s the progression of four-stroke motorcycles that began in the nineties has brought the industry to a place where there are only a few manufacturers still producing 125cc two-stroke models, for better or for worse, we can only bench race about the days of blue premix-smoke clouds forming down at the starting gate at an AMA Pro Motocross National—well, until now, that is. Created purely for entertainment, the 125 All Star Series is a working rebirth of what many miss the most, with an accessibility and talent range that opens up whole new opportunities for both participation and entertainment. Will this new halftime show gain momentum and start something bigger? That answer is undetermined, but a closer look into the 125 All Star Series reveals amazing opportunity, epic battles, and a reality that the keyword to growth is fun.

The Evolution

Before diving into this 125cc racing resurgence, paying homage to the movement’s originators is a must. Nearly ten years back, two industry guys named Joey Lancaster and James Hanson were bench racing between motos aboard their newly purchased 125s. Not wanting to be selfish with their premix-induced fun, the two discussed the idea of a big race that gathered a bunch of people together to enjoy their small-bore machines. This initial idea sparked what became the 125 Dream Race in the Pacific Northwest. With a small team assembled, they pulled off their first event in 2012 at Washougal MX Park with huge success.

Fast-forward to 2016, where the program at the Washougal National opened up for an intermission race that Ryan Huffman deemed a perfect fit for the 125 Dream Race and a gate filled with retired pros, average riders, and fast amateurs.

“It was insane,” Lancaster says. “The whole industry stood along those fences and watched the four laps like it was another battle between Stewart and Carmichael.”

This event’s success sparked what became the three-round 2017 125 Dream Race Triple Crown, and a seven-race 2018 version that became known as the current 125 All Star Series, which runs as a full 12-round exhibition series put on by each race’s promoter.

Although Lancaster and the gang aren’t involved with the current program, their ideals and vision live on.

“Part of the real dream of the original 125 Dream Race was not necessarily just two-strokes, it’s more to remind us of the culture of motocross and the camaraderie that got us all here,” Lancaster says. “It’s helping your buddy rebuild his bike the night before the race and scrounging around for parts and being proud of that bike you just built.

“Nowadays, people are just buying race-ready machines. Also, more importantly, just trying to keep the price tag down to where everyone can get into it and it isn’t limited to just people with deep pockets is highly important. These 125s are so much fun, and the price of entry is manageable, and it’s great to see people continuing to race them.”

It should be noted that, still running strong yearly, the 8th Annual 125 Dream Race goes down on August 23-25 at Washougal MX Park, three weeks after the pro national.

This current version and the 12-round program has seen a rapid increase in interest, but that didn’t come without growing pains. Things like the limited one-day time frames and tight TV-coverage bandwidth do hold back a little of the potential coverage for fans at home, but those on hand have been treated to some of the best racing all year—with some very symphonic sounds.

For The Love of Racing

The primary goal of the current 125 All Star smoke show is to entertain the fans on hand with classic 125cc racing, and it has delivered all year. In quite possibly the race of the season thus far, the four-lap battle royale between up-and-coming KTM amateur Josh Varize and retired superstar Ryan Villopoto at Fox Raceway represented everything the class brings to the table, along with why it’s a win-win. Where else can you watch someone of Villopoto’s pedigree line up against a relatively unknown amateur racer like Varize? Racer X’s own helmet-cam perspective from Varize’s lid is all you need to watch to get the idea, but four laps of all-out sprints with multiple passes had the entire ground cheering on both riders.

Varize, who is currently on the road to professional racing with support from KTM’s Orange Brigade and more, looks back on the experience with a lot of fondness.

“I wasn’t too worried, like, ‘Oh my god, this is Ryan Villopoto! If I’m going to battle, I’m going to have to back down!’” he says. “I was just like, ‘I’m here to win. I’m not here to mess around.”

Touching on the battle, Varize attributes the national-caliber track prep.

“There were multiple lines everywhere, which was really cool,” he says. “There were ruts up the faces of jumps, and usually you don’t get ruts up the faces of jumps on normal races. I thought once I got around him I’d be able to pull away, and then the next thing I knew he was right there on the inside. I passed him back and then he got me again! I was like, ‘Oh, dang!’ I was not expecting him to be there like that. He still has all the tricks up his sleeve. It made me feel even more accomplished after it was over.”

“I think we passed each other like four or five times during that moto, and I was impressed with him,” RV says of his youthful rival. “I would run it in and he would hold his line, and he didn’t make a mistake. I figured if I ran it in a few times he would make that mistake, but he never did, and that was really good on his part. A lot of times kids will say, ‘Oh my god, it’s Ryan Villopoto’ and it’s more pressure, but he stayed right there and made no mistakes. I had people telling me that our race was the best race of the weekend, even out of the big-time guys. . . . It’s fun. It’s no pressure, and for me, I get my little glory time and go out there and race, and then I’ll go have a beer afterwards.”

And that’s the beauty of it: at the end of this Saturday under the sun, Villopoto remained legendary and, although bested in this four-lap race, looked even cooler having gone out and given his best. Josh Varize, on the other hand, earned the respect of every fan on the Fox Raceway grounds with a ride he won’t soon forget.

“I’ve raced the Monster Energy Cup, and you can hear the crowd, but the Pro Motocross crowd had air horns and stuff like that, and knowing everyone was watching our battle for first was pretty cool,” he says. “I got so many DMs of videos from the race, and it was really cool hearing the crowd. And knowing that all these people that are into Pro Motocross that may not look at the amateur side of things may have just learned about my name through one race is really cool. . . . It was, like, the most fun I’ve ever had riding.”

Reality Check

Can the 125 All Star Series become a feeder class into the pros? Never say never, but that simple question could warrant an entire feature of its own. In the simplest answer, the main roadblock with the current state of 125cc racing is the lack of manufacturer support. An amateur racer who is signed to a Suzuki, Honda, or Kawasaki pro development contract can’t race a 125cc model, as those manufacturers no longer produce them. Fox Raceway winner Varize even mentioned how lucky he felt that he was able to transition to a 125cc via KTM’s program.

“KTM having their 125cc model helps me out a lot, because not all of the manufacturers make a 125,” he says. “For some riders that’s a bummer, because it’s a good transition from the Supermini to the four-stroke, and it really helps to get to know the wheelbase, because the 125cc and 250F are similar plastics and size, but the four-stroke has a lot more power.”

What about the successful European EMX 125cc class? While this is a staple of the MXGP series and an easy way for manufacturers and factory teams to groom worldwide talent, comparing our American amateur system to Europe’s is almost impossible. With so many countries running their own championships, and with no stage like a Loretta Lynn’s AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, it’s much harder for a European rider to jump onto a team’s radar as early as the American amateur racers. Our sport has seen a rapid rise of contracts signed at early ages to groom adolescents into pros, and these years of amateur title chasing, and now Road to Supercross points, is the current system into AMA Pro Motocross and beyond.

Could a mandatory 125cc class fit into the picture? Many would argue yes, but where it fits and how you bypass the question of manufacturer support are the two things that will keep this halftime show a halftime show.

But what a show it is! And if this topic runs you down a rabbit hole of two-stroke advocacy, you can officially consider yourself a cult follower. We salute you.

Fun = Growth

With all of this premix continuing to burn, more and more enthusiasts and racers are getting a whiff. While the speed bumps in the class won’t disappear, nothing is stopping anyone from procuring their next fun 125cc project—and this excitement has bitten the average fan all the way to the most legendary industry icons. Touching on Villopoto’s Pro Circuit YZ125 weapon, one could argue that Mitch Payton tuning as much power out of the cylinder head on his famed wooden workbench could be equivalent to the average Joe completing his first top-end kit on a Craigslist beater. It’s all for the love of motorcycles, and the bottom line is that the 125cc All Star Series, and the surrounding movement, is one of the most influential grassroots things happening in the sport. It’s time to wake up and smell the premix!