Honda has out done themselves with this one. Grandpa Earl is at it again with his mischievous antics and going full goon-rider on Jett Lawrence’s factory Honda HRC Progressive CRF450R. Ha Ha, April fools right? But if you stick around until the end of the video, you can clearly see Dean Wilson with the full Honda HRC branding as well as his trademark wing seat on the Honda. Scroll below for the latest update.
Surely this much effort isn’t all for another April fools joke, right? After further investigation, we truly can’t tell if this is a joke or not as our sources at Honda won’t confirm or deny until later this week. Either way, job well done boys. We’ll have to wait and see who shows up to to the Honda HRC rig Deano, Grandpa Earl, or no one at all. See the full video here:
**Update
It’s official! Honda HRC Progressive announced that Dean Wilson will race the factory CRF450RWE race machine for the last five rounds of the 2025 AMA Supercross season, beginning on April 12 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Honda team has been a 250-only effort since Hunter Lawrence withdrew for shoulder surgery following the Tampa round on February 8 and with Jett Lawrence needing knee surgery one week earlier. Hunter hopes to return to action in time for the AMA Pro Motocross series, which starts on May 24 in Pala, California. Since his surgery, Jett has been dedicated to his recovery, which is going extremely well, and he hopes to be racing as soon as possible.
A native of Glasgow, Scotland, Wilson is a veteran of elite-level U.S. racing, having earned the 2011 250 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Recent seasons have seen him contesting a variety of series, winning the 2023 Australian Supercross Championship in the SX1 division while racing for Yarrive Konsky’s Honda Racing Australia team.
Early this year, Wilson raced for the British St. Blazey Honda team in the UK Arenacross Tour, which he won. He had intended to race five rounds of the AMA Supercross series for the Konsky-owned, Martin Davalos-managed Quad Lock Honda team, but will instead race for the Lars Lindstrom-managed factory squad.
“I’m just really excited and grateful for this opportunity,” said Dean Wilson (also known by his alter ego, Grandpa Earl). “It certainly wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card! It came through unfortunate circumstances, with the Lawrence brothers getting injured. I was on the other side of the pond in the UK, and I shot Lars a text, saying I would be interested. I eventually got a call that it will happen for the last five. I’ve always wanted to ride this bike and be a part of this team, so I kind of feel like a little kid again, to be honest—just over the moon! I’m thankful that Yarrive and Martin were very understanding.”
“On behalf of American Honda, I’d like to welcome Dean to Honda HRC Progressive for the final part of AMA Supercross,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Racing and Advertising at American Honda. “Obviously, we’ve missed having the Lawrences racing out of our truck for much of this season, but we’re happy to see them progressing well and hope to have them back in action soon. In the meantime, it will be great to have Dean showcasing the CRF450RWE. I’d like to thank Yarrive and Martin at Quad Lock Honda for their flexibility in order to make this happen.”
Wilson began supercross testing with Honda HRC Progressive last week, three weeks ahead of his debut with the squad. In the meantime, Jo Shimoda and Chance Hymas continue to represent the team in the 250SX class, campaigning the CRF250RWE in the West and East Regions, respectively.
