In an ordinary year, it’s just “wait until next year” for the likes of Julien Beaumer and Chance Hymas, who both ended the 250 AMA Pro Motocross Championship campaign with some of their best riding. Maybe best ever. They don’t have to wait until next year, though, because the Monster Energy SMX World Championship Playoffs start soon, and they’re both motivated to win.

Beaumer told us on Friday that the playoffs were actually his goal all along, as he and his Red Bull KTM team expected to use Pro Motocross to rebuild himself physically and mentally from last year’s devastating back injury. The outdoor campaign ended up going better than expected, though, with podiums, wins and boarderline contention for the title. He overdelivered, really.

“Last year coming into SMX I was in a good spot, but I also didn't have the greatest outdoor season,” he said. “I had a couple head injuries and things like that that set me back. Obviously had the head injury at Budds last year and we weren't sure if I was even going to line up at SMX. Decided to give it a go and then obviously the injury happened. So, I think this year for me it's a lot different. I had a good outdoor season. I accomplished a lot of goals that weren't even on the list coming into the season. So I'm in a really good spot physically, mentally, and we have an amazing bike underneath us. So, I think coming into SMX, for me, the goal is to win.”

He used 2-1 scores to take the overall win at Ironman, the second of his career and the season, making him the only multi-race winner this year besides new 250 National Champion Cole Davies.

“Just an overall good day,” said Juju. “I felt pretty good in qualifying. Didn't have the fastest laps, but my overall feel on the bike was pretty good. And moto one, I got off to a good start finally, just rode my race,  pumped up a little bit late and wasn't able to win, but that second moto, not the greatest start, made moves quick. The guys did an amazing job. We made a bike change after moto one and they hit the nail on the head. So, yeah, bike felt amazing and I was able to put it together.”

Somehow, Beaumer ended up second in points, helped by Levi Kitchen crashing out for the day and scoring zero points.

“Obviously, Levi not lining up for the second moto sucked,” he said. “You hate to see that. Obviously, you never want to see a guy not line up.  Carlos [Rivera, of KTM] came to me right after the sight lap and said, 'Hey, you have a chance to get second in the championship, but you have to win. There's no other option.' So, I said, 'All right, I got to win.' Obviously, I knew there was a chance, but I had to execute. And obviously coming into SMX, I feel good. I've been riding SMX for a little bit now, and I'm happy with where we're at with the bikes. So, yeah, I'm ready to go.”

Hymas might have been the fastest rider at Ironman, but he tipped over a few times during the day, with two early second-moto crashes holding him back. He put together incredible lap times late in the race, though, to rally to second.

“My riding didn't live up to the result it should have been,” he said. “I had probably put together two best motos I have in my life and unfortunately just made some dumb mistakes the first and second lap and just buried myself. JuJu was the better guy today.  He rode his butt off too. So, me and him were the two best guys today. Obviously, Cole [Davies] was just riding it in today.  Things were clicking for me today. It felt good and just it's been trending that direction the last handful last half of the season honestly.”

Hymas ends the year with five-straight overall podiums, his longest streak yet, successfully completing a summer based on consistency instead of speed. Chance has gone fast before, but was never able to sustain it.

“We made a lot of progress these last handful of rounds,” said Hymas, who said even after his breakthrough moto win at Millville that he would focus more on moto podiums than aiming for moto wins. He’s trying to figure out the consistency part. He’ll do the same in the playoffs.

“My goal is just try to be on the podium every weekend,” he says. “I think if I execute two good starts and be up front and try to stay out a little bit of the chaos, it definitely would look good. Just try to take my same approach that I have been this last half of the outdoor season and try not to over complicate it.”

One complicated think Hymas does have to deal with is Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations for Team USA, where he will have to race a 450 for the first time.

“Honestly, I've been pretty fired up all weekend," Hymas said. "Obviously getting the call to step up for the team, it's a big deal, and, honestly, I wanted to go show this weekend that they made the right call. Vibes were high. Just tried to kind of put that in my mind a little bit and focus on what I've been doing.”

Hymas will have to get the balance right between training on two different bikes.

“SMX is my main priority,” he says. “Nations is obviously a big deal to me, but at the end of the day, it's a one-off race. My obligation is to be at SMX. So, for me, it's going to be busy for sure. It's going to be important to not get spun out mentally. When I was an amateur, I rode a 450 quite a bit, raced some off-road races on it. I actually have a 450 out in Florida from when I was recovering from my shoulder [injury]. I probably rode almost two months on a 450, a stock 450. So, I actually got to hop on the factory bike this week when the boys were done riding and, yeah, we're a little loose for sure! But I'm excited to put some time on it. Honestly, my goal is focus on the SMX prep, but try to hammer out as many starts as I can. So, if I'm limited on the bike time, I can at least do a bunch of starts and that's not going to be too fatiguing. So, at least I can go to France and get some good starts and deal with it there.”