Greetings! Welcome to this late August edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which is once again brought to you by the awesome folks at Yamaha Motor Canada. This past week, I headed down to ClubMX in South Carolina for the 2027 YZ250F media launch. While there, I got an extensive tour of the ever-expanding ClubMX facility, including their brand new state of the art gym. I also had a chance to speak with Joey Crown, who runs the suspension program for the ClubMX race team, as well as their newest pro rider, Ryder Malinoski. On Wednesday, it was time to ride the new 2027 YZ250F, and while I cannot talk about the performance of the bike until Wednesday this week, I am able to say that I had a great day riding in the South Carolina heat.
Since I was travelling last Monday, I was unable to compose this column and that means I haven’t given my thoughts yet on the 2026 Walton TransCan, as well as on the final round of the Triple Crown Series. Here is the press release I wrote for the Triple Crown Series web site, so you can give this a read and then I’ll share more about my week at Walton Raceway.
“In an absolute dream scenario for everyone involved in the 2026 Triple Crown Series, all three class championships went down to the final moto at Walton Raceway. Under overcast skies, the fans were treated to some of the best racing of the series on the challenging Walton track. Lap after lap, the riders battled through the deep Walton ruts while attempting to find the edge on the competition. In the end, Jamie Astudillo took home the WMX Championship, Dylan Rempel won his first 250 Pro/Am title, and Dylan Wright was able to reclaim his previous glory and win the 450 Championship.
All season long, the WMX class has provided some of the most exciting moments of the series. From the opening round in Calgary to the final moto at Walton Raceway, Jamie Astudillo and Jordan Jarvis were never really too far apart. Unfortunately, during the final two rounds Jarvis would suffer some mechanical issues that would cost her a lot of valuable points. On the other hand, Astudillo remained rock solid throughout every moto, and when the final checkered flag was waved, she would rein supreme in the WMX class.
The 250 Pro/Am class was also a dogfight right to the final moto as Dylan Rempel and Ryder Malinoski took their championship battle to the end. All season long, these two riders raced hard and gave this series everything they had. However, when the dust settled on Sunday, Rempel would win his first-ever Triple Crown Series title by just three points over Malinoski. Rounding out the top three was AVL Husqvarna rider Josh Boaz, who was a great addition to the series in 2026.
The 450 class lacked the drama of a tight championship battle, but it would provide some very exciting racing in both motos, as Preston Kilroy and Dylan Wright weren’t more than a few bike lengths apart all day long. The Walton Raceway fans enjoyed every moment of the Kilroy/Wright battle, cheering loudly every time they raced by. Wright would hold on for the win in the opening, but Kilroy would answer the call in the last moto of the series, and it also gave him the distinction of being the first rider in decades to win an overall in both the 250 and 450 classes in the same year. However, it was Dylan Wright who would hold on and erase the demons of the past two seasons to win the 2026 Triple Crown Series 450 Championship. Dylan was at the top of his game this summer and it was great to see him return to the top step of the podium. Second in the 450 would go Harri Kullas, while Tanner Ward would make a late series charge to finish up in third overall.
It was an excellent summer of racing in the Triple Crown Series, and now it’s time to look forward to 2027. Congratulations to all three of our champions as they rode solid through all eight rounds. For more information on the final points standings, as well as news regarding the 2027 Triple Crown Series, please visit www.triplecrownseries.ca in the coming weeks and months.”
What a week it was at the 2026 Walton TransCan! From the moment my family and I entered the property you see just how much effort the Keast Family and their crew put into trying to make this event one to remember. New infrastructure was built, the fencing was upgraded, everything just appeared to have a new shine on it, and with the new schedule everyone had to be there by Sunday to check-in and get settled. For the opening portion of the week, we made the 70 minute drive from our home to the front gates of Walton Raceway, so after the track walk on Sunday, and the opening ceremonies on Monday, we left and were able to sleep in our own beds. Even with an early Plus50 class moto for me on Wednesday, and a 09:05 am Pro/Am moto on Thursday for my son, I didn’t mind driving home each night for those first few days. However, by Thursday, I was over the drive and I’m glad we had a hotel booked for the remainder of the week. As I mentioned, the week started off okay with check-in and track walk on Sunday afternoon, but I must admit that I was a tad disappointed that the TransCan crew chose not to resurrect the Walton Giants mural that usually sits beside the long roller section on the track. This tribute celebrates the selected number of past riders that have won both a Pro National as well as a Walton TransCan title, and has been one of the very few monuments that honours a part of the history of our sport. To see it not up, wasn’t entirely surprising, but it was a little disheartening, especially since I am one of the few Walton Giants who appear on the mural. I asked around and was told that since the photos looked old and faded, it was decided that it wouldn’t be up this year. I understand the desire to have everything looking as new as possible around the property, and that to some, this might have been an eye sore. But history is history, and we (and the TransCan) wouldn’t be where we are without the people who came before us. Anyway, Sunday came and went, and as I mentioned above, the entire Walton Raceway property looked amazing so kudos to the Keast Family and their crew on that.
Sunday rolled into Monday and another big change this year was dedicating an entire day to just practice. So, with racing not beginning until early Tuesday morning, Monday was all about practice and trying to feel comfortable on the new and improved Walton track. Now, that I’ve had two weeks to process it, I’m honestly not sure what happened to the track for the Monday practice? Honestly, I was a tiny bit concerned as the track conditions were not great by any means. However, starting Tuesday and for the rest of the week, the track was very good and with the new schedule, it was great having all of the races completed by 4:30-5:00pm each day. With each day of the TransCan being sunny and hot (with the exception of Wednesday) the track took a beating. But with both the scheduled breaks, as well as some intermittent watering throughout the day, the track remained in good racing condition all week long. I had motos on Wednesday morning, Friday (lunchtime) and then around 1 pm on Saturday. Both Friday and Saturday were right after a long break where the crew worked on a lot of the track. Looking back now, I really enjoyed the track on Wednesday morning as it was just rutted enough to make it challenging, yet it was still fun. The track on Friday was so-so as it was a little over watered in spots, but on Saturday the track crew only did a little bit of work and it was perfect. I’ve said this a few times over the years, but in my opinion Walton Raceway has always been the most challenging track in Canada to race on. Yes, I know Gopher Dunes is extremely difficult with how rough it gets and how hot it usually is there when the Triple Crown Series comes to town, but at GD, riders are able to find flow quite easily. At Walton, flow is not given, you have to ride it a certain way and almost manufacture flow. If you try too hard, you end up getting tired and your lap times increase. It’s a real balancing act between being aggressive but still trying to be smooth. As we saw on Sunday with Preston Kilroy, he was able to remain smooth through the rutted corners and in the end he found success. Also, depending on when you race during the week at the Walton TransCan the track could be completely different; case in point was my class, and my sons class, as conditions were different for each moto. I personally experienced every emotion when it came to trying to find success two weeks ago on the Walton track, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone. On Monday, I hated it, on Wednesday I made amends with it and begin to like it. On Friday, I was back on the fence and couldn’t decide whether I liked it, or if the track perhaps didn’t like me. However, on Saturday the track gave me a big gift and while riding my final lap of the week, I thought to myself that I really did like it. But, that is part of what makes the Walton TransCan such a challenging event, it’s the ballet of emotions that every rider goes through on a daily basis. Yes, to be successful there, you have to learn how to ride ruts efficiently, but more importantly you have to learn how to deal with all of the ups and downs that come with competing at an event as large as the Walton TransCan. Anyway, I had a great week, my family had a great week, and I want to take this moment to both thank the Keast family and their crew for all of their hard work, as well as congratulate not just the TransCan Champions, but every rider who lined up and competed at the 2026 Walton TransCan.
Onto the final round of the 2026 Triple Crown Series and I will expand a little on the above press release. The racing was very entertaining in all three classes and Dylan Rempel, Dylan Wright, and Jamie Astudillo all proved that they are worthy Champions. I was very surprised that in the 250 Pro/Am class title fight that Ryder Malinoski didn’t have a better opening moto. He did look a little nervous when I saw him in the morning before riders meeting, so perhaps that played into how things turned out. I’m not sure, I know he got unlucky in the opening moto when his starting device wouldn’t release right away and Rempel was able to get by him. But, that was almost self-inflicted due the grate start, he wanted his starting device locking mechanism placed even further down his fork guard than normal. So much so, that his team spent a good part of Saturday night trying to brace the mechanism so it would hold when the device was engaged. To see it not release right away was not surprising and I think that kind of set the tone for the remainder of the moto. However, you have to give props to Rempel and how he handled the pressure of last Sunday. When I saw him eating a plate of Chicken Parmesan at 8:30 pm on Saturday evening while waiting for the Team Canada MXON announcement, I figured he was in a good state of mind. In the 450 class, it was good to see Dylan Wright get the job done and win back the #1 plate. It’s been a challenging two years for Dylan and his GDR Honda Team, so good on them for managing the day, and not getting too excited when Preston Kilroy decided to have his best race of the season at Round 8. I know Dylan wanted to win the overall and finish the series off in style, but winning the title was the most important thing at this point in his career. I think we can all agree that 2027 is going to be even tougher with the return of Jess Pettis (who knows what brand he’ll be on), dealing with the speed and confidence of younger riders like Kilroy and Racine, and also learning how to be a top professional athlete as a new father of twins. For now though, it’s time for Dylan, his family, and his team to sit back and enjoy this 2026 450 class title! Finally, I want to give some credit to my son on his day at the final round. After suffering a hard high speed first turn crash in the opening moto, which caused him to DNF, there was a lot of pain, doubt, and sole searching in between motos. He was sore, cut up, and generally pissed off after his crash. However, credit to his mechanic Kenzie for fixing up his bike, Ron Cameron and his medical staff for patching him up, and of course to him for recognizing the enormity of the moment and deciding that this incident was not going to define his final round. Up to that point it had been too good of a summer to let one hard crash derail his chances of having a solid conclusion to the Triple Crown Series. So, he headed out for moto two hoping that a good shot of adrenaline would be the cure to all of his aches and pains. After a last place start he went to work on the challenging track passing as many riders as he could. When the checkered flag was finally waved, he had made his way up to 15th place which was ironically his best moto finish of the summer. It was a great moto and everyone from me, to his mom, to his entire AVL Husqvarna Team were beyond proud of him. But, most importantly, he was proud of himself for how deep he dug both physically and mentally to battle back from hitting the Walton soil hard in moto one, to his best finish of the series hours later. Any riders team support can only do so much and then it’s up to the rider to go out and get the job done. When a rider truly feels proud of their performance, regardless of what place they finish, that to me is special and that is what builds self belief. During the week of TransCan I listened to a 50cc rider on the podium thank his mom and dad, his sister, his dog, but also he thanked himself. A few people laughed as it was an innocent light hearted comment from a six year old. But, the more I thought about it the more it resonated with me. Riders should obviously thank everyone who has helped them get to where they are, but they should also thank themselves and give themselves credit for performing under pressure and sometimes adversity. So again, congratulations to Ayrton, to all of our champions, and all of the riders who competed in the 2026 Triple Crown Series this summer. You should all be proud and you should all take a moment and thank yourself!
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and I hope you’re able to get out and enjoy this final week-and-a-bit of August. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please email me ateditor@mxpmag.com.
