Highly Decorated Rider Coaches to Mentor 26 Elite Prospects One Week Removed from 2025 Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship
MORGANTOWN, WV – August 7, 2025 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – With the 2025 Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, set to begin its stretch run, the third and final event for SMX Next – Motocross will host 26 elite amateur prospects to Indiana’s Ironman Raceway for the Scouting Moto Combine Presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare. This group of promising talent will kick off the race weekend at the Tucker Freight Lines Ironman National one week removed from a memorable 44th running of the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship from Tennessee’s famed Loretta Lynn Ranch, the ultimate showcase of amateur talent on the planet.
“The timing of the third and final Scouting Moto Combine for SMX Next – Motocross could not be more ideal, as this crop of elite prospects are in peak form coming off a competitive week of racing at Loretta Lynn’s,” said Jim Perry, Program Director for the Scouting Moto Combine. “The Ironman gathering will mark the first time in the brief history of SMX Next and the Scouting Moto Combine that the newly crowned Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award winner will compete. We’ll also welcome the newly awarded AMA Amateur Rider of the Year in addition to another pair of Loretta Lynn’s champions. As a result, there will certainly be a greater level of interest in how the action unfolds on Friday afternoon.”
26 of the most talented prospects in amateur motocross will take to the track at Ironman Raceway for the last SMX Next – Motocross Scouting Moto Combine of 2025.
Photo Courtesy MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc.
Working in conjunction with competing manufacturers GASGAS, Honda, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha, this hand-selected group of invited prospects will consist of 26 top A & B class riders. The lineup features a mix of racers with prior SMX Next experience in addition to new talent that will make their SMX Next debuts. Notably, Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green’s Enzo Temmerman, whose 250 Pro Sport and Open Pro Sport titles at Loretta Lynn’s earned him the Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award, and KTM Orange Brigade’s Deacon Denno, winner of the 250B and Schoolboy 2 titles who was named 2025 AMA Amateur Rider of the Year, will compete against one another for the first time. They’ll be joined by fellow Loretta Lynn’s champions and Altus Motorsports BLU CRU Yamaha riders Owen Covell (450 B) and McKayden Fitch (250 B Limited). A pair of 25-minute, plus two-lap motos await the Combine field on Friday afternoon.
A trio of AMA Hall of Fame members will anchor an incredibly decorated group of rider coaches at Ironman. Leading the way is Class of 2000 inductee Broc Glover, who has embraced this leadership role at every single Combine event since the program’s inception. He’ll be joined by Class of 2024 inductee Kevin Windham and Class of 2025 inductee Chad Reed, in addition the winning team manager from Team Australia at the 2024 FIM Motocross of Nations, Michael Byrne, and the most recent winning rider coach from RedBud, former racer and highly regarded trainer Gareth Swanepoel. This group is also the most geographically diverse to date, with a trio of international coaches joining a pair of Americans. Collectively, these fives coaches will lend their immense knowledge and expertise to benefit these young athletes both on and off the track.
Additional support at Ironman will come from Mike Bonacci, Team Manager of Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha, and Christina Denney, the SMX Next – Motocross Event Coordinator, WMX Championship Coordinator, Team USA Motocross of Nations Coordinator, and a longtime SMX team manager.
Newly minted Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award recipient Enzo Temmerman will headline the field of racers at the Ironman Combine.
Photo Courtesy MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc.
Deacon Denno, the 2025 AMA Amateur Rider of the Year, will look to build on the momentum of winning two Loretta Lynn’s titles one week ago.
Photo Courtesy MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc.
The 2025 season alone has showcased the successful impact SMX Next continues to have on the sport as both Temmerman and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Kayden Minear have tested their mettle at multiple Pro Motocross races this summer. Adding his name to the list this weekend will be Altus Motorsports BLU CRU Yamaha rider Kade Johnson, who will make his pro debut at Ironman after a runner-up effort in Open Pro Sport at Loretta Lynn’s. These riders join an already decorated contingent of SMX Next graduates finding success at the sport’s highest level, headlined by reigning Pro Motocross 250 Class Champion, back-to-back 250cc SMX World Champion, and current 250 Class points lead Haiden Deegan. This group also includes SMX race winners like Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies, and Honda HRC Progressive’s Chance Hymas, along with top contenders like Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Drew Adams, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Daxton Bennick, Rockstar Energy GASGAS Factory Racing’s Casey Cochran, Rockstar Energy GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco, Muc-Off/ClubMX/Yamaha’s Alexander Fedortsov, and Phoenix Racing Honda’s Gavin Towers, all of whom were also past SMX Next winners.
While the pair of motos will be the focal point of Friday’s Ironman Combine, participants will also receive education surrounding other important aspects of the sport that occur away from the racetrack, including training, nutrition, and guidance on how to navigate the various layers of media engagement. These classroom-style sessions provide the foundation for the gathering, before racers line up behind the starting gate to determine who will prevail at Ironman Raceway.
Landon Gibson has been at the forefront of each SMX Next – Motocross event this summer and will look to break through for his first Combine victory.
Photo Courtesy MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc.
SMX Next – Motocross // Ironman Combine Lineup:
#2 Jeremy Fappani / Scottsdale, Arizona / KTM
#16 Klark Robbins / Shamong, New Jersey / GASGAS
#19 Deacon Denno / Fort Worth, Texas / KTM
#20 Kayd Kingsford / Middle Arm, Northern Territory, Australia / Honda
#21 Enzo Temmerman / Visalia, California / Kawasaki
#22 Jonathan Getz / Old Town, Florida / KTM
#23 Landon Gibson / Peachtree City, Georgia / Husqvarna
#24 Owen Covell / Plymouth, Massachusetts / Yamaha
#27 Vincent Wey / Murrieta, California / Kawasaki
#29 McKayden Fitch / Elbert, Colorado / Yamaha
#34 Alvin Hillan / Visalia, California / Honda
#40 Caden Dudney / Athens, Texas / Yamaha
#43 Tiger Wood / Townsville, Queensland, Australia / Honda
#46 Luke Fauser / Midland, Pennsylvania / KTM
#47 Aden Keefer / Hesperia, California / Kawasaki
#49 Brennon Harrison / Jacksonville, Florida / GASGAS
#50 Chace Lawton / Foster, Rhode Island / Yamaha
#87 Grayson Townsend / St. George, Utah / Honda
#221 Jayce Wolf / Franklin, Wisconsin / Kawasaki
#260 Carson Wood / Zephyrhills, Florida / Yamaha
#361 Austin Schafer / Hamer, South Carolina / KTM
#404 Riley Busse / New Berlin, Wisconsin / Yamaha
#492 Landon Hartz / Wilsonville, Alabama / Yamaha
#524 Diesel Thomas / Raymond, Nebraska / Husqvarna
#550 Cole Forbes / Richmond, Virginia / KTM
#981 Ryder Malinoski / Wyoming, Minnesota / Yamaha
For information about the Pro Motocross Championship, please visit ProMotocross.com and be sure to follow all of the Pro Motocross social media channels for exclusive content and additional information on the latest news:
MX Sports Pro Racing
MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc., manages and produces the world’s premier motocross racing series – the Pro Motocross Championship sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing. MX Sports Pro Racing is an industry leader in off-road powersport event production and management, whose mission is to showcase the sport of professional motocross competition at events throughout the United States. Through its various racing properties, partnerships and affiliates, MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc., organizes events for thousands of racing athletes each year and attracts millions of motorsports spectators.
Visit MXSportsProRacing.com for more information.
Pro Motocross Championship
The Pro Motocross Championship sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing features the world’s fastest outdoor motocross racers, competing aboard homologated bikes from one of eight competing manufacturers on a collection of the roughest, toughest tracks on the planet. Racing takes place each Saturday afternoon, with competition divided into two classes: one for 250cc machines, and one for 450cc machines. MX Sports Pro Racing, the industry leader in off-road powersports event production, organizes the Pro Motocross Championship series.
More information can be found at ProMotocross.com.
SMX World Championship
The SMX World Championship™ is the premier off-road motorcycle racing series in the world that combines the technical precision of stadium racing with the all-out speed and endurance of outdoor racing. Created in 2022, the SMX World Championship Series combines the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the Pro Motocross Championship sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing into a 28-round regular season that culminates with the season-ending SMX World Championship Playoffs.
Visit SuperMotocross.com for more information.
AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization for North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. It serves as the sanctioning body of the Pro Motocross Championship.
Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at AMAProRacing.com.
Source: MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc.
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