Mikayla Nielsen wins 2025 WMX opener at Fox Raceway
After getting what she described as a poor start, Nielsen completed the first lap just inside the top five, and had to work through traffic in the second race. Once she passed Jordan Jarvis for the lead in the second race, Nielsen set sail.
'This was my first WMX win on a big bike and it's been kind of like a 'struggle bus' with results,' Nielsen told NBC Sports after the race. 'You start to doubt yourself when you don't win. I know I can be a contender and it's a breath of fresh air trying to get this one. I can carry so much confidence into the season.'
All six rounds of the 2025 WMX Championship will be held in conjunction with MX Nationals, which will add additional eyes to the series.
'I didn't get a good start [in the second race], just like the first moto, so I have to go back and work on that,' Nielsen continued. 'Got a lot of passes in the first lap and then had to get Jordon and just stay in my own head and go forward. Don't try to look around and see where everyone is; just push forward.'
Last year's championship had two rounds paired with National events as well as one that was run in the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross race on the infield of the Daytona International Speedway. Lachlan Turner took the inaugural title of the rebooted series.
She was off to a fast start in Pala as well. Turner won Moto and finished third in the second race.
'It's pretty nice, starting out with second with a one and a three,' Turner said. 'It's super-cool to have WMX back. ... It's super-sick to be out here. There are a bunch of up and coming women that are fast.'
Jarvis was the most experienced woman in the field. She raced the series before it went into hiatus as well as racing in the Pro MX 250 division alongside the men in 2020 through 2023.
'It's awesome; I'm not sure we've ever had a field this deep ever in the women's class,' Jarvis said after descending from the third-place box on the podium. 'Lala (Lachlan) won WMX last year; I've won WMX before. Charli [Cannon] is the Australian champion. Mikayla's podiumed several time and just got her first win and Kyleigh [Stalling] was multi-Loretta Lynn's champion, so the top five was crazy.
'It's going to be an interesting season. You never know who can win. I think today proved that.'
The WMX series will continue into the next two rounds with the Hangtown Motocross Classic and in Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado, take a break, and then return for the final three rounds — a move designed to allow the riders to manage their travel expenses, according to Pro MX CEO Carrie Coombs.
The mid-season break may also attract more women to the field.
'I've been around for a long time, but a lot of these women are younger,' Jarvis continued. 'To show that the old talent is still here, but the new talent is coming up. There are so many good women in this class.'
Nielson, Turner, and Jarvis were followed across the line by Charli Cannon who finished third in the first moto and fourth in the second, despite racing with a recent injury that required surgery on her thumb.
Kyleigh Stallings rounded out the top five with results of fifth in both motos.
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