Entering the weekend, in four total starts at The Wick 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts, Jo Shimoda had landed on the overall podium all four times. Shimoda earned his maiden AMA Pro Motocross Championship overall podium at the sandy circuit in 2021 via 3-4 finishes, then with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team.

In 2022 he landed another second overall, this time via 2-3 moto finishes. His 6-1 scores in 2023 earned him third overall, which was followed up by a 9-1 (yup) for third overall in 2024.

Shimoda entered Saturday’s race four-for-four in visits and overall podiums and with a moto two win-streak of two straight. In the first moto of ’25, he got collected in a first turn pileup and suffered another crash mid moto. While he rode hard, he could only score tenth. He rode home a really strong second-place charge behind Haiden Deegan in moto two, but his 10-2 finishes gave him fifth overall. That ended both his moto two win-streak and his overall podium streak at the track.

With his Honda teammate Chance Hymas out for the remainder of the year with a right knee injury, Shimoda sits in sole possession of second in the 250MX standings. He started the summer with two-straight second place finishes but now has missed the overall podium in the last three races.  The series heads to RedBud MX this weekend, where Shimoda has two overall podiums, including the 2022 overall win, in six total starts. Will Shimoda rebound this weekend? Could he steal a moto win from Deegan?

Images by Mitch Kendra