A Twisted Tea Suzuki PR contained a wild nugget. When announcing the team for 2025, Kyle Chisholm casually mentioned 2025 will be year twenty for him in supercross!
That's insane. Kyle has announced this will also be his last full-time season, although he does say he could show up for random races here and there. Chiz gonna Chiz!
Chiz first raced a supercross in St. Louis, 2006. He first turned pro at the 2004 Steel City National. As Chiz tells us, he was supposed to turn pro full-time at that point but was dealing with a gnarly broken humerus that he actually re-broke, which pushed his full-time pro career back a bit. He also raced quite a bit as a pro in Canada in his early days. Put all of it together, and he's actually well past the twenty year mark, professionally.
How long is that, actually? We rewound the clock back to September 5, 2004 when Chisholm raced his first professional AMA race. Here's what was going on back then. But first, check out the Steel City '04 results!
Steel City Raceway - 125MX
September 5, 2004| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  James Stewart | Haines City, FL  | 1 - 1 | Kawasaki 125 |
| 2 |  Broc D Hepler | Kittanning, PA | 3 - 5 | Suzuki RM-Z250 |
| 3 | Troy Adams | Brooksville, FL | 7 - 3 | Kawasaki 250 |
| 4 | Christopher Gosselaar | Juniper Hills, CA | 5 - 4 | Honda CRF250R |
| 5 | Matt Walker | Mcrae, GA | 2 - 10 | Kawasaki KX250F |
| 6 |  Ivan Tedesco | Albuquerque, NM | 6 - 9 | Kawasaki 250 |
| 7 | Danny Smith | Eagle, ID | 9 - 7 | Yamaha YZ250F |
| 8 | Ryan Mills | Clintondale, NY | 4 - 15 | Honda CRF250R |
| 9 | Greg S Schnell | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | 8 - 11 | Honda CRF250R |
| 10 |  Mike Brown | Gray, TN | 34 - 2 | Yamaha YZ250F |
| 11 |  Tommy Hahn | Wichita, KS | 12 - 8 | Honda CRF250R |
| 12 | Paul Carpenter | Ithaca, NY | 15 - 6 | Kawasaki 250 |
| 13 |  Davi Millsaps | Cairo, GA | 11 - 12 | Suzuki RM-Z250 |
| 14 |  Brett Metcalfe | Australia  | 10 - 17 | KTM 125SX |
| 15 | Brian Gray | Saint Augustine, FL | 14 - 14 | Suzuki RM-Z250 |
| 16 | Tim Weigand | Santa Clarita, CA | 13 - 19 | Honda |
| 17 | Donnie McGourty | Floral City, FL | 39 - 13 | Kawasaki KX250F |
| 18 | Josh Summey | Huntersville, NC | 16 - 20 | Yamaha YZ250F |
| 19 |  Kyle Chisholm | Clearwater, FL | 38 - 16 | Kawasaki KX250F |
| 20 | Kelly Smith | Ludington, MI | 17 - 29 | Yamaha YZ250F |
When Kyle Chisholm raced his first pro race, Eli Tomac had just won his first-ever AMA Amateur National Championship at Loretta Lynn’s. He was in the 65 class.
Justin Barcia was in the same 65cc class at Loretta’s as Tomac.
When Kyle Chisholm made his pro debut, it was still called the 125 class.
The winner of Kyle Chisholm's first pro race was James Stewart, who went 1-1 at Steel City on a KX 125. It was the last AMA National ever won by a 125 two-stroke.
Kyle Chisholm raced against Mike Brown the day he turned pro. Mike Brown’s first pro race took place at the Houston Supercross on February 3rd, 1990, nearly 35 years ago.
When Kyle Chisholm made his pro debut, Ryan Dungey was still racing Superminis as an amateur. Ryan would later turn pro, race for ten years, retire for five years, return to racing and retire again two years ago. Chisholm is still racing.
Jeremy McGrath raced the Steel City National on the day Chisholm made his pro debut.
When Kyle Chisholm raced his first pro race, Haiden Deegan was two years away from being born.
When Kyle Chisholm raced his first pro race, Chase Sexton was still two years away from racing at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch for the first time.
When Kyle Chisholm raced his first pro race, Ryan Villopoto had not even turned pro yet. Villopoto has been retired for nine years.
When Kyle Chisholm raced his first professional race, Jett Lawrence was a one-year-old.
When Kyle Chisholm made his debut, neither Suzuki or Kawasaki had released a four-stroke motocross 450.
When Kyle Chisholm made his debut, Steve Matthes was a factory mechanic.
When Kyle Chisholm made his pro debut, Steel City was still a national. Steel City has not held a national in twelve years. The track no longer exists.
When Kyle Chisholm made his pro debut, a young Mike Alessi was racing his second pro motocross ever, in the premier class. He got 3rd overall on the day behind Ricky Carmichael and Kevin Windham. Who wouldn’t believe that hype?
