3. Jorge Prado’s Heartbreak

Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Prado’s Championship hopes took a massive blow at Hangtown. Prado was running forth late in moto one, closing in on Haiden Deegan when his motor let go. Rarely do we see KTM with engine failures. In fact, team manager Ian Harrison said post-race that this was the first failure he could think of in his time with the company.

The effects of the DNF spilled into the second moto when Prado was dealt the 36th gate pick, getting stuck on the outside of an inside-biased Hangtown start. He went for a miracle start but got pushed out (both times, even after the red flag and full restart) and was forced to make his way through the field from outside the top 30. Prado made his way up to a lowly 13th and his six-point deficit to Hunter Lawrence ballooned up to 41.

It will be interesting to see how Prado responds for the rest of the series. It is common to see an MXGP champion win the title with a DNF (usually with 19-round championships), but with less than half the points up for grabs in Pro Motocross, Prado’s title run could be over before it really got going.

4. Deegan Progresses

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan improved in just about every category at Hangtown. Deegan topped the first qualifying session, got better starts, better finishes, and simply rode better than he did at Pala. He started second in the first moto between the two Lawrence brothers. Although Jett slowly inched away, Deegan was able to hold off Hunter for about 25 minutes.

Deegan made one small bump and run attempt to pass Hunter back but, overall, it was clean, drama free racing. While Haiden was much improved, he still finished over 15 seconds off the lead in both motos. At the post-race press conference, he talked about how important it is to get off to good starts and learn the pace at the front.

“They’re fast,” he said on the Lawrence brothers. “So, find their lines and see how they do it up there. That is kind of my thing right now and just keep building each weekend and hopefully keep on reeling them in.

Haiden may be a tick off the Lawrence brothers right now, but as we have seen throughout his career, the Deegan camp is great at identifying weaknesses and correcting them. How long will it take for Haiden to get a win?

5. Cole Davies’ Hot and Cold Start

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies was a wildcard coming into Pala. Davies has established himself as a phenom in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, but he is relatively unproven outdoors. When you look at his overall results through two rounds it looks like a consistent 3-4 start the series, but the moto scores tell a different story. Cole’s riding has been all over the board, resulting in 3-8-11-1 moto scores.

Cole got two great starts at Hangtown but threw the first one away with a lap one crash. He was able to remount quickly in seventh but struggled the rest of the moto and faded to eleventh. In moto two, he got the early lead and checked out for the moto win. Davies summed it up on his Instagram post saying, “Sometimes maybe sh*t, sometimes maybe good.” He may not have the championship winning recipe in motocross just yet, but Cole Davies is a threat to win any time he is on the track.

6. Chase Sexton Drama

When Chase Sexton closed out the supercross championship with a win in Salt Lake City, it brought a glimmer of hope that the Sexton/Kawi relationship could turn around for outdoors and beyond. Chase rode decent at Fox Raceway, but mistakes cost him a shot at the podium.

Fast forward to Hangtown and we have now hit a new low. Chase went down on lap one of moto one and was only able to make his way up to 11th following another crash. Not great by any means but things got worse back at the truck. First reported by Motocross Action Magazine, Chase got back to the semi and somehow the #4 KX450 ended up on the ground. Whether the bike was ghost ridden, dropped, whatever it was, it is not a good look for Sexton.

To add insult to injury, Sexton’s teammate Garrett Marchbanks had an enjoyable day with a fifth overall and seems to be happy with the direction of the bike and team.

Chase did bounce back in moto two with a fourth, even closing in on Deegan towards the end. He has since taken to Instagram saying, “It’s been a tough year not being able to ride anywhere near my potential, but with that being said I’m not giving up.”  

It seems inevitable that this situation is Prado 2.0, but it is hard to see Kawi letting another star rider in a big money, long-term contract easily out of their deal. And if Sexton does leave, his options may not be as plentiful as he would hope. This storyline is just heating up.

7. Ferrandis’ Great Day

Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis was many people’s sleeper pick for this year’s AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Maybe not for the championship or race wins, but podiums seemed realistic. With limited outdoor testing and mediocre results at Pala for Dylan and his teammate Justin Barcia, maybe those expectations were a little ambitious.

Fast Forward one week to Hangtown and Ferrandis goes 4-6 for fourth overall, his best result since Unadilla 2024, and a new best for the Ducati. Bam Bam was also drastically improved from Pala, turning his 17-16 moto scores at round one into a 10-10 at Hangtown. By all accounts, the riders and team have been putting in long days of testing on a weekly basis, so credit to the guys at Ducati for the arduous work and having that work show on Saturday. How long before we see a Ducati on the podium?

8. Nick Romano is Good

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki fill-in rider Nick Romano may be the biggest surprise through the first two rounds of Pro Motocross. Romano has the best average lap one position in the class, and those starts translated into two top five moto finishes and sixth in points after two rounds.

Nick is a fantasy player’s nightmare as his qualifying has been mediocre at best, but he is a racer. When the gate drops, he puts himself in an advantageous position and he is putting in the best string of results of his career. His fitness is solid for somebody who had no ride two months ago and he is only going to get stronger as the summer goes on. If he can continue this kind of riding, or even improve on it, it is going to be difficult for Mitch Payton to let him go at the end of the season.

9. Lala Vs. Charli

Hangtown was the  Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship powered by Synchrony opener, and it did not disappoint. Quad Lock Honda’s Charli Cannon and Altus BluCru Yamaha’s Lala Turner are the heavy favorites for this title, and they put on a show reminiscent of the WMX glory days of Ashley Fiolek and Jessica Patterson.

Turner led early in moto one before falling and handing the lead to her friendly rival Charli. From there Lala put in a charge passing SLR Honda’s Mikayla Nielson and Partzilla/Blaster Power/PRMX’s latest Aussie import Taylah Mccutcheon and began closing in on Cannon. Turner was able to make a last lap pass and take the win and to add insult to injury, Cannon was docked one position, costing her two valuable championship points.

In the second moto, it was Cannon who would have to overcome an early crash and chase down Turner. Charli went into full send mode and got to the back of Lala, but mistakes kept her from being able to make a pass. The two each had close calls that moto, which you can watch in the video below.

Lala and Charli have raised the level of WMX and put it back on the map. It is awesome to see these girls get race coverage on Peacock and seeing some of them get support from smaller teams. It will not be long before some of them are under a factory truck like JP$ and AF67. 

10. Mumfy is Sneaky Good

AEO Powersports KTM’s Carson Mumford has been great to start the Pro Motocross campaign. After a so-so Supercross season where he missed a large chunk of time with a severe arm pump issue, Mumfy was not on many peoples radar to battle inside the top ten outdoors. After two rounds, he sits ninth in points with an 11th and ninth overall to start the season.

Pala was Carson’s first Pro Motocross race since 2023 when he was filling in at Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Since then, he has missed a lot of time with injuries and ridden for SX-only teams, so it has been impressive to see how strong he is through the 35-minute motos. It is also great for the AEO KTM team to get some results and prove that their bike can battle with the factory machines.