2025 Detroit Supercross | Kickstart News and Photo Gallery

Freeze: Snow was falling on and off pretty much all weekend long in Detroit. The pits are typically closed at Detroit anyway as there's not a large space around the stadium available to have a FanFest. With the snow though, teams really shelled up this weekend with almost all teams working inside the tight confines of the semis. For the few teams with more than two riders, they would setup a makeshift tent underneath the lift gate off the back of the semi but those were button downed tight with space heaters blasting warm air in. Thanks to the conditions worsening on Saturday, almost everyone got out of town immediately, with many riders catching flights as soon as only a couple hours after the night show ended.

Snow Day: Malcolm Stewart tip toes through the snowy conditions heading out for qualifying at Detroit.

Careful: We've seen riders and mechanics get injured before by tucking the front end in the snow going from the rig to the stadium at other races. In Detroit, the snow turned into slosh throughout the day and riders were keen to ride very slow through the pits, as Max Anstie demonstrates here.

Careful: Tom Vialle also following the less snowy option through the pits as he navigates his way out for qualifying.

Make it Quick: The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rig was the closest to the stadium tunnel this weekend, maybe about 200 feet away, but they still got all buttoned up each time to stay warm. Behind the starting line for each session, piles of jackets were stacked up on the tire carts.

Pushing Through: Nate Thrasher suffered a broken finger testing this week at the GOAT Farm when he crashed with a teammate. Similar to Jo Shimoda in 250SX West, Thrasher elected to run hand guards to protect his finger from being hit by roost. But unlike Shimoda, Thrasher decided to run the traditional double hand guards to keep the bike looking symmetrical. Thrasher pushed through to an impressive P5 result on the night.

Grinding: Alpinestars' Geoff Munro emerges through the snowstorm. Munro is the man behind all the content you see on a regular basis from Alpinestars athletes.

Faces: Tom Vialle looked to build off a steady P5 start to his 2025 season at Tampa last week.

Faces: Ricki Gilmour, also known as "Gilly" is the suspension technician for the Star Racing 450 squad and it sounds like that will become his full time gig jumping from a KYB technician to the team's in-house specialist. Gilly has been known over the years as Eli Tomac's go to guy when looking for comfort but with Tomac now on the sidelines, Gilly has been making huge strides with Cooper Webb. Webb has been noticeably strong in the whoops this year with some of the fastest sector times each week in them. With that being one of the few areas of weakness Webb has battled over the years, he could be dangerous in this title run if he has them figured out and Gilly is the main catalyst behind it.

Faces: Justin Barcia focuses in on the whoops during track walk.

Faces: Max Anstie looks the most locked in he's perhaps ever been as he portrayed a razor sharp focus all day Friday and Saturday in Detroit.

Faces: Ken Roczen said he spent 20 minutes after Tampa dwelling on the lappers situation he was involved in that ended his main event at the fifth round, and then he moved on. Those around Roczen say that his reason for this determined attitude coming from the German is due to his comfort he currently feels on the Suzuki. He seems to have found a setup that works on a lot of different surfaces and he's using it each week to find himself out front in the main events.

Faces: Benny Bloss was disappointed after Tampa for a different reason than probably everyone else in the paddock. His beloved Kansas City Chiefs were blown out in the Super Bowl and Bloss was not stoked. Maybe he took some of that frustration out on the track this week because he seemed a bit more aggressive in Detroit.

Faces: Levi Kitchen walks the track with his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team.

Faces: Cameron McAdoo has essentially been acting like he doesn't have a torn ACL at all as he was walking around like normal all weekend long. Particularly sketchy that the pits got a blanket of snow that turned into what can only be described as a brown Slushee. Even with both ACL's everyone was watching their step this weekend, so imagine trying to slosh around in McAdoo's shoes.

Faces: Gage Linville has been rumored to potentially be linked to a fill-in ride at Triumph Factory Racing. With Jalek Swoll and then potential fill-in Mikkel Haarup going down with injury, Triumph is eyeing putting a second bike on the track and Linville spent most of track walk on Friday walking around with Triumph Factory Racing's Steve Westfall and Travis Soules.

Faces: Cooper Webb takes a break from looking at the track on Friday to write some messages on his phone.

Faces: Jade Dungey, now Chase Sexton's mechanic, always tries to get a rise out of people and here he's giving title rival Cooper Webb a laugh on track walk.

Faces: Cooper Webb laughs at Jade Dungey's shenanigans.

Faces: Ken Roczen (left) and his current mechanic Billy Hartle (center) chat with Roczen's former Honda HRC mechanic Jordan Troxell (right) on track walk. Troxell is six races into his new role as 450 Crew Chief at Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing.

Faces: Carson Mumford (left) and Chase Sexton (right) break down the options available in the sand section during track walk.

Faces: Cooper Webb chats with his mechanic Alex Campbell.

Faces: Cooper Webb and Nate Thrasher catch up following track walk. With Thrasher breaking his finger this week testing due to an incident with a teammate, Webb allegedly gave Thrasher a pep talk as he dealt with the frustration of yet another nagging injury.

Haze: If you've ever wondered why the opening 250SX heat races in domed stadiums look really hazy, it's down to the fireworks from opening ceremonies. It takes much longer for the smoke to dissipate than in an open air stadium and it seemed particularly dense at Detroit. Nate Thrasher jumped out to the lead in the heat race, but visibility was low from endzone to endzone in the stadium as demonstrated here.

Leg Swag: Cameron McAdoo lets his good leg float freely off the bike as he hovers over the supercross triple before the sand section.

Leg Swag: Chase Sexton lets it hang off the supercross triple as he lines up his entry into the sand section.

Leg Swag: Even Cooper Webb let it hang out a bit. Webb was perhaps the most loose and aggressive version of himself we've ever seen in qualifying at Detroit. Although he didn't put his Yamaha P1, he was constantly giving eventual pole man Chase Sexton a run for his money all day long.

Fire: Check out Justin Barcia's custom painted Troy Lee Designs helmet for Detroit featuring purple and yellow flames.

Red Flags: Another red flag came out in the first 450 A qualifying session this weekend and many thought it was due to this Benny Bloss crash at the end of the whoops as he took a minute to catch his breath. The reality was Joey Savatgy in the corner before the whoops had ejected through the front door of his Honda attempting the quad out of turn one. Savatgy was fortunately okay as well, but the track crew took out the quad quickly after the incident.

Throwback: You've probably seen, or heard, Jared Lesher ripping a Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke at each round this year. But how about the retro kit he's rocking as an homage to Jeremy McGrath's Sinisalo gear from 1993 as put together by Mendid. He's even got the "McGrath 15" on the sleeves to really bring it full circle to McGrath's rookie season in the premier class where he was #15 and won the title.

Drumroll Please: Before the night show began, a drumming performance kicked things off as the DrumKingz ripped off about four minutes of drumming leading into the National anthem.

Warm It Up: While the temperature outside dropped to nearly single digits Fahrenheit, the action inside Ford Field was a hot as ever and it all started off with the usual pyrotechnics.

Welcome Back: Dylan Ferrandis missed Tampa after he crashed in practice Thursday before the race but was back on form this weekend in Detroit. He got out front early in his heat race and battled for the lead a bit. He followed it up in the main event with a season-best P8 result.

Positive Sign: They say getting good starts has a lot to do with confidence and Aaron Plessinger holeshot both the heat race and the main event in Detroit. While AP is still searching for his 2024 form, it seems his confidence in the bike is coming back around.

Sand, Sand, Sand: Five of the first six races in 2025 have had sand sections as it seemingly has become just a weekly feature on the track at this point. Detroit's sand section was one Dirt Wurx battled all day to make a viable inside option as many riders just elected to hug the outside bank and rip all the way through it. We're not seeing this go away anytime soon either as the next four races all feature sand sections as well.

Heartbreak: Cameron McAdoo was in line for a P6 finish in Detroit which would have kept him right in the thick of the title fight through two rounds. But a late crash in the whoops ended his night. More on that below.

Mixing It Up: Phoenix Racing Honda's Cullen Park (#59) had another impressive week in Detroit as he started with the factory group in the main event. He was in line to finish up P9 and once again be top finishing non-factory rider, but the red flag restart left him a sitting duck and he got shuffled back to 11th in the end.

Re-learning: Max Vohland here demonstrates his use of his rear brake (index finger) while using the clutch (middle finger) at the same time. Vohland did not finish the main event in Tampa with a clutch issue and that same issue reared its head in the heat race in Detroit. Post-race, Vohland said he stopped using the clutch in the LCQ which he made it through in P2 and never used it in the main either where he finished P9. So forget learning the hand brake now, he's having to adapt to not using the clutch until the team sorts through this issue.

Consistent: As Chance Hymas continues to get his feet back underneath him, he's now clicked off back to back 6th place finishes to start his season. Hymas stated on Friday that this week he finally got to really test the bike and work on stuff that he wasn't close to dialing in by the opening round as he came off his knee surgery in the offseason.

Brutal: Cameron McAdoo's late crash in the main event brought out the red flag and it was obvious why the red was displayed when you saw McAdoo's face. In his high-side in the whoops, the bars caught his face on the way down and ripped a gash under his left cheek. He received stitches to the wound after the race and Kawasaki said he was mostly okay, but it sounds like more information on his status will be coming later this week.

The Rule: After the red flag for Cameron McAdoo, people were very confused why the race was restarting as more than 90% race distance was completed which in the past meant the race was over. AMA's Mike Pelletier clarified post-race that the rule was changed in 2024 to a restart being needed if the race was stopped before time expired. There were still seven seconds left on the clock when the red flag was displayed, constituting a restart. So why was it three laps instead of green-white-checkered? Well the rulebook was also recently amended to make it so three full racing laps must be run in the event of any restart. As confusing as it seemed, the AMA did follow their own rulebook to a T. The problem comes from the fact the TV graphic displayed during the red flag in Tampa was actually wrong as it showed the 90% rule. Pelletier clarified that was the mistake of TV to show that and the correct ruling was displayed inside of the stadium.

Restart: Max Anstie prepares to defend like hell to a lead he had built out to over eight seconds that was wiped away with only seven seconds of the race remaining.

Restart: Levi Kitchen goes right into attack mode as the green flag waves, pulling alongside Anstie for the lead just three corners after the began racing again.

Restart: Max Anstie tries to fend off Levi Kitchen's attack in the three lap sprint.

Restart: Levi Kitchen pounces to the inside right at the end of the first full lap of the restart. Anstie tried to get him back in the next corner but couldn't quite close the door as Kitchen skirted around the outside and took off with the lead.

Lights the Candles: Levi Kitchen stormed to victory in the end after the restart, but even he wasn't overjoyed about the manner in which he claimed the victory.

Six in Six: Levi Kitchen kept the trend going of becoming yet another different winner in 250SX for 2025. Along with Jo Shimoda, Julien Beaumer, Haiden Deegan, Jordon Smith, and Max Anstie, Kitchen added his name to the list in Detroit. Are we going to have a seventh different winner next week in Arlington?

Frustration: Max Anstie was not happy on the podium, at this point confused by the rules that he thought were misused and cost him a win. Moments after this, Anstie would also fire a shot at his team owner Bobby Regan for calling him to voice his frustration that Anstie said earlier in the day he didn't expect to win Tampa. Anstie said in the podium interview that if Bobby doesn't come to the races, don't call him. Immediately after the interview, Anstie said he called Regan to apologize and Regan was actually ecstatic that Anstie was so fired up. As Anstie put it, "we're all good."

Rebound: RJ Hampshire needed to wash a P18 result from the opener away as quickly as possible and what better way to do that than landing on the podium? Hampshire said he's still chasing bike setup adjustments that he was not able to work on in the offseason due to a hand injury he sustained in early November. While a podium is great, Hampshire was adamant he needs to get back to the top step.

Buried: Look to the back of this shot on the left and you'll notice 450SX points leader Chase Sexton stuck on the gate as the main event fires into turn 1. Sexton jumped the gate way early, almost as if he was trying to time it, and got left behind.

No Visor: Chase Sexton crashed two turns into the race after starting dead last when he clipped another rider's rear tire and fell before the whoops. From that moment until the checkered flag, he passes 20 riders without a visor. Fortunately, Detroit's dirt is not very sticky, so he still had a few tear offs by the end of the race.

Postcards: Malcolm Stewart was still riding the high of his race win in Tampa and his Shoei lid featured a postcard on the back of it this week that had a "Greetings from Tampa" message on it. Stewart wouldn't quite back up the win, but P4 in Detroit was still his second best result of the season.

Late Slip: Jason Anderson spent almost the whole main event in third place, just about 5-10 seconds off of race leaders Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb. He was caught late by Chase Sexton and the two really diced it out for the final podium spot with Sexton eventually getting the upper hand. However, Anderson would fall just a couple laps later and slip all the way back to P6 behind Malcolm Stewart and Justin Cooper as well.

Unnoticed: Justin Cooper has quietly turned into a top five staple early on in this championship as he was P4 in Tampa and P5 in Detroit. While he was still jumping whoops in Detroit, it was much less often that the first five rounds as he blitzed most of the day and even parts of the main event.

Deja Vu: We've seen Cooper Webb run down Ken Roczen late in the main event several times before, but Webb actually gave Roczen props this time saying he has learned a lot since they last battled like this. What does Roczen need to do to not let Webb get to him late? That appears to be a $100,000 question.

Victory: Cooper Webb became the fifth different winner in 450SX through six races this year joining Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence, and Malcolm Stewart. As good as Webb has looked this year, it's almost a surprise he hadn't picked up a win yet.

Faces: Chase Sexton's face post-race was the look of "not again" as for the second time in six races, he had to come from dead last in the main event. While finishing on the podium was an incredible salvage job, Sexton was not the least bit thrilled about it.

Oops: Don't look to close at the trophy for 450SX winner Cooper Webb in Detroit. Not sure if the wrong trophy was delivered to Detroit of if it was just a genuine mix up, but Webb seemingly has already won the 250 race in Arlington next week.

Debrief: Ken Roczen and Chase Sexton chat post-race about how their nights unfolded.

We're Tied: Cooper Webb salutes the Detroit crowd as he heads of the stadium that hosted his 26th career 450SX victory. With his win and Chase Sexton's P3 finish, the championship is now a dead heat heading to Arlington.