Four Riders Who Stood Out During the 250SX Futures Race at Anaheim 2, Plus a Debate

Round 1 of the 2024 250SX Futures were held at Anaheim 2 and 25 of the best riders from the A & B classes had their chance to race under the lights. Here are my five takeaways from the weekend.

Cole Davies

The New Zealander has signed a five race deal with GASGAS and is here to prove he’s ready to pursue SX. Davies and his family signed the five race deal (all futures races) to decide if they are ready to make the big leap and move to the US to train SX full time. Cole came off the gate in a top five position, and in quick fashion moved into second, before taking the lead on a Landen Gordon mistake. Davies would battle all seven minutes of the race with Star Yamaha’s Gavin Towers. Davies was able to hold off Towers and take home the win. It was a huge step in this kid’s career and he’s proving that he’s ready to move to America. 

Gavin Towers

Towers, being one the favorites coming into the night, proved why you can’t count him out. After a rough crash at the LA SMX round, I was anxious to see how he would bounce back. We all know who he trains with every week, which is the star studded Star 250 team. I knew Towers would be prepared. Finishing second behind Davies, Towers was visibly upset with his finish and he expected nothing but a win out of himself. I think Gavin will regroup with his team and fix his mistakes. When that happens, watch out.

Landen Gordon

The 16-year-old, who within the last year moved up to big bikes, was able to pull the holeshot and lead a lap before a mistake moved him back a few spots. Regardless of the bobble, Gordon is quickly making a name for himself on big bikes. With a strong outing at Mini O’s this year, I could tell this kid has got it. With more time on his 250, I think the rest of the field should be nervous. 

Parker Ross

While we didn’t get to see much of him on tv, if you watched lap times, he wasn’t very far off the leaders. Starting the race in sixth or seventh out of the gate, Ross moved quickly and made some passes to move up to third. With only seven minutes of racing, Parker wasn’t able to catch up to the leaders, but with a good start he has the speed to run with Towers and Davies. Let’s not forget Parker is the SX3 Australian SX Champion and is no stranger to SX. 

Debate

Let’s debate, do you think 250SX Futures is a good idea? While I love to see the sport grow, I’m not sure I’m 100% sold on futures being good for the sport. I understand these kids within the next 1-2 years will more than likely be racing these exact tracks, but, is it too much at the young age? I have no doubt in my mind that they have the talent, but are we pushing them to their limits? They have very limited time on SX tracks. Some of these kids aren’t factory and may not even be able to ride SX everyday because it isn’t available. With heightened nerves, knowing in the back of their mind that they have to prove themselves to the teams watching, will they push themselves too hard? The track was super gnarly as they went right into Futures after 450 main 2. There were plenty of small hiccups by riders that were inches away from ending their nights. Is this the best way to introduce them to supercross? Is there a better way they could introduce kids into supercross? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Main Image: Octopi Media