Skip to content
We Went Fast
PREVIEW

2025 Fox Raceway Preview

By Brett Smith

We’ve got your weekly key stories ready for you. As always, don’t hesitate to ask questions!

Round 1: The Party Begins in Pala

Fox Raceway is the name of the facility. Pala is a small, predominantly Native American community 52 miles north of San Diego. Since 2010, it has hosted many Pro Motocross season beginnings and endings.

This will be the 11th time a Pro Motocross round has been held here and it’s the 5th consecutive year the season opens at this venue. More historical info:

FOX RACEWAY HISTORY

450MX Facts

  • Jett Lawrence and Eli Tomac have never raced each other in Pro Motocross.
  • It’s been 2 years, 8 months and 21 days since Eli Tomac won a Pro Motocross overall.
  • Chase Sexton and Jett Lawrence are the only riders to win in the most recent two seasons. The last time just two riders won every overall for two straight seasons was 2005-2006 (Carmichael/Stewart)
  • Jett Lawrence has 15 overall wins in just 16 starts.
  • Hunter Lawrence and Justin Cooper had a series leading 6 holeshots each in 2024.
  • Hunter Lawrence led 97 laps (just 4 fewer than Sexton) and went 1-2 three different times in 2024. He’s still looking for his first overall win.
  • Eight riders earned moto podiums in 2024.
  • Aaron Plessinger has yet to win a 450MX moto. He has 23 moto podiums.
  • Plessinger has 99 career Pro Motocross starts (all classes)
  • Five different riders have won the last 5 450MX championships. From 2006-2011, 6 different riders won the championship.
  • Eli Tomac is in a three-way tie for second most 450MX moto wins (68)
  • Eli Tomac is one win behind Rick Johnson (33) for third on the all-time 450MX wins list.

250MX Facts

  • Two riders scored points in every moto in 2024: Champion, Haiden Deegan and… Ryder DiFrancesco, who finished 10th overall.
  • Five different riders won overalls in 2024; 3 of them were career firsts.
  • 9 different riders earned overall podiums in 2024.
  • Jordon Smith has started 50 Pro Motocross races and 100 career motos. He’s still looking for his first moto win.
  • In 2024, Jo Shimoda averaged a 5.3 finish in moto 1 but 10.4 in moto 2.
  • Shimoda has 3 career wins. Most recent: Ironman 2023.

2024 450MX recap

1st: Chase Sexton
  • Dominated second half of season with 11 of 13 moto wins
  • Memorable 1-1 ride at Hangtown where he went from 40th to first in the second moto.
  • Sexton led 28 moto 1 laps and 73 moto 2 laps. That’s 2.6 times more second moto laps.
2nd: Hunter Lawrence (rookie)
  • The only other rider (Sexton) to finish top 5 o/a at all 11 rounds.
  • Led 97 laps (to Sexton’s 101) yet never won an overall.
  • In an inversion of Sexton’s laps led, H. Lawrence led 75 moto 1 laps and 22 moto 2 laps.
  • Incredibly consistent 9 overall podiums. Worst moto finish, 6th (Ironman)
3rd: Aaron Plessinger
  • Second consecutive year finishing 3rd overall in series. 4.4 avg. finish, identical to 2023.
  • Hasn’t missed a Pro Motocross race since Sept. 2021 (currently a 34-round streak)
  • Finished 2024 with 4 straight overall podium finishes.
  • Still looking for: first career moto win, overall, fastest qualifier and fastest lap.
4th: Justin Cooper (rookie)
  • Finished top 10 at all 11 rounds and top 5 in 8/11.
  • Led laps in 3 motos for 29 total laps led.
  • 6 holeshots (T. for most in class)
5th: Jason Anderson
  • 1 overall podium (Washougal). Anderson led the first 9 laps (almost 21 minutes) of moto 2 and finished 2nd in the moto (3rd overall)
  • Aside from one bad moto at The Wick (M.2, 31st), Anderson was a 4th/5th place rider all season (14 of his 22 motos were 4th or 5th place.

It’s All in the Knees

Jett Lawrence isn’t the first rider to miss his 450SX title defense season because of ACL recovery and make a calculated push to return for Pro Motocross.

Jett Lawrence: 2025
  • Right ACL
  • Surgery: February 4, 2025
  • Raced again: scheduled to compete at Fox Raceway on May 24.
  • Recovery time: 3 months, 3 weeks.
James Stewart: 2008
Ricky Carmichael: 2003
  • Left ACL; replacement ligament taken from his own patella
  • Surgery: Dec. 9, 2003.
  • Raced again on May 16, 2004 (1-1 at Hangtown Classic)
  • Recovery time: five months, 7 days
  • RC’s comeback is fully detailed and documented in the We Went Fast Epic, “Ricky Carmichael Made Lightning Strike Twice.”

Chase vs. Jett on 450s

Not too long ago we wrote about Jett Lawrence closing in on Chase Sexton in combined 450SX/MX wins. Now Sexton has a 5 race cushion.

Sexton vs. J. Lawrence: 450 Careers
  • During the periods where J. Lawrence recovered from injuries (thumb, 2024 and knee, 2025), Sexton rattled off 11 450MX and SX victories
  • Sexton and Jett Lawrence have competed against each other 13 times in 450 Pro Motocross. Hangtown 2024 is the only race where Sexton beat Lawrence.

Jett Lawrence is still (almost) Perfect in Pala

Jett Lawrence is undefeated at Fox Raceway. He’s won the overall at every race he’s entered here and 11 of the 14 motos.

His worst moto finish is a second (3x) and he’s 4/4 in the 450 class.

Jett Lawrence @ Fox Raceway
  • In 2024, Lawrence opened his title defense season by leading all 15 laps of each moto.
  • Margins of victory: +5.058 (M1) and +1.349 (M2)

Eli Tomac on the All-Times

It’s been a minute since Eli Tomac won a 450MX overall (almost three years!) Here’s where he ranks all-time in the 450MX class in all major categories

Eli Tomac 450MX All-Time Rankings
  • Tomac is currently tied for 2nd most moto wins all-time (Ricky Johnson and Ryan Dungey)
  • In overall wins, he’s one win behind Rick Johnson (33).
  • In championships, he’s tied with Jeff Ward, who won two 250MX titles and two 500MX titles.
  • 279 more points ties him with Kevin Windham for 3rd most points scored all-time
  • 326 more points ties him with Ricky Carmichael for 2nd most points scored all-time.

Jorge Prado’s Pro Motocross Debut

The long-awaited Pro Motocross debut of 4-time FIM Motocross World Champion Jorge Prado is upon us:

  • 24 year-old Spaniard, riding for Monster Energy Kawasaki (#70)
  • 2023-2024 MXGP and 2018-2019 MX2 Champion
  • 18 MXGP wins; 31 MX2 wins
  • 7 450SX starts
  • Jan. 2025: Dislocated right shoulder (and surgery) after a qualifying crash at round 3 of the Monster Energy Supercross season.
  • Prado is the reigning MXGP champion. He wasn’t born the last time a premier class level rider (MXGP/MX1/250cc) left behind a title defense opportunity to race full-time in America (1999 Sebastien Tortelli).

Only six riders have won both FIM and AMA Motocross championships. The first two to do it (Brad Lackey and Danny LaPorte) win in America then went to Europe. The other four won FIM title(s) first.

World MX Champion + AMA MX Champions

How will Prado do in his debut? Here are some notable FIM Motocross World Champions to come to the US and jump STRAIGHT to the premier class (250/450). Some were here to race full-time, others were just visiting for a race.

250/450 Pro Motocross Debuts of MXGP Champions

*Herlings, Bayle and Smets made their AMA debuts BEFORE they were MXGP (premier class) champs.

2024 250MX recap

1st: Haiden Deegan
  • Deegan dominated the front half of the season. He was 1st or 2nd in the first 11 motos.
  • 42 point lead after first five rounds.
  • Of his 10 moto wins, only 3 came in the second moto.
  • Wrapped up the championship after a moto 1 win at Budds Creek, 3 motos left in the season. “I just wanted to annihilate everyone,” he said on the podium of his dominating moto win.
2nd: Tom Vialle
  • 1 win: Ironman (1-4)
  • Improved from 6th overall in 2023.
  • Led laps in 9 motos but only won 3 of them. Lost positions in 7 motos.
  • 5.0 average start position (best in class). Grabbed the very first holeshot of the season.
  • 13 moto podiums; Also, two motos outside top 15 (Unadilla M.2 and Spring Creek M.2)
3rd: Levi Kitchen
  • Second in the championship nearly secured but a DNF in the final moto killed his +14 advantage over Vialle.
  • Kitchen’s 3 wins (Spring Creek, Unadilla, Budds Creek) were the first of his career. Won 4 motos total.
4th: Chance Hymas
  • Major bright spots after having his 2023 rookie season cut short.
  • Started season with 6 consecutive top 5 overalls (4-4-2-3-4-1) and was 2nd in the championship.
  • Pulled holeshot in M.2 at Spring Creek, but got his ankle run over by Haiden Deegan. DNF-ed
  • Crashed out of Moto 1 at Unadilla after leading first ten laps.
5th: Ty Masterpool
  • First career win (High Point), which also happened to be his first career Pro Motocross top 5!
  • High Point win was Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s 300th win as a team
  • Two moto wins, both over Haiden Deegan and both by less than four tenths of a second (High Point M.2 +0.387 and RedBud M.1 +0.369

Haiden vs. Jett: First Two Pro MX Seasons

With the likelihood of Haiden Deegan moving to 450MX in the summer of 2026, he and Jett Lawrence are on a similar trajectory of time in the 250MX class: 3 full seasons.

Here are Deegan and Lawrence’s metrics after two seasons in the 250MX class.

Deegan and J. Lawrence AFTER 2 250MX Seasons*