Calgary, Canada
McMahon Stadium
McMahon Stadium
In discussion with Kristen Beat, Nichols is open and refreshingly honest in his assessment of his last few years and the positive changes he has made. “I would say overall, the comfort I have and the people around me are genuine, really good people, that care about my best interests and would go above and beyond to do anything for me. I’m not saying I didn’t have all that in California, but I definitely have more of it here. And the people around here I’ve known my whole life, so it feels more like family and more like home.
“It’s fun, it kind of brings back that familiar kind of territory where it makes everything seem like it’s all Okay and it’s fun. Being in California, it felt like it ran its course a little bit. I’d been there for 10 years and a lot of my friends had moved away.
“The tracks were kind of going away. It was harder to do my job, I thought. So I looked at it like it’s time to make a little bit of a change. I had a lot of change in my personal life as well. I was like, ‘you know what? I’m gonna take a leap of faith, move back home and see what happens’. And I’ve been ecstatic since I moved back. So it’s been fun.”
When asked why he is enjoying his time on track again, Nichols, who was born in Muskogee, southeast of Tulsa, says it all comes down to returning to a familiar setting.
He added: “Everything has been like dramatically more fun. Like, I don’t know, it’s hard to describe, but whenever you’re getting stuck in a rut sometimes, like – the way I felt like I was maybe the past few years in California – sometimes just makes it harder and you don’t even really realise it until you get out of it.
“Moving back to Oklahoma was truly a breath of fresh air and being able to train is just fun.”
In October, Nichols re-signed for Pipes Motorsport Group for this season after a progressive 2025 campaign. He showed true grit, battling shoulder and thumb injuries while making the final two rounds of the World Supercross Championship season in Stockholm and Cape Town.
Now, with more miles under his belt, he is more adjusted to PMG.
“It’s definitely different,” he says, “and it really does truly feel like a solid, valiant team effort when we do stuff. I mean, it’s just enjoyable. Like, it’s good people. They care about the right stuff.
“Having Aaron and Dustin Pipes at the helm of the team is fun. It’s a father-son duo. And you can feel the family aspect of it. You even have Chase [Lennemann] there, which is Dustin’s cousin, helping with media stuff. And everything about it is just really, really fun, honestly.”
Nichols, who won the 2021 AMA Supercross 250cc East Championship, looks back fondly on his spell in World Supercross.
“I would love to go back to South Africa,” he says. “I thought that was great. I had a wonderful time, way better than I anticipated. I missed the Gold Coast. I really wanted to go to that one in Australia. But yeah, I loved South Africa. Everything about it was way cooler than I anticipated. So I hope I go back there.”
Nichols has been helping dial in the Suzuki 450 for this season, but he has also noticed changes in himself following the feel-good factor of moving back to middle America.
“I am trying to find more confidence with myself and where I’m at in my life. That kind of trickles over big time. You don’t really ever think about it and it’s hard to see it while you’re in it. But then when you take kind of a step back sometimes you can really see everything at a bigger different kind of scope and say, ‘okay, this is different. This does look different’. Personally, it looks different as a racer. It looks different as a man outside of just the sport.
“Everything about that looks different for me. I’m happier with where I’m at. I feel like I’m in a better headspace with everything, which I’m hoping can translate into being a more confident, better racer. And that’s the whole goal.
“Sometimes life can knock you down a few steps but every time you get back up and you’re in a good spot – you feel like you’re in a good spot. You’re around good people. It’s super-welcoming, nice place being back in Oklahoma and the training has been great. The bike’s still progressing. I’m still progressing. And as long as I’m still making progress and I’m enjoying what I’m doing, that helps get you to the next level. Racing’s more fun, life’s more fun, everything’s more fun.”