Jo Shimoda left his homeland of Japan as a young boy to chase an American Motocross and Supercross dream. His journey thus far culminated in his first series championship in 2025 when he was able to best rival Haiden Deegan for the SMX Championship.

While Jo has spent so much of his life in America, and he only visits Japan for short times in his off-season, he still calls himself Japanese first. In this small window each year that he is able to be in his home town of Suzuka, we followed Jo around to learn more about the origin stories of one of the sports favorite riders.

See Jo has been the bridge that has reminded us all of the sports Japanese roots. Without the investment and pride in racing of the 4 Japanese manufacturers, the sports of Motocross and Supercross might not exists in the way we know it.