Grab another cup for this week’s Monday Morning Coffee column about some of what happened this weekend in Motocross and more
By Billy Rainford
This MMC comes to you from the beautiful shores of Cocagne, New Brunswick. Yes, I say it like that too. The Halsteads were kind enough to invite me back for another stay in their bed and breakfast-esque home on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. We’re just south of the Gulf of St Lawrence and if you were to take a boat straight out from here you’d hit PEI. And if you went straight past PEI, you’d hit France. Not that France, but…
I’ve also just realized how close we are to St Pierre and Miquelon Islands. Well, not really “close” but I can see it on Google Maps. I mention this because a lot of people haven’t heard of them or know their history. It’s worth a Youtube search. They’re part of France!
But enough about France…
We were back in action at the historic River Glade MX Park just outside Moncton, NB for Round 6 of the 2025 Canadian Triple Crown Series Motocross Nationals. After the chaos and drama of Round 5, what would River Glade have in store for us?
I can tell you this, it had a mudder for the 2nd half of the day. That much I know for sure!
At the end of the day, I stood around and had a Moosehead beer with Larry Northrup, Earl Ducette, LeeSteeves, and Dave Hewitson and they told me this was the first time they’ve actually ever had a mud race when the Nationals came to visit. I couldn’t believe it!
And then Dave told me that the AVL gang was going to come over to present Earl and Larry with the plastics from the special graphics they had made up for the weekend celebrating Earl’s 50 years of racing dirt bikes. I’m glad I was there for this!
Whenever I’m out here in the maritimes, I get the same sense I get when I visit New England in the US: these are some of the nicest people on the planet, but they are just a wrong word away from taking you out back and tuning you up. Lol
I had this conversation with another person of advanced age about how amazing it sounded when I was a kid and learned that a rider I knew was making the trip to River Glade to race the Nationals. It was always something I dreamed about doing some day. It still hasn’t lost any of its lustre in my imagination…and I’m actually here!
Anyway, like I said, after last week this was going to be a walk in the park, right?
I don’t know if it was on purpose or not, but the fact that they didn’t rip the track very deep ended up being the best thing that could have happened once the rain started halfway through the day. And it didn’t stop. At all. It started raining and just kept up the same pace the rest of the afternoon until after we had all left the property.
I’ll do like I did last week and bullet form some points from what I saw on the weekend:
#6 Ryder McNabb didn’t make the trip as he continues to try to get his health sorted out. There is no guarantee on when he’ll return. Take care of yourself, Ryder.
#700 Bobby Gravel also took the week off after hitting his head. We will likely see him this week at Deschambeault.
Mitch Cooke had a couple Callus riders up from the USA to add to the international flair of our series. #345 Isaak Henderson from Florida and #314 Tyler Stepek from Maryland. Tyler was actually 6th in the first 450 moto but was forced out of the 2nd.
On Saturday, #10 Jayce Heighton won #studstatus by wining the 250 Junior class. To top it off, Jayce is still only 12 years old! Let’s keep an eye on this guy.
There were 4 Lockharts racing on Saturday, too.
They held a Limbo Contest and a Holeshot Challenge. Oh, and they also had a Shotgun Challenge where #315 Cody Groves even lined up! This guy is a complete character. “Larry Enticer” made an appearance too. And I still the think the final was a dead tie.
Ryan Lockhart won the Holeshot Challenge.
They had a record number of entries on Sunday. That’s hard to believe but it’s what I was told.
#469 Jamie Astudillo went 1-1 in WMX and qualified for the 250 motos as well. 32-34 for 34th is what she finished.
#126 Ayrton Pomeroy lined up for his first-ever Pro National. He finished 38th (26-38) and probably wishes he waited until this coming week…
In the first Premix moto, young #213 Hayden Dupuis from Alberta won it on his Supermini as #50 Crayden Dillon ran out of time chasing him down.
#226 Jonathan Bergeron got the overall in the Premix class with 3-1 motos.
#24 Dylan Rempel, usually money off the start, found himself down in turn 1 in both motos. He came back to finish 12-8 for 11th. I think we’re watching Dylan go from a kid to a man this season.
You had to feel sorry for young #427 Alek Guadagno as he was running way up in 3rd place in moto 1 and looking comfortable until something happened on his throttle side with the starter button or something. He struggled to force it back into place as everyone rode past him. Watch for him to rebound hard this week in Deschambault.
#54 Dylan Walsh finally had a good weekend of racing and the team has to feel great. He seems to thrive in difficult track conditions and went 3-1 for 2nd.
#80 Preston Kilroy will win this 250 title with his consistently fast rides. He looks like a man amongst boys out there at times.
#34 Blake Davies just turned 17 this week and got his first-ever overall podium in 3rd.
#35 Clayton Schmucki looked great in 4th place in moto 2. Davies got him and then he must have crashed or something on the last lap because he dropped to 9th at the flag. He’s been consistent this season.
The rain started for 450 moto 1 but it wasn’t too bad…yet.
Cody Groves pulled the 450 moto 1 holeshot and led a couple laps.
As the track got slipperier, #1 Jess Pettis managed his lead on #9 Dylan Wright, #29 Phil Nicoletti, and #84 Tanner Ward in moto 1.
It was pouring rain when 250 moto 2 got to the line. Only about 1/4 of the riders went out for the sight lap.
Walsh led wire to wire in this one and almost looked comfortable riding without goggles behind his extended visor.
I didn’t realize Davies got caught up in the first turn with Rempel and was also way back early. He made it all the way up to 4th.
Nicoletti grabbed the 450 moto 2 holeshot with Pettis chasing him. Wright was at the back and scrambling to move forward.
Pettis fell and also came in for goggles like many did.
#44 Noah Porter gets another mention for his strong ride in moto 2. He was up in 3rd early and finished 5th alone.
Tanner Ward holds the red plate with a slim 1-point lead on Nicoletti.
IN the 250 class, Kilroy has a 47-point lead on Rempel.
I didn’t do a lap of the track at the end of the day. I actually considered asking someone to borrow a Surron or Talaria, but that enthusiasm quickly faded.
I did a Race Tech Walk and Talk but it’s not the best. It was still pouring and it was hard to hold everything as I walked. Also, people high-tailed it out of there as quickly as they could in that terrible weather. I’ll still post it up today.
The MTB trails at Elgin ECO Association Park are worth the 30-minute drive from the track.
It’s always nice to see Nick Evennou when we head to Moncton. He looks like he should be in France winning on the Col du Tourmalet!
Next up is the ECAN at Motocross Deschambault. See you there!
Here’s a look at the results and points after Round 6:
Of all the AMA Pro Motocross rounds I’ve been to, I’ve been to Washougal more than any others. I used to make the trip every summer from Vancouver, BC when I lived out there. We’d load the surfboards on the roof and head straight over to Westport, WA for a couple days after.
OK, I’ll move over to the Walk and Talk now. Thanks again to the Halsteads for their hospitality here in NB. Check out DMX Mobile World HQ’s view this morning!
Overall
Jo Shimoda
Suzuka City, Japan
Haiden Deegan
Temecula, CA
Garrett Marchbanks
Seth Hammaker
Austin Forkner
Dilan Schwartz
Mikkel Haarup
Silkeborg, Denmark
Maximus Vohland
Drew Adams
Ryder DiFrancesco
Levi Kitchen
Jordon Smith
Alexander Fedortsov
Nate Thrasher
Cullin Park
Kampala, Israel
Mark Fineis
Jalek Swoll
Tom Vialle
Avignon, France
Michael Mosiman
Chance Hymas
Ty Masterpool
Julien Beaumer
Chase Sexton
Jett Lawrence
Landsborough, Australia
Eli Tomac
Hunter Lawrence
R.J. Hampshire
Justin Cooper
Justin Barcia
Valentin Guillod
Switzerland
Colt Nichols
Mitchell Harrison
Harri Kullas
Estonia
Malcolm Stewart
Lorenzo Locurcio
Venezuela
Jorge Prado
Lugo, Galicia, Spain
Marshal Weltin
Romain Pape
Henry Miller
Coty Schock
Max Miller
Jeremy Hand
John Short
Brad West
South Africa
Zack Williams
Cade Clason
Josh Mosiman
Benoit Paturel
Ty Freehill
Wigton, United Kingdom
Göteborg, Sweden
Derek Drake
Aaron Plessinger
Cooper Webb
Joey Savatgy
Jason Anderson
No comments!
There are no comments yet, but you can be first to comment this article.