“It’s war, dude.”
That’s Team Honda HRC factory racer Chance Hymas on fighting for his competitive existence in the AMA Pro Motocross 250cc Class throughout the summer of 2024. Fourth overall in the 250 points, Idahoan – who won the overall at RedBud in July and who also landed on the podium three additional times – displayed such excellent form that he was tapped to ride the HRC CRF250R at next month’s Motocross of Nations at Matterley Basin in the United Kingdom.
Keen to stay in form for the ‘Olympics of Motocross,’ Hymas will contest the three-round SMX SuperMotocross World Championship beginning this weekend at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.
Only in the second year of his professional career, Hymas is still coming to terms with being a factory-backed racer.
“It’s fun,” he said. “It’s definitely a lot of stress, but it’s awesome. It’s cool that I get to call it my job. Especially this year, because this is my first full year. I missed most of last year with a knee injury.
“I’m getting to experience a lot of cool things. I got picked to go to Motocross of Nations. That’ll be my first time leaving the country. All of that is jammed into this year. It’s a lot to take in when you’re first getting thrown into it, for sure. So far I’ve found joy in it. I enjoy the travel. You travel with your buddies. It can be miserable if you let it be miserable. I’m finding the joy in it and I’m having the most fun I can, while still being serious.
To many, including recently-crowned class champion Haiden Deegan, the AMA Pro Racing 250cc classification is the most competitive motocross and supercross championship in the world.
“The way the 250 class is, I think everyone somewhat respects each other riding-wise, but it is very disrespectful towards each other,” Hymas said. “Everyone is out there for themselves. It’s war, dude. It’s very intense, because everyone is so close in speed and there are so many guys that are factory riders. It’s tough when you get out there. You’re not battling one guy; you’re battling 12 or 13 or 14 guys at a time. It’s crazy, you know?”
A perennial top five contender throughout the Pro Motocross Championship, Hymas has gained speed and confidence through the season.
“This summer was a bit of an eye-opener for me,” he said. “Expectations-wise, I knew I could be up there, and that’s where I expected myself to be. I expected to be up front and to be battling with those guys, but obviously expectations versus confidence is a big difference. It took me a few rounds just to gain that confidence that, I am a frontrunner, you know? Once I was doing it back-to-back-to-back weekends, every moto, I became accustomed to it pretty quickly. Anything else besides running up front was a failure to me. If you’re a professional athlete and you want to be successful, you have to have high expectations.”
Signed on by Team Honda HRC to hold down its in-house amateur program in the October 2021, Hymas has a solid foundation beneath him as he looks to the future.
“It’s very, very cool to be with Honda,” he said. “Even when they first picked me up and made a spot for me on the team, being one of the first HRC factory amateur racers, it was a very big deal. Now, looking back on it, I realize how big of a deal it was. At the time it was definitely cool. I was 16 years old when they picked me up. They made a spot for me, and I finally got a pro deal. There is probably never going to be another amateur seat under the factory HRC rig again. It’s just one of those things where it was so one-off. It was such a special and unique situation. I luckily took advantage of it and took that direction. It’s pretty special now that I look back on it.
“I really appreciate it now. They really took a chance on me and threw this program together and groomed me into where I’m at right now. I want to try and take over the 250 team and be the leader. Obviously, once Jett and Hunter Lawrence moved up to the 450 class, Honda needed someone to fill those shoes. Now it’s me and Jo Shimoda. Jo’s got a bit more experience than me, but now we’re both starting to run up front. We’ve been working at getting the 250 team back up front where it was with Jett and Hunter. It’s cool. The Honda team is like my family now.”
For Hymas, competing in the 2024 Motocross of Nations scheduled for Matterley Basin, United Kingdom will be the realization of a dream.
“It’s definitely an honor,” he said. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I always dreamed of being in that position of going to represent my country. For the team and the AMA and Honda to believe in me and give me that much responsibility and that much trust is awesome. It is something that I’m going to take very, very seriously. Obviously, I want to be part of the team that brings the Chamberlain Trophy back home and back where it belongs.”