American Motocross is cooked

reynardfan1
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Gretna, NE US

I’ll say it. America is going to have a tough time producing a guy to sit on top of the world and the blame lies with the Loretta Lynn’s phenomenon and the factory obsession at the amateur level. 

Loretta Lynn’s should be the top riders in the country…not the top self appointed A/B/C riders…

There should be no B and C class…

The fix: The top 120 A riders should be brought to the ranch, compete in timed qualifying at the ranch and be split into 3 divisions for the week. This would create an amateur racing movement where riders worked to ascend…instead they navigate the rules to stay down a little longer. 

America has every fast guy descending to the C class so they can make it to the ranch, every parent building a pressure cooker every weekend at the track to get noticed in the 9-11 age bracket. The majority aren’t working to move up…truth 

It’s insane. I participated in it as a young racer and made sure to keep my kids far away from it. 

Until the amateur and local scene embraces a culture that searches for the cream to rise to the top and find ways to make it more affordable…we will never turn out a generational talent…and we will continue to be dominated by super talented phenoms from around the globe. It’s creeping into the pros…look around 

boom

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5/30/2026 8:16pm

Nah dude. Boom 💥 Truth 😂

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Johnny Ringo
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5/30/2026 8:21pm

Over reacting

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aeffertz
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5/30/2026 8:26pm

The world is much bigger than the United States. It's not surprising that when the most popular avenue of professional racing happens in the United States that you have people from all around the world racing it. I think it's really silly to think or expect that only Americans should be at the top of the totem pole in what is essentially the pinnacle of the sport. 

An American just won the 450 MX championship a couple years ago. An American just won the 250 MX championship the past couple of years. Diversity makes the sport great and pitting the best of the best from around the world produces better racers. You can't always expect the local boy to win on what is essentially a global stage.

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OwenJakes
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5/30/2026 8:27pm

Helen Keller is literally not even real

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The Shop

Johnny Ringo
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5/30/2026 8:27pm

American Motocross is cooked…where was the race today? Looked like American Motocross was badass to me

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731chopper
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5/30/2026 8:46pm

Put the pipe down. 

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uncledaddy69
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5/30/2026 9:00pm

In MLB, tons of high level Japanese players are leaving the Japan league to come play in America because it’s widely recognized as the highest level in the sport. It’s cool because they want to play amongst the best and at the highest level. I would be happy that we don’t have the opposite problem where all our top guys want to leave and go race in other countries. We are lucky. 

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Johnny Ringo
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5/30/2026 9:04pm
In MLB, tons of high level Japanese players are leaving the Japan league to come play in America because it’s widely recognized as the highest level...

In MLB, tons of high level Japanese players are leaving the Japan league to come play in America because it’s widely recognized as the highest level in the sport. It’s cool because they want to play amongst the best and at the highest level. I would be happy that we don’t have the opposite problem where all our top guys want to leave and go race in other countries. We are lucky. 

I wonder if there are threads about “American baseball being cooked” on baseball websites. Are there huge dissertations on why Ohtani is better than Judge? Is the American system failing? Or are baseball fans not that dramatic 

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5/30/2026 9:06pm

It’s hilarious when people get drunk and make long posts on here 😂😂🍺🍻

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5/30/2026 9:39pm

American Motocross is cooked…where was the race today? Looked like American Motocross was badass to me

No Americans on the podium in the 450 class does say something.. I don’t know if it’s the system or how we prep the tracks or what it is.. but there IS an issue 

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ando
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5/30/2026 9:40pm

I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...

Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5 in the 450 class for the foreseeable future.

However the real problem is the next generation.  Once you take Deegan out (and the Lawrences prior to him) the current crop of 250 riders is horribly inconsistent.  For example, in the 2025 season, when you take out Deegan and Shimoda (himself a non-American rider) who combined collected 56% of the available podium spots, only one other guy (Vialle, another non-American) was able to put together a podium streak of more than 2.  The only other guys to podium two motos consecutively were Kitchen (who did it twice), Hymas (who has completed one full MX season out of 4) and Jeremy Martin (who basically came out of retirement). 

The stats for the 2024 season are about the same.

And yesterdays results were more of the same.  Outside of Hammaker (who by the way collected his first moto win and first overall in his sixth year in the class) the next best guys got moto scores of 6-4, 3-8, 1-13, 11-2 and 4-7.

 

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5/30/2026 9:44pm

Couldn't agree more. Skill based classes for national titles makes no sense. Amateur national classes should be age and bike size only. 15-17 250cc, 16-21 250cc etc.

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5/30/2026 9:47pm

Kind of like the over-hyped, fragile crasher, Reynard? 

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The Wolf Man
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5/30/2026 10:10pm
ando wrote:
I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5...

I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...

Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5 in the 450 class for the foreseeable future.

However the real problem is the next generation.  Once you take Deegan out (and the Lawrences prior to him) the current crop of 250 riders is horribly inconsistent.  For example, in the 2025 season, when you take out Deegan and Shimoda (himself a non-American rider) who combined collected 56% of the available podium spots, only one other guy (Vialle, another non-American) was able to put together a podium streak of more than 2.  The only other guys to podium two motos consecutively were Kitchen (who did it twice), Hymas (who has completed one full MX season out of 4) and Jeremy Martin (who basically came out of retirement). 

The stats for the 2024 season are about the same.

And yesterdays results were more of the same.  Outside of Hammaker (who by the way collected his first moto win and first overall in his sixth year in the class) the next best guys got moto scores of 6-4, 3-8, 1-13, 11-2 and 4-7.

 

Yep, this is the worst 250 class in a long time. Actually, it's hard to think of a worse one..

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5/30/2026 10:13pm
ando wrote:
I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5...

I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...

Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5 in the 450 class for the foreseeable future.

However the real problem is the next generation.  Once you take Deegan out (and the Lawrences prior to him) the current crop of 250 riders is horribly inconsistent.  For example, in the 2025 season, when you take out Deegan and Shimoda (himself a non-American rider) who combined collected 56% of the available podium spots, only one other guy (Vialle, another non-American) was able to put together a podium streak of more than 2.  The only other guys to podium two motos consecutively were Kitchen (who did it twice), Hymas (who has completed one full MX season out of 4) and Jeremy Martin (who basically came out of retirement). 

The stats for the 2024 season are about the same.

And yesterdays results were more of the same.  Outside of Hammaker (who by the way collected his first moto win and first overall in his sixth year in the class) the next best guys got moto scores of 6-4, 3-8, 1-13, 11-2 and 4-7.

 

AI bullshit fuck off

23
aeffertz
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5/30/2026 10:16pm
ando wrote:
I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5...

I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...

Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5 in the 450 class for the foreseeable future.

However the real problem is the next generation.  Once you take Deegan out (and the Lawrences prior to him) the current crop of 250 riders is horribly inconsistent.  For example, in the 2025 season, when you take out Deegan and Shimoda (himself a non-American rider) who combined collected 56% of the available podium spots, only one other guy (Vialle, another non-American) was able to put together a podium streak of more than 2.  The only other guys to podium two motos consecutively were Kitchen (who did it twice), Hymas (who has completed one full MX season out of 4) and Jeremy Martin (who basically came out of retirement). 

The stats for the 2024 season are about the same.

And yesterdays results were more of the same.  Outside of Hammaker (who by the way collected his first moto win and first overall in his sixth year in the class) the next best guys got moto scores of 6-4, 3-8, 1-13, 11-2 and 4-7.

 

AI bullshit fuck off

Brother, just because someone can put together more than two sentences doesn’t mean it’s AI Grinning

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5/30/2026 10:23pm
ando wrote:
I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5...

I wouldn't say it's cooked, but...

Unless Sexton gets his act together it looks like Deegan will be lone American flying the flag among the top 5 in the 450 class for the foreseeable future.

However the real problem is the next generation.  Once you take Deegan out (and the Lawrences prior to him) the current crop of 250 riders is horribly inconsistent.  For example, in the 2025 season, when you take out Deegan and Shimoda (himself a non-American rider) who combined collected 56% of the available podium spots, only one other guy (Vialle, another non-American) was able to put together a podium streak of more than 2.  The only other guys to podium two motos consecutively were Kitchen (who did it twice), Hymas (who has completed one full MX season out of 4) and Jeremy Martin (who basically came out of retirement). 

The stats for the 2024 season are about the same.

And yesterdays results were more of the same.  Outside of Hammaker (who by the way collected his first moto win and first overall in his sixth year in the class) the next best guys got moto scores of 6-4, 3-8, 1-13, 11-2 and 4-7.

 

AI bullshit fuck off

aeffertz wrote:

Brother, just because someone can put together more than two sentences doesn’t mean it’s AI Grinning

Dude. If you know your head from your ass it’s AI.

Anyone that that can put together more than two sentences should be able to detect this. 

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aeffertz
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5/30/2026 10:28pm

Dude. If you know your head from your ass it’s AI.

Anyone that that can put together more than two sentences should be able to detect this. 

I dunno, I don’t ever really recall ando nusing AI to make posts and AI posts usually aren’t filled with grammatical errors. That’s like the one thing they are good at. 

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1
ando
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5/30/2026 11:13pm

AI bullshit fuck off

aeffertz wrote:

Brother, just because someone can put together more than two sentences doesn’t mean it’s AI Grinning

Dude. If you know your head from your ass it’s AI.

Anyone that that can put together more than two sentences should be able to detect this. 

😂 is that your standard response when you can’t understand something or disagree with it?

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cwel11
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Orangeville, PA US
5/31/2026 2:52am
aeffertz wrote:

Brother, just because someone can put together more than two sentences doesn’t mean it’s AI Grinning

Dude. If you know your head from your ass it’s AI.

Anyone that that can put together more than two sentences should be able to detect this. 

ando wrote:

😂 is that your standard response when you can’t understand something or disagree with it?

This may be where we are, someone makes a post that has logic and thought behind it and there’s no way possible it’s real lol. Devils advocate, logic and thought are becoming a lost art. Not sure about American moto being cooked, but as a society in general, we’re well on our way. 

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kawasa84
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5/31/2026 3:20am

I mean, Caden Dudney at 16 years old, did beat some of the worlds best talent at the first outdoor national of 2026. And some of that worlds best talent has been at this longer than him. 

The 450 class has had a couple foreign riders dominating for the last few years for sure. But they're simply currently the best riders in the world. Anywhere they go, they're going to dominate. I'm glad they're here. 

But just like the 250f class being dominated by an American rider the last few years, the class seems to be in good shape as far as American riders still at the top.

Not sure how one can say our system is cooked and we can't compete against the worlds best.

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5/31/2026 4:14am

The C class at Loretta's is completely irrelevant to the pro level of the sport. C class sandbaggers are kids who never had a prayer to begin with and you're never going to stop moto parents from mortgaging their homes to go down that road. 

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truck
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5/31/2026 4:54am

American moto is fine. I actually hope the international success leads to more mxgp guys coming over. Majority of top 10 in both classes was still Americans. I agree that nobody currently in 250 class stands out as a sure thing going forward but neither did hunter. Time will tell but as long as the best in the world keep coming here to race instead of the other way around I'll be happy. 

Side note, this is also why Deegan's shtick is so stupid even if you only look at it from business standpoint. He has the opportunity to be loved by everyone and be the US golden boy, but instead he chooses to cut his fan base in half with nonsense. 

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kevin204
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5/31/2026 6:02am

Yeah, Loretta's, the event that riders like Carmichael, Stewart and Villopoto dominated before translating it to the pro ranks, that's the problem.

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ricky racer
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5/31/2026 6:04am Edited Date/Time 5/31/2026 6:11am

When the original "Amateur Nationals" were first established, it was to determine who the fastest amateur motocrossers were and draw the attention of the pro teams for recruitment. If I recall, the only classes were 100, 125, 250 and Open. There were no A or B classes since if you were a B rider, it's obvious you weren't the fastest rider in your area.

However, Promoters, Paul Schlegel and Dave Cooms soon realized there was money to be made by adding more and more classes. To me, the prestige of the event left at that point. Who cares who's the fastest C class rider in the 12-14 year old stock or modified class? Riders started sandbagging to stay in the lower classes and even moving to different districts to avoid pointing out and moving up to the next class. Team Green and others also conspired to keep their fastest riders in lower classes to improve their chances of winning. 

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Spoonguy
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5/31/2026 6:54am
kevin204 wrote:

Yeah, Loretta's, the event that riders like Carmichael, Stewart and Villopoto dominated before translating it to the pro ranks, that's the problem.

Thanks for the input Davey.

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Village Idiot
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6/1/2026 3:45pm
cwel11 wrote:
This may be where we are, someone makes a post that has logic and thought behind it and there’s no way possible it’s real lol. Devils...

This may be where we are, someone makes a post that has logic and thought behind it and there’s no way possible it’s real lol. Devils advocate, logic and thought are becoming a lost art. Not sure about American moto being cooked, but as a society in general, we’re well on our way. 

Society is cooked because so many members stay baked.

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Village Idiot
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6/1/2026 3:48pm
When the original "Amateur Nationals" were first established, it was to determine who the fastest amateur motocrossers were and draw the attention of the pro teams...

When the original "Amateur Nationals" were first established, it was to determine who the fastest amateur motocrossers were and draw the attention of the pro teams for recruitment. If I recall, the only classes were 100, 125, 250 and Open. There were no A or B classes since if you were a B rider, it's obvious you weren't the fastest rider in your area.

However, Promoters, Paul Schlegel and Dave Cooms soon realized there was money to be made by adding more and more classes. To me, the prestige of the event left at that point. Who cares who's the fastest C class rider in the 12-14 year old stock or modified class? Riders started sandbagging to stay in the lower classes and even moving to different districts to avoid pointing out and moving up to the next class. Team Green and others also conspired to keep their fastest riders in lower classes to improve their chances of winning. 

Well said - they gotta have 36 different Tallest Midget winners. 👍

Makes sense if you don't think about it.

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Village Idiot
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6/1/2026 3:53pm
truck wrote:
American moto is fine. I actually hope the international success leads to more mxgp guys coming over. Majority of top 10 in both classes was still...

American moto is fine. I actually hope the international success leads to more mxgp guys coming over. Majority of top 10 in both classes was still Americans. I agree that nobody currently in 250 class stands out as a sure thing going forward but neither did hunter. Time will tell but as long as the best in the world keep coming here to race instead of the other way around I'll be happy. 

Side note, this is also why Deegan's shtick is so stupid even if you only look at it from business standpoint. He has the opportunity to be loved by everyone and be the US golden boy, but instead he chooses to cut his fan base in half with nonsense. 

Yeah, not everyone can dominate 250 MX like Sexton and be the obvious "next big thing" going into 450 MX.

Oh, wait...

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