The 250 class saw Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire get an incredibly emotional win. RJ grew up going to the races at the Speedway with his dad Rick, who sadly passed away last year. Hampshire has had a rough go of it to start ’25, as he was injured and unable to defend his 250SX West title back in January, transitioned to the East and then had a lousy opener in which he finished 18^th. He put all of that behind him at Daytona and took the win, which he dedicated to his father. It was a really cool moment in what’s been a really entertaining series.

So, what has everyone been talking about this week as we head into the second half of this amazing series? Television talent. Unless you’ve been far, far away from the internet and social media, you know that this has been Ricky Carmichael’s week in the barrel. Also, Leigh Diffey. And an unnamed network executive referred to as Mr. Decision Maker, or something like that. These were the topics in the 38-minute “Truth” video that their former co-worker, Daniel Blair, put out on Monday. The very talented and well-spoken Blair quit the TV production at the end of 2023, but never really spoke about why, despite a lot of people asking him why, including myself, and with appearances on other shows like PulpMX and Gypsy Tales. Daniel is now doing his own thing called Supercross University, and he was invited back by Feld Entertainment’s Dave Prater to come on Race Day Live last Saturday to talk about it. But there was a misunderstanding as to how long Daniel would be on the show with hosts Justin Brayton and Adam Cianciarulo. There was apparently someone at NBC/Peacock that wasn’t thrilled with what Daniel said during a recent interview with Gypsy Tales where he did finally address some of his issues, but I admittedly haven’t seen it. Whatever the issue, Daniel decided the three minutes that the show-runner slotted him for were not worth the trip to Daytona, and Daniel turned around and drove home, much to the disappointment of viewers who miss him on both the broadcasts and Race Day Live.

Obviously, there was much more to the story of why Daniel quit the shows altogether than anyone knew and he finally told his side of things in his Truth video that he posted on Monday afternoon. He did not go easy on either Ricky or Diffey, let alone the unnamed network guy. He said he was frustrated after being told that he would be not become the sole voice of supercross, as Diffey was still the network’s first choice. Then shit hit the proverbial fan and the internet and social media exploded with insults and anger, much of it aimed at Carmichael. It’s kind of odd that those two have been put at odds, because Ricky and Daniel did not have the same jobs on the broadcasts. Blair was the host, Ricky the color analyst. Daniel’s work rivals were Diffey and Jason Weigandt; Ricky’s are James Stewart, and before that Jeff Emig and Grant Langston. There was no reason for Ricky to feel threatened by Daniel’s gifted commentary. Diffey, yes, I can understand, but not Carmichael. Daniel and Ricky were not trying to do the same thing. If Daniel got the nod to do all 17 races as a host, Ricky would still be employed also, alongside him as analyst.

I’ve known Ricky for a long time, and he’s always been something of a ball-buster. He and his main crew back in the day—his parents, his manager JH Leale, and before him Scott Taylor, and even Johnny O’Mara, had one long running roast going on, and cutting one another down time and again. On the track RC was all business, as cutthroat an athlete as I have ever seen, but off the track he was much more insecure, not nearly as comfortable in his own skin. So he made a lot of jokes and cracks at the expense of those around him, but they all gave it back to him as good as they got it. To be honest, a lot of top athletes in this sport work that way behind the scenes. There’s a lot of ball busting going on inside those factory trucks. And when I saw the now-notorious video of Ricky walking up to Daniel as he did Blair’s Breakdown at Arlington ’23, I did not think he was being seriously mad at him for being out there in the middle of his VIP track walk or whatever he was doing, and I thought Daniel gave back as good as he got too with that boat wisecrack—that was the funniest part. I never would have guessed that moment would be the beginning of the end of Daniel’s time as a supercross broadcaster, nor did Ricky. Down in Daytona this week, I was with Carmichael in the media room right after Daniel’s video came out from behind the paywall and everyone got to see it on his YouTube channel, and Ricky was pretty much devastated. I don’t think he had any idea that Blair took that seriously—who would walk up to a popular commentator and poke serious fun like that knowing the cameras were rolling? And he did it again at some other race which, when taken out of context, seemed harsher than he probably ever meant it to be.

I don’t have much more insight than that on what happened. I’m not involved with supercross television talent deals in any way. While the video definitely was deep and emotional, none of it seems like it would be enough to quit TV altogether when you’re on the fast track like Daniel was (although maybe it wasn’t as fast of a track as he would like). I would love to ask Daniel about it myself, as I’m sure Matthes was going to do on the Blair Matthes Project, but after the Truth video posting, Daniel went radio-silent and said he was taking the rest of the week off, which is understandable. Maybe next week he will address more. In the meantime, the haters have been having their way with Carmichael and Diffey, and the piling on continues three days later.

While I don’t have any inside info into this whole mess, I do have about a dozen years of working in television myself to draw on. I never planned on being a TV pit reporter or anything like that, but in 1993 I got an unexpected call from a man named Dennis Torres telling me they needed a pit reporter for the Southwick National and asked me if I wanted to give it a shot. They would give me a plane ticket and $400 and I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world. Lucky in that I had never been to Southwick before, and I knew all of the riders well enough to talk to them after the motos. I was terrified, but I did okay enough to get invited back another time that summer. And within a couple of years they were calling me regularly to come be the pit reporter when the network’s main guy had other things to do, like the Tour de France, the Indy 500, whatever.

This was the golden age of TV in that Art Eckman was the host and David Bailey the color analyst, and I suddenly got to be on TV with them, travel with them, and learn from them. They gave me a lot of constructive criticism, and also made fun of me for things like saying “motocross” in a way that made it sound like “motor-cross.” There was competition, just not from Art or David. They did different things than I did. Art was a professional broadcast host who could do the NBA, tennis, college football, golf, and more. David was one of the sport’s all-time great riders and a multi-time champion, which made him perfect for expert analysis of supercross and motocross. My ninth-at-Daytona didn’t make me a candidate to do color analysis or play-by-play, but Art and David both loved to tease me about my highwater mark as a pro. They had great chemistry, they helped each other, and they certainly helped me with both their support and criticism.

My competition was a guy named Marty Reid. He was the pit reporter for a lot of ESPN shows and if I wanted to be the main guy I had to be better than him. I wasn’t, at least not at first. But after a few years I got more comfortable, hired a coach to help me get better on camera, and soon got the call to do the full series. I was in every TV meeting and I learned a great deal from behind-the-scenes people like Scott McLemore, Brett Smith, Chet Burks, Chris Bond, and many more. It was Scotty Mac who taught me probably the most important thing: Let the network producer produce. Let the director do the directing. Let the host be the host and play-by-play, let the expert analysist do the analyzing and explaining. And when they threw it down to the pits, I needed to have something ready to report on. That helped me immensely, and I enjoyed the camaraderie while it lasted, as well as the criticism. Art would bristle and then laugh when we teased about those golden pipes of his, and how we always reminded him that Vince Vaughn once called him “the Ron Burgundy of supercross” as he stood at the urinal in The Catch during an Anaheim after party.  And David Bailey had a sharper wit and sense of humor than most people knew. He was as good in the booth as he was on the race track, and that’s why he's still the GOAT of expert analysis in the SMX space.

After a few years my time was up— I had started a family and a magazine, and Cameron Steele was coming on strong in action sports—I handed them back my headset and microphone and said, ‘If you ever need me, I will be right over there in the media tent.’ I also helped Cameron whenever he asked, and also gave him shit about not being able to talk and ride with the helmet camera or being able to jump the double at Hangtown.

Every office in the world has inner-office competition. Every team has locker-room rivalries and squabbles. Every kitchen has chefs who compete. That’s the nature of competition in pretty much every facet of life. And when things end, they often end badly. And that was the case here. I really don’t think Carmichael was competing with Blair, but I do think he wanted Daniel’s help in making them better together as a team. Ricky knows that there are fans and viewers who want him to do better, and some that simply don’t like him. Daniel Blair has a lot of fans that want him to be the host, not Leigh Diffey. Same goes for Jason Weigandt. The network was apparently trying to spread things out, with a rotation and depth chart that meant six shows for Leigh, six for Daniel, five for Weege, or whatever it was, and hopefully get the best from all of them. It seemed like a great idea, but Daniel decided to leave supercross TV at the end of the 2023 season.

I hope Ricky keeps trying to improve his delivery, and he should probably stay off the internet for the immediate future. I hope Blair’s new project, Supercross University, is a big success and his Truth lets him move on and continue to contribute to this whole sport.  He’s a very smart, creative, and talented guy, and I hope someday they can put all of this behind them, along with the rest of us

Did I mention that Ken Roczen won Daytona on a Suzuki?

Indianapolis SX Press Day Update (Mitch Kendra)

There is a LOT going on this weekend at the Indianapolis SX. First, we have the exciting on-track championship fight in the 450SX Class, plus we get treated to BOTH the 250SX East and West Divisions via the first of three East/West Showdowns of the 2025 season. Six different 450SX winners in eight rounds. We hit the halfway mark in the championship and are setup for another intense battle in both classes. Add in the KTM Juniors and we will have a full day of racing!

I talked with Julien Beaumer today, who confirmed he had not ridden since the Arlington SX (sixth overall on the night) after he “popped” his shoulder out during a qualifying crash. Beaumer told me today he was excited to go racing.

“I haven't ridden since Arlington, but no biggie, we're good,” he said. “Shoulder, I think is as close to 100 percent as it's gonna be. So, I'm happy to be here and I'm ready to go racing.”

Also heard from Jo Shimoda, who said he has been back training during the week, after getting cleared by the doctor two weeks ago. The Honda HRC Progressive rider said he is looking forward to the first of three 250SX East/West Showdown events of the season.

“Honestly, I like doing showdowns,” Shimoda said. “I think more competition, I mean, as a racer, you want to…everyone always wants to prove something, you know. Yeah, I'm excited to be honest.”

Tom Journet also talked with Chase Sexton, who said his crash early in his heat race in Daytona was one of his bigger crashes in a while. Sexton sounds like he took the week to regroup and is ready to get back after it. The Illinois native has a lot of family and friends coming this weekend and he is excited to be racing in a city known for racing with Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I was pretty rattled from the heat race crash,” Sexton reflected on last Saturday. “Haven't crashed that hard, um, in a long time, so it was, yeah, it just shook me up and I was just kind of out, not out of it but I was kind of just off the rest of the day. So, I rode okay for a little bit but just didn't feel quite comfortable. So, yeah, I went back to fifth and it's kinda all I could do. I just try to manage what I could do out there and not make another mistake. So, but we're ready to go for this weekend to feel normal and, yeah, excited to be here in Indy.”

There really are so many different storylines to follow each weekend in this series and this weekend is no different. On top of the on-track action, we will also have National Football League (NFL) players on hand—the Colts’ Kenny Moore II is the Grand Marshal for this round, we will have IndyCar racers on hand, plus motocross video game influencers, too. This race is also the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Love Moto Stop Cancer kickoff, so we will see unique livery this weekend on the riders’ jerseys and bike graphics. Then, once the season is over the memorabilia will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to the family of St. Jude patients.

We also caught up with Coty Schock, who scored P2 overall in Texas at the Triple Crown and then scored 15th in the 450SX Class—on his YZ250F podium bike from the week before! Schock enjoyed racing the premier class—as he did a couple of years ago when on a Honda CRFR450R in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship—but he was ready to be back for this weekend’s showdown. He said the podium in Texas took all the doubt out of his mind and showed the work him and the team put in paid off. He also noted how cool it was to have some fun FXR gear and graphics for the St. Jude Love Moto Stop Cancer race (see photos below).

And another note is I chatted with Justin Brayton briefly, who was spinning laps on the track alone today before press day took place. Brayton was riding a CRF450R and mentioned the goal is for him to be able to show AND talk about some footage on the Race Day Live broadcast.

So, as mentioned, there will be a ton going on! Tune in tomorrow to follow along.

Watch our press day video for some interview and raw riding footage.

And Colt Nichols was on the Pat McAfee Show live this afternoon. Tune into the 2:29:53 mark below, where Nichols joins the show.

INDY (Matthes)

I'm excited for the race this weekend for a couple of reasons. One is to see if Chase Sexton can stop this self-sabotaging he seems to be doing lately and get back some of these 10 points he's down to Cooper Webb. And also, it's SHOWDOWN week! We had some guy named Weigandt (used to be a flagger I heard?) on the Fly Racing Moto:60 show yesterday and he brought up a good point about the 250SX West guys, where they've had two Triple Crown races in a row (Glendale and Dallas) and then now they're getting an East/West showdown. Little bit of an obstacle for the guys for sure, but that's life in the big city, right?

Max Anstie had been the star on the East Coast until Daytona, where it seemed to go south for him right from press day when he had a big crash. From there his heat was okay (bad start) and then we saw what happened in the second turn where he clipped wheels with Tom Vialle had to come from last to sixth. Good ride but I think he'll bounce back this week and reestablish himself as the guy to beat on the East Coast. RJ Hampshire? You know he’ll be getting better coming off a perfect Daytona, and he was on the PulpMX Show this week and talked about how he adjusted his bike for his injured wrist coming into Tampa and it bit him. He went back to his OG suspension setting and it worked better for him, and his wrist is almost back to normal at this point. Good news for him, but the bad news is he's 14 points down to Anstie. Lots of races left but Anstie sure does look to be on his game, right?

Haiden Deegan smashed the Dallas TC with some great riding to take the points lead and now with Jordon Smith out and Julien Beaumer not being as comfy in the ruts as on the hard pack (spoiler alert: Indy will be rutty), one would think this is Deegs’ chance to put some points on the rest of the west guys, right? His teammate Cole Davies could end up winning the whole thing but he's pretty far back in the points to make a run on Deegan, one would think.

Anyway, this race should be great. Indy is an underrated race and city for sure. Maybe at this point we've been saying it's been underrated for so long that it's properly rated? Watch out for Ken Roczen here also, he's done well at this race before and coming off the win and nothing to lose, maybe the 94 gets another win?

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas) 

It’s showdown weekend for the 250 divisions! It’s hard to overstate how important these showdowns are for the championship landscape. The talent doubles and the available points gained and lost increases accordingly. Ask Levi Kitchen and RJ Hampshire how pivotal these rounds can be. The showdowns, without being hyperbolic, determined the outcome of the 250SX West division in 2024.

As for how riders will approach the task, it comes down to the details. Every advantage or mistake is more crucial, the effect more impactful. Riders will want to focus on the fine print. Qualifying well in the afternoon so they get a good gate pick for their divisional heat race, which then snowballs into a good gate pick for the main event. These subtle advances or setbacks can have real consequences when the checkers fly on Saturday. This is not the weekend to be sloppy. There’s simply too much at stake, big picture. A bad start for Haiden Deegan, for example, has been adversity he could overcome at other rounds. Adding in Hampshire, Vialle, Anstie, Chance Hymas, Seth Hammaker, Nate Thrasher, Dax Bennick, Max Vohland, and more makes that bad start nearly impossible to overcome. It’s a much more punitive mistake and one he will need to avoid. That’s the opportunity but also the rub. Get it right and the showdown is your best friend (RJ at Nashville 2024). Get it wrong and it can cost you $500,000 at minimum (Kitchen at Nashville 2024). Who turns up and who rolls over on Saturday will go a long way in determining both titles.

Vintage Vault (DC)

In the Vintage Vault article in the latest issue of Racer X Magazine (April 2025) we featured Florida legend Don "Killer" Kudalski, who had an incredible ability to make just about any motorcycle fly, especially in sand. He once won both the 250 and 500 classes on the same day at the Florida Water-AMA Series on two different brands of motocross bikes, a Harley-Davidson in the 250 class and Yamaha YZ490 in the 500 class. He even made an automatic Rokon competitive! The photo we featured in the article was from June of 1976, when Honda gave Kudalski a works bike for a couple rounds of the 125 Nationals. It was in the sand of Midland Motocross Park in Michigan that Don went 4-1 on the RC125 for second overall, behind only Bob "Hurricane" Hannah. Here's the Vault listing for it.

Well, turns out there was a lot more to the photo than just Don's front wheel roost as he swooped in from the outside. What you don't see is the front half of a 16-year-old Broc Glover, who actually got the holeshot on his DG Honda CR125, just the back of the bike. Broc joked, "My old buddy (Jim) Gianatsis must have shot this and cropped me out." (It's actually a Dick Miller photo). 

The guy right over Kudalski's helmet with the yellow open-faced helmet and the American flag on his jersey is Nils-Arne Nilsson, a Swedish engineer/racer for Husqvarna, and the jersey was the brand's U.S. Bicentennial model. #39 on the outside is race-winner Hannah, and #5 on the Suzuki is Billy "Sugar Bear" Grossi. #645 in the middle with the FMF jersey is Florida's Bob Waterman. 

And then there's the spectator on the inside of the first turn, right at the corner. We got an email this week from our friend and longtime reader Jeff Greenberg: 

And #421 on the Honda in the T&M jersey is Ron Turner, who finished seventh overall. 

STUFF (Matthes)

Our guy Tony Blazier did a Classic Steel on the Yamaha on the 1986 YZ490 which was, who knew, sort of all-new. I just thought Yamaha didn't change their 490's from 1983 until 1989 or whatever but nope! Read up on the bike HERE.

I did an FXR Racing One-on-One with Kawasaki team manager, Dan Fahie, before Daytona where he talked about the SMX format, Kawasaki and the MXoN, working with Anderson and Prado, and more. Listen to the Fahie podcast here.

And Seth Rarick found Ryan Mills for a new Fox Racing ReRaceables! We called Ryan to talk about the 2005 Redbud MX, where he won his first and only pro moto. Interesting stuff from Ryan, especially how he was let go from KTM and moved to the Rockstar Suzuki privateer team that next year. Listen to the ’05 RedBud ReRaceables episode here.

Indianapolis 2024 (Mitch Kendra) 

This week's Race Rewind takes us back to the 2024 Indianapolis SX at Lucas Oil Stadium last March...

More Beta? (Keefer)

It seems like Benny Bloss and Mitchell Oldenburg are doing great on their Beta 450 RX's and now I know why. I went out to my stomping grounds this week with Simon Cudby to shake down the 2025 Beta 450 RX and came away impressed! As a test rider you're supposed to have an open mind before testing anything but sometimes your mind gives you some negative thoughts about certain bikes/parts before trying them. I have tested Betas a long time and I can tell you that I never really came away fully impressed until this last test. Check out the Beta 450 RX first impression Simon and I did right here. 

MXGP Opener (DC)

The 2025 FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) opened in Cordoba, Argentina, at a brand-new track, and it looked pretty cool. Reigning MX2 Champion Kay de Wolf got the win while debuting his new #1, and Frenchman Maxime Renaux was a surprise winner in MXGP, as it had been nearly two years since he last one after a bad foot injury. (If you recognize his name, it’s because he was the MX2 World Champion a few years back and then beat both Jett Lawrence and Chase Sexton in a moto at the ’22 MXoN at RedBud.) Renaux split moto wins and runner-up finishes with Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre, but he had the better finish in the Saturday qualifier, which gave him a one-point lead (57 to 56) and the red plates. And the Ducati guys—Mattia Guadagnini and Jeremy Seewer—led each moto, and finished fourth and seventh overall, which is an excellent debut for both on the new bike.

MXGP takes a week off now and returns next weekend in Spain. That will put the series another week closer to the return of Jeffrey Herlings, which is looking like it will happen at the fourth round in the sands of Sardinia. Also, Infront Moto Racing announced that the MXGP of Indonesia that was set for July has been cancelled and the race will happen in Finland instead, which is a much easier and less expensive trip for everyone in the paddock.

Win Ads (DC)

And a check of this week’s Cycle News showed Ken Roczen getting the cover for his Daytona 450SX win, as well as a chance for Suzuki to beat their chests. Also, RJ Hampshire’s first win of the year, as well as GNCC #1 Johnny Girroir’s, made for a solid weekend for FMF. And Kawasaki Team Green saw their young prospects Landen Gordon and Enzo Temmerman go 1-2 again in SMX Next – Supercross on Saturday night, which was worthy of a spread too.

Hey, Watch It!

Podium & P1 Qualifying in Daytona SMX Next: Jesson Turner and Alexander Fedortsov

Dirt Shark | UNSOUND ft. Cole Davies - Arlington Supercross 2025

692 Days since the last win for Maxime Reneaux, but he gets it done at the MXGP opener:

2025 Between The Arrows - Bikes | Moose Racing Wild Boar GNCC | Round 2