Feature Story
The Green That Never Fades
Cameron McAdoo’s Lasting Mark on Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki
When Cameron McAdoo joined Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki in 2020, Mitch Payton saw something worth betting on. McAdoo had shown flashes of what he was capable of in the 250 Class, but was still searching for the opportunity to turn potential into something permanent. What followed gave both of them more than enough proof. McAdoo became a three-time 250SX winner, five-time 250SX red-plate holder, and secured 25 250SX podiums with Pro Circuit Kawasaki, building a reputation around a willingness to fight that became unmistakably his. Many of his greatest career moments came in green, but so did some of his hardest, and the people who celebrated the victories with him became the same ones standing beside him when getting back to the starting gate became the victory itself. By the time McAdoo's chapter with the team reached its end, there was a considerable journey to reflect upon.
McAdoo wasted little time showing Pro Circuit Kawasaki what he could do with the opportunity. A podium finish came during his first season with the team in 2020, but the breakthrough arrived the following year at Daytona International Speedway. Under the lights of one of the sport’s most iconic venues, McAdoo claimed his first career 250SX Main Event victory and put himself firmly into the championship fight. The red plate followed, along with a season that began shaping the racer he would become with the team. Atlanta delivered the other side of it, when a violent crash brought out the red flag, but McAdoo returned for the restart and fought his way to a third-place finish. The images from that night quickly became synonymous with his determination, although those inside the team would have plenty of opportunities over the coming seasons to see the same quality without the cameras pointed at him.
McAdoo at 2021 Daytona Supercross
McAdoo and Team at 2024 Indianapolis Supercross
Success continued to come, but rarely without making McAdoo work it. Five consecutive podium finishes opened his 2022 250SX East campaign, including his second career main event victory in Arlington, before a shoulder injury sidelined him while sitting second in the championship standings. He returned to claim four podium finishes in 2023 before another injury ended his season early, then came back in 2024 and once again put himself in title contention. McAdoo captured the 250SX East Triple Crown overall victory in Indianapolis and took possession of the red plate before injury brought another championship run to an early close. A torn ACL presented the next challenge in 2025, yet McAdoo continued racing and earned a podium finish in Tampa before eventually stepping away for surgery. The results tell one side of those seasons, while Pro Circuit Kawasaki experienced the other: the rehab, testing, and countless hours required to turn each setback into another return. McAdoo never wanted credit simply for making it back, he just wanted to be competitive when he got there.
Spending so much of a career chasing the same goals together inevitably created history beyond the races themselves. The people at Pro Circuit Kawasaki saw McAdoo at his best, celebrating victories and carrying the red plate, but they also knew the version of him working toward those moments when another main event still felt a long way off. McAdoo saw the team from both sides too; he knew who would be there when the champagne came out, and who would still be there when a championship run ended earlier than anyone wanted. Seasons of sharing both created a level of trust that extended beyond rider and race team, while time away from the track allowed the McAdoo and Payton families to grow close in their own right. The partnership had started because Payton believed McAdoo could win races, but neither needed to win one for the relationship to continue becoming something more.
McAdoo On The Gate at 2024 Nashville Supercross
McAdoo with Payton at 2024 Daytona Supercross
Some of McAdoo’s favorite memories with Payton make that point without trying to. Daytona is there, both for the champagne they shared and the first victory McAdoo later delivered at the speedway, but the rest could have happened between any two people who had simply become close over time. They went fishing from a pontoon boat in Mammoth Lakes, CA, carved pumpkins at the Payton house and watched the Super Bowl together, with Payton’s cardboard game-day setup from the grocery store becoming memorable enough to still earn a mention years later. Nothing about those moments was supposed to compete with winning a Supercross Main Event, and they don’t need to. Their significance comes from the fact that McAdoo remembers them in the same breath. The races marked the progression of his career with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki, while the moments around them reveal how deeply the people became part of it.
McAdoo became just as deeply rooted within Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Teammates changed around him and each season brought a new championship pursuit, but his presence became familiar to the mechanics, staff, and families who spent their weekends alongside him. They watched a rider who arrived looking for his chance develop into a proven winner and veteran of the program, while getting to know everything the results could never show them. McAdoo brought intensity to his racing, but he also brought loyalty to the people who continued investing in him. When injuries interrupted his momentum, he returned ready to build again with the same group. When the results came, they celebrated them together. Over time, the relationship stopped needing a podium to validate it, as enough had already happened between them.
McAdoo with Teammate, Seth Hammaker at 2025 Detroit Supercross
McAdoo with Teammate, Levi Kitchen at 2026 Houston Supercross
Reaching the end of McAdoo’s time with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki brings all of those pieces into focus at once. Daytona, Arlington, and Indianapolis will always carry his name in the team’s history, while 23 podium finishes, red plates, and championship battles document what McAdoo accomplished during one of the most significant chapters of his professional career. Those results also represent countless people behind them, and McAdoo became one of those people for Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki in return. His determination through injury, willingness to rebuild, and commitment to the program left an impression that extended well beyond the nights he stood on the podium. The team didn’t simply watch McAdoo’s career unfold from behind the mechanics area; they lived a large part of it with him, and he lived a large part of theirs.
McAdoo arrived at Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki with something to prove, and he leaves having proven plenty. He became a race winner here, carried the red plate here, and fought for championships here. He also learned how much could exist around those accomplishments when the same people remained beside him long enough to share everything required to reach them. Payton’s decision to take a chance on McAdoo ultimately produced victories and podiums, but its most lasting return may be found in everything neither of them could have planned for when the contract was signed: two families brought together, friendships built through the best and worst parts of racing, and memories whose value had nothing to do with where anyone finished. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki will always be part of Cameron McAdoo’s story, just as Cameron McAdoo will always be part of ours. Racing may have been what brought them together, but it stopped being the only reason they mattered to each other a long time ago.
