After what was a relatively mild day (compared to what it could have been) last week at the season opener, the 2025 AMA Pro Motocross Championship went north and dove headfirst into the boiling lava pit of Hangtown. And as always, the results, and everything that preceded them, left us with a bulging sack full of questions. We loaded them into our electronic letter cannon, lit the fuse, and blasted them over to former pro and NBC reporter Jason Thomas.
It’s almost always hot at the Hangtown motocross classic, but this dynamic was taken to the extreme with triple-digit temperatures dominating the afternoon. How does this affect a rider’s strategy coming into, and during, the motos?
It was a scorcher, no question about it. How to handle the heat is an individual experience. Some riders will just go flat out until they reach a breaking point. Some will manage their exertion so they can sustain a pace until the end, hoping to best those who are crumbling late. To each their own, as they say. What’s consistent, though, is that everyone is hurting when they see the checkered flag. The level to which that pain is felt, though, is where it counts.
How much is recovery affected from a day like what we had at Hangtown? Will any of the riders who struggled with the heat struggle at Thunder Valley?
This is important. Riders very much need to extend their recovery period after Hangtown. That doesn’t mean do nothing until Wednesday. It means getting IVs, performing active recovery exercises (easy spin on bicycle, stretching, lactic acid flush). Also, Monday’s activity should be lessened a bit to allow full recovery where many riders would often be full bore on a Monday. I say this often but it is even more important after days like Saturday; if you are not doing everything possible to be at 100% on race day, you’re doing it wrong. The entire point is to be the best you can be on race day. If that means backing off on Monday and Tuesday to get there, so be it.
A whole bunch of sand was mixed in with the soil at Hangtown. How did this affect the soil, and did it produce a positive or negative result?
It helped quite a bit. Hangtown’s soil is notoriously hardpacked if left to its own devices. That is exacerbated when temps are approaching Hades’ level. The sand helps soften the soil, adds traction, and also absorb the water versus just sitting on top and getting icy like it would otherwise. If anyone has a VCR handy, go back and watch the 2000 Hangtown race where it was also over 100 degrees and they were watering. It was an icy, slippery joke for the first few laps, while 2025 with sand added was pretty solid after watering. That’s the difference.
After winning the overall via 1-1 moto scores, Haiden Deegan revealed he’d been sick earlier in the week, and that his throat had been closing up during the second moto. That’s no fun, but what does it do for him knowing he was still able to go 1-1?
I saw no effects of this after the first moto. He was actually laughing at everyone saying it was so hot. But that shifted quickly after moto two and the laboring of both the heat and his illness were evident. Either way, he had more in the tank than anyone else, as expected. Whatever the perception is about Deegan, you simply can’t fake fitness like he’s showing. The work is being put in which goes a long way with me.
Chance Hymas was great early in the second moto but faded and sat out the second. We later learned he’d had food poisoning earlier in the week. How does an illness like that affect one’s ability to perform at a high physical level in the heat?
In laymen’s terms, he had nothing to give. His body spent most of the week expelling everything inside it to rid itself of bacteria which left him with nothing to provide for energy or stamina. Most people don’t leave bed for a few days with food poisoning but he had to jump on a plane and enter the toughest weekend since 2022. He tried to replenish all of that on Thursday and Friday but the residual weakness and lack of energy was easy to see. I still believe he will win something this summer but the championship he was eyeing seems to be a lost cause now.
In the first 450 Moto Aaron Plessinger was fantastic. He held off Eli Tomac for far longer than anyone has traditionally been able to do so. But then he miscalculated and falsely believed the two lap board had come out when there were actually four laps left. How can this be explained? Is it possible the exertion in the extreme heat played a roll in Plessinger’s thought process?
It’s possible! He mentioned he read the pit board and thought there were two laps to go when there were four laps to go. He could have misread a lap time message possibly or just brain faded the entire scenario. Whatever happened, he was completely gassed for the last two laps and almost gave up a spot to Jett on the final lap. That’s two years in a row where he put in a heroic effort only to come up a tiny bit short at the end. Still, he landed second overall, which is kind of what seemed to be fitting, anyway.
Tomac won the first moto but got a bad start in the second and crashed while ripping forward and had to settle for ninth in the second moto for fourth overall. Do you think he left Hangtown happy or angry?
He was definitely frustrated. Wins are not easy to come by and he had a great chance to win Hangtown. The start, in my opinion, was the biggest foul-up here. His jump from the gate was sub-optimal, leaving him subject to anything and everything. That happened to be Valentin Guillod moving left into his path and as Guillod was ahead, Tomac had to roll off the throttle and backward he went. That bad start led to everything that happened afterward. When I mentioned that it takes near perfection to beat Jett, this is what I mean. Any mistake or slip-up and Jett will make you pay for it. Tomac was better than Jett on Saturday. I firmly believe that. But if you don’t execute every aspect, it won’t show up on the final results tally.
Jorge Prado went 12-5 for ninth overall. He’s better than that, what’s holding him back?
This needs an hour podcast to really define. First, he’s dealing with everything new that could possibly be new. The series, tracks, motorcycle, mechanic, crew chief, technicians, tires, etc. EVERYTHING. Second, this temperature situation was not a good setup for Prado. He didn’t fare too badly in the second moto, so credit to him, but conceptually, this isn’t what he excels at. Third, his starts are not where they have been for his entire career. He is a perpetual, almost guaranteed holeshot winner. Consistently starting tenth isn’t something he’s ever faced in his life. He needs to fix the starts first and the rest will eventually improve.
What do you think Jett Lawrence was dealing with in the first moto? It’s not often we see him struggle to maintain the lead pace, and in the second moto he seemed like he was riding lightning.
He mentioned they went way too stiff in the first moto. He wasn’t comfortable, that’s for sure. He really didn’t even attempt to chase down the leaders past halfway which is very out of character. That tells me he knew a chance at winning the moto was futile. He didn’t look too happy with things when waiting for his podium interview and he rectified that for moto two. It’s rare that Jett can’t respond to pace, though. Mark that one down as a notable moment.
Levi Kitchen was back on the podium after dealing with a mechanical problem at Fox Raceway. Did he need that rebound after an unfortunate opening round?
It was refreshing to see Levi Kitchen back on the podium. His opening round was absolutely atrocious and he needed this. The Chef is one of the nicest guys in the sport and the contrast of his subdued personality versus the presence that is The Deegs is stark. The sport needs all kinds and this was a good bounce back.
