Day in the Dirt Out East Recap (Mitch Kendra)

What a weekend at High Point Raceway! Red Bull Day in the Dirt Out East did not disappoint. This event brought lots of seat time on a fun track, and I was able to spend some quality time with friends and family. Nothing better than getting to the track safely, having fun, and getting home safely. The icing on the cake was being able to rip around on my dad’s 1975 Husqvarna WR 250 that we put #52 on for my Uncle Stan (Dad’s brother). Uncle Stan came and camped out with us (and cleaned our bikes in between his Sudoku games!), which was awesome as well. I hope I did his number justice. And the cherry on top of the weekend was my dad winning his 60+ C class moto aboard his CRF230! As much as I am excited to be here in North Carolina for the first SMX Playoff round, I am looking forward to riding again over the next few weeks—and I’m even anticipating next year’s DITD Out East already! Check out some badass pics by Cody Darr. If you missed his full photo gallery from earlier this week, make sure to give those photos a look through.

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

Here. We. Go! It’s playoff time! The opening round kicks off this weekend, and I’m fired up. These playoff rounds have been awesome to be a part of. The riders make a ton of money, the fans are entertained, everyone wins. What’s not to like?

As for how it’s going to go, I expect more of the same. Deegs and Jo should battle, and the tension seems to be ramping after Budds Creek. I’m am SO HERE FOR that fight. Jo is the one guy who is willing and able to push back. That would be the showdown we have been waiting for. Please give it to us.

In the 450s, I have no reason to expect anything outside of what we have seen. Jett will be Jett, and Jett is the favorite. Hunter is his best self, and his impeccable starts put him in position every time the gate drops. That’s a big coup in a format like this.

For me, Sexton is the wild card. He’s talented enough to win the whole thing, but where does his motivation lie? Is he engaged? How much does he even care to be there? Those are the unanswerable questions until we are racing. An energized Sexton is a dangerous one. And yes, he’s still with Red Bull KTM, though his teammate Aaron Plessinger has called it a season to work on whatever health issue he’s been having since RedBud.

The last rider I wanted to mention was last year’s breakout star, Tomac. He came in fresh, motivated, and intensity-laden. After racing for the last few months uninterrupted, will we see that same level of spark this September? If we do, then it’s on. If we don’t, though, I think we will see a start-dependent Tomac. First-lap positioning could tell the tale here.

All in all, these playoffs have been a big addition to the sport. Cynicism aside, I can’t find much downside to any of this, though I see an upside of 10 million things. There are plenty of things in life to complain about; this certainly isn’t one of those.

CC (Matthes)

While I do have SMX fever sitting here in Charlotte for the opener, I thought I'd write about some news that dropped this week when Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Christian Craig parted ways with his team to join the QuadLock Honda team for the upcoming FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) series. Christian, who won a 250SX West title with Star back in 2022, left for Rockstar Husqvarna, then went back to Star at the start of 2025 with a two-year deal for a sort of hybrid role of racer/testing/helping the 250 kids. Well, it didn't quite work out. He came into 450SX late due to some work on his knee and could never get the #28 going. A few decent rides here and there, but yeah, it wasn't ideal for him or the team. It was a 450SX-only deal, but from there it was thought he could jump into MX if there was an injury, but after Webb got hurt, Craig didn't get the call. In the podcast I did with him this week, it does seem that the deal just didn't work out on either side, and both were happy to end things early. Craig says in the pod he wasn't allowed to ride due to a shortage of parts/mechanics, the 250 riders he was working with, and mentioned that two out of the 12 actually cared what he had to say, and there was no testing for him. Seemed frustrating for sure, so he'll head to WSX with QuadLock Honda, and he says that although he thinks it'll all work out, there's no guarantee for 450SX in the USA for 2026.

You can listen here for more.

Team Spain: No Prado (DC)

When we saw the Team Spain announcement for the MXoN on MXLarge.com regarding Jorge Prado not being on the team due to "contractual issues" with his current team, we had to look twice. The rider pictured is wearing #70 and Fox Racing gear, just like Prado, only he's on a red bike. Did this mean he's switching to Ducati? Honda? Stark Varg? Actually, it wasn't Prado at all. Rather, Spanish MXGP rider Ruben Fernandez is #70 as well. He's also fourth in the current MXGP standings, riding for Honda HRC.

In other MXoN news, New Zealand has announced they will not be fielding a team this time around, which is a shame because Cole Davies would have been fun to watch in the MX2 class. According to the press release, “Motorcycling New Zealand has made the difficult decision not to send a team to the 2025 Motocross of Nations. While this decision was not made lightly, the absence of expressions of interest this year has provided a moment to pause and reset. Our focus now turns to the future—supporting our next generation of riders to represent New Zealand on the world stage in years to come.”

New Zealand participated last year in France but did not make the final field of 20 teams.

MXGP’s Three Week Sprint (DC)

The FIM World Championships will be running on parallel tracks to the SMX World Championships over the next three weekends, only they will be a day behind as the main rounds in Turkiye (was Turkey), China, and Australia will be held on Sundays. In the MXGP (450) class, Romain Febvre is having a much better season aboard his Kawasaki KX450 than anyone has had here in the states. The Frenchman leads Belgium’s Lucas Coenen by 31 points going into these last three GPs. In the MX2 division, German KTM rider Simon Langenfelder is just 15 points ahead of Husqvarna’s Kay de Wolf, the defending series champion. If Febvre holds on, it will be his first world title since 2016. If Langenfelder holds on, he will become Germany’s first world champion since Ken Roczen back in 2011. The MXGP of Turkiye can be found on Sunday afternoon on CBS Sports Network at 5 p.m. ET (MX2 race 2) and 6 p.m. ET (MXGP race 2). The WMX Women’s Motocross World Championship will also run this weekend, as Lotte Van Drunen has a 20-point lead over Kiara Fontanesi, with Daniela Guillen another point back. Their second moto will air at 11 p.m. ET on Sunday night, also on CBS Sports Network.

SCOOP (Matthes)

PulpMX listener Jason sent me this photo and caption from an old CN. Interested in this whole scoop tire thing? Well, it seems like 1986 was the debut of Dunlop coming out with it!

2026 Honda CRF250/450R Introduction (Keefer)

Cudby and I headed to Glen Helen Raceway to meet with American Honda to receive our 2026 CRF250R and CRF450R machines. There are absolutely ZERO changes to the 2026 CRF models, but we revisited some settings and went over who these models are good for. Honda has some of the most reliable motocross bikes available to consumers, and that is one of several reasons why a Honda is a good buy. Look for a full breakdown of each machine right here on Racer X soon!

GNCC (DC)

The Grand National Cross Country Series is back up and running after the summer break, with the Buckwheat 100 in West Virginia. The series recently added a concussion protocol, which means all pro class entries must first have an ImPACT concussion baseline test, just as they do in SMX. Go here for more info. Also, there is a change in the first rows, which might make this weekend interesting as the top riders will now face off one-on-one!

Cyclocross '25 Kickoff (Matt Rice)

Opening night of Cyclocross in PA for the 20th Season of the Fifth Street Cross (FSX) Series and Balboni Brothers Racing’s Mike Emery and Matt Rice are set to do battle for another season. They slapped on their bibs and charged their bike lights for week one as the skies opened up for a classic mudder. After an afternoon storm rolled through the area it seemed like we were in for a greasy one but after a few laps and 100+ racers worked the lines, we ended up with a nice, difficult track.

Race One saw Rice with a good start up front early but Emery quickly moved up and began charging. Within points scoring position, the teammates settled into a pace to finish the first race in 30th (Emery) and 35th (Rice). Race two would test the riders’ visibility and preparation.

The helmets nights flicked on for the evening and it was time for the night race. Again, good starts for the Balboni Brothers. Rice would rebound from the Race One mistakes and hold his position on the border of the top 20 as Mike would lock into battles all race, keeping him just around the 30s. Both would end up 22nd (Rice) and 33rd (Emery).

Check out the 2025 FSX season points, and the racing, at fifthstreetcross.com.

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2025 SMX Pre-Playoff Highlights

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