Daxton Bennick entered this season as a rider who often posts strong opening-round results but struggles to carry that speed through a full year. He made his debut for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna after two pro seasons with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, reuniting with team manager Nathan Ramsey; he’s training at the Baker’s Factory and cited his KTM amateur background and prior work with trainer Aldon Baker as part of the move.

Bennick finished third in the 250SX East opener at Arlington. He started the main in third, finished less than 1.5 seconds behind winner Jo Shimoda and spent the race fending off pressure from Seth Hammaker. Bennick said he “struggled pretty bad all day” in the heat and called the main the roughest he’d experienced. Husqvarna entered round one as a single-rider 250 team after teammate Casey Cochran fractured his collarbone.

Statistically, his knack for opening rounds is clear: third in Detroit (2024), second in Tampa (2025) and third in Arlington (this season), an average opening-round finish of 2.7. By contrast, his overall 250SX résumé shows less consistency: in 13 non-opening main events he has no podiums, nine top-10s, three top-5s, a best finish of fourth at the 2024 Philly SX and an average finish of 10.4. Team members and observers point to durability issues as a key factor; Bennick suffered a concussion the week after his second-place finish in Tampa last year, and a training crash and resulting injury between an opening round and round two last season are cited as reasons he has sometimes been unable to convert early speed into season-long momentum.

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