Main image by Mitch Kendra
Welcome back to supercross, and welcome to the first round of the 2025 SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX). We’re at Angel Stadium in Anaheim for the start of a brand-new season. Everyone is tied for first place in the point standings, and everyone seems ready to get this thing started with a bang. The pits are packed already and there is a whirlwind of things happening. Press day just finished up and everyone looks pretty damn cool in their new kits, there are some new numbers, new teams—it’s the first day of school and everyone is pumped. The quiet work and prep is over and it’s time to go racing all over again.
All that said, it’s been a really tough week out here for a lot of people affected by the fires. I know of three friends who lost their homes and everything inside—the filmmaker, Sam Jones, longtime MXA and Mountain Bike Action editor Zapata Espinoza, and the brother and son of Ducati advisor Martino Bianchi. The fires seem to be out now as the wind has died down. The fires are not really close to where we are in Anaheim but flying in the other night was a surreal experience to say the least. I really hope the best for everyone affected by the fires. And if you’re wondering about David Pingree, who is a firefighter, we spoke today and he was not on duty this week with the fire department, so he wasn’t called in, fortunately, but a lot of the people in his station were.
The weekend really got started last night with the Pay Dirt movie premiere at a theater near Disneyland. Many of the stars featured in the Paul Taublieb-directed documentary film were on hand, including Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Jeff Emig, Ryan Villopoto, Rick Johnson Jimmy Button, and more. They had a red (or green actually) carpet out front, and the bench racing was epic. At one point I managed to corral Jeremy, RC, RV, and Fro for a photo.
Today began with the 11 a.m. press conference hosted by our own Jason Weigandt and Jason Thomas, and the Diamond Club was packed with media, sponsors, a few VIP fans, and lots of industry folks. There were also quite a few retired riders on hand, including James Stewart, Ryan Dungey, Emig, nine-time FIM Motocross World Champion Antonio Cairoli (who was on hand primarily for the Ducati/Troy Lee Designs announcement), Marvin Musquin, both Alex and Jeremy Martin, Zach Osborne, and a few more. The dates for the three SMX Playoffs and Finals were announced. We’re going back to Charlotte for the first one, then St. Louis to the Dome at America’s Center, and we will end the season once again at Las Vegas.
* all times
2025 SuperMotocross Schedule
SuperMotocross
SMX Playoff 1 Saturday, September 6
3:00 PM
zMAX Dragway Concord, NC
SuperMotocross
SMX Playoff 2 Saturday, September 13
3:00 PM
Dome at America's Center St. Louis, MO
SuperMotocross
SuperMotocross World Championship Final Saturday, September 20
7:00 PM
The Strip at The Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, NV
SuperMotocross Schedule
The current contenders all took turns up on the stage, 250 riders first (though an under-the-weather Levi Kitchen was not there today), then the first half of the 450 contenders, then finally the five current or past SX Champions racing tomorrow night: Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton, and Jett Lawrence.
After the presser the current racers were given a couple of short sessions out on the track, and while no one was going full race speed, I have to say that Eli Tomac looked very comfortable and seemed to be having some fun out there. And Jett Lawrence looked very fluid too, I did see Chase Sexton tip over but that was about the extent of the excitement.
Next came the Ducati/Troy Lee Designs announcement and a beautiful Desmo450 MX motorcycle was unveiled that Troy Lee had designed himself. The goal is to have enough bikes produced and in America for early homologation, because they want Cairoli to race it, possibly as soon as RedBud in July! Needless to say, there was a lot of buzz under the TLD tent, especially with the announcement that Factory Connection boss Rick “Ziggy” Zielfelder will be part of the U.S. development.
The unveiling of the Ducati Desmo450 MX bike for Ducati North America in the U.S.
— Mitch Kendra (@mitch_kendra) January 10, 2025
📸🎥#Supercross #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/H4FMTbsF4U
About the only bad news, besides the fires, was the news that Jalek Swoll had torn his Achilles tendon and will likely miss the entire SX season, and possibly the entire year. The Triumph team acted quickly and sent Stilez Robertson West, alongside Jordon Smith, and also put Austin Forkner in the East.
Needless to say, it was a very busy day at the Big A, and I apologize for this column going up late as a result. But opening day is finally here, in the form of the 83rd AMA Supercross to be held here in Anaheim. And it should be a great one! Here’s the broadcast schedule:
Supercross
Anaheim 1 (A1)KTM Junior SX
Saturday, January 11Pre-Season Special Show
Live
December 29 - 5:00 PM
Pre-Season Special Show
Live
December 29 - 5:00 PM
Pre-Season Special Show
December 29 - 6:00 PM
Race Day Live (Qualifying)
Live
January 11 - 2:30 PM
Race Day Live (Qualifying)
Live
January 11 - 2:30 PM
Anaheim Pre-Race Show
Live
January 11 - 7:30 PM
Night Show
Live
January 11 - 8:00 PM
Night Show
Live
January 11 - 8:00 PM
Night Show
Live
January 11 - 8:00 PM
Night Show (Encore Presentation)
January 12 - 2:00 PM
Anaheim 1
To pick up a souvenir program while at the traces, visit the Legends and Heroes tent in the pits at each round to get afreesouvenir program.
And here’s the whole presser if you want to see it all:
And our RAW coverage of the riding sessions:
And Josh Gagnon's (@alwaysbelieve331) countdown to A1 continues...
Anaheim 1 is tomorrow and finally, people in the media like myself can stop talking about what is gonna happen and start talking about what did happen. It’s always an exciting time. I usually think about my own experience as a mechanic around Anaheim 1 and just how much damn work it was. Like, those guysare the heroes, everyone involved with the teams are wide openthis time of the year. Thankfully, A1 was pushed back one weeklater than usual so these guys maybe got to have Christmas off?
Last season we had so many questions about the 450 class, likehow would Chase Sexton adapt to the new KTM, how was the rookiekid from Australia going to do (well, two of them actually), could Eli Tomac be as good asusual after his Achilles tendon injury, and so on. This year is a littlemore settled. We KNOW Jett's awesome, ET is close to his oldform, and Sexton, well, he wasn't as good on the KTM as he was onthe Honda. So, we're looking for the edges now—which riders canget that 0.2 a lap gain, which guys, like Jason Anderson, get acontract for next year, and things like that. I guess we'll seeif Hunter Lawrence can continue that late SX season surge he hadinto last year into this year. Last year at the opening five or six rounds he wasracing with Dylan Ferrandis closer to tenth than to the front,and by the end of the year he was leading laps and almostbeating his brother. So yeah, Hunter Lawrence is an interestingguy to watch I suppose.
In the 250's, it's gonna be a battle royale with Deegs and Levi Kitchen with some appearances from Jordon Smith, Garrett Marchbanks, and a few others. Could we get a Michael Mosiman rise from the dead also?
Anaheim is here! The long wait has ended, and weare ready to rock and roll for another season of the SuperMotocross WorldChampionship. For most of the world, this is like Christmasmorning with unlimited upside and not a lot to worry about. Forriders, it’s a stressful, nauseating experience. The pointsgiven out are the same as every other Monster Energy AMA Supercrossround, but it certainly doesn't feel that way. It feels like theweight of the world is sitting on every contender's shoulders.It's mostly because of the long layoff that seems to buildanticipation to the sky. The amount of work and effort exertedby everyone involved in a program looks to Anaheim as a payoffwhen realistically, it's just another Saturday.
The incredibly hard yet still ideal approach to this round issimilar to how an NFL quarterback would want to approach a biggame. Throw a touchdown on the first throw? Don't get too cockybecause you're going to be back out there in no time. Throw a pick six on the first drive and feel like you lost the gamealready? Don't get too down because the team is depending on youto bounce back. Anaheim takes this same dynamic. It's one roundbut if riders let it dictate their entire psyche and pretend it’sthe ultimate predictor of the season, they're likely wrong intheir assumption. Take it for what it is. If things go well,just smile and look to San Diego for continuation. If things gocompletely awry, spend the evening and possibly Sunday assessingthe why, but make the next week a pathway to righting the ship.Allowing negative thoughts to permeate can drag into multipleweekends and simply cannot be allowed to take root. Have a shortmemory and keep it moving.
In talking to a few Anaheim legends, namely Jeremy McGrath, aninteresting approach was revealed. MC said that instead ofletting his mind dwell on all of the pressure-filled aspects, hetried to lean into the "Showtime" parts of his persona. He wouldmake sure his gear, helmet, and even hairstyle were a hugestoryline. That would capture the questions and attention spanof he and others. Instead of asking if he could win anothertitle, pundits would ask about the snazzy lights on his helmetand the bleach blonde hairdo he arrived with. Was it deflecting?Sure, but it was strategic deflecting. Anything he could do toallow the race to take care of itself without finding yourselfin a never-ending thought loop was considered a win. The racealways has and always will happen whether or not you endlesslydwell on an outcome that no one can predict.
The most ideal yet highly unlikely result is to soak in the experience and enjoy a fleeting time in a rider's life. One day, they are going to wake up and be in their 40's, and this racing life will be a memory. The competitive side of their life will wane. They'll realize that they lived their dream. Everything they longed for as a child came to fruition and they traveled the world chasing this incredible sport. They'll wish they slowed down, enjoyed the moment, and realized that a bad result isn't a death knell. They'll wish they could feel the adrenaline and endorphin rush when that 30 second board goes up. They'll miss the things they hate and realize the magic was in the hardest of moments. One day, they'll look back on mornings they dreaded and wish they could do it all again. Ask me how I know.
I teamed up with Daniel Blair to do a weekly show about SX/MX for the YouTubes and the podcasts of the world. Here's episode one.
We're back with PulpMX Fantasy and if you live in a state thatallows it, have some fun playing this year! We give away fourYamahas, weekly and season ending prizes, and more. Want areason to cheer for guys like Max Miller, Cade Clason, and more?We're giving it to you! Honestly, you don't even have to be goodat the game to win the random draw of the YZ450F!
Simon Cudby headed to the Kawasaki test track south of Corona, CA next to the 15 freeway to film with Jason Anderson and Jorge Prado. Also getting in some final laps before A1 were Pro Circuit's Cameron McAdoo and Garrett Marchbanks.
Weege From Home: I Hired Justin Rodbell To Fix My HVAC! | Can You Race and Work a Job?
“A Waymo robotaxi and a Serve delivery robot collided in Los Angeles”—Tech Crunch
"Ozzy Osbourne Says He Used To Have To Drink 28 GALLONS Of Alcohol To Get Through The Holidays With His Family"—Barstool Sports
"Kim Jong Un Has Banned Hot Dogs, People Caught With Hot Dogs Will Be Thrown in North Korean Labor Camp"—Barstool Sports
Off-Road Travel TV will make its world-wide debut January 12 at 9:30 a.m. ET/PT on MAVTV. In the first episode of the all-new 30-minute show, the crew goes camping with Michael Laddenand in his amazing Drive the Globe expedition rig. Then Ken Faught heads to Utah to go on an amazing three-day tour with Speed & Sport Adventures, considered the best dirt bike tour company in America. The show concludes with a preview of Off-Road Travel TV’s incredible 48-day Alaskan adventure and a look at our amazing purpose-built Toyota Tundra and 4Runners. Help spread the word. #adventure #explore #travel #dirtbikes #adventurebikes #utvs #advs #jeep #4x4 #expeditionrigs #offroad
(LOGO)
Looking for a cool Dual Sport Adventure Ride? Check out the one coming up in March in Wickenburg, Arizona:
Sorry this was rushed, but it’s been a very busy day. Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races.