Straight out of Sioux City, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki racer and 2026 250SX West Championship contender Cameron McAdoo has been at it all since 2017. A race winning competitor with three 250SX victories to his name, as well as being the third-place finisher in the 2021 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX West Championship, McAdoo has positioned himself as one of the elite racers in the 250cc classification.
Coming off an injury that sabotaged his 2025 season, where a troublesome knee was injured even further at the Daytona Supercross, McAdoo looked at 2026 as a year of Supercross redemption. Unfortunately, the Iowan was caught up in a crash in the season opening Anaheim 1 main event and ultimately wound out the evening in Orange County, California with an off song 22nd place finish. Undaunted, McAdoo showed up at round two in San Diego and charged to a spirited runner-up finish to class frontrunner Haiden Deegan. Now slotted in at 10th in points, McAdoo is hoping to further get up to critical mass come the second Angel Stadium round this Saturday. On Friday evening, McAdoo got us up to speed on is season thus far.
Related: McAdoo's Impressive SX Podium Percentage
Race X: Okay Cameron, just where are you at and what are you up to?
Cameron McAdoo: I’m in California and have just been getting things rolling for the supercross season and doing some racing. I live out here full-time and I enjoy it. Yeah, I enjoy California. It’s nice to be near the team and to be by all the test tracks and stuff. Yeah, it’s all good.
We’re only a few rounds into the season and you’ve already experienced the highs and lows that come with the sport. Its early on, but what do you think thus far?
Yeah, I’m enjoying it. Obviously, I had an unfortunate first round, but it was nice to rebound at San Diego and respond to that. That’s what we plan on doing the rest of the season, so I’m just stoked to be back racing after a long time off last year.
As you alluded to, you collided with Haiden Deegan and hit the ground at the opening Anaheim 1 round. Mentally tough to start the new season off in a bit of a hole?
I mean in 2024 I started, 10 or 20 points down and I had the red plate by round five, so anything can happen. It’s dirt bike racing.
Then you totally bounced back with a runner-up finish at round two at San Diego.
Yeah, it was good. It was nice to get a good start and just honestly have a clean night. That was what we needed, and I knew that’s where I was gonna belong. I just needed things to kind of roll my way, or make them go my way, I guess I should say.
It was a huge and important podium finish for you, wasn’t it?
Yeah, it felt nice. I think what was the biggest thing with it feeling so good was that it was such a tough road back to full health last year. So, with that it was very rewarding.
In recent media you’ve spoken about always trying to put your best foot forward in all of your racing. Can you talk about that?
Yes, I mean I think that’s something that I pride myself on doing in all aspects of my life. I want to put my best foot forward each day, whether it be being a good father, being a good husband and being a good racer. I think it all coincides and goes together.
And you’ve also spoken about self-belief.
Of course. I mean that’s kind of the only way to make it happen. You have to believe in yourself. Everyone else can believe in you all you want, but you really have to know that you can do it yourself and do it. I believe I’m a winner. My goal is to go back out and show that that’s something I can still do and that’s to win.
You went through quite a bit in 2025, yet you’ve bounced back to where you’re now a contender to win races and fight for a championship. A tough hall there for a while last year? You were off the bike for seven months.
Yeah, it was. Obviously, there were some things that happened that were out of my control. The knee injury really hurt me. It was a long road back. That’s the road we choose, right? We choose to be dirt bike racers. We’re not forced to. I’m super grateful for all the opportunity that I have still. My self-belief is still there. I don’t think you guys would have seen me on the podium last weekend had I not had self-belief, right? So, I think that pretty much kind of explains itself, you know?
While being off the bike that long, did you feel like the world was going by without you?
It’s been like that in the past. This last time I was injured, not so much because I have such a good family life. My entire world is not just racing. It’s obviously a huge part of it, but yeah, I have a really good group around me and a really good family. They kind of support me through the highs and lows of it.
What’s your take on your competition so far in ’26?
We have a good group of fast guys. There are not just one, two or three fast guys, there are probably five or six guys who can be on the podium on any given night. It’s pretty fun to race a large group of high-level guys. However, I just really think about myself. That’s what I’m doing and whoever is going to be good that is going to be good and I just have to do my own thing. I wouldn’t say I’ve been racing with a chip on my shoulder, but I have lot to prove to myself. I don’t really need to prove anything to the media. I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. I think it’s most important that I have the support of the people who are backing me in my group. I mean it’s pretty normal every year that the media never really thinks about me or chats about how I’m going to be there. All of a sudden, I have to remind them each year. I mean I missed a lot of racing, so I don’t expect everyone to put me as a title contender. But yeah, you can count on me being there.
In can be a brutal sport in that you can only be as good as your last result, huh?Oh yeah, much more so in dirt bikes than the rest of the world. This sport in particular is so, so notorious for that. You’re literally only as good as your last race. Like I said though, it’s what we choose to do. We’re not forced to do it. I don’t ever have that poor me mindset.
How has everything been with both the bike and team?
It’s good. Things have been going really well. I’m really happy with where we have the bike this year, too. We made some improvements from last year. Last year it was a new bike. Mitch and the guys, as you guys know, always work really hard to give us the very best bike that they possibly can. Yeah, I think we’re in a good spot.
How do you see the Anaheim 2, Houston and Seattle races coming up?
Yeah, they’re all Supercross races in stadiums, so I’m excited. Like I said, I’m excited to keep racing. I’ve only raced Houston once, so I’m excited go back there and check I out.
Your goals?
My goal is to win. That’s what I expect to do. Yeah, we need to get one spot better than last week and we’ll be dialed. I’ll do everything that I know I can do. If I put it all together, we’ll win. At the moment, I’m living right now. I have a job to do right now. Obviously, I want to keep racing for a lot more years. My ultimate goal is to race a 450 at the highest level, right? There are steppingstones to that and I want to achieve my goals at the moment. I think all my short-term goals will feed into and really help me with my long-term goals. I want a 250 title. That’s why I’m here. I’ve been on the path towards it for multiple years now and now it’s time for me to just nail it down. I need to personally put it all together. There is no question whether I have the speed or the ability. I just need to put all the things together. We just have a couple thing to work on, and I think we can make it happen. I feel great and I want to win. It’s as simple as that.
