The 2025 season may have been Aaron Plessinger’s best year in his SuperMotocross World Championship career, even though he failed to make a single appearance during the playoffs.
It didn’t begin that way.
Plessinger had a modest showing in the season opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, and finished ninth. He was not overly concerned with that result because San Diego was next on the schedule, and he would head down Interstate 5 as the defending winner of that race.
Unfortunately, he tangled with teammate Chase Sexton early in the race, remounted his KTM, but crashed a second time later in the Main. Plessinger retired in 22nd, failed to earn any points, and headed back up the I-5 to Anaheim for Round 3, 15th in points.
Anaheim 2 wasn’t any better. He crashed with Jason Anderson on Lap 2 and finished last for the second consecutive week. With three rounds in the books, Plessinger was a long way from the championship leader, Ken Roczen, with a deficit of 49 points, which was the equivalent of nearly two full rounds.
The next four rounds were better, but there was ample room for improvement. Plessinger finished ninth in Glendale and Detroit, was eighth in Tampa, and seventh in Arlington. A top-five seemed to be far out of his reach.
But athletes are not judged by how many times they get knocked down – literally in the case of SuperMotocross racers. It is how many times they mount back up that defines a season.
Plessinger podiumed for the first time at Daytona International Speedway, which is one of the most challenging tracks on the schedule. He finished fifth the following week in Indianapolis and then podiumed twice more in Birmingham, Alabama, and Seattle, Washington.
Plessinger earned his second career 450 trophy in Round 12 in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in one of the muddiest races in the history of the sport. Still, he was trying to recover from those back-to-back weekends during which he earned zero points. Plessinger was seventh in the standings after his Foxborough victory. By the end of the season, he gained only one more position, but he entered Pro Motocross with momentum after finishing sixth or better in the final four rounds.
Plessinger’s outdoor season began with four consecutive top-fives, highlighted by a second-place result in the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Motocross’ Round 2. A fourth-place finish two weeks later in the High Point National would prove to be his 12th and final top-five of the year.
Plessinger began to experience health issues midway through Pro Motocross that still have not been disclosed. He finished 41st at Spring Creek, decided to skip Washougal, and, on further reflection, took the final three rounds of the outdoor season off so he could rest up for the SuperMotocross Playoffs.
Plessinger did not heal in time for the playoffs.
Since he has not announced what caused his fatigue in those final rounds, it is pointless to speculate on how he will start the 2026 season, but he has ample reason to expect it to be just as strong as 2025. Sexton departed the team, but Eli Tomac will fill that slot, and the veteran should add considerably to the Red Bull KTM notebook.
Aaron Plessinger 2025 Statistics
SuperMotocross League standings: 22nd (DNS)
Seeding for SMX Round 1: Eighth
Starts: 24
Best finish: Win (Foxborough SX)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 7
Top-fives: 12
Top-10s: 21
Supercross average finish: 7.47
Motocross average finish: 10.43
SMX Playoffs average: NA
Overall average: 8.33
450 SuperMotocross Countdown
10. Justin Barcia
11. Malcolm Stewart
12. Dylan Ferrandis
13. Justin Hill
14. Joey Savatgy
15. Jason Anderson
250 SuperMotocross Countdown
9. Michael Mosiman
10. Chance Hymas
11. Drew Adams
12. Levi Kitchen
