2024 Budds Creek Motocross | Kickstart Recap & Gallery

Henry Jacobi took a break from his racing efforts in Europe to do two rounds of the Pro Motocross Championship in the 450 Class. The German rider kept things simple by opting for Unadilla and Budds Creek, bolting some components from his usual KTM Sarholz Racing Team ride onto a borrowed 450 SX-F, and pitting out of a pick-up truck with a borrowed EZ-Up. An impressive 10th place finish in Moto One paired with an eventful 37th in Moto Two put the privateer 17th overall.

Cody Groves is part of the blue-collar crew that’s coming out of the Maryland-Virginia region. During Friday’s pre-race interview, Groves told us that he spent part of his week repairing equipment in the kitchen at a Chik-Fil-A and how the manual labor made him even more excited to ride his motorcycle after work and at the National. Although the 315 didn’t make it into the motos, it wasn’t from a lack of trying, as he was 42nd in Timed Qualifying and 18th in the LCQ.

We haven’t seen Preston Kilroy around much lately, as injuries and team changes have shaped the early years of his pro career, but a new deal with the MX101/FXR/Yamaha squad has given him a much-deserved chance to get some gate drops in Canada and head stateside when the schedule allows. A quick lap in the morning sessions put Kilroy 11th overall in the Timed Qualifying sessions, further proof of his potential and pace, but he ended the day with no points scored after 33-22 finishes in the motos.

There’s a lot of history to the property that Budds Creek occupies and the area where the track is has been owned by the Beasley family since the 1960s. Current operator, Ezra, is the third generation to hold claim to the land and his ongoing efforts to improve and maintain it become apparent when you do a quick walk around (restoration of the hillside by the finish line, fresh rock and mulch in common areas, mowed parking lots, painted signs, stocked and cleaned permanent bathrooms). If you’ve got some time to read, check out this article that Maryland Today did about the 2014 National and Jonathan Beasley. https://today.umd.edu/home-field-advantage-57dc699b-7f16-4c71-96cf-38efd3806149

Scoop rear tires…

…and radiator fans.

The electric blue retention pond being nearly dry was the first sign that, aside from the previous week’s tropical storm, it’s been a dry summer in Maryland. We stuck around on Friday night to see the track crew water and prep, a peaceful scene that you can watch in the Pre-Race News Break, and assumed Saturday was going to be drier, faster course than we’re used to seeing in the valley. Saturday morning’s rain during Timed Qualifying had its pros and cons; it added some much-needed moisture to the topsoil, but wasn’t enough to seep through to the base layer and might have made the day feel more humid.

The inside gate at Budds Creek is a tricky one, a tight, straight shot to the first turn that rewards riders who are confident in their reactions and willing to bang bars with anyone to the right. Haiden Deegan displayed both of those traits in 250 Moto One.

A two bike-length lead at the holeshot stripe is exactly what we mean when we said “rewards” in the previous caption.

Many have attempted to make polka dots look cool on motocross gear, but only a few have achieved. Put Renen in the successful category for their white spots on black jerseys. We have really liked the many ways Pete Fox has used common three colors (black-white-neon) and a variety of patterns (camo-zebra-drip-blocks and fades) for the kits worn by Triumph Factory Racing this year.

Can you name all fifteen riders in this frame?

Every lap led and podium finish in 2024 is inspiration for Aaron Plessinger to be a front runner and title contender in 2025. The fan favorite is at an all-time high in his career, as he’s remained healthy through the long season, has already re-upped with the Red Bull KTM team, and is selling the hell out of his DBK or MotoTees merchandise.

There was nearly two years between Eli Tomac’s last outdoor National (Fox Raceway Two in September 2022) and his return at Budds Creek. Budds Creek is one of the few places that entices the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider to change from a certain and much-preferred knobby. His use of the MX14 in Moto One made us search through the 2022 Budds Creek gallery to see what he used back then: a scoop.

See the busted spokes at the bottom of the wheel? Those happened after contact with another rider on the opening lap and were enough to instantly stop Dean Wilson’s effort in 450 Moto One.

The MaddParts/MX4Christ/Galaxy Cloaking/Kawasaki post-race press release always includes the amount of airtime they received on the broadcast. This is an interesting metric, especially for an independent effort with well-known riders and sponsor pitches like specialized branded gear. At Budds Creek they were shown for 13 seconds on Race Day Live, 42.6 seconds in Moto One, and 6.6 seconds in Moto Two for a final of 1:02; at Unadilla they got 23 seconds on Race Day Live, 2:10 in Moto One, and 1:02 in Moto Two for 3:35 of total running time.

What a summer it’s been for Chase Sexton and Red Bull KTM. The group went through the standard first year issues, sure, but the speed and effort shown at places like Fox Raceway, Hangtown, and High Point showed there was plenty of potential from the rider-bike combo. Late-race stamina and determination have become two of Sexton’s best attributes lately, and he has a chance to clinch the title after 450 Moto One at Ironman. We can’t wait to see the SMX races next month, and maybe this is looking too far ahead, but our interest in 2025 is already growing.

Two steps to starting line prep at Budds Creek: rip deep from the gate until 30 feet from the entry of the corner but drag and smooth everything from there to the apex of the left hander.

The hard packed bowl turn between the tunnel hill after Big Gulp and the tabletop popper jump is one of the places at Budds Creek where the scoop tire wouldn’t be ideal, but Daxton Bennick still got some bite and drive from the directional tread.

RJ Hampshire returned to action at Budds Creek after missing much of the summer with a thumb injury he sustained at the preseason test. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider’s determination to ride and the looming SMX points reset got us to look at the 250 West Region champion’s current situation. Hampshire is ranked 14th and trails Daxton Bennick by 13 points, a sum that could be made up with good results at Ironman. Catching Max Anstie is also possible, as there are 22 points between the 12th-place rider and Hampshire.

Haiden Deegan wanted to prove a point on his title winning day. The Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider openly said that his motivation in Moto One was to “annihilate everyone” (100-percent that phrase was said in an early 2000s X Games interview) and that all he wanted to do was get through Moto Two and hold the number one plate.

Family Photo

Hard to believe there are only four gate drops left in the summer.

You know it’s dry when there are no ruts on the run-up to angled uphill triple. This spot usually has a dozen lines carved into the dirt, but this year it was rock hard and smooth from the base to the lip.

Unlock your combination. Kyle Chisholm’s need for a fully vented jersey prompted him to pair two different looks from FLY Racing’s 2025 catalog together, but we have to say that the basic blue jersey and solid red pants go together very well.

Another race, another Lawrence-Sexton battle. The deciding moments in 450 Moto Two played out in just a few laps and the Maryland valley made it easy to follow all the action from one spot.

Devin Simonson will finish the summer on a Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX/Yamaha Simonson was offered the chance to ride the YZ450F at Budds Creek, an eventful day that saw him make Moto Two as an alternate, but a 28th place result was a good showing for the fill-in rider.

The Moto Two duel between Phil Nicoletti and Eli Tomac was one of those times when we wished that every rider was outfitted with helmet cameras. Let’s keep it real: despite years of racing, these two haven’t competed against each other a lot, so you know some of the moves in their back-and-forth battle had to have been dicey, determined, and exciting.

The tire selection dilemma was another layer to the Nicoletti-Tomac match-up; Nicoletti stayed with the scoop so that he would have an advantage off the start, while Tomac went to a knobby for better traction in the harder packed spots.

Return of the Red Bull Cola? One can only wish. Someone in Hunter Lawrence’s inner circle fashioned a more sponsor appropriate can cover for his post-race Coke.

Welcome to the next chapter in your story, AC.

No, it didn’t blow up. It just ran out of gas.