"All of your guys were around when four-strokes came out," said the AMA's Mike Burkeen in Thursday night's AMA Arenacross press conference. "The rules were made and it turns out they weren't very good. They basically killed off the two-strokes. Once it happened we couldn't put the genie back in the bottle. With the electric bikes we didn't want to go full-bore and then just cut it off if we find out it doesn't work. Because everyone has made purchasing decisions already, then we'll have all these guys that they bought under what they would say were bad pretenses. So we want to walk before we run, but we definitely want to run. What that looks like? Nobody knows?"

Arenacross can serve as the testing ground to see where electric could fit, so a new stand-alone class for Stark Varg electric bikes has will fit into the Arenacross structure for 2024-2025. Have a listen to last night's press conference as the series explains the new class, and hear from riders like Josh Hill and Justin Bogle. Don't worry, the traditional AMA Arenacross class for 250s and 450s remains, with Kyle Peters trying to hold off riders like Ryan Breece and Vince Friese to notch a record sixth-straight championship. But in the Dash for Cash, it will be electric versus combustion! All the stars are here to talk about their prospects before tonight's season opener in Reno, Nevada.

The Racer X Exhaust podcast is presented by Yoshimura and Racer X Brand.

Few remember that in 2019, when Austin Forkner was ascending in the sport and threatening a perfect season in 250SX East Region, that Jordon Smith was actually the closest rider to him. Forkner's eventual ACL injury and a title for a young Chase Sexton later become the story. By then, Smith had hurt his wrist, and struggled for years to solve that injury. In fact, he thought his career might be over.

After missing major chunks of racing over the next few seasons, including two frustrating seasons with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, he took the pressure off during a brief run with Firepower Honda.

Then Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing called, and Jordon's career rebuild was really taking shape. Now he's got a new deal with Triumph that could stretch to three years and the 450 Class. Jason Weigandt rings him up for this podcast.

The Racer X Exhaust is presented by Yoshimura and Racer X Brand.