#WHIPITWEDNESDAY

Rider: Thomas Covington

Thomas Covington was an American amateur star who was given the opportunity to race MXGP where he spent most of his career. As a kid, Covington was one of the more feared riders on the track, as he would put himself near the front every moto. He is a three-time Loretta Lynns champion which was just a few accomplishments as he had won many more amateur titles around the country at the time. When the opportunity to go pro finally arrived he was given the opportunity to race in Europe onboard the Rockstar Husqvarna team, to which he spent most of his career riding for. In his first season, he picked up a victory in the MX2 class at the MXGP of Mexico. He would grab another win in the season and multiple top-five finishes placing him fourth overall in the championship. In his career he took three wins in MXGP against a stacked field, beating riders like Hunter Lawrence and Jeremy Seewer who are stars today. Thomas did race a few American Supercross and motocross rounds but ultimately decided to finish his career in Europe.

CHASE SEXTON OUT FOR MXDN

Chase Sexton was injured in the final round of SMX in Las Vegas.

Chase Sexton was one of the riders selected for Motocross Des Nations but unfortunately will have to sit out this year due to an injury sustained at the final round of SMX in Las Vegas. Chase was in the hunt for the championship as he went into the final round just one point behind Hunter Lawrence but as the race began Chase found himself making a mistake on the first lap, which led him to cross in front of Justin Barcia who landed on Sexton. The collision ended up hurting Chase causing trauma to his neck, shoulder, and hand.

PIERCE BROWN GRABS HIS FIRST WIN

Pierce Brown went 2-1 moto scores for the overall in Las Vegas. 

Pierce Brown had moments of glory throughout the Supercross season but was riding rather silent through motocross. In the first few rounds of the SMX finals, Brown had made a few mistakes which started him in the back of the pack. Brown was able to make up substantial ground in those motos but never found himself inside the top five. In Las Vegas, Brown found another gear and was able to hold off a hard-charging Haiden Deegan in the second moto, taking the overall win which was his first. It was also his last ride on board the GasGas machine as he will be heading to Star Racing Yamaha for the 2025 season.

MAX VOHLAND JOINS CLUBMX FOR 2025

Max Vohland was one of the most decorated amateur racers of our time which quickly advanced him to the pro ranks in 2021. Some people may have said “too soon” but when the opportunity door opened, he had to take the chance. His team at the time saw the same thing everyone else did – an amazing level of seemingly endless talent that should propel him well into the future. He quickly made an impact with a string of top ten finishes in Supercross followed later that rookie season with some top five finishes in Motocross. His success on the outdoor circuit that year earned him the coveted Marty Smith Rookie of the Year award. With some experience under his belt, he really began to show what he could do in his following two seasons with consistent results at every stop on the circuit. As he matured into the role of professional racer, his skill and race craft continued to mature with him. It was just a matter of time before he consistently stood on the podium and became a title threat. His career takes a slight pause in 2024 but now he is ready to rebound in 2025 and the Muc-Off/FXR/ ClubMX team is there to support the rest of his story.

Max Vohland said: “I am thrilled to have reached an agreement with the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX team. After witnessing their success the past couple of years, joining the team was an easy decision for me. The deciding factor was the opportunity to go to the ClubMX facility. I want to be a better all-around rider and be a part of a team. When I visited the facility, the vibe was like nothing I have experienced before – it felt like a real team atmosphere. No doubt this is going to be a big change for me, but it is what I need at this point in my career. I am eager to get back to work and contribute to the momentum of this team as we head into Supercross.”

COOPER WEBB JOINS TEAM USA TO RACE 250 AT MXDN

MXA PHOTO TRIVIA

Who is this rider? Answer at the bottom of the article.

MOTOCROSS ACTION’S 2025 450 SHOOTOUT

BACK IN STOCK VINTCO CONNECTING RODS

VintCo has all new Heavy Duty Connecting Rod kits for your Honda 1974-76 MT250cc machines that will get you back on track.  These Connecting Rod kits will save you money over a new crankshaft.  This Connecting rod kit fits all Honda MT250 1974-76 and Odyssey FL250 1977-84 VintCo rods kits are manufactured with Heavy Duty Forged Steel and made with modern materials and manufacturing techniques to ensure an as good or better than OEM fitment and performance. Kit includes a rod, crank pin, big end bearing, wrist pin bearing, and two thrust washers.   This newly manufactured connecting rod kit from VintCo will help you keep the ride going.

If you’d like to shop Vintco products, click here.

Plus, the Final Round of the SoCal Vintage MX Classic at Glen Helen is coming soon!

MXA FANTASY LEAGUE: CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR SERIES WINNERS

The MXA Fantasy League has come to a conclusion and those who have played through the entire season have become victorious. We’d like to thank everyone who played this year whether it was in Supercross, motocross, or just SMX it didn’t go unnoticed. We did have a few bumps in the road along the way, it was the first year MXA’s Justin Lee had ever built an app of that magnitude, and the users who joined exceeded expectations. We’ve taken into consideration all the comments and concerns from this year and will be using them to improve the app for next year. Congratulations to those who won weekly prizes all thanks to our great sponsors. We hope to see you all again next year! Now let’s get into the winners of the grand prizes.

FIRST OVERALL “CAH217”

Congratulations to Curtis for becoming the MXA Fantasy League champion. Curtis did not start the series in the top ten but as time passed he stayed consistent almost receiving over 200 points at every round. It was late in the motocross season where he found himself battling for the lead. Heading into the final round Curtis sat in second and needed as many points as possible from Las Vegas. He was able to get that significant boost and was able to take the win by six points over second. In the final round at Las Vegas Curtis scored 199 points which was enough to put him into the lead. He will now be able to enjoy a brand new Triumph TF 250X courtesy of our partners at Triumph, 

SECOND OVERALL “RACER224”

Congratulations to Bill Claerhout on winning $2500 worth of Maxxis tires. Bill will now be able to re-shoe his vehicle of choice with a new set of tires. With the price of tires these days, Maxxis really stepped up to help our second-place overall winner. Bill did have the lead for quite a few rounds but slipped back to second in the final race. In the final round at Las Vegas, Bill scored 169 points which put him just behind the leader. Nevertheless, he still gets to take home an awesome prize for his vehicle.

THIRD OVERALL “NOTRACN”

 In the third spot overall was Ron Knott. Ron moved into the top ten with just three weeks left of racing however he had been sitting just outside for a few of the rounds prior. As the series got closer to the end in Las Vegas, Ron started to climb the ranks with his great overall picks. In the final round, he had moved into the third position and now will be able to choose between a two-stroke pipe and silence, or a four-stroke muffler, courtesy of FMF Racing. At the final round in Las Vegas, Ron scored 209 points which was enough to give him that boost into third overall.

FOURTH OVERALL “SHREDDER”

William Shaffer was the fourth-place overall finisher and will receive $500 towards Boyesen products of his liking. William also moved into the top ten as the final rounds approached. He was also one of the most consistent players through the second half of the season. He also scored 209 points in the final round at Las Vegas which was enough to grab fourth overall. Now he will have one of the best-looking bikes at the track with his new Boyesen products. 

LAS VEGAS SMX WINNER “ISAACFERLAND”

Isaac Ferland won the awesome prizes from BOB The Cooler Co. Isaac was able to accumulate 258 points in the final round and picked every 450 riders in the correct position except Chase Sexton who crashed out early in moto one. Lucky for Isaac, almost every player also had Sexton and would miss those points. He also chose Pierce Brown for sixth which turned out to be a great pick as many put Brown off their radar and he would go on to win. BOB The Cooler Co. keeps us cool on the hot days at Glen Helen and we are sure they will do the same for Isaac.

ASK THE MXPERTS: IT’S A GROOVY KIND OF THING

A tire groover, like the Tread Doctor,  melts the rubber more than cuts it.

Dear MXperts,
I’m interested in getting a tire groover to extend the life of those very expense rings of rubber on my rims, but I was confused by a statement that MXA made in a recent issue. It said, “For MXA’s tastes, grooving across the knobs is better than vertical cutting. Grooves provide extra-sharp edges for acceleration and braking. Vertical cutting makes the knob flexier.” My plan was to put sharp edges on the front and back of the knobs to make them bite better. Why are you against this?

This vertical cut does make the leading edge of the knob sharper, but it also makes the knob narrower, which will allow it to wiggle when it gets hot.

Tire groovers, like the Tread Doctor, can be used two ways—and both ways have merit. First, with its large blade, it can slice off a thin layer of the acceleration edge of the rear tire with a scooping motion down the vertical side of the knob. Cutting the knobs vertically gives them a new edge while making the knob narrower. The inherent problem of cutting new faces on the knobs is that you are making the knobs flex more. This flexing accelerates wear and often adds a rollover feeling under a load. Vertical cutting of the knobs should be saved for a last ditch, one-last-ride, tire-usage plan.

For motocross, it is best to to cut grooves across the contact patch of the knob. By siping the knob, you get more grip and the rubber near the surface get softer.

When done perfectly, this is the byproduct of tire grooving.

Grooving an old tire by cutting narrow grooves across the center of the knob puts more biting edge on the tire’s contact patch. Think of it as a way of mimicking Dunlop’s knob-in-a-knob tread design. As old tires wear, the rubber dries out and becomes harder. Cutting grooves in the top of the knobs not only gives you an extra edge, called a “sipe,” but it softens the knob’s rubber for better grip. Hard or intermediate-to-hard terrain tires, especially ones with reinforced knobs with bridges (tie bars), are the easiest tires to sipe or groove. Grooves provide extra edges for acceleration and braking. So, instead of shaving the edge of the knob vertically, cut a groove into the contact patch of the center knobs with horizontal grooves and sipe the transitional knobs with 45-degree grooves from corner to corner. Don’t groove the side knobs.

MXA PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Dennis Stapleton is one of MXA’s most decorated riders. He’s also quite the comedian off the track and as fast as anyone on the track. He helped develop the 2025 Honda and here you can see him testing the bike at race speeds at Saturday at the Glen.

CLASSIC MXA PHOTO

Jeff Ward (3), Jeff Stanton (1), Jeff Matiasevich (20), and Guy Cooper (4) back in 1990. It’s fair to say the starting line looked a bit different back then.

MXA PHOTO TRIVIA: Jeff Stanton who is a three-time AMA 250cc Motocross and Supercross national champion, winning the titles in 1989, 1990, and 1992.