2025 AMA Pro Motocross Recap - RedBud

Jack Gaffney
4 days ago
5 min read

The Fourth of July weekend tradition of RedBud Motocross has been a staple in the sport for decades, and fittingly, next year's rendition will fall directly on the United States' 250th birthday. As for 2025, however, things are a bit in lull right now with Haiden Deegan and Jett Lawrence sporting huge point leads coming into this weekend, but there was a very exciting wrinkle added as well: the addition of seven-time World Motocross Champion Tony Cairoli into the 450 lineup on a barebones Ducati Desmo450. He got the chance to test the homologated/non-GP version of the bike last weekend at Southwick and in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts, but this would be the first time the bike would be seen in race settings on U.S. soil.

Daytime Program/Injury Notes:

- How about another flipped format???

- Haiden Deegan took a decent spill in qualifying but was ultimately no worse for wear.

- If you were looking for Tony Cairoli test footage at Southwick, here you go.

- 250 Fastest Qualifier: No. 25 Ryder DiFrancesco (2:08.014)

- 450 Fastest Qualifier: No. 1 Jett Lawrence (2:04.021)

250 Class Recap

1st - No. 30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC) (1-1)

Not just a consistent day for the usually reliable Shimoda, but an elite day as well, going 1-1 with Honda HRC President Koji Watanabe live in the crowd to watch. After weeks worth of bad starts, he finally got that elusive holeshot in Moto 1 to secure a wire-to-wire win, and then let things come to him in Moto 2 with the likes of Jordon Smith having a wild off-track excursion (like, how did he end up by that inflatable Monster can??????), and then ultimately biding his time to pass Smith's teammate Jalek Swoll for the lead and win. Not that he's super close to the points lead even after today, slicing 20 points into Haiden Deegan's lead is not exactly nothing.

2nd - No. 22 Jalek Swoll (Triumph Factory Racing) (6-3)

Despite coughing up second late to Deegan in Moto 2, this was more or less the kind of pace I was hoping to see out of Swoll all year, had it not been for the Achilles tear. Leading a handful of laps and never running below third in the final Moto of the day, and on one without a "halftime" no less, under his circumstances, has to be one hell of a confidence boost, and he was letting anyone who thought Triumph's contract for him was bad money hear it post race.

4th - No. 107 Mikkel Haarup (Triumph Factory Racing) (8-5)

Very quietly over these last two weeks has Mikkel Haarup has been putting together some great outings for a rider who came over from Europe relatively last minute. He's now gone 5-6-8-5 between Southwick and RedBud, with those representing his four best Moto performances of the entire year. His fourth overall result this weekend was his best on that front as well.

5th - No. 1 Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (14-2)

Not only was Haiden Deegan unable to secure victory after a pair of subpar starts, but we also saw him crack under pressure in that first Moto as he was attempting to make his way back into the top five, before he ultimately fell further back to 14th, as it looked like his bike was severely overheating. He's still +38 in the standings over Shimoda thanks to a late rally in Moto 2, but not the kind of day you're typically ever looking for.

250 Class RedBud National Top 10

1st) No. 30 Jo Shimoda (1-1)

2nd) No. 22 Jalek Swoll (6-3)

3rd) No. 93 Michael Mosiman (4-4)

4th) No. 107 Mikkel Haarup (8-5)

5th) No. 1 Haiden Deegan (14-2)

6th) No. 25 Ryder DiFrancesco (12-6)

7th) No. 47 Levi Kitchen (2-19)

8th) No. 302 Parker Ross (11-10)

9th) No. 56 Seth Hammaker (5-16)

10th) No. 36 Garrett Marchbanks (10-12)

250 Class Points After RedBud

1st) No. 1 Haiden Deegan (274 Points)

2nd) No. 30 Jo Shimoda (236 Points)

3rd) No. 47 Levi Kitchen (189 Points)

4th) No. 16 Tom Vialle (186 Points)

5th) No. 36 Garrett Marchbanks (184 Points)

6th) No. 93 Michael Mosiman (149 Points)

7th) No. 107 Mikkel Haarup (144 Points)

8th) No. 10 Chance Hymas (132 Points)

9th) No. 92 Max Vohland (124 Points)

10th) No. 56 Seth Hammaker (122 Points)

250 Class Recap

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

I'm being honest here: I think the HRC boys can start pre-approving Jett's Championship merchandise at this point. Starting out at the front, starting just a little behind the lead pack, or even falling early and having to pick guys off from 18th on up, it doesn't matter; Jett Lawrence in 2025 is inevitable. Now up 51 points on the field and with Tomac getting a Moto 1 DNF, this feels as good as over now.

5th - No. 1 Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM) (5-4)

A so-so Moto 1 start, and that late Moto 2 fall shouldn't dampen the mood too much for Sexton, who objectively looked great in his first race weekend back otherwise. You could tell in his late Moto 1 run that he had plenty left in the tank, and that he was feeling way more loose as things went on, which was a great sign for his first race back. Millville has been a really good spot for Sexton these last few years, so he has that to look forward to as well, going into next weekend.

14th - No. 222 Antonio Cairoli (Ducati) (9-DNF)

Sadly, TC222's Desmo450 expired in the first third of 450 Moto 2, but he looked legitimately great at a spry 39 years old. By the sounds of his post-race Instagram post, it was an electrical issue that did him in, but he was likely tracking for a 9-7/8 day, which is absurd. I know he's not an AMA lifer, but I hope fans can appreciate how good this guy was today with no high-end race fitness and nearing 40 years old on a brand new bike platform. Always great to see TC and hopefully the Ducati boys can get what they need done, done, from a testing standpoint next week in Millville before they head out.

450 Class RedBud National Top 10

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

2nd) No. 96 Hunter Lawrence (2-3)

3rd) No. 32 Justin Cooper (4-2)

4th) No. 24 R.J. Hampshire (3-6)

5th) No. 1 Chase Sexton (5-4)

6th) No. 70 Jorge Prado (7-5)

7th) No. 51 Justin Barcia (8-9)

8th) No. 27 Malcolm Stewart (11-10)

9th) No. 2 Cooper Webb (15-8)

10th) No. 42 Harri Kullas (12-11)

450 Class Points After RedBud