Bold Predictions:
Cameron McAdoo has successful knee surgery and announces he will attempt to be back riding next week.
The 250 showdown sees a record 4 red flags before the AMA finally cries “no mas” and sends everyone to their respective haulers to think about what they’ve done.
Hardy Munoz changes his name to “Hearty” Munoz as a nod to giving everyone that watches him a coronary.
My Picks
250
Max Anstie
RJ Hampshire
Haiden Deegan
450
