2025 AMA Pro Motocross Recap - Pala

Just like that, the opening National of the 2025 AMA Pro Motocross tilt has come and gone. Four Motos went down at Fox Raceway on Saturday afternoon; were they particularly good? No, but they happened, and you cannot deny it. Hard to really come out of this weekend and feel a ton of optimism about the health of either Championship, thanks to some injuries and mundane on-track action, but that said, we did get some newsworthy moments between the 250 and 450 classes. Here's what I got.

Daytime Program/Injury Notes: 

- By far the worst National layout for a Pala National (Had this typed in at 12:45 EST yesterday)

- The Star Yamaha Thor kits make me angry. I will not elaborate further.

- 250 Fastest Qualifier: No. 10 Chance Hymas (2:16.952) (Took pole on a buzzer-beater hot lap over Haiden Deegan).

- 450 Fastest Qualifier: No. 18 Jett Lawrence (2:14.379)

250 Class Recap

1st) No. 1 Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (1-1)

Kind of the quintessential Deegan National outing, really. His starts were good, not great, but he could make up enough ground in those first few corners to put himself in a good spot just to let things come naturally to him. The only thing I could say is I would've been interested to see if Shimoda could've capitalized on a run in that second Moto had he not gotten held up by Beaumer, but it was so tough to make meaningful passes the further you got up the field that I don't even know if it would've even mattered.

2nd) No. 30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC) (2-2)

Shimoda ultimately would've been solid this season, given the very early Supercross injury that hurt him the entire way through, but he was very strong in both of these Motos. So much so that Deegan couldn't "break" him, the way Jett Lawrence did Eli Tomac around a half hour later, but more on that in a few moments. As far as Shimoda goes, though, he's got the pace to win Motos if this were a worthy sample size, but I don't know if he can afford the starts he had today if he's unable to get through the pack quickly enough.

5th) No. 23 Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM) (5-4)

As far as guys I didn't perceive as title contenders this summer; this was a solid place to start for Beaumer. He got a ton of time up in those top two spots between both Motos, and while he wasn't able to hold off any of the contenders, a 5-4 given some of the names in this field isn't anything to be bummed out about, especially in Week 1. I'm interested to see how he runs in both of these upcoming West Coast events before things permanently shift to the Midwest and East (save for Washougal).

4Xth) No. 41 Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (32-DNS)

One of a few guys to have very rough openers, alongside the Triumph duo of Austin Forkner and Stilez Robertson, Nate Thrasher only got one Moto in before he went to the hospital. Jason Thomas alluded to internal injuries during a spot in Moto 2, so we're hoping for the best for him. He's another one of these 250 guys who can't buy a break but has shown he's as legit as anyone in the class.

250 Class Pala National Top 10 and Points Standings

1st) No. 1 Haiden Deegan (1-1) (50 Points)

2nd) No. 30 Jo Shimoda (2-2) (44 Points)

3rd) No. 16 Tom Vialle (4-3) (38 Points)

4th) No. 10 Chance Hymas (3-6) (36 Points)

5th) No. 23 Julien Beaumer (5-4) (35 Points)

6th) No. 36 Garrett Marchbanks (6-5) (33 Points)

7th) No. 56 Seth Hammaker (8-7) (29 Points)

8th) No. 93 Michael Mosiman (11-8) (25 Points)

9th) No. 92 Max Vohland (12-10) (22 Points)

10th) No. 26 Ty Masterpool (7-15) (22 Points)

450 Class Recap

1st) No. 18 Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC) (1-1)

The undefeated streak at Pala remains intact for Jett Lawrence on a 450, and it's not a stretch to say he's clearly over the ACL injury now that we've seen him run 60-plus minutes of live Motocross. It was a nice reminder post-race of just what a performance off a significant injury means to these guys with his reaction post-Moto 2, but in simple terms, he had the best overall line selection of the day (that outside line after the two tables was brutal but he got away with it), and on a track where being out early trumped everything else, not even Eli Tomac's best shot(s) were enough. I can't say it'll make for invigorating TV, but this feels like the first of many wins for Jett this summer.

2nd) No. 3 Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (4-2)

If only Tomac didn't have the starts he did, man, because he looked as advertised in Moto 2 but just couldn't close the difference enough to get by Jett. The pace, however, should be the big takeaway here, and once we get to tracks with some better passing opportunities available, he should be in line for some wins. Sadly, that was not the case on Saturday.

5th) No. 32 Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (2-8)

The Moto 1 pace ultimately didn't carry over into Moto 2, but how about that opening run for Justin Cooper? Obviously, he never beat Jett, but holding off Hunter Lawrence and then Tomac is something he should be pleased about going into Hangtown. He just has to not lose the rear end in turn one like he did in Moto 2; otherwise, he's on the podium 100%.

9th) No. 24 R.J. Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) (6-12)

I just want it on the record that Rick James Hampshire beat reigning World Champion Jorge Prado in a 450 Class Moto live and in living color in 2025. Unfortunately, he fell from around sixth early in Moto 2 and mostly hung around the 10th-13th range before finishing 12 to close out his day. A ninth overall isn't a bad place to start by any means, though, especially since he just spent all of this year prior on a 250.

4Xth) No. 1 Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM) (DNF-DNS)

Think of any writer or producer on the planet, and know they couldn't have scripted a worse way to open a season than Chase Sexton just did. A goggle issue straight into a get-off where the bike lands on you is catastrophic luck for a guy who's had a ton go wrong the last few years.

It's hard to say about his health, and I don't want to speculate, but they said it was vision-related as to why he crashed and not him accidentally going into neutral or overjumping that tabletop (he landed about a half bike length earlier compared to the lap prior). I can't blame him for wanting to tough it out without goggles in that spot, especially with Tomac and Hunter bearing down on him, but I can understand why a lot of people didn't like the call to stay out without goggles. The fact that he was three turns away from getting a new set makes this thing 100 times worse, as well. Here's to hoping his absence in Moto 2 was a precaution.

450 Class Pala National Top 10 and Points Standings

1st) No. 18 Jett Lawrence (1-1) (50 Points)

2nd) No. 3 Eli Tomac (4-2) (40 Points)

3rd) No. 96 Hunter Lawrence (3-4) (38 Points)

4th) No. 7 Aaron Plessinger (5-3) (37 Points)

5th) No. 32 Justin Cooper (2-8) (36 Points)

6th) No. 70 Jorge Prado (7-6) (31 Points)

7th) No. 21 Jason Anderson (9-5) (30 Points)

8th) No. 17 Joey Savatgy (8-10) (26 Points)

9th) No. 24 R.J. Hampshire (6-12) (26 Points)

10th) No. 102 Benoit Patruel (11-9) (24 Points)

Main Image via Honda HRC