Monster Energy Riders Podium at Washougal MX National

Ripping through the foothills in the shadows of the awe-inspiring Mt. Hood, the Pacific Northwest’s signature MX track – Washougal (or “’Shougal” to the locals), was alive with four-stroke thunder on Saturday as the AMA Pro Motocross Championship made its annual stop for Round 8 of the 11-round series in the great state of Washington.

Leading the Monster Energy charge up through the majestic pines and back down through the aptly named “Catcher’s Mitt” bowl turn were a trio of podium placing racers including Haiden Deegan (Star Racing/Yamaha), 2^nd in the 250 class, and Garrett Marchbanks (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki), with his first career outdoor MX podium finish in 3^rd place. And in the 450 class, it’d be multi-time MX champ, veteran Eli Tomac (Star Racing/Yamaha), who got back on the box with a 3^rd place run.

With his runner-up finish to Jo Shimoda at Washougal, who, in turn, is currently runner-up to Deegan in the overall season points, Deegan maintained a comfortable 45-point lead (388-323) over the Honda racer with three races remaining on the 2025 Outdoor Nationals tour. Marchbanks, who continued to fire on all cylinders, rallied past his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate, hometown racer Levi Kitchen, and into 3^rd place in the overall season standings (252-239 ahead of 4^th place Kitchen). Kitchen would finish outside the top ten at Washougal (11^th).

Said Deegan: “After a few laps, I was just struggling with bike setup and I was just like ‘It’s not worth pushing.’ I’m here to win championships. The best I could probably do in this moto today was get to 2^nd. I put my head down and got to 2^nd. I think Jo was like two sections ahead and I was like ‘That ain’t worth it.’ I’m tied on points today… just chillin’.”

Bringing home another solid finish for Monster Energy at Washougal was Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker with a strong 4^th place run. Rookie pro Drew Adams then made it four in the top ten for Mitch Payton’s team with a 9^th place finish.

On the 450s, Tomac would parlay two moto podium finishes (2-3) into the 3^rd place overall position – his first podium since June in Southwick, Mass.

“Different setup, straight up,” said Tomac regarding what allowed him to get back on the podium. “I found something that I was really comfortable on and was in the same zone as these guys (KTM’s Chase Sexton, 1^st, and Honda’s Jett Lawrence, 2^nd). “I went and did some testing before Millville and was like, ‘It’s all me.’”

Tomac’s Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha teammate Justin Cooper would score a 6^th place finish at Washougal, which allowed Tomac to leapfrog Cooper in the overall season standings and back onto the podium in 3^rd (288-280 ahead of 4^th place overall Cooper).

Overall Standings (7 of 11 rounds)

Notes & Quotes

• “Definitely feels great. Through my entire outdoor career I’ve never had an overall podium. I’d never had a moto podium until, basically, Thunder Valley (Colo.) this year. I’ve always been super close, but to come back to the team and put it all together… feels super good to know all the hard work I’ve been putting in is finally paying off.” - Marchbanks
• “I think the bike’s (Yamaha YZ450F) better. Then I’d take it to the race, and it’s not better. So I take full responsibility for that. Faster on the clock, but that didn’t work in the race environment. It’s unfortunate, but I feel like now I was able to make some improvements from what I was racing earlier in the season.” - Tomac
• Defending Monster Energy AMA Supercross champ and ’25 top ten MX Nationals 450 class racer Cooper Webb (8^th following Spring Creek) checked in earlier in the week following successful knee clean up surgery. 
• Quietly, with Webb on the sidelines, Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Justin Cooper has taken over the lead in the 450 SMX Playoffs. After Washougal, Cooper finds himself up by 45 points on Webb, 561-516. Then next closest competitor, KTM’s Chase Sexton, is 3^rd in the SMX Playoffs with 485 points, 76 points back. On the 250s, Deegan leads Shimoda in the SMX Playoffs by a massive 103 points, 589-486.
• “Probably some other team complained. The same they did at Ironman when they took my jump out.” – Deegan, on the removal of a set of whoops at Washougal before the pro main events.
• Monster Energy/Kawasaki and Jason Anderson announced during the week that Anderson will pack it up for the rest of the MX Nationals season as he continues to battle an undisclosed illness.
• In the opening 250 qualifying session, Marchbanks set the fastest time with a 2:15.421, 3/100ths faster than Shimoda. Marchbanks then backed that with a blistering 2:14.412 to win the second qualifying session as well. 
• One of the more bananas highlights of the summer was the mid-air collision between Deegan and Ryder DiFrancesco. Coming on Lap 2 of Moto 1, Deegan commented at the end of the day: “Felt like I was riding on a goddamn ball out there!”

Up next: The 2025 Pro Motocross Championship takes its annual summer break before returning to action on August 9^th for the Tucker Freight Lines Ironman National in Crawfordsville, Ind. For more information on the AMA Pro Motocross Championships, link to www.promotocross.com