Greetings! Welcome to this late August edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which as always is sponsored by the awesome folks at Yamaha Motor Canada. Speaking of the Blu Cru and all of the incredible things they’re part of; the track that the MX101 Yamaha Team calls home, Sand Del Lee, was unfortunately forced to cancel their AMO Racing OPC event this coming weekend. The lack of rain fall in the area has their ponds dry. These ponds are where the track crew draws water from, so there is no way to keep the sandy circuit moist for the race this weekend. If you live in Ontario, you now either have the long weekend off, or you can head south of the border to either Area 51 in New York, or to Michigan for the Baja Brawl. Both are excellent events, and we’re sure the racing will be excellent.
In keeping with racing in the USA, this past weekend was the final round of the 2025 Pro Motocross Championships at Budds Creek Raceway in Mechanicsville, MD. With the Triple Crown Series all wrapped up here, we had a trio of Canadian riders head down to race the final round. Preston Masciangelo announced a few weeks ago that he was racing Budds Creek, Cole Pranger was able to get accepted this week in the 250 class, and finally in one of the biggest secrets of the past week, Dylan Wright decided at the last minute to go and race the 450 class. I say secret, because neither Dylan or his GDR Honda Team let anyone know Dylan was racing until it was posted on X on Friday morning. Having any Canadian riders racing a round of the Pro Motocross Championships is a big deal, but it’s especially a big deal when it’s our multi-time Champion! Anyway, it ended up not being a great day at Budds Creek for our Canadian riders, even though all three qualified for the motos. Preston crashed hard in the early part of moto two just before the finish line table top, and was done for the day. Preston was sore, but thankfully okay. Dylan Wright had a great opening qualifying session, but crashed hard in the second session, and was forced to go to the hospital. Other than being sore and having a small fracture in one of his vertebrae, Dylan checked out okay and is now back home resting in Quebec. As for Cole Pranger, he was excited to qualify for his first ever pro national in the USA, but unfortunately he crashed on the opening lap of moto one and ended up breaking one of his femur’s. I spoke to Cole’s Mom yesterday and she said that surgery went well and that Cole feels a lot more comfortable now. She also mentioned that the hospital staff plan on getting Cole out of bed today to walk around a little and do some weight bearing exercises with his leg. Cole is young and fit, so I’m sure he’ll have little trouble with recovering from this unfortunate injury. So, as I said, not a great day at Budds Creek for our Canadian boys, but it was still good to see them trying to do their best at the final round of that series.
In other Budds Creek news, the Lawrence Brother’s dominated the 450 class, with each one taking a moto win. Jett was able to grab the overall win with a 1-2 moto score over Hunter’s 3-1 moto score. Justin Cooper was third overall on the day, and now J-Coop will officially be the #1 seed in the 450 class heading into the SMX Playoffs. In the 250 class, it was Haiden Deegan who dominated both motos on Saturday and clinched his third 250 Pro Motocross Championship. With Deegs moving up to the 450 class in 2026, this was his final race in the 250 class outdoors. Of course, after the race he once again found it impossible to be the least bit humble, even going as far as to call himself “The King” in the post-race Champions press conference. Sadly, it’s becoming a habit that every time a camera is put in Deeg’s face he turns into a blithering teenager full of arrogance and contempt for his competition. I know this villain like persona is part of his brand and obviously a large number of fans embrace it. But, I just can’t think of another individual sport where being like this is sustainable, even for someone who is winning as much as Deegs does. As I mentioned, next year he’s moving up to the 450 class for the Pro Motocross Championships, and from where I sit, his tenacious style does not suit a 450 at that level. He reminds me a little of how James Stewart was when he moved up to the big bike class in 2005. That opening season for Stewart was filled with a lot of speed and determination, but also a lot of crashes, and JS7 was riding a 250 two-stroke. Had he been on a 450 it would’ve been a heck of a lot worse. Now, I think Deegs is far more physically strong than Stewart was back in 2005, so he may be able to muscle his way out of certain situations. However, in those days, Stewart was only really battling two riders; Carmichael and Reed, so he could afford to make some mistakes and not lose too many positions. Deegan will have to battle multiple fast and experienced riders like the Lawrence brother’s, Eli Tomac, Barcia, Cooper, and Chase Sexton. The next few seasons could be very challenging for Haiden Deegan and so far, he hasn’t been able to handle adversity very well. But, I guess at the end of the day, if we don’t like what he’s doing, we can all “Suck it”. Finally, it was cool to see Drew Adams win the Rookie of the Year award in the Pro Motocross Championships. Drew was great last year in Canada as he came within a few points of winning the 250 Pro/Am Championship. Drew’s 2025 season didn’t start off well, so it was great to see him turn things around in the second half and win this prestigious award.
So, with summer slowly reseeding into our memory bank and September a week away, what is coming up in our sport? Well, as I said in the USA this coming weekend is the Baja Brawl in Michigan, and the Can-Am race at Area 51 in New York. Beyond that, the SMX Playoffs begin the following week in Charlotte, NC. The Red Bull Outliers event takes place out in the Badlands of Alberta on September 5-7. That same weekend is the annual Vet Race at Gopher Dunes on their back track. This cool event kicks off with a steak dinner on the Friday evening. Two weeks later, the famous Corduroy Enduro takes place in Eastern Ontario. This massive event runs over three days, and really has to be seen to be believed. That takes us almost to the end of September and then we have the MXON at Ironman Raceway on October 4-5. Also, this is the final week to purchase a Team Canada Hospitality Package for the event. Please visit Team Canada MXON Official Store to make any purchases.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great long weekend, and a solid final week of August. For this week, my Rider of the Week is Cole Pranger. Although, his day at Budds Creek didn’t end well, he was still happy that he qualified for the motos, and that he got so many mentions on Social Media, as well as on the television broadcast. Heal up Cole, and we’re sure you’ll be back better than ever in 2026. Thank you for reading and if have any questions or comments, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
