This AMA Pro Motocross Championship was hyped up to be Haiden Deegan vs the field in the 250 Class. But so far, that is not exactly what we have gotten, as Deegan has scored all four moto wins as the field has run into trouble. Deegan won the 2024 250 Class Pro Motocross title and was expected to be even stronger this year, especially coming off his 250SX West title in Monster Energy AMA Supercross. As I wrote after the opening Pro Motocross round, Deegan has the physical and mental side locked down at the moment. He showed those smarts and efficiencies again in the heat of California, not forcing moves early in the first moto. Still, he got into P1 and checked out, both motos. He already has 100 points and is the best rider at the moment, although it is still early, it does not look like anything will be slowing him down any time soon.
Jo Shimoda has clearly been the second-best guy, and his results show it with four second-place finishes. He sits 12 points down from Deegan and he seems to be really only lacking the top end speed.
But of the other main pre-season championship favorites—Levi Kitchen, Tom Vialle, and Chance Hymas—have all three suffered at least one DNF and zero points in a moto. Not that Deegan needed it, as he has gone four-for-four, but the other contenders are all in the hole at least one entire moto. Can they fight out of it and give Deegan a run for his money? Or will another rider step up? Here is a look at the pre-season title contenders’ start to the season.
Levi Kitchen
Points: 52 | -48 from Deegan
The bad moto: DNF (38th officially) in Fox Raceway Second Moto
At the opening round, Kitchen rode to a tenth-place finish in moto one, which is not where anyone expected he would be. He was then running tenth again in moto two until his chain derailed late in the moto, giving him a 38th after he did not finish. So, his tenth from moto one gave him 12 points at the opening round, when Deegan scored 50.
Kitchen rebounded with a solid 3-3 day for third overall (40 total points) in the heat at the Hangtown Motocross Classic, but again, Deegan scored 50 points. kitchen leaves round two tied for fifth in points with Tom Vialle, both 48 down from Deegan.
Tom Vialle
Points: 52 | -48 from Deegan
The bad moto: DNF (40th officially) in Hangtown First Moto
In moto one at Hangtown, Vialle was inside the top five when he went down in a turn and got his elbow into the rear wheel of Ryder DiFrancesco, who also went down. The Red Bull KTM rider pulled into the pits and went to get checked out before getting ready for the second moto. Despite the bad gate pick (36th), he was able to ride to an eighth-place finish. He scored 40-8 (for 17th overall) and netted only 14 points on the weekend.
Vialle said the following in a KTM post-race release:
"Not the weekend I expected. I was running fourth in Moto 1, and then I had a crash about four laps in and couldn’t finish the moto, unfortunately. I hurt my elbow pretty badly, but we lined up for the second race and I had last gate pick because of the first race. I got a bad start and then came back to eighth, so I salvaged some points towards the championship, and I will be back to 100 percent for Colorado.”
Chance Hymas
Points: 45 | -55 from Deegan
The bad moto: DNS in Hangtown Second Moto
Hymas was solid at the opening, leading some laps before a tip over cost him the lead in the first moto. He scored 3-6 (36 points total) in his first two motos on the new generation CRF250R, landing fourth overall.
But then he got food poisoning leading into the second round. He tried to race Hangtown but the illness and heat combined to give Hymas quite the one-two punch to the gut. He was sick after the first moto and advised to sit out moto two. His 13-41 land him 19th overall and only nine points. So, he leaves round two ninth in points with only 45 points, down 51 to Deegan. Not where he wanted to be at all.
Hymas said the following in a Honda post-race release:
“My Hangtown weekend was not very good. I had food poisoning on the Monday leading up to it and didn't quite fully recover for the weekend—I ended up losing my food and my electrolytes before the first moto and wasn't strong enough to make the second moto. I'll get healed up this weekend and go on to Lakewood.”
While these riders have struggled, others have stepped up. Julien Beaumer started the season with 5-4-8-4 moto finishes to sit a quiet third in points to start his second full MX season, but he is already down 33 points. Garrett Marchbanks has been strong—6-5-7-5—and you would have to think he could land on the podium with better starts but being a bigger rider those will be hard to land. Still, he has been fast and charging late in the races and is fourth at the moment, two behind Beaumer.
Michael Mosiman sits seventh behind the Kitchen/Vialle tie and Mosiman has been impressive so far in his first Pro Motocross races... since the 2023 Hangtown round! Solid stuff from the #93 when that is taken into consideration. Finishes of 11-8-5-17 could have been 11-8-5-4 finishes had he not gone down with about three laps to go in moto two Saturday. Mosiman has been fast, shown some style, and had impressive charges through the field in just two races so far. Ty Masterpool sits eighth after two rounds, although he faded hard at the opening moto. His 7-15-4-16 results show the second motos appear to be an issue, although word is he was sick for round two. After Hymas in ninth, Seth Hammaker rounds out the top ten after showing some speed—but having some crashes—in his first few Pro Motocross motos since the 2023 season finale.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Haiden Deegan | Temecula, CA  | 144 |
| 2 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 119 |
| 3 |  Garrett Marchbanks | Coalville, UT | 99 |
| 4 |  Chance Hymas | Pocatello, ID | 95 |
| 5 |  Levi Kitchen | Washougal, WA | 86 |
| 6 |  Tom Vialle | Avignon, France  | 85 |
| 7 |  Julien Beaumer | Lake Havasu City, AZ | 80 |
| 8 |  Ty Masterpool | Paradise, TX | 70 |
| 9 |  Casey Cochran | Portsmouth, VA | 64 |
| 10 |  Max Vohland | Sacramento, CA | 64 |
