2025 Ironman Motocross Photo Gallery

2025 Ironman Motocross Recap

A hot day and an overwatered track opened the final stretch of the 2025 Pro Motocross Championship series on Saturday at the Ironman National in Crawfordsville, IN.

No early champions were crowned yet - it might still be a little too soon, with it being the ninth round plus two more to go - but some career and season firsts, including a deep dive into the rulebook, highlighted the day. A rutty track challenged some riders, while a locked front wheel ended the overall chance for another.

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In the 450 class, Eli Tomac (6-3) sprang out front twice grabbing the no-longer-sponsored by MotoSport Holeshot in both Motos, (Hey, you have $600,000? The demand to cough up twice what we used to pay led us to focus our efforts on the grassroots of the sport for this year!) his first of the year, leading Moto 1 for quite a while before the Lawrence brothers and Chase Sexton consumed him but he gutted out a Moto 2 for third and third overall.

Hey man, why you talking about Tomac? He didn't even win. Hold your dirt bikes. Hunter Lawrence, the Marvin Musquin to brother Jett, finally got his first career 450 class victory and this without winning a Moto. Came a little gifted, for sure, but the seemingly perennial second-place finisher passed Tomac twice going 2-2 for the overall.

"So happy to finally get one, like you said, 10 second places," said an exhausted Hunter referencing the trackside reporter's question. "It's good to get the monkey off the back."

Whatever else he said was garbled and confusing mostly because he crossed the finish line moments before and was still out of breath.

His brother Jett could have had the overall, same with Sexton, but both had "issues." Lawrence jumped the gun for Moto 1 and hit the starting gate. Officials docked him a lap as a result and his third-place finish became 17th. Supposedly he rode angry (the people on TV said as much - how they know, no idea) in Moto 2 as a result thus taking an easy checkers. But the penalty gave him sixth overall.

Sexton, meanwhile, showed he can not only beat the Lawrence brothers but quite handily. A crash in Moto 1 failed to deter him as he moved up from a ninth-place start, slipped into second at the 11 minute mark and cut off Jett twice in a corner battling for second. Lawrence settled for third while Sexton sought to catch Hunter who stalled with three laps remaining and lost the lead.

In Moto 2, Sexton had the overall for maybe 10 seconds around the 20 minute mark when Hunter Lawrence fell while in second and way behind his brother. This put Tomac into second and Sexton third. Moments later, Sexton landed an awkward jump and flung from the bike. His first effort to resume riding spun him off the bike again and a locked front wheel, the cause of the accident, ended his ride. DNF for Sexton and 10th overall.

Lest we forget RJ Hampshire. Second overall on a (3-4) day, a career best in the veteran's first year racing the premier class.

The penalty levied on Jett Lawrence in Moto 1 popped Hampshire into third, Justin Cooper (4-5) into fourth, Jorge Prado (5-6) in fifth and Tomac in sixth for that race. Tomac missed out on second overall after a late pass by Hunter Lawrence in Moto 2. He indicated he was dealing with some physical issues and was surprised he was able to hang on as well as he did in Moto 2. (Editorializing: Unless he gets on that Honda the Lawrences ride or a similarly fast bike he won't ever catch or hold off either brother. Remember what brand Tomac rode in 2015?

By the way, Sexton and Tomac were named to Team USA for the 2025 Motocross of Nations on October 5 at Ironman.

250 Class

In the 250 class, Doughboy swept extending his points lead to 51 over Jo Shimoda who rolled up a (2-2) day for second overall. Tom Vialle (3-3) took third overall. Drew Adams finished a career best fifth overall on a (8-5) day. If Shimoda can't close the gap to under 50 points next week, Doughboy takes the 250 class title with a round to spare.

And, nope, still can't mention Doughboy by name all because of a "Caption this" photo we posted on Facebook seven months ago he and or his camp did not like. His recent extended racing contract makes the Doughboy moniker a perfect fit for the rest of the year.

Round 10 just might cap off the season title races on Saturday at Unadilla in New Berlin, NY. Sweeps by both frontrunners secure the 450 and 250 class Motocross crowns early.