kay, more like Two Races, One Page. When Fox Raceway at Pala returns to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on May 25, Memorial Day weekend, it will mark the third time that the Southern California venue has been on the schedule. Back in 2010 and ’11, what was then called Pala Raceway hosted the final round of the series in September over Labor Day weekend. It’s pretty hot in that area late in the summer, but hopefully the move to the front of the schedule will bring cooler weather for both riders and race fans.

One rider who hopes he stays hot at Pala is Dean Wilson. While Ricky Carmichael holds the record for race and moto wins at pretty much every track on the schedule, it’s Wilson who ranks as the best ever at Pala. (Okay, RC actually retired in 2007, so he never raced at Pala, nor Ironman, or the new Florida round at WW Ranch—but he’s the GOAT at the other nine tracks on the current schedule.) Riding for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki back then, Dean swept all four 250 Class motos at the two Pala Nationals, giving him the edge over Ryan Dungey, who won both 450 nationals at Pala but dropped a moto to Ryan Villopoto in 2011.

Wilson was a rookie in 2010 with exactly one previous win under his belt from earlier that summer at Budds Creek. He had been a regular on practice days at Pala and knew the style and feel of the Kirk Chandler-designed track. The Scotland-born, Canada-raised Wilson would win both motos aboard the #108 Kawasaki KX250F ahead of his teammate Tyla Rattray from South Africa, though the race would best be remembered for what happened to their other teammate, Frenchman Christophe Pourcel. He went into the race with a seven-point lead on GEICO Honda’s Trey Canard, only to crash in the first moto and break his arm.

One year later, Wilson returned to Pala having already claimed the 2011 Lucas Oil 250 Pro Motocross Championship. No matter. He kept the throttle on throughout the day and again went 1-1 after running down surprise leader Justin Bogle, then a rookie with the GEICO Honda team.

The 2011 Pala win marked a zenith for Wilson; one year later, he suffered a knee injury toward the end of the AMA Supercross Championship. He tried to go at the Hangtown MX opener and only made it half a moto before pulling out and heading to the doctor for surgery. He has not won an outdoor national since.

As for Pala, there was a turnover with the track promoter after that second moto, so the series moved up the road to the even hotter Lake Elsinore. That didn’t go so well either. Meanwhile, Glen Helen had a change of heart and returned to the schedule in 2014, only to have another change of heart last fall, asking to be removed from the series schedule yet again. I know, it sounds like Groundhog Day. . . .

So now it’s 2019, Pala is called Fox Raceway, and Dean Wilson is having a resurgent season as he fills in for the injured Jason Anderson at Rockstar Energy Husqvarna. How cool would it be to see the King of Pala get back to that winner’s circle after all these years?