RedBud National 2025 | Pro Motocross 250 Class Highlights

So, red bud always brings a gigantic crowd and to give you the highlights here they will play into it because there were plenty of things to cheer for. Lots of ups and downs and it included 250 qualifying Hayden Deegan down. Yeah, we saw him go down and he kind of laid there for a little bit, you know, kicking with his leg. And, you know, at first, you know, he hits neutral when he lands off here. It didn't look like a bad crash, but obviously the way he had looked like a handlebar to the knee, fixing a few things, he was able to get up and try to throw in another heater. So, we thought he was fine, but that was the start of the day, some troubles of the day for him. That's right. So, Joe Shimoda here in red on the Honda gets the whole shot. He's got Mikel Harrop, Thrasher, but watch the inside of 16, the orange KTM of Vial making moves early. Yeah, Tom Vial has been working on that opening lap speed, that intensity in the first moto. And as you saw, he was in like fifth and then made his way two corners later, he made his way up into the lead and had some good pace. But as he said, sometimes pushing that, you know, things start to happen. It's a whole different body condition on how you got to approach the race and deal with it. And, you know, it catches them out in the middle part of the race. Hayden Deegan, this is the first of many mistakes. Didn't get the best start. Kind of got caught up to Angelique in the beginning part off the gate, sat him back, saw some troubles. And then it was Joe Shimoda making his way back around Tom Vial. Tom Vial had like a five, six-second lead. Joe made his way back around him, and once he did that, he was able to pull away. And this was the big moment of the day, I would say. Hayden Deegan, after a few more mistakes going down the hill, gets cross-rutted, see the bike smoking, and at that point he was just trying to survive. This moto ends up 14th, and lost a few points to Joe Shimoda in the beginning. Kitchin, who was 13th early, is going to rally here on the last lap to get to second. Yeah, at one point, Levi was about 20 seconds behind Tom Vial, who was leading the race, and Levi just kept going. He had the flow. At one point, he was like five, six seconds a lap faster. But nobody was catching this dude, HRC, Honda, Joe Shimoda, his first victory of the year, and just continue that, hopefully, into this next moto, which he was able to do. Yeah, but Kitchin was going to be lurking as well after that strong second. There's Shimoda with another good start, battling with Jaleek Swole in the 22. Yeah, Jaleek, you know, just made a slingshot around the outside, caught Joe off, and, you know, still, I think Joe was in a perfect position. You know, the way he rode that first moto, things are happening. Outside, gets a little help by Mr. Moseman right there, and you can see him just getting up. He was in no rush to get back on that motorcycle. Tom Vial, after that first moto, a little disappointed. Levi was making some passes, passing everybody, the opening part of the lap, and he was going so fast, couldn't even stay on the racetrack. Ends up catching him, and, look, he ends up getting back up there fighting, and then he ends up in the pit. You want to talk not staying on the racetrack. Jordan Smith, where are you going? Yeah. Well, Jordan Smith, he was going into 360 up in here. Wish we had a better shot of that, but, yeah, they put some water down on the track. Jordan did a good job of missing that generator right there and that monster can, but it would be costly for him. That's how good his teammate looked, and it was Hayden Deegan going down early in the race. Seemed like we were having a bunch of repeats of Hayden Deegan hitting the ground all day long, but that was the case for him. And then more trouble for kitchen. He'd actually visit the mechanics area, and we thought his race was over. Straight down the bike. And then we actually found him back on the track. He was 31st. He clawed all the way up to 19th to score a couple of championship points. Shimoda puts the pressure on Swole for the lead. Yeah, you know, Michael Moseman was closing in on Joe, and I think Joe had to start picking the pace up. He got around Jalik, and, you know, Joe rode really calm to me all day long. It felt like he kind of knew things were going to happen the way he was. He felt comfortable on the motorcycle and was no rush, so he made his way around Jalik. Michael tried to stay with him, but nobody was catching Joe today. And then it was Hayden Deegan getting around his teammate up the inside. This is for third place right here. Savage, a good, you know, good day for him. And then he was going to go after Jalik Swole for second place. Jalik kind of knew he had that overall, that second place overall really wouldn't matter, so didn't put up too much of a fight for Hayden Deegan. So good ride by him to recover. Hayden Deegan, that is. But as I mentioned earlier in that first moto, nobody was up close to this dude today. Who knows? Might have been kitchen. He couldn't get it done, and Shimoda doesn't care. He's going to go 1-1, get his first ever pro moto crosswind with Honda, and, spoiler alert, it looks similar in the 450 class. And there's the president of Honda HRC, very happy. Some of the execs from Japan come over, and the rider born in Japan wins the race for them. Moseman and Swole, a comeback story for both. With the overall podium today, Swole with a 6.3, Moseman with a 4.4, Deegan his fifth overall. Harrop was fourth. That's two triumphs in the top four.