At the other end of the spectrum, the end of 2025 MX could not come soon enough for a couple of multi-time world champions in Tom Vialle and Jorge Prado. Red Bull KTM's Vialle, who is almost certainly heading back to Europe to race the FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) for Honda, pulled out of Budds Creek before the second moto started due to what he described as an ongoing rear shock problem. As for Prado, his troubles in 2025 are well-documented, sometimes by Jorge himself on social media. His not qualifying directly (outside the top 36 on lap times) was hard to watch, and some of the criticism he's taken has been hard to read. They say all things end badly, and for Vialle and Prado, that pretty much sums up this past summer. Both should be back to start the SMX Playoffs, but actually sticking around until they end is not something I would want to bet on. It all reminded me of the end of Jean-Michel Bayle's U.S. career in 1992. He wanted to leave the sport to pursue road racing in MotoGP, but American Honda had him under contract to compete in SX and MX. He practically put it in reverse a couple of times, including his last SX at the Los Angeles Coliseum, as well as his last MX at Budds Creek. In both cases, he was trying to help his teammate Jeff Stanton lose the title! It was the one dark stain on what was an otherwise incredibly journey in America for JMB. Likewise, Vialle can be proud of his two 250SX titles, and could still pull a rabbit out of his hat in the SMX rounds. As for Prado, I hope he finds a way to either work with Kawasaki or find a new home, but I hope he stays here either way—we haven't seen anything close to his real potential in this lost season.

Okay, I have to go find a tie and a wedding present, so let me turn this over to the rest of the guys and some of the other news of the week. Thanks to everyone who watched or attended Pro Motocross—it was an epic summer, despite the fact that we all pretty much knew who was going to win before it even started! 

Also, here are some Brandon Croney shots of the Lawrence brothers giving it right back to a fan who kept flipping them off...

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

It's the last off weekend of the season. That means Pro Motocross is done and dusted and the SMX World Championship Playoffs are on deck. Only three years ago, we would be completely finished with 2025 regularly scheduled programming and waiting for the Motocross of Nations a month or more away. October of 2022's press conference at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum changed all of that. I have to admit, I was skeptical sitting there in the audience as all of the owning parties explained how this would work. Hybrid tracks? Escalating points? SMX is the new term for the sport? This was all a lot to absorb in one afternoon. Here we are, though, and it's impossible to argue that it's been anything less than a success. It was a big step and certainly not without risk. We are still working through the vernacular change as SMX is now the all-encompassing term for the whole season, but these things take time to settle. The important part is that we have added an incredible playoff scenario that has given us edge-of-your-seat action all the way to the last lap of September. The riders get paid well for their time, too. I can't find a downside to it unless you are one of the hawks that want less racing (I'm not. I raced every and any weekend I possibly could during my career). 

This off weekend will be well received by all. There are three weekends of racing left for most and the industry will take a deep breath before the final sprint to Las Vegas. This week was full of prep for the opener even though most were likely longing for time off. Playoff hybrid tracks were being utilized and abused. This week was likely more sorting the motorcycle and dialing in settings. If riders aren't in shape by now, they won't be in a week's time. Finding that SX type flow would be the mandate so that zMAX Dragway feels like home. Those days off will come, though, starting this evening and though short, they are well deserved. We are 28 rounds through 2025, and most are feeling the effects of it. Take a deep breath, boys, you've earned it. Find a way to disconnect from racing for a day or two. Mental rest is as or more important than physical. Monday will come soon enough and another race week with it. The playoffs begin on September 6, and the season's narrative can change with it.

Why Haiden Talks Trash (Jason Weigandt)

Each week Jason Thomas and I (good stuff above, JT) host SMX Insider, a weekly preview show that posts Thursday before each race. This week, though we looked back at the Pro Motocross season, and Haiden Deegan joined us for an interview. Check it out on the Supermotocross YouTube Channel. 

I liked the Deegan interview so much that I also posted it as an episode of our own Racer X Exhaust podcast. Quite simply, I asked Haiden why he talks trash the way he does. At Budds Creek, he was definitely on one. HIs answer, if I can sum it up simply, is that when he talks, it puts the pressure on himself to back up his words, and pressure makes him work hard and ride better. He does it for himself as motivation, and when he's tried to do it another way, it just doesn't go as well.

Check out SMX Insider below for the full season wrap up, and then my podcast with the Deegan interview also.

The Provisional Rule (DC)

So how/why did Jorge Prado even get to race in the two 450 motos at Budds Creek? Did the AMA or MX Sports pull some kind of string to make sure the four-time World Champion was even on the starting gate? Not exactly. The AMA has had a rule in place since the late 1980s that gives a gate to riders ranked top ten in the standings who do not qualify to be placed in the main motos. It started when Bob Hannah was making a comeback and the AMA wanted to make sure he at least got to compete, as Hannah was the greatest of all time up until that point in SX/MX (at least as far as the U.S. goes). The rule also stated that past champions also did not have to qualify, which is why retired riders like Mark Barnett and Johnny O'Mara came back a time or two in years after they retired. Jeremy McGrath got a pass in 2004 when he came back for the Steel City National.

Fast forward to 2007. Two-time 125 National Champion Steve Lamson decided to race his hometown Hangtown National, and he was going to do it on a classic Honda CR125, wearing retro Fox gear. Basically, his 1995-1996 125 National Championship setup. Lammy only qualified 43rd fastest, which did not land him in the main, but his "past champion" status got him in. (And there were no LCQs at the time, just the 40 fastest in timed qualifying.) Lamson was fast on the 125, but no match for the 250Fs and he only finished something like 36-30. But his provisional start had bumped a rider who would have qualified out of the race, and Steve said he wanted to maybe try again the following year. That's when the AMA decided to revisit the rule and end the "past champs" exemption. It was one thing in the '80s and early '90s when SX/MX was only maybe 20 years old; now the series was nearing 40, which meant a few real old-timers could show up and race if they wanted to.

But the top ten provision stayed, and that's how Prado got in. He did not have to ride the LCQ either (and that left some of the critics suggesting he was going to tank it if he did, though it didn't matter because he was in either way). And because there were 41 active gates on Budds Creek's starting line, the AMA did design to have 41 riders in the race, so as not to leave out the fourth and final qualifier from the LCQ, in this case privateer Austin Cozadd. So, Prado had the 41st gate pick, and he chose the far outside because that's all that was left. I was there and watched him closely, and he tried his best to get the holeshot from way out there and came out pretty darn good considering. But then it was all downhill from there for Prado and his Monster Energy Kawasaki team. Whether or not that was their last national together remains to be seen.

Day in the Dirt Out East (Mitch Kendra)

If you will not be at High Point Raceway this weekend for the Red Bull Day in the Dirt Out East, I hate to break it to ya, but you will be missing out! A weekend of racing (more like riding for me, considering I have been on my bike two times since May since Pro Motocross and Loretta Lynn’s) and hanging out with buddies is on deck. Nothing caps off a long summer of work and watching other people race better than getting to lineup yourself and smack talk with your buddies in between! Last year, my older brother Jake and I had an epic battle, and my man Cody Darr was there to caption the awesome moments. We are looking to run it back again this year. So, stop and say hi if you see the ol’ #310 or our 2024 Racer X Ironman Champions Dustin Williamson and Garrett Holliday out there ripping around High Point Raceway this weekend. If you’re not here, hopefully you're still out riding with your buddies somewhere. Off to enjoy some much needed seat time!

Cole Davies' First Moto Win (DC)

You might remember Cole Davies from the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season. That's when he was giving his slightly older Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Haiden Deegan fits in the 250SX West Championship. But then he suffered a badly broken arm at the Salt Lake City SX when Jordon Smith landed on him when #100 errantly crossed into the Triumph rider’s path as he was jumping through a rhythm section. It was a scary end to the New Zealander's excellent rookie campaign for SX and most of Pro Motocross to come. Davies finally returned for Unadilla and finished 23-23, nowhere near where we thought he would be, but given that he missed all summer with the broken arm, it was understandable. 

Cole turned things around quickly at Budds Creek, leading half of the first moto in what was only his second-ever national. He was eventually overtaken by Deegan and Honda HRC Progressive's Jo Shimoda, but he seemed very happy with his first-ever podium in his third-ever moto. But then a decision was handed down by the AMA that several riders were going to be docked one position for jumping on a red cross flag and flashing red lights when the moto was red-flagged due to a first-lap crash of Canadian newcomer Cole Pranger. Two of the riders who jumped were Deegan and Shimoda. Their penalties moved Davies from third to first and suddenly the kid had his first-ever moto win, and the first for a New Zealander since Ben Townley nearly 20 years ago. 

Digging into the records, I think this was one of the earliest wins ever for a rookie professional in the modern era of Pro Motocross. In 2010 Eli Tomac won the second moto of his career as well as the overall at the Hangtown National. Back in 1997 Ricky Carmichael won in his fourth-ever moto at the Gainesville 125 National opener. And then there's James Stewart, who won the first moto of his Pro MX debut at Glen Helen in 2002 as well as the overall, though like RC (and Davies), he had his first season of 125 Supercross under his belt by then. 

The second moto did not go so well for Davies, and he finished 17th, which gives him a scorecard of 23-23, 1-17 in four motos to date. Obviously, a good start is incredibly important, especially in this class. His seventh overall is more a reflection of where this incredibly talented kid is headed than his 26th overall at Unadilla. 

And here was a cool coincidence from earlier in the day: I get the excellent German motocross magazine CROSS every month and earlier this summer Davies was on the cover. I put it aside for when he got back to racing but didn't go to Unadilla. So, on Saturday morning, when I saw his dad under the Star Yamaha tent talking to Johnny Kuzo, I introduced myself and handed him the magazine. He had never seen it before, and a big smile came over his face—it was the first magazine cover of Cole's career. I'm pretty sure it will not be the last. 

110 for Jeffrey (DC)

The MXGP of the Netherlands at Arnhem took place last weekend and Red Bull KTM's Jeffrey Herlings got back on top with a 1-1 in the sand of the relatively new circuit. The win marked Herlings' 110th Grand Prix win, extending his all-time record. But the Dutchman is well out of the title hunt as he missed large swaths of the season with injuries. But fellow KTM rider Lucas Coenen is very much in the hunt, chasing after French Kawasaki rider Romain Febvre. At Arnhem, the 18-year-old Coenen was fantastic, coming from behind in both motos to narrowly lose only to Herlings in each moto. With three rounds left to go in the championship—Turkey, China and Australia—Coenen is now 31 points down from Febvre, who is hoping to win his second world title a full decade after the last time he won in 2015. Febvre finished 3-8 in the sand, getting passed by Coenen on the last lap in the first moto. The second moto it was Herlings' turn to try to hold off the teenager, and he did, but it was close.

Said Herlings after the race, "Lucas is 18 now and full of energy and I’m on my way down. When i was young (like hime) I could go 35 plus 2 without even being tired at all so I’m very pleased with the 1-1 here today, especially at home... And credit to Lucas as well, he did an awesome race.”

Said MXGP/MotoGP journalist Adam Wheeler of the battle, "It was like Jeffrey Herlings of 2025 being pursued by a Jeffrey Herlings of 2012."

In the MX2 class it was another Dutch rider taking the win, as defending #1 Kay de Wolf went 1-1 on his Husqvarna to reel in some much-needed points of series leader Simon Langenfelder, who went 8-5 and had 25 points lopped off of what had been a 40-point lead going into Arnhem. The Italian Andrea Adamo ended up second overall while Sacha Coenen, Lucas' twin brother, ended up in third. 

MXGP is taking this weekend off, and then it will be a three-weekend sprint through the aforementioned Turkey, China, and Australia.

Leaking to Glory: Wilson’s Title Run in Brazil (by Santiago Crevoisier)

Sometimes, our sport gives us moments that feel scripted for a movie—and Brazil Arena Cross delivered exactly that. Under the bright lights of Parque Villa-Lobos, in Sao Paulom Dean Wilson held his nerve and walked away with the 2025 Brazilian Arena Cross title, capping off one of the most dramatic nights the series has ever seen.

Wilson arrived with the championship lead, but just barely. His two-point cushion over local hero Enzo Lopes was immediately cut to one when Lopes nailed Superpole and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Suddenly, everything was on the line.

The first main event only cranked up the tension. Lopes took a commanding win, swinging the red plate in his favor, while Wilson—after an early crash in the whoops—could only fight back to second. The title chase was set to be decided in the final moto, and everyone in the building knew it.

That last race? Pure chaos. Wilson and Lopes collided on lap one, both going down as fans gasped in disbelief. Wilson got back on track, but fate had more drama in store: his Honda CRF450R started leaking oil after contact with another rider’s bike. His mechanics waved him into the pits and filled his bike with oil during a pit stop! The gamble paid off. Wilson returned, limped the bike home in fifth place, and somehow—against the odds—secured the crown.

After the race, a relieved but beaming Wilson summed it up perfectly: “What a crazy race! So many strange things happened, I had an oil leak and had to stop to finish, but I managed to get the bike to the finish line. I was very lucky, and the bike is really tough. I am very grateful to Honda Racing; we made it happen.”

The Brazilian fans may have gone home wishing for a different ending, but they witnessed something special: a champion who proved that sometimes titles aren’t just about speed, but about grit, resilience, and surviving the storm. For Dean Wilson, this wasn’t just another trophy—it was the fairytale finale he’s been chasing.

AX Pro Night Overall:

1) #206 Greg Aranda (KTM) 3-1
2) #72 Anthony Rodríguez (KTM) 4-2
3) #15 Dean Wilson (Honda) 2-5
4) #16 Enzo Lopes (Yamaha) 1-10

AX Pro Top 3 Final Standings:

#15 Dean Wilson (Honda) 167
#16 Enzo Lopes (Yamaha) 164
#206 Greg Aranda (KTM) 100

Hey, Watch It!

SMX Insider – Season 3 – Episode 32 – Pro Motocross Season in Review

GoPro: Camden McLellan 2025 FIM MX2 Moto 2 from Round 17 Netherlands

2026 Fox Racing Gear Launch 

Riding Turn Tracks With Travis Preston 

Align Media's 2025 MX // BUDDS CREEK