Feature Story
A Career Built on Loyalty: Cade Clason
Clason Reflects on Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki, and Retiring on His Own Terms
For nearly 15 years, Cade Clason built a career the hard way. In a sport where riders are often defined by factory rides and podium appearances, Clason carved out a reputation through consistency, grit, and longevity. From grinding through privateer programs to becoming one of the respected veterans in the paddock, the longtime Kawasaki rider quietly became a staple of the professional supercross and motocross scene. Now, as the 2026 Monster Energy® AMA Supercross season marks the end of his professional racing career, Clason leaves the sport not only with years of experience behind him, but with one final accomplishment added to his résumé: the PulpMX LCQ Challenge victory in Salt Lake City. For a rider whose career has been built on perseverance and loyalty rather than headlines, the moment felt like a fitting way to begin closing the chapter on nearly a decade and a half of racing at the professional level.
Clason’s professional career dates to 2013, when he first began racing the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, though Kawasaki machinery would eventually become one of the defining pieces of his story. While the early years of his career were spent aboard another manufacturer, Clason explained that from 2020 forward, most of his career was spent with the Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki program. Over that span, he not only established himself as a reliable veteran presence within the industry, but also watched the team itself evolve from a smaller privateer effort into one of the stronger independent programs in the paddock. Looking back on that progression, Clason takes immense pride in knowing he played a role in helping the team grow into what it has become today. “When I first started, it was very, very privateer,” Clason explained. “Now, it’s a step below a factory team. I feel like I’ve been a part of helping this team grow”, which additionally reflects the longstanding relationship between the team and Kawasaki, something Clason credits as a major part of his stability throughout the later stages of his career. Team owner Julien Perrier had already been working with Kawasaki long before Clason joined the effort, creating a partnership that provided confidence in both the team and the brand year after year.
Throughout his time with the team, Clason raced multiple generations of Kawasaki motorcycles and developed a level of trust in the brand that only comes from years of experience. Like every rider in the industry, he acknowledged there were challenges and occasional struggles along the way, but he never viewed those moments with resentment. Instead, Clason reflected on his career with an overwhelming sense of appreciation, particularly now that retirement is officially approaching. “Every motorcycle has quirks…but I trusted the bike completely and felt like I could go out there and do my job at my best on that bike.” The trust Clason had extended far beyond the motorcycle itself, as Clason admitted there were opportunities throughout his career where he potentially could have gone elsewhere, but loyalty and relationships mattered more to him than chasing the next opportunity. “I don’t have any regrets. I could have ridden for other people at different points, but Julien always took care of me. We worked through problems just like every team does, and I’m proud of the decisions I made throughout my career.” In an era where riders and teams frequently move in different directions after only short periods of time, Clason’s long-standing connection with the Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki program became one of the defining constants of his professional journey.
While race results and accomplishments naturally became part of his story, Clason made it clear that the relationships he built throughout the paddock ultimately became the most meaningful part of his career. As someone who spent years grinding through the privateer ranks, he grew into a respected veteran in the industry, particularly among younger riders entering the professional scene for the first time. For Clason, helping mentor those riders and becoming someone they could lean on carried more weight than statistics ever could. “The results are cool, but honestly people forget them after a while. The biggest thing for me has been the people; some of my best friends came from this team. Being able to help younger riders coming in and be a mentor to some of them has been the most rewarding thing I’ve accomplished” Clason explained. Having this mentality helped define the kind of presence Clason became within the sport. Beyond simply being a competitor, he evolved into someone younger riders respected for his honesty, work ethic, and willingness to help them navigate the realities of professional racing.
As fitting as his legacy already was, Salt Lake City Supercross provided one final memorable moment before retirement. Clason captured the victory at the PulpMX LCQ Challenge, an event specifically designed to support privateer racers while showcasing some of the sport’s hardest-working athletes. The physically demanding format forced riders to complete back-to-back motos with Olympic style scoring, creating an intense environment where endurance and consistency mattered more than speed. Fortunately for Clason, the challenge played directly into the type of preparation he and the team had focused on throughout the year. “We’ve done those six-lappers with short breaks a thousand times this year,” Clason said. “I knew going into it that I probably had a little advantage because of that.” As the evening progressed and fatigue began setting in across the field, Clason focused on minimizing mistakes and capitalizing on one specific strength, being his ability through the whoops. “I was just looking forward, trying to pick guys off…” he explained. “I knew I was better through the whoops than a lot of guys out there, and it was about hitting them every lap, staying smooth, and making clean passes.” By the final moto, exhaustion had become a major factor for nearly everyone on the track, but Clason’s consistency ultimately allowed him to emerge with the overall victory.
Beyond simply winning the race itself, Clason also emphasized how important the PulpMX LCQ Challenge has become for the privateer community. Having spent much of his own career outside the factory ranks, he understands firsthand how meaningful events like this can be for privateer racers trying to survive in a demanding environment. “It’s a cool race, and I’m really thankful to Steve [Matthes] for putting it on,” Clason said. “They raise a lot of money for the privateers every year, and that means a lot to guys like us.” As his professional career now begins winding down, Clason leaves the sport with far more than just race results attached to his name. Through years aboard Kawasaki programs and countless weekends spent grinding through the privateer ranks, he built a reputation centered around loyalty, professionalism, and perseverance. More importantly, he leaves behind the respect of the paddock, the friendships built over nearly 15 years of racing, and the knowledge that he was able to walk away from the sport entirely on his own terms.
