Mikayla Nielsen says she just likes to race, and that she does. And she does it well, too. The three-time NGPC Women’s Pro Champion and top WMX racer talks about doing double duty.
Photography by Mark Kariya
You might have heard of Mikayla “Moto KayKay” Nielsen. Motocross fans definitely know her, but they might not realize she’s a skilled off-road racer, and off-road enthusiasts certainly know of her, too, but they might not realize she’s a top Women’s Pro motocrosser. Now you do.
Nielsen is a young, up-and-coming motorcycle racer who has attained considerable success in both motocross and off-road disciplines, most notably winning her third consecutive AMA National Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Pro Women’s title, despite racing the final two rounds with a broken hand, and finishing third overall in the 2025 AMA Women’s Motocross Championship (WMX), which included an overall win this year.
The 20-year-old Nielsen started riding dirt bikes at age 3 and spent her early years riding in the desert with her family in Southern California before adding motocross to the mix at a friend’s recommendation. As an amateur, she was a standout motocrosser in the girls’ classes, winning the Girls (11-16) class championship at Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Motocross Championship in 2019. She went on to win several off-road class championships as well.
Nielsen turned professional in early 2024 and quickly established herself as a versatile and determined competitor. She now rides for the SLR Honda team in both the off-road and motocross arenas.
I recently got the chance to chat with Nielsen, who was born and raised in Southern California and currently lives in Riverside, about her 2025 racing season, future plans, and how she got into this motorcycle racing business in the first place.
What came first for you? Motocross or off-road?
I’ve always done both. I started riding in the desert at Ocotillo Wells [a popular desert riding area east of San Diego]. My parents would go out to the desert and rent an RV. My dad bought a 650, so he bought me and my sister bikes, so we’d just ride in the backyard and ride in the desert. We’d go out to the desert, and me being competitive, I’ve always wanted the faster bike, or I wanted to be the fastest in the group. I’ve always wanted to keep up with my dad. I mean, growing up, my dad was like the best rider in the world. Now it’s pretty funny to see him ride. I’m like, “Dad, you’re getting old!” [Ha.] So, then one of my dad’s friends was like, “Hey, you should race.” So, we got ourselves signed up for a race, and, yeah, it’s been full throttle ever since. My first race, I was 7.
Has being an accomplished off-road rider helped you be a better motocrosser and perhaps vice versa?
I kind of used both to learn from. Everything that I’ve learned from off-road, I could put into moto, and everything I learned from moto helps in off-road, so I definitely learned a lot of how I ride from both different terrains of motocross and off-road.
“We’d go out to the desert, and me being competitive, I’ve always wanted the faster bike, or I wanted to be the fastest in the group.”
What are some of your off-road accomplishments?
I’ve won a few amateur championships in the Women’s A class, and a couple of B-class championships in WORCS and NGPC.
You had an interesting finish to your NGPC Championship run this year, didn’t you?
Yes. The NGPC season went really well this year; I put in a lot of work and got good results, but I broke my hand [playing water polo] a couple of days before the eighth round, so I had to race at around eight and round nine with a broken hand. [And still finished second both times.] I almost had a perfect season. I was kind of shooting for that, but I guess next year we’re going to shoot for that again. The GP series is pretty cool.
How did the WMX season go for you?
There definitely were many highs and lows. I started the season on a high note, winning Pala, then finishing second at Hangtown. At Thunder Valley, I struggled a bit, because we got rained out on Friday, so we had to race at around 5 p.m. on Saturday, which was after both pro motos, so I kind of struggled there. During the off-season, or that little break we had, I focused on working hard, training harder, and improving my technique and skills. It definitely paid off, as I progressed, but I still couldn’t quite put the results on the board. At Budds Creek, I finished with a second and a third. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s that experiencing being a pro and traveling every weekend to races is a new challenge. I had to learn that if you have a bad race, you just got to forget about it and move on. So, there’s been a lot of learning this year, and I’m excited to plan better and develop a stronger strategy for the next season.
You finished third in the championship, but you were technically still in the title contention at the last race.
It was close between all of us because we had the drop-moto scores, so if we dropped our scores, we were all kind of within each other. It was really down to Lachlan [Turner] and Charli [Cannon]. I just kind of struggled with just getting that sprint speed that they have, so that’s, yeah, another thing I’m going to be working on. Lachlan, she killed it all this season.
Do you feel the attention for WMX has grown the past couple of years?
We had some increase. After we’d been on Peacock the first time at Thunder Valley, when we were having battles, first and second battling, and third and fourth—me and fourth place; I ended up going down, so it just kind of created this entertainment for everyone, and then Peacock wanted us back because we had such a great turnout for them. Now there’s such a high demand to watch us race, and I feel like that’s really special. I’ve always been an advocate for women in sports, in all areas, which is happening. I feel like it kind of started off obviously with basketball and Caitlin Clark, and you just kind of see it roll down into now, finally, our sport. I’ve always been a sports girl, so now that my sport is picking up, it’s special to see.
The Women’s class in motocross seems to be very deep now.
It’s definitely deeper; you even feel it, too. I mean, there’s pressure each round, so you feel the competition is getting stiffer. You can’t really make a mistake. There’s always going to be someone behind you, and I know next year we’re going to have a couple other people sign up, and there’s a couple other girls that are moving up to big bikes, so I feel like next year will be even better for women in motocross, and it should be a good year.
What are your plans for next year?
I plan on doing both again. Yeah, the plan is to do both but definitely have it as a personal goal for the WMX Championship.
It sounds like you’re going to focus more now on motocross?
I’m kind of shifting my focus a little bit more towards the motocross side. I had never done a full season of Women’s MX racing, and that was my first time, so I just got to catch up in the motocross game, I guess. My roots are off-road; I mean, I grew up in the desert and did a lot of NGPC races. But if I’m going to be honest, I really love moto. I mean, I’ve always loved off-road; it’s more therapeutic for me, just being able to ride there. It’s like free range, kind of like a stress reliever, where moto has that adrenaline spike that I just love. I just love that adrenaline.
What is your team situation now?
I race for the SLR Honda racing team—that’s Mark Samuels’ team—and we’re also sponsored by Monster and Fly, and now we’re bringing in other sponsors, like Southern Powersports. Everyone under our rig is putting in one hundred percent, and it’s cool to have a team like that that really supports what you want to pursue, and they’re also as excited to pursue it. So we just have a really good team right now. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
“Moto has that adrenaline spike that I just love. I just love that adrenaline.”
Aside from winning a WMX title or more NGPC titles, what are some other goals or things you’d like to do on a motorcycle?
Hmmm. I would love to pre-run Baja. I mean, I’m not going to put it out there that I want to race it. I know it’s a different beast and all that, but my team is really big into the Baja, so I’d love to pre-run it with everyone. I know how fun the pre-running part of it is, and I know how stressful the racing part is. I just want to ride, and to pre-run Baja would be fun if I ever get the opportunity. But I enjoy doing both [NGPC and WMX]; it keeps me on my toes, keeps me racing. All I wanna do is just race. CN
Click here to read the Mikayla Nielsen Interview in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
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