Greetings! Welcome to another edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which is once again presented by the fine people at Yamaha Motor Canada. This past weekend down in West Virginia, MX101 Yamaha rider Preston Kilroy went 1-1 in the 450 Pro class, finishing ahead of top riders like Dylan Wright, Marshall Weltin, and Tanner Ward. Kilroy has been on a roll since winning the final Triple Crown Series round at Walton Raceway, and at this point he has to be considered one of the title favourites next summer in the 450 class.
In other Blu Cru news, the Dusty Rocks MX Yamaha Team announced this past week that they’ve signed Mr. Vlogger himself, Zach Ufimzeff, for the 2027 season. As you may recall, Zach spent this past season as a privateer, driving to each round in his sprinter van with support from several key sponsors. After showing remarkable consistency throughout the 2026 Triple Crown Series, Zach finished 4th overall in the 250 Pro/Am Series. Considering where his health was a year ago, this season proved to be an outstanding comeback for the likeable kid from BC. Zach has also earned a reputation as one of the world’s most consistent vloggers, producing a video for almost 200 days straight. This is definitely a feel good story and one that has resonated throughout our entire industry. Congratulations to Zach and to the Dusty Rocks MX Yamaha Team on this partnership. Zach will join Liam Dodds (250) and Jake Tricco (450) on this emerging Blu Cru team for 2027.
Moving from motocross to off road racing, Team Canada just wrapped up the 2026 ISDE event over in Portugal. Racing in hot and dry conditions, both the Men’s and Women’s Teams rode well during this gruelling event, finishing 9th and 5th overall respectively. This is by far one of the most challenging races on the planet, so good on Team Canada for riding solid and finishing so well. When you factor in Team Canada’s strong result at the 2026 MXON two weeks ago, and now this ISDE finish, our riders have certainly performed well on the world stage over the past month.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this column, the Tyler Condon Memorial Pro Am race took place this past weekend at Tomahawk Raceway in West Virginia. A year ago, Sebastien Racine made this race famous here in Canada by travelling down and winning a lot of money. Well, this year a few more of our top pro riders decided they were also interested in some late season USA money, so Dylan Wright, Dylan Rempel, and Tanner Ward joined Racine down in WV this past weekend. Unfortunately, both Rempel and Racine crashed out of the event, which was obviously not good news. I even heard that Racine injured his shoulder again after a crash in the janky pro only first turn sand section, so we wish him all the best.
Preston Kilroy was the big winner in the 450 class as he won both motos and the $12K that went with it. Dylan Wright was at times the fastest rider on the track, but less than ideal starts in both motos kept him from the top spot on the podium. I will say that Dylan’s ride in the opening moto, where he went from outside the top ten to 5th, was incredible. There were a lot of fast riders on the track, and with shorter motos Dylan had to work hard to make it up to 5th. However, with his solid results in both the 250 (Dylan won the OA in the 250 class) and 450 classes, Dylan reportedly took home $9K. Not too bad for a day’s work in WV! As you can see in this Matt Burkeen video, the Tomahawk track was rough, rutted, and by the final 450 moto the sun was getting very low in the sky. All of these things combined made for some very challenging conditions on Saturday.
Unfortunately, in some sad news, young Ontario rider Brody Craig had a bad crash at Tomahawk Raceway and severely injured his spinal cord. As a result of the crash and the injuries Brody sustained, he is currently paralyzed from the waist down (as he reported on social media). Brody is a likeable kid who is not only passionate about racing, but he also gives back to the sport by running MX schools and teaching a group of our young riders. His father, Darcy Craig, is also a passionate Vet racer, and I was able to share the podium with him this summer at the Walton TransCan. I cannot even begin to fathom what Brody and his family are going through right now as they face the road ahead. To assist them, a GoFundMe page has been set up, so if you’re able to donate anything, please help one of our fallen motocross family members: https://gofund.me/abd4dc07b
Well, I don’t want to end this column on a sombre note, but out of respect for Brody and his family I will conclude it here and allow everyone to keep them in your thoughts. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 50cc rider or a Vet rider. It doesn’t matter what your speed or skill level is in this sport — we all take the same risks when we throw our legs over our bikes each time. But we still do it because we love riding and the feeling it brings us. I’m sure Brody would want us all to get dressed today, start up our bikes, and go experience that amazing feeling of riding our dirt bikes.
Thank you for reading, and if you have any questions or comments, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
