Currently ranked fourth in the 250SX West standings, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Michael Mosiman has expressed satisfaction with his opening round results, highlighted by a third-place finish at the San Diego Supercross last weekend. Entering the eighth season of his professional career, the 26-year-old breaks down his start to 2026 in this Conversation feature.

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Anaheim 1, that was a great effort, but this one even better. What would you say was your key strength in tonight’s race?

Oh, just keeping my head on, I’d say, for the whole race. Just try to be there and not push too hard. It was a tricky track. The whoops were really edgy. There are a lot of little things that could catch you out, and so it was a matter of just staying in it lap after lap and trying to be there in the end.

It seemed like the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing bikes, they couldn’t get away from each other all night. I know you were part of some great battles. What’s it like when you go back to the pit area, let’s say tonight? Are you conversing with your teammates and competitors or do you keep to yourself with your mechanic?

No, we all talk, and I don’t know, we each have our different relationships, but I’d say Max [Anstie] and I are probably a little bit closer than Haiden [Deegan] and I. I think there’s a little bit of an age gap, and he’s a kid. He’s into all sorts of different things while Max and I are both married and in different seasons of life, so I think we are able to relate to each other a little bit better. But overall, we’re all cordial. It was super… Haiden let us ride on his track, so that was super nice this week. And so I think it’s a good atmosphere.

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Back-to-back top fives. How important is that?

It feels great. I think last year I started out the season [with] 15-9 and I remember looking over the points at the end of the year, and I was like, ‘Wow, if I could have had those two races back, that would’ve been huge.’ And so to start out, having good results is awesome. It’s great. It’s a blessing, and it just gives you something to build off of, and you’re able to stay in the fight. So, I think I tend to get better as the season goes on. It’s the best I’ve probably started out any season ever. And so that’s just a super awesome testament to the work we put in to be more mentally strong, to be able to show up right away.

You mentioned on the podium that you’re more level-headed during the main events. Does that come naturally to you?

No.

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Do you have to actively tell yourself to be calm?

It has not historically come naturally to me – I work with a neuroscientist full-time. He’s my performance coach. And so we’ve literally done a lot of work to try and rewire my brain from the inside out to be able to handle situations like that better. I don’t crash nearly as much.
Last week, I had a couple of occasions, but some weren’t my fault, and some were. And so yeah, I think that the proof’s in the pudding. We’ve been putting a lot of work in. I mean, countless hours of therapy and talking through things and clearing out historical issues so that I can move on from the past. I’m not the same rider I was.

In the heat race, it was 1-2-3 with your teammates and [two] of you are on the podium here. Does that give you any comfort when you see those bikes, because you’re used to seeing them during the week?

I would say I trust those guys not to do anything crazy with me. I think we all protect each other a little bit. Those guys are right now heavily in the title fight and have their own little beef brewing. So maybe not them individually, but I don’t think Haiden’s going to clean me out, and he’s going to leave me room, and I think that Max is the same way. And so that’s just huge. Having a couple of guys you trust that they’re not going to do anything crazy. They’re not going to cut over on you. And when we’re all at the front, that’s nice.

When you think back to the main event, what was the decisive point, the moment for you that really counted?

That’s a good question. I would say there are probably two moments. There’s the first lap, I did not get a great start, and there was chaos breaking loose. I think someone went down the first turn, and I made some really good decisive moves [on the] first lap. I have a technique, I call it the pick and roll, but essentially the second turn, everyone’s going up in the berm, and if you have somebody that’s already mid turn that you can stick your front wheel behind, it’s almost like cover, right? Because then the person underneath can’t come in and get you. So it’s like they’re protecting you. So I was able to use that second turn, and then I got really close to the tuff blocks, but luckily, on the edge, I was able to go on and off in the second rhythm, and that was huge, [it] put me right in the mix of things. And yeah, I would say that was huge to put myself in a decent position out of the gate. And then I would say probably 10 minutes in, just my internal self-talk. I remember coming up before passing the mechanics area like, ‘Alright, I can do this. You can do this. Stay in it.’ And a couple laps later, I’m in third and battling right on second. So I think just giving myself that shot, as everyone’s getting tired of staying in it, was another huge moment of the race for me.