THOR Mini O's Star Power: Top Riders Over the Years

The Deegans were regular visitors to the Mini O’s over the years, with Haiden moving up through the classes and bike sizes until he reached the 250 and 450 Pro Sport divisions in 2022. In his last major amateur motocross race, Haiden would win a total of five championships, earning himself both the Dunlop Silver Tire Award and the Pro Circuit Platinum Pipe Award. Within two years, Deegan would be stacking wins and titles in Monster Energy Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross.

Speaking of championships, the most recent major professional titles—the SuperMotocross World Championships—were both won by Honda HRC Progressive teammates Jett Lawrence (450) and Jo Shimoda (250). Back in 2018, the two were teammates on the Factory Connection Honda amateur squad. They both competed in the 250 and 450 Pro Sport classes at the Mini O’s, and in their first heat of the week finished 1-2 in Supercross. However, neither would take home a title, as Florida’s own Jalek Swoll would be the standout rider in those divisions. Swoll is now a Triumph Racing Factory rider.

For Australia-born Jett Lawrence, 15 years old at the time, the ’18 race was his first AMA amateur event. Shimoda, on the other hand, was a regular at the Mini O’s, sometimes traveling all the way from Japan to compete. He was one of many rising international stars to use the Mini O’s as a way to introduce themselves to the American SX/MX industry, winning the Schoolboy 2 SX title in 2016.

Ten years earlier, another foreign prospect made his U.S. debut at the Mini O’s. Germany’s Ken Roczen had only just moved up to 85cc minicycles in 2006, but he already spoke fluent English, his sights set on an AMA career. He came up against a few American kids who would become longtime rivals in the pro ranks—Colorado’s Eli Tomac, New Mexico’s Jason Anderson, New York’s Justin Barcia, and California’s Blake Baggett—in one of the most stacked minicycle classes of all time!

And that wasn’t the only division at the ’06 Mini O’s that was bursting with talent. The 65cc classes included Florida’s own Adam Cianciarulo, North Carolina’s Cooper Webb and Jordon Smith, Ohio’s Aaron Plessinger, and Georgia’s Joey Savatgy. All would go on to extended professional careers, and Webb is now a three-time Monster Energy Supercross Champion and will begin his quest for a fourth this coming January.

Over the years that followed, that bumper crop of 65cc and 85cc riders would climb the ranks of the Mini O’s, moving up in classes and motorcycle sizes. After Tomac graduated from the amateur ranks, he went straight to the top, winning the first professional race he entered, the 2010 Hangtown 250 National. By that point, Roczen was already racing in MXGP, becoming the youngest rider ever to win a Grand Prix when he won his home race in Germany. He would go on to win the ’11 MX2 World Championship, then move to America full-time and become a perennial contender.

Over the years, many other future superstars would make their mark at the Mini O’s. In 2013, R.J. Hampshire landed himself on the cover of Cycle News when the Floridian, new to the GEICO/Factory Connection Honda team, won five titles at the Mini O’s. From there, Hampshire would embark on a pro career that continues to this day on the Rockstar Husqvarna team. As a matter of fact, Hampshire just joined fellow Mini O’s alumni Tomac and Justin Cooper on Team USA for the 2025 FIM Motocross of Nations.

Speaking of Cooper, he earned the Dunlop Silver Tire Award at the 2016 Mini O’s. Ten years later, the Yamaha Star Racing rider earned the most combined points in the 450 class for Monster Energy Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross, making him the #1 seed going into the SMX Playoffs.

The 2017 Mini O’s saw three future teammates all excel in their respective classes: Pennsylvania’s Seth Hammaker in the 250 B and 450 B divisions, Texas native Ty Masterpool in 125 Schoolboy, and Utah’s Garrett Marchbanks in Pro Sport. All three were in the 2025 lineup of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team.

In 2020, the big star was Levi Kitchen, another rider on the ’25 Pro Circuit team. But back then, Kitchen was a relatively unknown from Washington state, riding for Rock River Yamaha. His success at the Mini O’s earned him the Dunlop Silver Tire Award, which goes to the Pro and A class rider who accumulates the most combined points in SX and MX throughout the week. It also landed him on the cover of Cycle News.

Not every top rider today made a huge splash at the THOR Mini O’s. Take Illinois’ Chase Sexton, for instance. The future 250 and 450 Supercross Champion, as well as 450 Pro Motocross Champion, was a late bloomer who flew relatively under the radar at the Mini O’s. He won a Mini Sr. class in 2013 while racing a Yamaha YZ80, and then, within five years, he had won a couple of 250SX East titles as a professional.

Not every top competitor to make a splash at the Mini O’s is a boy. Some of the fastest WMX riders ever first made their mark at the Mini O’s, including Florida’s own Jessica Patterson and Ashley Fiolek. More recently, two-time WMX World Champion Lotte Van Drunen of the Netherlands made her U.S. debut at the Mini O’s, taking the overall win in 2023. And just last year, Lachlan “LaLa” Turner capped off her first year of winning the WMX title by leading the way at the 52nd Annual THOR Mini O’s. Turner then repeated as WMX Champion this past summer.

When you’re lining Gatorback’s fences throughout a full week of racing, you will no doubt see some of the fastest young riders on the planet, as well as some of the sport’s future superstars, just as unknowing fans did back in 1972 when Jeff Ward showed up at the first Mini O’s. Years from now, you’ll probably see a new champion crowned in Monster Energy Supercross or Pro Motocross and remember that you first saw him—or maybe even her—as a young racer right here at the 53rd Annual THOR Mini O’s.