Saturday at the RedBud National, around the mid-way point in the second moto, teammates Lux Turner and Avery Long were battling inside the top ten. The AEO Powersports KTM Racing teammates both put together a strong ride in Michigan, with Long ending up on top of their battle, scoring ninth (22-9 for 17th overall) as Turner finished 11th (13-11 for 14th overall). Both riders have been under the radar both in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, although both have been banged up some along the way.

I caught up with Turner in the media scrum after the post-race press conference, which you can read and/or watch below. First, check out Long’s Instagram post about his day.

“REDBUUUD. Such a sick weekend celebrating our amazing country!! First moto I made a lot of mistakes and wore myself out alot but was able to bounce back in the second moto with a p9 which I’m stoked on. All in all a good day and a good confidence booster going into the hometown race next weekend 🇺🇸”

Racer X: All right, Lux Turner here at the Redbud National, walk us through your day.
Lux Turner: I feel like today went really good. I'm really proud of myself. It's obviously the best results I've had this year. I feel like it's the best I've felt. Yeah, I'm really proud of myself. I feel like I had two solid qualifying sessions, really just focusing on the track and how to be better. And in the motos, I had two okay starts, not great, but I just put my head down and pushed forward. And I feel like I've been struggling this whole year with like halfway through, I'm like, 'Oh, I got another 15 minutes.' You know what I mean? I feel like today I was like, finally pushed through that. And I've been struggling with that for the past year and a half. Like probably know my whole life. So I'm really proud of myself to push through the whole time and break through that. I feel like I'm going to just keep going forward from here on out.

I feel like you've been like, right on the cusp of these breakout rides, and you've done pretty well. Battling with Avery. Just walk me through that second moto battle with your teammate there.
That was gnarly. We were, I think we were behind Levi and Marchbanks and like three PC dudes, and we locked in, and then Avery got me and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to eat his roost the whole time. Because we train together, like every day through the week. And I'm really proud of myself because normally, like he's gnarly outdoors. Him passing me and being able to lock on and just keep moving forward. Like I was proud of myself. He did amazing, too. Like I mean we went 11-9. That's pretty sick.

Yeah, I feel like you guys are both, like, pretty underrated guys. I feel like you mentioned the PC guys. Like, I feel like they always find themselves on the track. And you guys always find yourselves, like, battling each other. I think it was a Thunder Valley when you guys were both up there.
Oh yeah, like even last year, my teammate Talan Hawkins, every moto we would find each other whether he's one or two positions ahead. It's kind of funny how that works out, but yeah, I'm no I'm really happy with today.

Your season as a whole, how would you rate your Pro Motocross season so far?
Before this I would rate it probably a six out of ten after this weekend, probably eight out of ten. So yeah, I just I feel like after this weekend, it was almost like a breakout ride for me, and it was really good for my mental strength and everything. So, I'm excited to just keep moving forward.

Can you point one thing out that you did well today? You kind of mentioned the starts weren't great, but what can you pinpoint of like, hey, this I can keep carrying this for next week or hey, I need to really focus on this.
It was just not having any quit in me at any point. Like no matter how tired I was. Like, I would look at the pit board and saw I was in like the first moto, i was in 14th. I was like, 'Dude, you might as well just keep pushing forward. Like, I'm already here. Just might as well stay here.' So, I feel like that's what I really was good with today, which before I feel like that would affect me because halfway I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm in 15th or whatever,' you know what I mean? But now I'm really realizing, like, I belong there and I feel like that's probably the biggest thing. And I feel like in the past instead of I would race the person, but now I'm like, they're right in front of me, but I'm more focused on the track and that doesn't get me as tight anymore. So I'm happy with that.

Do your goals change now that you've kind of done better?
After this weekend, I want to get a top ten. I feel like it's right there. Yeah.

And then one last one. Obviously, your sister Lala is leading the WMX Championship. How fun is that? Like, I know you train on the West Coast, she trains on the East Coast now. So you guys a little bit different programs, but what's it like seeing her do well and seeing her race and just kind of growing up with her and just what's that like? I mean, she freaking rips.
I'm a very proud brother. Just seeing her like, excel and come from nothing to something is just, it's so awesome. And I'm so proud of her. And she works harder than anyone I know. And for her to be in the points lead now, she deserves it more than anyone.

Yeah, I think they did a really cool feature on you guys a couple weeks ago. That was really fun to watch.
Yeah, that was awesome.

Is there kind of smack talk between you two? Like when you get back to the truck, is there gonna be, like, texts of, like, 'Nice job' or is she gonna be like, 'Come on, you're so close.'
No. Like, she's a very supportive sister. I feel like we've never really had that, like, bickering. We're just very supportive and wanting each other to do the best we can.