Having missed the gate drops of the first four motos of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship due to wrist and thumb injuries suffered at the Cleveland Supercross last April, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki racer Drew Adams has been giving it everything he has to getting back up to maximum speed and physicality in the competitive crucible that is the 250 Pro Motocross class.
Coming off of 14-15 moto finishes at the High Point National in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, Adams recently placed a post on Facebook stating: “Highpoint was a step in the right direction, let’s keep digging.”
Currently 25th in the 250 MX point table, Adams will now place his focus upon the hamlet of Buchanan, Michigan and the very next round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship round set for the world-renowned RedBud MX circuit on Saturday, July 4.
Stationed down in Florida all week and bashing out the training and testing laps in getting prepared for RedBud, Adams checked in with us.
“I’m in Dade City, Florida,” said the racer out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. “I’ve been there for the past four years now training at the Dog Pound. I just got done with a solid day and did two 30-minute motos. Since we have an off-weekend this weekend, we have to work a little harder this week.
“It’s no fun. It’s hot. It’s very hot down here. I mean realistically, that’s how you want to train. You want to do the hard stuff at the training facility and then make the races easy. The races are never actually easy, but we try to replicate race conditions as much as we can down here at the compound. Sometimes we have some good battles at the compound. You know, me and Seth Hammaker and the boys and stuff. We try to have a happy environment around here.
“So, I’m coming back from injury,” continued a rehabilitated Adams. “I got injured at the Cleveland Supercross. Last weekend at Colorado was my first race back and I didn’t do too hot. I had a lot of good training and preparation, but it just wasn’t my weekend
“This recent weekend at High Point I got decent starts and I kind of just worked my way forward the whole time, which is kind of my goal because last weekend I just went backwards. It was definitely a step in the right direction.
“The first moto at High Point was okay. I kind of started around 14th and just stayed there the whole moto. It was a so-so moto. In the second moto I went off the track in the second turn, and I was SO far behind. I was in 40th place and then I ended up making my way back up to 15th. I was happy with that moto.
“My endurance is slowly getting better. You just have to race. That’s all you have to do. The more you can race, the better your endurance will be. For me, I’m just trying to be at the races every weekend and get the gate drops and do all the laps and I’ll definitely evolve after that.”
Adams adheres to the common theory that nothing matches the fierceness of racing and competition to keep a racer at an optimum level of performance.
“Yeah, exactly,” stated Adams. ‘Even when I was growing up racing, like until I was 11 years old, I didn’t really train anywhere. I just went and raced every single weekend, and I feel like that helped me more than training. I need to be at the races every weekend and just keep on going.”
The biggest and most prolific motocross race in this nation, Adams is looking forward to the RedBud National and the 30,000 rabid Midwestern fans that will come along with it this approaching Saturday.
“I love RedBud,” said Adams. “I’ve always loved the fans there. They’re just crazy. I think this year is going to be extra crazy with the race being on the Fourth and America’s 250th birthday. It’s going to be pretty gnarly. And the track is always super rough, and it gets hot there, too. That’s one thing that I love about that place.
“I love the heat. I really do love the outdoors. I love that it just whoops you in the ass sometimes. That’s what I love about it. Every kid growing up races outdoors. I really do love it on the inside.”
Plagued by injuries throughout his young career, Adams has set an objective of remaining healthy.
“Yeah, I feel like every dirt bike rider gets injured at one point,” explained Adams. “That’s how it goes. A lot of the guys do struggle with not making the full season. Especially with how long our series is now. I mean I think we race 33 times in the year and it’s tough, for sure. But like I said, as long as I’m just there every weekend and I focus on myself and not worry about others, I think I can be a real machine.”
With six rounds and 12 motos left to be run during the AMA Pro Motocross Championship this summer before the curtain drops at Budds Creek, Maryland on August 29, Adams weighed in on how he’ll approach it all.
“I’m just taking it weekend by weekend, you know?” said Adams. “Obviously, with me missing the first two rounds of the championship fight hurt me, so I’m really just going to get through one weekend. When I get to the next weekend, I’m going to focus on that one. I’m not looking at a long game or nothing. It’s just trying to get better every single weekend and throw up a good result for the team.
“RedBud is up next and I really do like that one. I’ve raced there five times now throughout my whole amateur and pro career. It’s a fun track. Southwick, the next round, I’ve never actually been to. Last year I broke my finger in the second moto at High Point and then I missed Southwick. I missed the one round. I’m actually super excited to go there this year because I’m a very good sand rider and I feel like with my height and everything, it will play in my favor. I’m really looking forward to that round.”
And all along the way in one of the fiercest sports there is, Adams works to stay positive and to maintain a positive mental attitude.
“Mental is one of the biggest games in dirt bikes. After you have a bad moto and stuff, all you want to do is just go back and throw a fit and be mad,” Adams said. “You really just have to look at the next moto, you know and start focusing on that. I try to have a strong menial game. Obviously, everyone has their moments and stuff. It’s all about staying positive and just looking at the ups and focusing on what you can do better on the downs.”
And the goals he wants to achieve and the marks he wants to hit during the reminder of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship?
“I’m looking for some top fives,” said Adams. “Obviously it has been a slow start, but I think I just need some good starts. My fitness is there. My endurance is there. If I can get some good starts I feel like I can run up there with the boys. Once you get up there with the pace, you start to feel it. It just comes natural. When you’re back in 25th off the start, it’s a real battle back there. People don’t realize that. It is a battle. I just need to get some good starts and I feel like I can be in the top five in a lot of the motos.
“When the season is complete, I don’t want to feel like I cheated myself. I just want to leave everything out there in every moto. I don’t want to ever feel like I didn’t try my hardest. I feel like I’m doing a pretty good job with that now. As far as an end result, I want to try to get in the top 10 in points, for sure. It’ll definitely be possible with seven rounds still to go. I want to try and leave everything out there in every moto.”