Austin Forkner Calls Time on His Professional Career

At just 27 years old, Austin Forkner has decided to step away from professional racing.

In a lengthy social media post on Tuesday, Forkner cited an ongoing arm issue as one of the primary reasons for his decision.

“After my crash in Colorado, I feel like it’s time,” he said. “So one of the main reasons, one of the big reasons is my arm. … I’ve lost all of the muscle all the way up into my tricep, into the back of my shoulder. I’ve lost [muscle] down into my hand. All of this is just gone. Started a few years ago, four or five years ago. I’ve had three surgeries on it. I’ve seen some of the best neurologists in the country. The last surgery I had on it was from the dude who fixed Roczen’s arm up in Vail, and nothing’s really made it better.”

Following a high successful amateur career with Team Green Kawasaki, the Missouri native moved to Mitch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki squad for the 2016 Pro Motocross Championship and showed immediately why he was one of the top prospects at the time.

He finished fourth in just his second career race and closed the season with four podiums, including his first—and ultimately only—career Pro Motocross win at the Ironman finale. At the time, no one expected it would stand as his lone outdoor victory.

It took until the 2018 season for Austin Forkner to break through for his first career Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX victory, winning at Tampa before backing it up a week later with another victory in Atlanta.

By the time his career came to a close, Forkner had amassed 13 career 250SX wins, tying him for third on the all-time wins list.

Forkner’s speed, talent and toughness made him one of the brightest stars in the class, but injuries always derailed his title chances.

By 2024, after multiple injuries, Forkner was back on top again, winning the 250SX East opener in Detroit. He was leading round two in Arlington when his life changed forever.

He mistimed a rhythm second and went flying off the track, landing directly on the concert. In addition to breaking his L3 and L4, his scapula, injuring his shoulder and sustaining bruised lungs in the crash, while undergoing an MRI for a concussion, doctors found something even more serious.

Doctors found that Forkner was dealing with AVM, a tangle of blood vessels which typically form during fetal development and leads to irregular connections between arteries and veins in the brain.

In June of 2024, Forkner underwent brain surgery and missed the remainder of the season.

One of the toughest athletes in the sport, Forkner returned for the 2025 season, signing with Triumph Factory Racing. Unfortunately more injuries followed and Forkner never found his footing with the team.

His crash at the Thunder Valley National earlier this year was the final straw. After giving everything he had to the sport, Forkner decided it was finally time to walk away.

Congratulations on an amazing career, Austin.

Here is his full video below: