Aldon Baker has been heavily involved in the motocross scene when he started training Ricky Carmichael all the way back in 2000.
After working with Carmichael, he has since gone on to work with the following 450 Supercross champions: James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Jason Anderson and Cooper Webb, as well as numerous other riders.
In this article, I’ll be focusing on how successful his riders have been in 450 Supercross – I’ll make the same article for 450 Pro Motocross at a later date.
Baker’s first year with a rider for Supercross was 2001 with Ricky Carmichael. Here are his year by year results with his riders:
16 Championships!
In the years where Baker’s top finishing rider raced all the rounds in the season, the worst season finish is 3rd place on the year.
Since 2001, Aldon Baker has had at least one (and up to 4 at times) actively trained rider(s) present at 327 Supercross Premier Class Main Events…
These actively trained riders have won 154 of these 327 Supercross Main Events!
Thats a 47.09% win rate! (There have been 384 total Supercross races since 2001 for reference)
This is a higher winning percentage than the highest of individual riders (minimum 10 starts):
- 47.09% – 154/327 – Aldon Baker Athletes
- 44.57% – 41/92 – Ryan Villopoto
- 41.74% – 48/115 – Ricky Carmichael
- 41.62% – 72/173 – Jeremy McGrath
- 40.65% – 50/123 – James Stewart
Now to be fair, this stat includes multiple riders being trained at the same time eligible to win a race – such as Villopoto and Roczen in 2014 or Dungey, Musquin and Anderson in 2017.
However, if you just include his top finishing rider each year, the winning percentage drops to 44.63% (137/307) – still higher than Villopoto’s career win percentage.
Now onto the individual rider comparisons when training without Aldon Baker and with Aldon Baker.
Individual Rider Comparisons
Reminder: this is just looking purely at the numbers. This obviously leaves out a lot of context such as a rider’s experience, age, competition, health status, bike quality, team quality, etc.
There is also a lag between starting training with Baker and then having the full benefits of his program. An example of this is when Cooper Webb starting training with Baker again in mid 2022. It probably took him a few weeks to get up to speed, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
Each rider will be covered in chronological order.
Ricky Carmichael
Carmichael spent the first two seasons in the Premier class with mixed results. His first year training with Aldon Baker? He won 14 of 16 races and beat Jeremy McGrath in the championship.
Carmichael’s numbers are clearly night and day before and after training with Baker, however, is there a way to know how much of that is due to Baker’s program vs his natural development and experience? – hard to say. But the training program had to have made a big difference.
James Stewart
James Stewart started training with Aldon Baker after Ricky Carmichael retired in 2007. Stewart is one of the few examples we have of someone who didn’t start their 450 career training with Baker, then trained with him and then had several years of not training with him again.
Unfortunately, both in 2008 and 2010, Stewart suffered season ending injuries early in the season so the sample size of training with Baker is quite small. However, we can see his averages and percentage stats had improved in the 22 Supercross races he had with Baker.
Ryan Villopoto
Ryan Villopoto started training with Aldon Baker going into the 2011 season coming off a leg injury. Villopoto then went on to win 4 straight Supercross titles from 2011-2014 and dominated an era where he competed against James Stewart, Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey all in their primes. Going into 2013, Villopoto once again was going into the season coming off a leg injury and had his most dominant season.
Jake Weimer
Jake Weimer came into the 450 class in 2011 and spent three seasons training with Baker. Weimer spent 2011-2014 on Factory Kawasaki before departing the team. Weimer had stronger performances under Baker’s program.
Ken Roczen
Roczen’s full time rookie season in the 450 class was in 2014, where he was a part of Baker’s program and then spent the first 3 rounds of 2015 with Baker. The sample size is small for Roczen, but he did have a strong rookie season in 2014. Roczen was leading the points in 2015 after 3 rounds when he left Baker’s program.
Roczen competed in four 450 Class races in 2011-2013 on a KTM 350. He even finished 2nd in Seattle 2012.
Ryan Dungey
Dungey is a great example of someone with tons of races with and without Baker to give a better comparison. Dungey started with Baker for the 2015 season and won three straight titles – where 2015 and 2016 were quite dominant. The average finish of 2.02 is pretty insane and Dungey never finished worse than 4th in a race while under Baker’s program!
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson starting training with Aldon Baker when he moved up to the 450 Class for the 2015 season. Anderson left the Baker program during the covid hiatus of the 2020 season before the 7 Salt Lake City races.
The figures suggest a more consistent Anderson while training with Baker, however, his 2022 season netted him 7 wins and a ton of laps led. That season alone brought his percentages in wins and laps led above his figures when training with Baker.
Marvin Musquin
Marvin Musquin starting training with Aldon Baker when he was in the 250 class and then moved up to the 450 Class full time for the 2016 season. Musquin missed the 2020 season due to injury. While all his stats are better with Aldon Baker and his sample size without Aldon Baker is low, the Points per Start and Average finish are not far off.
Musquin was already in his late 20s when he moved up to the 450 class in 2016. His 2022 and 2023 season were arguably when he was out of his prime despite the solid figures. Musquin had four races in 2012 in the 450 Class while riding a 350.
Broc Tickle
Broc Tickle signed to factory KTM in 2018 to replace Ryan Dungey after his retirement and started training with Aldon Baker. Unfortunately, Tickle’s 2018 season and time with Baker was cut short due to his suspension that lasted until 2020. His average finishes were stronger with Baker, but at the same time, this was the only time in Supercross that Tickle was on a true factory team.
Cooper Webb
Cooper Webb started training with Aldon Baker for the 2019 Supercross season and immediately won the Supercross championship after mixed results in 2017 and 2018. In 2020, he finished 2nd and then won the title again in 2021. Webb left the program for the 2022 season and wasn’t putting up the same results. He then returned to Baker’s program after Daytona in 2022 and then for the entire 2023 season. Webb’s stats are much stronger when under Baker’s program.
Malcolm Stewart
Malcolm Stewart started training with Aldon Baker for the 2022 Supercross season and immediately had the best season of his career, finishing 3rd in the championship. Stewart was showing a ton of speed early in 2023 before injury.
Aaron Plessinger
Aaron Plessinger started the Baker’s program when he signed to KTM for the 2022 season. His averages have improved with Baker.
Christian Craig
The last rider to compare stats on is Christian Craig, however, the sample sizes are so small for him. He started Baker’s program going into 2023 with his full time debut in the 450 Class. Craig’s results in 2017 and 2018 were from fill in rides.
Other 450 Supercross Riders under Baker’s Program
- Zach Osborne – Zacho trained with Aldon Baker for a few years in the 250 class and the 450 Class. However, all of his 450SX races were under Baker’s program, so nothing to compare. Osborne netted 1 win and 6 podiums in the 450 class.
- RJ Hampshire – Hampshire has just one career 450SX race – Daytona 2023, where he finished 8th
Aldon Baker’s final tally as of now: 16 Championships, 154 Wins, 345 Podiums in the Supercross Premier Class.
It is very interesting to think about what makes Aldon Baker’s program so successful as the figures heavily suggest that the majority of riders improve their results when training with him in 450 Class. But all the top riders in the sport have robust training programs. And every full time 450 rider Baker has trained was previously a regional 250SX champion (some of which were won under Baker’s program – Musquin & Osborne). So, what sets his program apart from others?
Is it a mental thing? Does Aldon Baker just bring a level of confidence to his riders?
Ryan Dungey was considered the fittest rider in the sport for several years before training with Baker. But Dungey even stated he realized he was overtraining before starting the program and it brought a new level of confidence for him.
But did he truly need the training program? Maybe not – but then he won three straight championships, dominating two of them. (The counter argument to this is that in 2015 KTM debuted their new bike and Ryan Villopoto retired.)
It seems like Baker’s program is often the final piece that ties everything together for riders to compete at their highest level in the 450 class. I think this was especially the case for Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto and Cooper Webb.
Thanks for reading! Any questions – hit me up on Twitter or Instagram: @MXReference
