A positive attitude will get a person far in life and for Cameron McAdoo, it has him at the front of the Monster Energy Supercross 250 East pack. McAdoo’s victory in the Indianapolis Triple Crown gave him the red plate with this division taking a couple of weeks off.
After a rough start in Detroit, McAdoo finished second in the next three rounds, once to Haiden Deegan in Arlington and then in back-to-back weekends to Tom Vialle in Daytona and Birmingham.
Last year, that would have made him angry. In 2024, he used that as further motivation to get all the way to the front of the field.
“I’m getting older; I’ve done it quite a few years now,” McAdoo said after winning one of Indianapolis’ three features in the Triple Crown format and sweeping the podium to claim the overall victory. "(It’s) just in the last few years, I’ve been a front-running guy. I spent a lot of years in my career just hopeful to even be on a ride that I can keep racing.”
For McAdoo, the journey has been both long and immediate. Racing in the 250 division since 2017, it took a couple of years to realize his potential. McAdoo finished outside the top 10 in both Supercross and Pro Motocross in his first two seasons. He then finished fifth in the 2019 250 West division and third in 2021.
The 2022 season should have been a highlight of his career. McAdoo stood on the podium in every race he entered until a shoulder injury put an end to that campaign.
McAdoo knew he had speed though and entered 2023 with expectations of winning — but the pattern of 2022 continued. McAdoo finished third four times in the first five rounds, behind Jett Lawrence and RJ Hampshire each time.
“It was a quick transition and it turned into an expectation very quickly,” McAdoo said. “Last year, to be honest, I was expecting to try and win and to fight Jett for wins and then I had a few races where I got passed on the last lap from second into third. I remember being so mad on the podium, so mad on Sunday flying home.”
McAdoo had to face losing it all to appreciate what he had.
“A couple weeks later I got injured and it was all gone,” McAdoo said. “It was all stripped from me. I was laying on the couch out of surgery. (I did) a lot of reflecting through last summer. And there was so much that I had to be grateful for in those times and I didn’t really take advantage of that and I’m realizing that I’m not going to be able to do this forever; this is a really short portion of my life and it’s really special to be able to be up here with these two guys. These are two of the best dirt bike racers in the world.”
After finishing second in Birmingham, McAdoo made similar comments, reveling in the life he gets to lead — taking his supportive wife to great restaurants in interesting cities.
Still, McAdoo had every reason to start the 2024 season angry. He ran well in his heat in Detroit but laid his bike down in the first turn of the feature and wiped out half the field. Vialle and Deegan, who shared the podium with him in Indianapolis, were also swept up in that accident. McAdoo finished the race with torn livery and finished 15th — one position ahead of Deegan and two in front of Vialle.
Like McAdoo, Vialle recovered quickly. He scored his first Supercross podium in Round 2 of the 250 East division in Arlington and then won immediately after. His second consecutive victory in Birmingham gave him the red plate, but with only one point separating him from McAdoo, Vialle knew he had to outrun his competitor in Indy.
A fourth-place finish in the first Indy Feature was too much to overcome for Vialle. He also finished behind McAdoo in the next race even though both riders stood on the podium. Vialle won the final Feature as McAdoo concentrated on riding a smart race to finish third.
“As I speak on being so grateful; being so happy — I’m not perfect. After qualifying seventh I’m like, ‘do I got it tonight?’ I have self-doubt just like everyone does. I question myself and I deal with struggles like we all do.
"(But) I’ve taken a little bit of the pressure off me. I’m the same person whether I have success on Saturday night or not and that’s really hard (to understand). I haven’t gotten it dialed yet but I’ve made a big change real quick with my perspective of the sport, of what it means to me and it’s helpful to be more settled in my mind and okay with whatever my best can be that night and each weekend and at the end of the championship.
“This is the best place I’ve been in at Round 5. I’m going to keep doing what I can every day and be present every lap on the track, every time I go to dinner with my wife — everything.
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