Mayla Herrick wins in her Women's Pro Motocross (WMX) debut to give herself a birthday present
· Yahoo Sports
Mount Morris, Pennsylvania: Mayla Herrick earned the holeshot in Moto 1 of the Women's Pro Motocross Series, powered by Synchrony (WMX) portion of the High Point National and gave herself a birthday present in her series debut.
Finishing nearly two seconds ahead of the field, Herrick became the first woman in 2026 to beat the rider who has dominated the series, Lachlan Turner.
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Herrick would have loved to race in the first two rounds of the WMX series, but she was not allowed. Quite simply, she was too young. On Friday ahead of the big program at High Point Raceway, she celebrated her 17th birthday in style.
"I've won, I think every single amateur race I've ever been to and I've won Loretta Lynns'; I've got a title there," Herrick told NBC Sports last week in Colorado. "I've won Mini-Os. I raced Texas SuperMotocross on a super mini. I was the first girl to ever do it. I qualified in the Schoolboy 2 class [racing against the boys]. I think I was either one of the first or the first to ever do that as well."
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Mayla Herrick was flying high on her birthday, winning a WMX moto in her debut. Align Media
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Highly touted, many pundits who followed her career believed she was a natural, who would challenge the leaders immediately, but Herrick did not know what to expect last week as she settled into the pits before her first professional race.
When asked if she wanted to make a splash or simply learn, Herrick responded: "I want to definitely do both. I think no matter what happens, I'll learn no matter what, so I'm really out there to just see what I can do. I have no expectation for myself. I want to get podium obviously, but I don't know where I'll stack up against these girls, so I just want to ride my heart out and see where it takes me."
It took her to the front. Herrick shot out to a four-second lead early as the field bottled up behind her.
Dutch rider Lotte van Duren slotted into second early, and one might have supposed that the two-time defending MXGP WMX champion would have the experience to chase Herrick down.
That did not happen, as Herrick stabilized the gap and increased it for a lap or two. As van Drunen came under attack from the American WMX championship leader, Turner, the margins narrowed between the top three riders and Herrick met the challenge.
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"It's definitely hard to judge when you don't really know where you're going to stack up," Herrick said last week. "I've raced La La for years and years now, so I kind of know where I am compared to her, but I haven't really raced her or any of these girls in such a long time that I really don't even know. It's hard; I don't want to compare myself because I don't know where I'm going to be."
On Friday, she learned how she compared against the seasoned riders and it was favorable.
Is she ready to through the gauntlet down in front of her competitors?
"I don't even know' I'm just here," Herrick told NBC Sports on Friday. "I'm two races down and whatever happens, happens. I'm not in it for the championship, but I'm here to have some fun and show what I can do."