BIG MONEY, BIG HILLS, BIG AIR & BIG THRILLS AT THE 2025 STOPWATCH NATIONAL

On May 17, 2025 Last updated May 17, 2025

Modeled after the Talladega Speedway banking, Glen Helen’s first turn allows riders to get through the steeply banked first turn 7-abreast or, in this case 44 riders at one time.

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI

It is not uncommon to hear old Pros talk about the good old days, when they could race local races and make enough money to live on. True, we are talking about 1975 prices, 1975 salaries and 1975 purse money, but wouldn’t it be nice to not be at the mercy to the AMA National and AMA Supercross promoters, where they charge a $300 entry fee to race and a $500 Pro license fee to be allowed to race.

This is the second turn, it has shallower banking than Talladega, but it is widened out thanks to the tight inside line and a steeply banked outside line. Here, Dakota Bender (39), Enzo Temmerman (21) Ryder DiFrancesco (25), Julien Beaumer (23) and Josh Mosiman (171) squeeze in. The roost in the bottom portion of this photo is courtesy of Colt Nichols.

Well, glory be! Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California decided to put up a $100,000 purse for two races—The $30,000 Stopwatch National on Thursday, May 15, and the $70,000 Pro Invitational on Saturday, May 17. No expensive license was required and there was no entry fee for the Pro riders. It was open to any Pro who applied to race either or both of the two races. These two races were held in the gap between the end of the 2025 AMA Supercross season and the beginning of the 2025 AMA 250/450 Nationals. It was billed as a chance for racers headed to the Pala National on May 24 to test their fitness on one of the most heralded motocross tracks in the world.

Troy Lee (left) brought out his Ducati Team transporter so the fans could see a Ducati Desmo450 up close and personal. Bud Feldkamp (right) opened up his racetrack for four-days of Pro, Amateur, Vintage, Minicycle and Pee-Wee racing. Luckily, he has enough land to throw in a cross-country GP on Sunday.

Glen Helen’s Bud Feldkamp put up the $100,000 to show his appreciation for the motocross racers, especially the privateers, who works so hard for so little. You didn’t need a forensic accountant to tell Bud that there wouldn’t be any profit coming back from these two races. Glen Helen was only charging spectators $20 for admission and laid out a schedule that allowed the local riders, who support Glen Helen every week, to come and ride practice between the Pro motos—and for the Saturday race, the “Saturday at the Glen” racers could come and race their normal Saturday race program around the two 250 Pro motos and two 450 Pro motos. It was a chance to race on the same track as the Pros, with modifications for safety.

The Pro race program was part of the four-day MotoFest, where most of Glen Helen’s tracks would be used on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and included Stacyc, Pee-Eee, minicycle and vintage races—with Sunday’s finale being a cross-country Grand Prix race.

WHAT ABOUT THE STOPWATCH NATIONAL?

Colt Nichols (45) was thrilled to get a chance to get in some outdoor testing and get paid over $11,000 while he was doing it.

The idea for a $100,000 two-day Pro program never really included the big name factory riders. Of course, if they chose to come race the Stopwatch National or ride the “Pro Only” practice sessions (if that better suited their training schedule) all the better for the fans. Jason Anderson, Ivan Tedesco, Justin Barcia and last year’s “Stopwatch” winner Broc Tickle showed up to ride practice, but didn’t take any gate drops. Perhaps to most big name stars, winning $10,000 is just lunch money, but farther back in the ranks, a $10,000 prize, especially one on Thursday and another one on Saturday was an opportunity that was never going to come their way under the AMA system. Glen Helen’s Bud Feldkamp wanted to give privateers and young Pros the opportunity to use the MotoFest as a warm-up for the Pala National and chance to find out what they needed to work on.

Jason Anderson.

Justin Barcia.

Ivan Tedesco.

Broc Tickle.

There were 44 riders signed up for the Stopwatch National’s 250/450 combined motos. The 250 riders, which included KTM’s Julien Beaumer and GasGas’s Ryder DiFrancesco would seem to be at a major disadvantage on a track with a 70mph start and massive hills, but as was learned at the 2024 Stopwatch National, more power isn’t always an advantage and this year, Julien Beaumer went 3-3 for second overall behind Colt Nichols, who was amazing on his Twisted Tea HEP-sponsored Suzuki RM-Z450. Colt holeshot both combined 250/450 motos and even holeshot the red flag restart following R.J. Warda’s crash on the first downhill. In a cool move, ASV levers, who were sponsoring the holeshot money, decided to pay Colt extra holeshot money for three holeshots instead of two—it added up to $1200 on top of the $10,000 in purse money.

Julien Beaumer (23) was a late entry for the Stopwatch National, but it turned out to be a good day for the KTM factory rider as he got in plenty of outdoor seat time and came home with $5000 for second overall.

Ryder DiFrancesco’s day was ruined when he crashed in the first moto at the Museum turn, but he came back out for the second moto and made his GasGas MC250 the second fastest bike on the track. His 43-2 score left him 21st overall.

Derek Kelley (58) earned $2400 for his 5-4 fourth place finish. He also earned the respect of the crowd for his nonchalant fly-bys over the massive Log Cabin jump.

Ryder DiFrancesco crashed in the first moto to finish 43rd, but came back in the second moto to chase Colt Nichols to the finish line. Unfortunately, his 43-2 left Ryder in 21st overall. The racer who finished second behind Colt in the first moto was Enzo Temmerman. Enzo rose to fame in this year’s Supercross “Next” series and put a lot of pressure on Colt Nichols in moto one. On the second to last lap, Enzo made a really solid effort to get in front of Colt at the bottom of the Shoei uphill. Unfortunately, that last chance pass attempt failed and Enzo decided to wait for moto two. However, a bad start in moto two required Enzo to use all of the energy stores he had in the waning lap of the second Stopwatch National, luckily his 2-5 score gave third overall and $2500 in purse money.

Enzo Temmerman (21) was fast enough to throw a few scares into Colt Nichols as they battled in the first moto, but in his second moto he was 5th—still good enough for third overall.

Dilan Schwartz (44) was fast and fit enough to go 4-6 for fifth overall.

Grant Harlen (43) went 6-8 for sixth overall. That paid $1200.

Dakota Bender (39) airs it out over the Log Cabin jump, Dakota was 9th in the first moto, but 21st in the second moto.

KTM’s Julien Beaumer put together two third place finishes to secure second overall and the $5000 check. Julien fought hard on every lap of both motos, and his hard work paid off with the second step on the podium.

Off-road racer Dare DeMartile (200) put his Beta 450RX into the top ten with a 8-7 score for seventh. Beta teammate Bryson Gardner went 20-12 for 14th overall

This is YouTube Live Stream central. You can watch the 2025 Stopwatch National by going to Motocross Action’s YouTube channel

The last time Derek Drake raced at Glen Helen he was winning the Open Pro class at the World Two-Stroke Championship—only to have his bike die just a couple laps short of victory. At the Stopwatch National he didn’t have to wait for something as long. He had to pull into the pits in the first moto to get scored in 39th place. Derek came back in the second moto to have a 39-10 day.

MXA test rider Brian Medeiros (37) built a special GYTR-sponsored Yamaha YZ250F with an XPR dual-injector engine, only to break his rear hub in practice and end up borrowing MXA’s 2025 Kawasaki KX250.

Glen Helen is considered to be a hard-pack racetrack, but the heavy rains this winter turned it into a sand track — don’t worry the summer heat will bake it after a couple 100 degree days.

Josh Mosiman won the 125 World Two-Stroke Championship a month ago at Glen Helen, but a crash in the first moto of the Stopwatch National pushed him back to 20th place — which was amazing still in the front half of the field.

MXA’s Jody Weisel and Husqvarna/KTM/GasGas’s Andy Jefferson go back to the early days of Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit Husqvarna team. Jody is wearing the infamous PCP T-shirt that Mitch dropped after finding out what the acronym “PCP” stood for.

THE REALLY BIG NEWS

Good news!Glen Helen is going to do it all over again this Saturday, May 17, when they double the purse money to $70,000, which when added to the $30,000 handed out on Thursday at the “Stopwatch National” adds up to $100 grand. Saturday’s race program includes a separate two-moto 250 Pro Showcase and a 450 Pro Showcase, but also a bike show, moto swap meet, vintage racing (on the Arroyo track), “Saturday at the Glen” races (on the National track), 85cc, 65cc and 50cc racing on the Stadiumcross track (hosted by Tony Alessi).

Pros and amateurs can sign-up for Saturday’s race at the Glen Helen Tower (starting at 7:00 a.m). But it is best if you enter on line at Glen Helen’s website. The first moto of the 250 Pro Showcase will be at 8:30 a.m. followed by the first moto of the 450 Pro Showcase at 10:30 a.m. with the second motos at 12:30 p.m. (250 Pro) and 2:30 p.m (450 Pro). Plus, to keep everything fair, metal starting grates are not allowed at Saturday’s race—it will be an old school start and the man with the fastest reflexes will rise to the top.

No one else got to lead any laps at the 2025 Stopwatch National because Colt Nichols (45) was up front from the gate drop to the checkers.

Colt Nichols was collecting cash and “big checks” left and right. Here, ASV Levers’ Bob Morales presents Colt with a $400 “big check” and an envelope with $400 more for holeshotting every race he was in…including the one that was red flagged.

The top three at Thursday’s Stopwatch National with their “Big Checks.” Julien Beaumer (left), Colt Nichols (center), Enzo Temmerman (right).

2025 GLEN HELEN STOPWATCH NATIONAL TOP 20

1. Colt Nichols (Suz)…1-1 ($10,000)

2. Julien Beaumer (KTM)…3-3 ($5000)

3. Enzo Temmerman (Kaw)…2-5 ($2500)

4. Derek Kelley (Yam)…5-4 ($2400)

5. Dilan Schwartz (Yam)…4-6 ($1500)

6. Grant Harlan (Yam)…6-8 ($1200)

7. Dare Demartile (Bet)…8-7 ($900)

8. Romain Pape (Yam)…8-7 ($800)

9. Brandon Ray (Hon)…11-11 ($750)

10. Lux Turner (KTM)…7-16 ($700)

11. Scotty Verhaeghe (Yam)…12-14 ($650)

12. C. J. Bernard (KTM)…13-15 ($600)

13. Dakota Bender (Yam)…9-21 ($550)

14. Bryson Gardner (Bet)…20-12 ($500)

15. Josh Mosiman (Yam)…19-13 ($450)

16. Parker Ross (Yam)…14-18 ($400)

17. Ryder Floyd (Hon)…16-19 ($350)

18. Brock Bennett (Hus)…17-23 ($300)

19. Kyle Wise (Yam)…18-24 ($250)

20. Kai Aieloo (Hus)…21-22 ($200)

Total Purse—$30,000

If you missed Thursday’s “Stopwatch National, don’t miss Saturday’s Pro Showcase. It pays back to 20th place—with the 20th place riders getting $400. For more info go to www.GlenHelen.com