After a successful season in the Honda Talon 2P, Michael McFayden will once again pilot a Can-Am in 2025. He plans to do an eight-race calendar, which includes all four SCORE rounds and the Mint 400, in a Can-Am Maverick R from Alsup Racing Development.

McFayden is no stranger to Can-Am, winning Best In The Desert’s 2021 Rookie of the Year and the Legacy Racing Association’s 2023 Pro Turbo UTV title in a Maverick from his family-run McFayden Racing. He also won the Baja 1000 in Pro UTV Forced Induction alongside Can-Am driver Jason Murray.

Honda Factory Off-Road Racing came knocking on the teenager’s door in February, signing him to race and develop the new Honda Talon 2P starting with the Mint 400. He finished second in class behind reigning Dakar Rally bike winner Ricky Brabec in his Talon debut.

The team, which also has a Ridgeline that competes in Trophy Truck with Talon graduate Ethan Ebert, only entered the Baja 500 and Baja 1000. McFayden retired from the former with a mechanical failure 315 miles in, but rebounded by winning the 1000 in Pro UTV Normally Aspirated. In between these, the Talon ran BITD’s Vegas to Reno but bowed out with a broken A-arm.

While the Talon took up most of his schedule, McFayden continued to race a Maverick from time to time. In July, he supported his father Chris en route to claiming the Unlimited UTV win in Legacy’s Dirt Rebelution. Other races he entered in 2024 included the Parker 400 and 500, the California 300, and Red Bull Sand Scramble.

“My goal for 2025 is simple: push harder, race smarter, and win bigger,” said McFayden. “Breaking out with my program is no easy task, but we have the tools to compete and win at the highest level, even against unlimited-class, high-horsepower machines. I am focused, calculated, and ready to go all in.

“It’s a thrill to be back in a Can-Am and take on the Pro UTV Open class with everything we’ve got.”

His first race in the ARD Maverick R will be King of the Hammers in February. The Mint 400 follows before he tackles the full SCORE season with the Dirt Rebelution sandwiched in between. SNORE’s Rage at the River in December is tentatively his eighth and final start of 2025.

Featured image credit: Bink Designs