Cole Davies Goes Back-to-Back with RedBud 250 Victory
Monster Energy’s Cole Davies earned his second consecutive AMA Pro Motocross victory with a 1-2 performance at RedBud, while Carson Wood swept SMX Next and Haiden Deegan battled to a top-six finish in the 450 class.
Massive crowd on hand for America’s 250 birthday at the aptly named “America’s Motocross Track,” RedBud MX in Buchanan, Mich., survived a severe/destructive storm the day prior to Saturday’s 5.11 RedBud MX National and witnessed a 250 class clinic put on by Monster Energy’s Cole Davies (Star Racing/Yamaha) as the series rookie parlayed a 1-2 performance into the overall RedBud victory ahead of Honda’s Jo Shimoda, pulling the New Zealander to within four points (94-90) of Shimoda’s overall series points lead.
Rounding out the 250 class top five scoring at RedBud for Monster Energy, with a solid 4-5 finish for 5th place on the highly saturated and rutted track was Levi Kitchen (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki). And Kitchen, who led the 250 class points chase coming into RedBud, is still well within the title mix as he’s just five points back of Davies with 185 points through five of 11 rounds of AMA Pro Motocross Championship racing.
Said Davies: “Jo [Shimoda] was riding good. It’s a long championship and we have a long way to go. It was a good day, and we got a win at RedBud. That’s all I can ask for. We’re in a really good spot with the bike right now so I’m really happy.”
Also noteworthy from the RedBud 250s was the effort put in by Monster Energy’s Caden Dudney (Star Racing/Yamaha). The rookie pulled his first pro holeshot in the opening moto, and clicked off some hot laps to put a three-second lead on Davies. Davies would wait until late in the contest, with roughly 30 seconds remaining on the race clock, before he passed Dudney and went on to the 2.6 second win. Following a 5th place start in Moto 2, a few miscalculations would relegate Dudney to 12th in the moto and 6th overall.
Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Kayden Minear and Nate Thrasher would round out the 250 class top ten in 9th and 10th positions, respectively.
In 450 class action the much-anticipated battle for the win between Monster Energy’s Haiden Deegan (Star Racing/Yamaha) and Honda’s Lawrence brothers, Jett and Hunter, would never really get off the ground as Deegan hit the ground in Moto 1’s opening turn and, though he battled back from last to make the top ten (10th), his impressive 3rd place run in Moto 2 would only add up to a 6th place overall finish. One click ahead of Deegan in the RedBud 450 overall rankings was Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks who put up a strong 5-6 two moto finish for 5th overall.
Despite the crash, Deegan was pumped on being at RedBud – and it showed as he was easily the fan favorite there throughout the week and on race day. Said Deegan in a social media post: “USA baby, sh!t happens, we live to fight another day ‘don't crash in the first turn’ proud of the effort and grateful I was able to carry the flag on the podium!”
Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb rounded out the top ten in 450 class scoring at RedBud with an 8th place run (8-8).
Finally, in SMX Next racing, which showcases the young, up-and-coming stars of motocross, Monster Energy’s Carson Wood (Star Racing/Yamaha) took the overall win with a commanding 1-1 performance on the tough RedBud track. Monster Energy’s Kade Johnson (Team Green Kawasaki) would also make the SMX Next podium, going 3-4 for 3rd place overall.
| RedBud MX 250 class results | 450 MX class results |
|---|---|
| 1st – Davies (Monster/Star/Yamaha) | 5th – Marchbanks (Monster/Kawasaki) |
| 5th – Kitchen (Monster/PC/Kawasaki) | 6th – Deegan (Monster/Star/Yamaha) |
| 6th – Dudney (Monster/Star/Yamaha) | - |
| 9th – Minear (Monster/Star/Yamaha) | - |
| 10th – Thrasher (Monster/Star/Yamaha) | - |
Overall Standings (5 of 11 rounds)
| 250 class | 450 class |
|---|---|
| 2nd – Davies, 190 points | 3rd – Deegan, 176 points |
| 3rd – Kitchen, 185 | 6th – Marchbanks, 149 |
| 6th – Hammaker, 134 | 9th – Webb, 111 |
| 7th – Minnear, 127 | - |
| 9th – Romano, 116 | - |
| 10th – Dudney, 105 | - |
Notes & Quotes
- Leading the 250 class overall points chase heading into RedBud, Kitchen would drop a couple clicks in the standings – down to 3rd position overall. “Really felt like that was my day to win but shit happens when you're sending it,” he said. “All in all, I'm happy with my speed, just need to put in 2 solid motos and I know I can be on the top step.”
- Davies was more than one second quicker than the field during the morning qualification sessions for RedBud, posting a lap of 2:19.661. This compared to second-place Dudney’s qualifying time of 2:21.048.
- “What we saw at High Point, backing it up here. … Starting to be a little scary for everybody else.” - NBC Sports announcer James Stewart on Davies’ Moto 1 ride.
- “It was a dynamic day at RedBud - the centerpiece of the Pro Motocross Championship and Monster Energy SMX.” – NBC Sports announcer Jason Weigandt
- “In a separate incident, Haiden Deegan runs into the back of Marchbanks – all these guys are battling, stopping, so it’s easy to happen.” –Stewart on Deegan’s unfortunate Moto 1 first turn crash.
- Lost in the 450 first moto/first turn crash for Deegan was the fact that the rookie 450 rider held off – twice – a second moto charge from defending outdoor 450 class champ Jett Lawrence and topped the Honda factory racer for the first time this season.
- “Moto 2, Deegan, despite a bad gate pick, gets a good start and he’s battling with Jett.” – Weigandt on Deegan’s quick comeback in Moto 2.
- A testament to Redbud’s track crew, and its 53 years of experience at “America’s Motocross Track,” was the fact that, following all that rain on Thursday and Friday leading into Saturday’s Pro National, the water trucks were actually brought out between motos!
Up next: The 2026 Pro Motocross Championship continues its eastern U.S. swing with the July 11th running of the Crestview Construction Southwick MX National in Southwick, Mass., Round 6 of the series.
