The 2025 Supercross season kicked off with a bang in Anaheim last week, and things shifted just down the proverbial block to San Diego for Week 2. The big storyline leaving the daytime program was that last week's 250 Main Event winner, Jo Shimoda, suffered a couple of broken fingers in an accident where he ran into his pit board (yes, that's not a typo). It was wildly reported that he would try and gut it out going into the night show, but that is one way to let the air out of the balloon in this 250 West Championship two weeks in. On the other hand, that's the early break that guys like Haiden Deegan, Julien Beaumer, and Jordon Smith need to take advantage of, especially if this ends up being a short-term thing for Shimoda, and hopefully, that's the case.
In the 450 class, it was a very unusual week for the Lawrence brothers. Both finished outside the top 10, while Chase Sexton, Ken Roczen, and Jason Anderson all positioned themselves in a great spot to begin 2025. How would the handling on those '25 CRF450s compare to last week, and could Jett get himself out of an early points hole right away?
Daytime Program/Injury Notes:
- 2-3-2 vs. 3-4 is the weekend's biggest question
- Pro Circuit Kawasaki decided to flip Ty Masterpool to 250 West due to Levi Kitchen's ongoing health issues.
- 10 Whoops this week. Miracles do happen.
- Deegan and Beaumer were playing mind games in 250 qualifying with each other.
- 250 Fastest Qualifier: No. 38 Haiden Deegan (52.848)
- 450 Fastest Qualifier: No. 4 Chase Sexton (51.566)
Heat Racing Highlights
Jo Shimoda didn't run the best in 250 Heat 1, understandably, but his body language was good overall once he returned to the rig, which was shown on TV. The big takeaway from these heats, though, was Cole Davies, who was on rails once again. He had an excellent start, and despite letting teammate Michael Mosiman hitch along, it went wire to wire here. Haiden Deegan lucked out big time after his feet came off the pegs in the whoops during a late surge, but unfortunately, Talon Hawkins took an awful spill trying the 3-4 on the final lap. Wishing for the best with him.
The new week started well for Jett Lawrence, who built up a five-plus-second win in Heat 1 over Cooper Webb. A much better start than last week and in turn, it's a better gate pick than last week. Now, was it a better start than Eli Tomac in Heat 2? Nope. By the time the clock hit 4:00, he was up north of four seconds on Chase Sexton and Joey Savatgy. Not having fun here was Monster Kawi's Jorge Prado, who took a spill and was LCQ-bound. Welcome to AMA racing, I guess???
250 Class Recap
1st - No. 23 Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM)
If Juju Beaumer hadn't already arrived, he sure as hell has now. Things have progressed very quickly for the second-year KTM rider, and now that he'll be sporting a red number plate in Anaheim next Saturday, it's more than fair to say he'll have a seat at the table in this title bout. I thought he showed a lot of poise not rushing too hard into a pass on Cole Davies and simply letting things come to him naturally. Whatever Davi Millsaps and his people have Beaumer doing in his weekday regimen, keep doing it; it's clearly working.
3rd - No. 38 Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)
The arm pump monster has seemingly gotten Deegan into its clutches, and despite a pretty good Main Event ride, you would've never guessed that based on his post-race interview. Completely dejected, and none of the confidence/arrogance of a year ago shined through. Honestly, given the arm pump, a 5-3 to open the year and sitting fourth in points isn't a bad start to the year. While Deegan getting a win in Anaheim next week would do him a lot of good on multiple fronts, I'm not exactly panicking about him just yet.
4th - No. 100 Cole Davies (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)
I don't know what they're feeding these kids down in Australia, but we have another live one on our hands who can ride the wheels off a motorcycle. Rookie mistakes aside, Davies getting that amount of time out front in just his second career Main Event is absolutely gigantic. Even more so was the fact he didn't crack and unravel once he had his little off-track excursion. Davies was running in that 55-second bracket for that entire race and didn't need much time, if any, to reset mentally, even getting a spot back before the night was out. Get your stock on the No. 100 while you still can. Star Yamaha did it again.
7th - No. 30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC)
There's no chance Shimoda's hand is feeling all that great today, but he's an absolute warrior for getting a top 10 after the Saturday he had. Unless Coty Schock slipped up late, a seventh was probably the best-case scenario here, as he was about a half-second off of his pace on average and nowhere close to anyone in the top five. If for nothing else, though, this should be a ride he and that Honda HRC team should look fondly of down the road. The kid showed a ton of grit on Saturday night.
250 West Class San Diego Top 10
1st No. 23 Julien Beaumer
2nd No. 19 Jordon Smith
3rd No. 38 Haiden Deegan
4th No. 100 Cole Davies
5th No. 25 Ryder DiFrancesco
6th No. 37 Coty Schock
7th No. 30 Jo Shimoda
8th No. 36 Garrett Marchbanks
9th No. 93 Michael Mosiman
10th No. 63 Hunter Yoder
250 West Points Standings After San Diego
1st No. 23 Julien Beaumer (47 Points) (New Points Leader)
2nd No. 19 Jordon Smith (42 Points)
3rd No. 30 Jo Shimoda (40 Points)
4th No. 38 Haiden Deegan (37 Points)
5th No. 25 Ryder DiFrancesco (35 Points)
6th No. 100 Cole Davies (32 Points)
7th No. 37 Coty Schock (32 Points)
8th No. 36 Garrett Marchbanks (27 Points)
9th No. 52 Anthony Bourdon (26 Points)
10th No. 61 Cole Thompson (22 Points)
450 Class Recap
1st - No. 3 Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)
That's as good a ride from Eli Tomac since probably Seattle in 2023. He and Jett were on absolute rails, and the now points leader somehow shut down an incredible surge by the No. 1 to hold onto the majority of this one, and all of it once he got by Webb. Also, he made a great adjustment by sticking with the inside on that sand corner after Kevin Moranz essentially pointed him to go there before he went a lap down. That, and he was gaining chunks of time on everyone else in the whoops, which wasn't a shock, but he was the only guy I could recall blitzing them the entire way.
Here's hoping we can get this kind of speed out of Tomac all season; his best lap was a few thousandths off being a half-second faster than any Jett lap and nearly a full second faster than Cooper Webb, who rounded out the podium.
2nd - No. 1 Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC)
It was a good Main Event for Jett to get himself into the top five in points. As a viewer, he didn't seem 100 percent in tune with the bike in real-time, but compared to last week, it might have been. Regardless, he said it's a step in the right direction up on the podium, and that's all you can ask for. If he felt good enough to blitz the whoops, I imagine he would've gotten by Tomac, but 22 points in the bank is a good rebound outing headed back to Anaheim.
6th - No. 4 Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM)
I have no idea how Sexton didn't get landed on the first time off the triple, but that's lucking out if I've ever seen it. The Supercross gods would agree, seeing as he put it on the ground two corners later before doing what Tomac did last week in Anaheim. No red plate heading back to Anaheim, but Chase should feel good about how he rode for the final 95% of this main. Being second in the standings by all of one (1) point after two rounds is an excellent start to the new year.
12th - No. 21 Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki)
El Hombre was in line for a fine night, likely in the sixth-eighth range, before something went wrong in those final two laps (not shown on the broadcast). He was fading a bit right up until then and put up back-to-back 1:10s to end the night, falling out of the top 10. I'm interested to see how things unraveled, but this feels like any number of rounds over the last two years where Anderson just has some brutal luck.
15th - No. 66 Vince Friese (I'm So Done with this Guy)
If that's harsh, so be it, but I think there'd be several dozen riders doing cartwheels the day he's out of here. God willing, that's sooner than later.
450 Class San Diego Top 10
1st No. 3 Eli Tomac
2nd No. 1 Jett Lawrence
3rd No. 2 Cooper Webb
4th No. 94 Ken Roczen
5th No. 96 Hunter Lawrence
6th No. 4 Chase Sexton
7th No. 27 Malcolm Stewart
8th No. 51 Justin Barcia
9th No. 14 Dylan Ferrandis
10th No. 17 Joey Savatgy
450 Class Points After San Diego
1st No. 3 Eli Tomac (42 Points) (New Points Leader)
2nd No. 4 Chase Sexton (41 Points)
3rd No. 94 Ken Roczen (40 Points)
4th No. 2 Cooper Webb (38 Points)
5th No. 1 Jett Lawrence (32 Points)
6th No. 51 Justin Barcia (30 Points)
7th No. 21 Jason Anderson (29 Points)
8th No. 96 Hunter Lawrence (28 Points)
9th No. 27 Malcolm Stewart (27 Points)
10th No. 32 Justin Cooper (26 Points)
San Diego Lit Kit: Malcolm Stewart Pink and Light Blue Seven Gear (Stay for the Big James Stewart (!!!!) Cameo)
Main Image via Feld Motor Sports