The Budds Creek National is the finale for the 2025 AMA Pro Motocross Championship and the last stop before we kick off the third edition of the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) Playoffs. My favorite when I was racing, Budds Creek Motocross Park is a track that most riders like. That’s not a common thing as opinions vary widely on any given track. But, Budds Creek’s bright orange clay and fun elevation give it an edge over most. The one downside to Budds Creek is that it can be very one-lined. Most of the downhills funnel into one inside line and passing can be infuriating to attempt. Overall, though, the good outweighs the bad and most riders enjoy their time in southern Maryland.

The start is critically important for the above reason. Getting into good position on the first lap raises the chances of a good result by multiples. The emphasis on a good start stresses the importance on qualifying by default. It’s not imperative to be top five but it is critically important to be within the top 15 or so. Riders that get stuck outside the box are at a large disadvantage at Budds Creek. The hard left hand first turn doesn’t leave much room for riders to make the outside work. There’s no berm to pivot from out there and the simple math is that the outside gates must cover much more ground. Longer distance to the apex, longer corner distance, and nothing to really pivot from to carry more speed into the corner… tough setup for a bad gate pick.

Usually hot and humid, the weather seems to be cutting the field a break this weekend as highs will only be in the low 80’s. That could be a result of the passing of Hurricane Erin as she absorbs all of the available humidity sweeping along the eastern seaboard. Erin could bring heavy rains on and Thursday, though, if her path swings even a tiny bit to the west. As scary as that sounds, a lot of rain mid-week would leave the track absolutely epic by Saturday. The moisture would penetrate multiple layers of the soil and create deep, soft dirt that wouldn’t harden as quickly as Ironman and Unadilla did. Could we get a goldilocks scenario of plentiful rain mid-week with zero damage and a beautiful Saturday? It’s possible.

Jo Shimoda rode the race of his life in the first moto at Unadilla and backed it up to go 1-1. He has a lot of momentum right now.

Haiden Deegan may have not been able to wrangle Wasabi Jo, but he still holds a 43-point lead with two motos left to run.

Tom Vialle put in two strong motos to round out the podium. He’s Europe bound in 2026 but he has a chance to rack up some USD before he leaves.

Caden Dudney put in a whale of a debut at Unadilla. His tip over cost him a second moto top ten but he showed what he’s got and it’s impressive.

Related: Caden Dudney on Pro Debut at Unadilla National: “I Felt Like I Could Keep Going That Pace"

Jettson Lawrence won the second 450 Pro Motocross Championship of his still young career. He’s doing things in such a rapid fashion, it makes you wonder what the ceiling is if he sticks around for another decade.

Hunter Lawrence put in another solid day amongst a sea of solid days. I was wrong about the 96 early on and continue to be wrong. He’s so much better than I ever expected.

Dylan Ferrandis is progressing each week since his return. He’s nowhere near the 2021 version of himself but I’m not sure that version will ever return. Baby steps.

Michael Mosiman had a huge crash and will likely be out for a bit. Wow, that was scary.

Landon Gibson’s pro debut didn’t go to plan in any way, shape, or form. He has another shot at it this weekend and I would imagine it can’t get here fast enough.

Levi Kitchen makes me scratch my head. Not sure what’s going on there.

Jorge Prado has been on this list far too many times this summer. His first moto was an absolute disaster. There’s no other way to put it. Things are reaching a breaking point on all fronts.

Jett Lawrence announces that he has purchased a space ship with his 2025 Pro Motocross bonus.

Congress launches a probe into the Jorge Prado situation to find out exactly what the hell is going on over there.

Garrett Marchbanks stands outside the Monster Energy Kawi truck after each 450 session in hopes that Prado decides to ghost ride it into availability.

Clinton Fowler’s brain explodes at 4 p.m. local time trying to calculate every SMX playoff points scenario between both classes.

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