One week ago, Cameron McAdoo scored 22nd at the 250SX West season opener. A big collision with Haiden Deegan hindered his night and his result. It was a tough blow to start the season for the title hopeful, who earned zero championship points for his last-place finish.
But on Saturday night, McAdoo was on the podium in the main event in an awesome rebound to land second place. Unfortunately for McAdoo, this one on-the-podium, one off-the-podium start of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season has been the case the last few seasons.
In fact, McAdoo has been 15th or worse in one of the first two races of the season in three consecutive seasons: 2024, 2025, and now 2026. The last time he started a 250SX season with two straight podiums was in the 2023 250SX West first two rounds (two third-place finishes in a row).
“I mean, yeah, to be honest, this is what I expect,” he said on the podium after the race. “So, when I have a lot of emotion when it comes to this, it's not because I'm surprised. It's not because I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can. I'm so, so stoked to get second.’ Like I want to win. I expect myself to win.”
“But what it took and what it takes for me to come back to here, especially this last 10 months, it's pretty special,” he continued. “And then obviously my round one didn't go the way I planned it. And so, this was just exactly what I wanted to do tonight…one position behind what I wanted to do tonight.”
The Iowa native has had a recent string of injuries, including a knee injury in ’25 that ended his year early and kept him off the bike for seventh months. McAdoo knows what it takes to come get back to the podium.
“But yeah, it takes a lot and I've done it for a lot of years, and I've had multiple years in a row where I've had a long time off and not done a single gate drop. And I said it on the podium tonight, I really pride myself on putting my best foot forward every single day, whether that be getting on my bicycle in the middle of the summer when it's going to be eight months till I race again. And some people might think, ‘What's the point?' I just put my best foot forward in every aspect of my life and I'm proud of that. So that's where some of that comes from."
At San Diego, McAdoo rebounded and landed on the podium. It was his 24th 250SX podium, which came in his 49th main event start. That is a podium in nearly half of his 250SX races! And to take it even further: since McAdoo’s first podium—which came in his 18th and final start on a Honda—he has 23 250SX podiums in 36 250SX starts with Kawasaki. That is 64 percent.
![]()
Align Media ![]()
Align Media ![The McAdoo crew.]()
The McAdoo crew. Align Media
While it is a huge rebound, McAdoo is in a hole from his zero point-opener. He sits tenth in the 250SX West standings after two rounds—21 points behind championship leader Deegan.
McAdoo feels he has always been an underdog, so he does not mind being counted out.
“I believe in myself,” he said. “I really think that it's every year that the media can maybe create some rivalries that maybe I don't feel should exist and I'm definitely not part of them, which rightfully so, right? They haven't seen me race and I haven't battled guys for nine months. Why would they talk about me battling these guys? So, it's on me to come back and be like, ‘I'm here. I'm here still.’ So, yeah, that's what I'm going to continue doing and I plan to do a lot of racing these next few months.”
After the race he also addressed the collision he and Deegan had at Anaheim that hindered his result.
“I'm glad that I ended up totally okay after last weekend and what happened to me,” McAdoo said. “That's really all I have to say about it. I'm really grateful that I got to come line up tonight and do my job again. That's all I have to say about it.”
McAdoo said he felt like he was caught off guard in the heat race and needed to refocus to avoid a similar situation come the main event.
“I really felt like I was racing the leaders," he said. "I was doing my best to race the leaders. I got caught out a bit in that in the heat race not doing that. I had no clue Ryder [DiFrancesco] was behind me and I came out of a turn, and it was a very much so a racing incident, not intentional at all on his end, but I got absolutely smashed and I had no clue he was there. So that was maybe me just letting my guard down a little bit and I was like, ‘Man, I'm just going to race to the front.’ So, to be honest, I have no clue when what happened between whether it was Chance [Hymas] or I believe Michael [Mosiman] ended up third behind me. I really was just trying to race forward. There was a couple lines after the mechanics’ area and stuff that I wasn't very happy with how I was able to execute. And we're going to work on a few things this week because of that specific lane and try to just be better for next weekend.”
Cameron McAdoo's First Two 2026 SX Results
| Position | Race | Class | Date | Bike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Supercross San Diego | 250SX West | January 17, 2026 | Kawasaki KX250 |
| 22 | Supercross Anaheim 1 | 250SX West | January 10, 2026 | Kawasaki KX250 |
Cameron McAdoo's First Two 2025 SX Results
| Position | Race | Class | Date | Bike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Supercross Detroit | 250SX East | February 15, 2025 | Kawasaki KX250 |
| 3 | Supercross Tampa | 250SX East | February 8, 2025 | Kawasaki KX250 |
Cameron McAdoo's First Two 2024 SX Results
| Position | Race | Class | Date | Bike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Supercross Arlington | 250SX East | February 24, 2024 | Kawasaki KX250 |
| 15 | Supercross Detroit | 250SX East | February 3, 2024 | Kawasaki KX250 |
Cameron McAdoo's First Two 2023 SX Results
| Position | Race | Class | Date | Bike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Supercross San Diego | 250SX West | January 21, 2023 | Kawasaki KX250 |
| 3 | Supercross Anaheim 1 | 250SX West | January 7, 2023 | Kawasaki KX250 |
