INTERVIEW: KAYDEN MINEAR

Young WA-born ripper, Kayden Minear, is following in the footsteps of Aussie riders who made a name for themselves in America – guys such as Chad Reed, Michael Byrne, Andrew McFarlane and Brett Metcalfe. But can the likeable Star Yami teenager go all the way? Transmoto’s Eric Johnson asks him exactly that…

Australians competing in American motocross and supercross have created a major impact on the sport in this nation. Grand Prix racer Jeff Leisk lined up here in the mid-1980s. DownUnder sensation Chad Reed scored 61 race victories and four championships in AMA Supercross and Motocross. Michael Byrne and Brett Metcalfe were factory-backed racers in the U.S. and both consistent top-10 finishers. Dean Ferris and Todd Waters raced here. And we all know what Australian brothers, Jett and Hunter Lawrence, have been up to in their Transamerica tour of force. And now 19-year-old Kayden Minear is holding station in the United States. Straight out of Perth, Western Australia, Minear turned professional in Australia at age 15. Four years later, the racer out of the nation of 27,801,023 inhabitants is now posted up in the United States of America and competing for the mighty Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team, where he is currently slotted in at sixth in points in the AMA Pro Motocross 250 classification. Having powered to four top-five finishes thus far in 2026, Minear has displayed speed and grit all along the way this summer, and with only the Ironman National left to be run this coming Saturday, is hoping to score a podium finish in the final two motos of the season.

“I’m just in Tallahassee,” said Minear from his training homebase in Florida and before clearing out for Crawfordsville, Indiana. “I just finished towing one of my cars back home because it broke down on the side of the road. I don’t actually know what happened. It’s an electrical issue. We have to figure it out. It’s all fun and games, I guess. We also rode and trained today, so it was a good day.”

Has Minear has found that riding, testing and training among all the team riders (Cooper Webb, Justin Cooper, Haiden Deegan, Pierce Brown and Cole Davies, to name part of the roster in 250cc and 450cc classes) at the 94-acre Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team facility in Cairo, Georgia, been instrumental in spooling up his speed and technique on the Yamaha YZ250F?

“Definitely. Most definitely,” he stated. “I think it’s a good environment to be around. I have to say for some people, it might drag them down and burn them out, but I’m never afraid of hard work. Riding with all the boys day-in and day-out definitely shows you where you are week and definitely where you need to work on. I think it’s really good. I think that’s why you always see results out of our team. It’s the work environment with racing every day. Like I said, everybody is pushing each other and we’re all racers at the end of the day, and none of us are wanting to lose. It’s definitely an all-out battle every day. And we all kind of work together. Me and Cole [Davies] kind of bounce off each other on different ideas. We look at bike set-ups and sometimes we’ll swap just depending on what it is. We definitely work together. We bounce feedback off everybody, so it’s definitely a good environment.”

Being as young as he is and how far from his homeland of Australia he is, does Minear ever feel homesick at all?

“No, not really,” Minear explained. “I’ve really enjoyed it in Tallahassee. Obviously, there is not a whole lot to do, but it’s kind of become my home. I’ve been away from home since I was 13, so I was very young when I moved out of home to move to the other side of Australia. It’s kind of become normal for me to be away from family. Obviously, it becomes tough at some stages. It’s my brother’s birthday today and I’m missing that. I’m not there for him. Other than that, it’s kind of normal for me now. I’m loving it here. I think it’s a beautiful country and fortunately enough I get to travel it every weekend. It’s cool.”

Minear is sixth in 250MX points with four top-five and eight top-10 finishes throughout the season. Certainly solid numbers.

“When you put it that way, it’s like, ‘Wow. It is pretty good.’ But I feel I can still be better. Every weekend for a long time now, we’ve just been building and building. It’s kind of plateaued over the last two rounds, which I’m not stoked over. There are a few things that we’re trying to iron out. I think coming into this weekend, we’re in a very good position. I’ve been learning some new tracks here. It’s definitely tough, but at the end of the day, if you’re good enough, you’re good enough. There’s no point of making the excuse that you’ve never ridden a track. It’s part of the challenge.”

With the final AMA Pro Racing 250MX National set for Ironman Raceway on Saturday, Kayden Minear certainly has objectives he’d like to reach before heading into the off-season months.

“I want to start seeing some podiums,” stated Minear. “I think I’m definitely good enough. Throughout the week, my speed is very good. We’ve been working on everything and kind of ironing out all the crinkles in the program and think we’re in a really good spot for this last round. I’m feeling good. I’ve done some testing. I’m feeling good on the bike and confident on the bike. I’m really looking forward to Ironman. I’ve ridden that track a few times now, so it’s kind of not new to me. I’ve always had good results there, so I’m really looking forward to that final round.”

Still quite new to the sprawling and quite formidable U.S.A. motocross scene, Minear has both learned and adapted to Yankee race speed and racecraft as he’s crisscrossed the nation.

“It’s tricky,” explained Minear. “The raw speed everybody has here is mind blowing. I think that has been what has kind of took me the longest to adjust to. My fitness is always good and everything is good, but going into the races, the speed was unbelievable. It was like, ‘Whoa, I’ve got to figure this out.’ So we spent a lot of long days in the peak summer here in Florida with Jeannie Carmichael just doing sprint laps and getting my speed up to pace. I think that’s definitely one big thing this year. I’ve been working on the speed and I’m kind of on the same speed as everybody this year, so it definitely makes it a lot easier.”

And Kayden Minear came to the United States of America for one primary reason and that is to win. For the Australian, it’s nothing to do but win. 

“I am here to win,” he declared. “And all my team guys are willing to do anything it takes. Sometimes a little too much and I find myself running myself into the ground working a little too hard sometimes. I’m willing to put in the work. You know I was speaking to my coach today and he said, ‘There are not many rookies who have done what you’ve done. There are not many who have shown the consistency that you’re showing this year.’ There are not any who have done that, so I think we’re in a very good spot for next year. I’m looking forward to it.”

Minear is also looking ahead to the three-race 2026 Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship beginning with SMX Playoff 1 set for Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on September 12. 

“Yeah, definitely I’m looking forward to SMX,” stated the Australian. “I’m in a very good spot for SMX points. I’m in sixth in points now and I’m only moving up, so I’m looking very good for SMX and I’m excited for that. There has been a bit of talk for the Motocross des Nations and that has not been ruled out yet. We’ll just see what happens with that. Definitely a chance I might do that. It’s pretty cool to see what Team Australia has done over these last couple of years with this winning streak.”

Did Minear realise that the 1992 Motocross des Nations took place at the sandy, whooped out Cosy Creek circuit in Manjimup, Western Australia?

“No, it was crazy,” answered Minear, “somebody was actually telling me about that and I was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know that.’”

Does Minear ever check in and communicate with the Australian-born Lawrence brothers?

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “I speak to them. They’ve become more my friends lately since I’ve been in America. I go speak to them and shoot the shit with them. It’s good to have some Australians that kind of understand our personalities. You can say things that you probably can’t say to Americans. It’s been really good having fellow Australians in it. It’s crazy what those brothers are doing. It’s pretty cool to see two brothers at the top of the game.”

And is everyone back home DownUnder been keeping an eye on Minear and the Lawrence brothers and the profound effect they’re having on American motocross? 

“Definitely. Everybody in Australia is very in tune on what’s going on over here. I still get a lot of messages from back home and my family and friends definitely support a lot. The media is also very big on it, and they do follow it quite a bit.”