2025 Fox Raceway Motocross Photo Gallery

2025 Fox Raceway Motocross Recap

Looks like more of the same for the Outdoors!

The 2025 Pro Motocross Championship series started Saturday at Fox Raceway in Pala, CA with expected results.

In the 450 class, 2023 Champion Jett Lawrence returned to form months after surgery to repair a torn ACL which ended his Supercross season early. Lawrence bounced off his brother Hunter Lawrence at the start of Moto 1, grabbed the $600,000 Holeshot and sped away from there, reminiscent of his undefeated season two years ago.

In Moto 2, Hunter Lawrence took the $600,000 Holeshot but that lead vanished quicker than Chase Sexton's title defense. Brother Jett and Aaron Plessinger cruised past Hunter but a Plessinger bobble later enabled Lawrence to retake second which he lost again two minutes after that to Eli Tomac.

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Tomac hounded Lawrence for the rest of the race, getting close, falling back, getting close. Though Tomac was the faster rider at times, the dry, rutted track offered little room to pass and in the waning minutes Lawrence pulled away and easily took the checkers for the sweep and remain undefeated (8-0) at Fox Raceway in his 250 and 450 career.

A visibly emotional post-race Lawrence mentioned having a sort of mental breakdown in recent months thanks in part to injuries, the recent surgery and even the pain killers taken. Lawerence's Motocross season ended early last year as well because of injury. Off track, he and his brother fired their agent in January over misuse of their personal funds, now a situation taking on a life of its own.

"I had a good few beast modes attacks from (Tomac) and I was doing everything I can...and I was trying to recover just for the next one," he said of racing Tomac in the final Moto. "He had a few and I end up finding some good lines and once I got five laps gone I had to give him everything. I ended up getting a nice gap (and) Eli kind of threw the white flag. This track is so hard to pass on. It was good to have the race adrenaline again."

Tomac finished second overall on a (4-2) day. He and Lawrence pulled away from the field exponentially in the second Moto showing the four-time Champ can still race with the best of them even coming off injury that also ended a promising Supercross season early.

"I was trying my heart out. It was close, it was close for about 25 minutes," Tomac said. "It was really fun. We both had our spots on the track where we'd make time on each other. I did what I could. Much happier with how I rode it in Moto 2 than Moto 1. Excited to get the series going."

Hunter Lawrence rounded out the podium on a (3-4) day losing third for Moto 2 on the final lap when Plessinger (5-3), finishing fourth overall, capitalized on a misstep that sent Lawrence off the track. Justin Cooper took fifth on a (2-8) day.

Elsewhere, overseas phenom Jorge Prado, the two-time MXGP (450 class) Motocross World Championship Champion finished sixth on a (7-6) day while Jason Anderson who ended his Supercross season the day of the Seattle round for undisclosed reasons finished seventh on a (10-5) day. Cooper Webb looked ready, but his bike needed more time to recover from the Supercross Championship hangover. The Yamaha sent out a smoke signal midway through Moto 1 requesting a much needed nap and took one. But after some rest and a pot of hot coffee it landed Webb seventh in Moto 2 for 13th overall.

As for Sexton, the defending Champion ripped his goggles off in Moto 1 just two minutes in while riding third and on the lap he seemingly was urged by his mechanic to pull off and get a fresh pair, he ate it hard just after the Finish Line. He struggled to get up, rode to the pits and briefly appeared ready to get back into the race before calling it a day. He did not return for the second Moto and netted zero points for the day.

250 Class

In the 250 class, the defending Champion swept but Jo Shimoda made the headlines taking second in both Motos for second overall racing competitively and taking advantage of others' miscues.

In Moto 1, Chance Hymas rounded the first turn first taking the $600,000 Holeshot (Hey, at least we don't have to hear the TV announcer refer to MotoSport as Motorsport!) then lost the lead just as quick as Hunter Lawrence did in his Moto 1 but regained it 90 seconds later. He stretched his lead over Julien Beaumer until he went down near midway through the race and resumed in third, got back into second a couple minutes after that but a charging Shimoda made his case for a season long threat when he took over second with just under 10 minutes on the clock.

In Moto 2, Tom Vialle, fresh off his back-to-back 250 class East Supercross Championship, took the $600,000 Holeshot but Beaumer shifted into the lead a minute later holding on for more than 15 minutes until the reigning 250 MX title holder made a pass for the lead at the top of the steepest hill on the track with more than 12 minutes on the clock and on the next lap, Shimoda made the pass for second at the same spot.

"I wasn't really feeling that great coming in but I told myself let's just get a good start and put a lap in and that's what we did," said Shimoda, who started the 250SX West Supercross season with a win until colliding with a pit board during qualifying at San Diego and broke two fingers. Despite the injury he raced the entire season. "It's been a rough year, but it feels really good to be on the podium again."

Vialle finished third overall on a (4-3) day, Hymas (3-6) took fourth and Beaumer (5-4) rounded out the Top 5.

Elsewhere, title contender Levi Kitchen (10-DNF) returned to action after missing much of Supercross because of injury finished 16th overall thanks to a busted chain that ended Moto 2 early, and two-time 250 class Champion Jeremy Martin (20-20) returned to racing after seemingly stepping away from the sport for good in 2023 finished 21st.