The story of the 250 class for this Pro Motocross Championship is that there isn’t any one rider who is better than the rest, and even when you think there is, inconsistency comes back into play. The first few rounds it seemed like it was anyone’s game. Seth Hammaker and Levi Kitchen both won rounds early, but first-lap crashes also held them back some. The field is so inconsistent that Shimoda was able to get the overall at Thunder Valley without actually winning a moto. But then Cole Davies went 1-1 at High Point and it looked like he was trying to set himself apart from the rest of the class.
Heading into RedBud, Cole sat seven back in championship while sitting in fourth place. That's a true testament to how evenly stacked this class is. Then Cole carried his momentum from High Point to the wet, rutted tricky conditions at RedBud. He wa fastest both qualifiers and then hunted his young teammate Caden Dudney down late in moto one to take the win, making it three in a row. Cole spoke on his battle in the post-race press conference:
“It was pretty one lined, and then as soon as you get close, the roost and the rut, you cant see the rut in front of you, so it's kind of hard once you get close to them. But then you try to take a different line and it's just mush. But we’re good. I thought we were going to clean each other out for a second there. But it was a good race.”
Cole has really been working on his starts and it has paid off as he pulled the holeshot in the second moto and it looked like he was going to run away with it to make it four in a row. But a hard charging Jo Shimoda put an end to Davies' streak, catching and passing him late. Still, Davies went 2-1 for the overall and was happy with his performance.
“It was a good day today. I love this track, it was deep out there, the track was gnarly today.” Cole continued, “It's crazy. Especially it was my first time being on the podium here, so, the fans are crazy. It's cool, it's cool to be up there. Celebrate America, it's cool. I’ll be lighting off some fireworks when I get home.”
As for Shimoda, his 3-1 moto scores may have only landed him second on the day, but he also came away with the red plate. In the first moto Jo once again started way back and had to work his way up to a podium position. But in the second moto he started fourth, one of the best starts he has had all season. And while the heat and humidity started to get to everyone else, Shimoda started taking 1-3 seconds a lap out of Davies’ lead. Jo took his first moto win of the season,at the same location where he won the first Pro Motocross overall of his career. For Jo, who suffered a neck injury in the off season, this was a big moment for him.
“This moto win, it means a lot because Thunder Valley, I went 3-2 for first overall. But I think that [RedBud] was a more proper moto win after my neck injury. So, honestly, it's a massive confidence booster, and that felt really good. And I think for Honda 250 [team], we didn't have any wins in heats and main events, so as a team I think we needed that. And it was a good place to do it, too.”
Jo now holds a four-point lead over Davies as the leader heading into Southwick/ Levi Kitchen held the lead coming in but had a tough race and finished fifth overall. Julien Beaumer is also in the fight but rashed in both motos and finished 18th overall.
"The day was kind of tough," said Kitchen. "I crashed a couple times in the first qualifying session, and then the second session was a little better, but both the motos were OK for me. The first moto wasn’t great. We went back on some bike settings after the first moto. The second moto I felt more comfortable, and I felt a lot more like myself. The race was going better until I ended up going over the bars, and that one kind of hurt a bit. It wasn't a horrible day, but it wasn't my best, so we’ll get ready for Southwick."
It was just one of those days at RedBud for me," said Beaumer. "The riding was great, but I put myself in bad positions – I was at the back in both motos, and really had to work hard to salvage what I could. I’m happy with the way that I am riding and the things I’m doing – I just need to put myself in better positions, which we’ll clean up for next weekend. We’ll get back to work and try to go for a win.”
So, Shimoda takes the points lead. Not that it matters too much at this juncture.
“Oh, no, no, we're not even halfway, so we can start talking about that like, three rounds to go, whatever, right? We're really close in points. Right now, honestly I feel like I have more in me. Still having to find the very like, ‘comfortness.’ So, once I find that, and then I think we can start to talk about that.”
The 250 class has been looking for a hero, and just as it looked like Cole Davies was about to emerge, Shimoda showed up and joined the party. Will it come down to these two for the championship? The speed and youthful exuberance of Cole Davies versus the experience and fitness of Jo Shimoda. It may be too early for Jo to talk championship, but it's not too early for us to speculate (and of course Kitchen is only nine points back, can he get out of his slump?).
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 194 |
| 2 |  Cole Davies | Waitoki, New Zealand  | 190 |
| 3 |  Levi Kitchen | Washougal, WA  | 185 |
| 4 |  Julien Beaumer | Lake Havasu City, AZ | 159 |
| 5 |  Ryder DiFrancesco | Bakersfield, CA | 147 |
