RJ Hampshire

Hampshire exited supercross after sustaining a foot injury and we haven’t seen him race since. That’ll change at the season opener this weekend, when Hampshire lines up for his second season in the 450 Class in Pro Motocross. Hampshire could use a boost—he hasn’t raced in a while and it was recently announced his team, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna is closing down after the summer. Will Hampshire have something to smile about at Fox Raceway on Saturday? -Hansel 

The New Guy

Haiden Deegan is moving up to a 450 this weekend and he’s showing no sign of acting any differently in the premier class than he did in the 250 Class. Earlier this week he did an interview with Dirt Shark, and he made it clear he’s going to trash talk his way through the summer. He’ll probably get much less of a reaction out of the veterans than he did his 250 colleagues, but it also seems unlikely he won’t get any reactions at all. Will his antics help him or hurt him when he goes against the big boys? -Hansel 

The World Champ

Jorge Prado was undeniably better in supercross this year than he was the previous year. Was it the switch to Red Bull KTM? Who knows. Chase Sexton won a pair of supercross races on Prado’s previous steed, so clearly Monster Energy Kawasaki is capable of fielding a winning machine. The fact remains, however, Prado was much better this year. Will it carry into motocross, which is considered his strength? -Hansel 

Anyone’s Title

As previously mentioned, Deegan has vacated the 250 ranks, leaving them without a defending champion. There are multiple riders in this class who could easily walk away with this thing when the season ends. Seriously, how many guys are there who have legit title shots this summer? It’s easily at least ten. This class is wide open! Who’s going to take advantage of the power vacuum left by Deegan? -Hansel

Enigmatic Contender

Cole Davies has got to be included in the list mentioned above. He’s incredibly skilled on a dirt bike, he recently won the 250SX East Division Championship, and he even bested Deegan at the final round in Salt Lake City. But then again, he’s literally only raced two Pro Motocross races in his career—last summer he was 26th overall at Unadilla and seventh overall at Budds Creek. Those aren’t exactly confidence inspiring numbers. What will we see from Davies on Saturday? -Hansel 

The Winners

Okay so no one in the 250 class has won an outdoor title, but Chance Hymas, Jo Shimoda, Levi Kitchen and Austin Forkner (albeit not since 2016) have all won races before and seem like the most likely to do it again. Remember Thunder Valley last year when Hymas went 1-1? Shimoda also scored 3 overall wins in 2025. Can they bring that same intensity this summer? -Sarah Whitmore

Supercross Winners

Then there are the riders who have wins in supercross but not outdoors like Cole Davies, Seth Hammaker, Julien Beaumer, Nate Thrasher, and Max Anstie (and Cameron McAdoo when he returns). Are these guys just supercross “specialists” or will they prove they have what it takes to hang outdoors as well? -Whitmore

Rookies

Finally, what about some of the younger riders? What are the chances that none of the veterans get their chance and one of the rookies like Deacon Denno, Landen Gordon, Caden Dudney or Kayden Minear take control right away? Will it take a few rounds for them to get their feet wet, or will they come out swinging right away at Fox Raceway? -Whitmore