round 29

It’s finally here! The 2025 Canadian National Series kicked off this past weekend in Calgary, and it delivered. As expected, the 250, 450, and WMX classes all brought the heat, with battles across the board. But the moment of the weekend? No question, it was Dylan’s last-lap pass to take the second moto 450 win after crashing twice (Jess crashing once), with fans lining the fences and going absolutely wild.

Let’s rewind to Saturday night. In typical Calgary fashion, a massive windstorm rolled through and tore apart the pits. Nearly every team lost at least one pop-up tent, with AVL taking the biggest hit as their rig’s canopy got shredded. We even heard reports of flipped porta-potties, including rumors someone got trapped in one (unconfirmed, but the mental image gave everyone a laugh).

Jumping around a bit, we also attended the Triple Crown Press Conference, where they brought in 4 WMX riders, 7 250 riders, and 5 450 riders to talk about what success on Sunday would look like. Also in the mix were team managers, Kourtney Lloyd from Team Canada MXoN, and Kyle Thompson, PR Manager for the Triple Crown Series.

By Sunday morning, the energy in the pits was electric. You could feel the excitement. There’s just something special about the morning of a national, it’s hard to describe unless you’ve lived it. Sure, a U.S. national might have a different vibe, but in Canada, it feels like the first day of school… back when going to school was actually fun, like second grade-level excitement.

We kicked off the day with practice qualifying, now with a format change for 2025: every time you're on track, it counts toward your qualifying time. WMX and Pre-Mix motos split up the morning schedule.

The WMX season kicked off without a single past race winner, let alone a former champion, on the line. Coming in, Kaylie Kayer was the favorite, but she revealed she dislocated her hip just six weeks ago and hadn’t been riding much. She battled through some serious arm pump to finish 3rd overall.

Next in line was Kitty Ferguson, who spent the winter training down south while juggling her first year of university. She made her intentions clear, she’s here for the title, going 1-1 on the day and heading into Round 2 with red plates already printed.

Local standout Destiny Slingerland had a breakout performance, going 3-2 for 2nd overall. Now, heading into Cold Lake, Destiny and Kaylie are tied with 42 points, just 8 points behind Kitty. With three motos on deck, will it be enough to close the gap?

Quick heads up: Round 2 of the WMX series kicks off Saturday with one 20-minute moto, followed by two motos on Sunday as usual.

WMX Round 1 Calgary 2025
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Let’s dive into the 250 class. Our standout rider of the weekend? Local talent Danny Robertson. He went 10-8 for an impressive 8th overall, not only making him the top Alberta rider in the class, but doing it as an intermediate.

Danny didn’t head south this winter, but he’s been grinding hard all spring. Honestly, we haven’t been to a single Wild Rose practice day where he wasn’t out there pounding out motos. It was an exciting ride from the young gun, and we’re fired up to see what he brings to Cold Lake this weekend.

We’ve already broken down the top 5 in the 250 class (along with 450 and WMX) in the full recap below, voice over by WMX rider Danika White so we won’t dive too deep here but one rider worth highlighting outside the top 5 is Zach Ufimzeff. He recently launched a vlog where he opened up about some personal struggles, including his body not absorbing nutrients properly. It’s raw, honest, and definitely a series worth following as the season unfolds.

Zachs Vlog

Zach Ufimzeff Round 1 Calgary
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

The final 250 rider we want to spotlight is Jaren Allison, who we followed throughout his day in a TLD-presented video linked below.

Jaren Allison Round 1 2025 Calgary
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Calgary Round 1 Recap
Voiceover: Danika White | Presented by: CJR Suspension

Jared Allison Round 1 race day follow
Presented by: Troy Lee Designs

The 450 class brought some of the most exciting racing of the weekend, and while the top 5 stole the spotlight, a few outside-the-top performances deserve a mention.

Local standout Teren Gerber went 14-14 for 14th overall, making him the top Alberta rider in the class. He was smooth, consistent, and solid all day long.

Teren round 1 Calgary 2025
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

Another story worth highlighting is Nick Collins, who went 16-18 and later announced on Instagram that this was his final national. After suffering a brutal crash at Round 2 last year, caused by a bike malfunction over the big triple at Lethbridge, Nick broke his femur and developed a serious infection from dirt entering the wound. It’s been a long road to recovery, and this weekend marked a heroic comeback ride for the local pro, who’s shown top-10 speed more than once. Happy retirement, Nick… but we’re not buying it.

Nick Collins Round 1 Calgary, 2025
*Photo: Tree Three Media*

In other news, a few Canadian kids punched their tickets to Loretta’s, Parker Hatt locked one down in California and is heading to Washougal this weekend to chase two more.

Here is some of the content we put out this week for you to catch up on:

Big thanks to GDR Honda Canada Fox Racing for teaming up with us on this project! They let us take Dylan Wright’s race bike straight after Moto 2 for a test ride on Monday. Here’s Charlie’s take on the setup, and some clips of him putting it to the test.

Jess Pettis’ MX101 Yamaha 450 Breakdown, Charlie chats with race mechanic Cale to go over the setup and secrets behind Pettis’ race machine:

Dylan Walsh Kawasaki 250 break down with Caden Lee:

Dylan Wrights bike break down with Cory:

Each race weekend, we’ll be asking riders to share their High, Low, and Surprise, on or off the track. Whether they had a good day or not, we think this will bring out some fresh, honest insight you won’t hear anywhere else. Heres how week one went, as time goes on we think riders will only get more creative with their answers!

If you think we’ve put out enough content, think again. Our weekly must-watch recommendation? Quinn Amyotte’s vlog, the 4th-place finisher in the 450 class. This guy is absolutely crushing it in vlog life, always entertaining and real. Trust us. Subscribe now.

That’s a wrap for this week, heavy on the Canadian Nationals, but that’s where the action was. Next stop: Cold Lake for Round 2.

round 30

round 28