Hunter Lawrence Grabs Third Pro Motocross Championship Victory and 450SMX Points Lead on America’s 250th at RedBud

BUCHANAN, Mich. (July 4, 2026) – The Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, celebrated America’s 250th Anniversary with the longstanding Independence Day tradition that is the 5.11 RedBud National. One of the biggest crowds in event history was on hand for Round 22 of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship, as overnight rain gave way to sunny skies and a continually evolving racetrack. With a heightened atmosphere for the milestone holiday the action on the track responded with compelling action across both classes. In the premier 450SMX Class, Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence [#96] made it two in-a-row and three for the season following an incredible second moto win in which he overcame a near 10-second deficit. In the 250SMX Class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies [#37] became the first repeat winner in the class this summer with back-to-back victories. 

Qualifying

• The two timed sessions in the premier class were split atop the charts, with championship leader and Honda HRC Progressive rider Jett Lawrence [#1] leading the way in the first session with a time of 2:16.573 and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan [#38] setting the pace in the second session with a time of 2:16.818. Lawrence’s lap was enough to narrowly edge out Deegan by a few tenths to earn the first gate pick.

Moto 1 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The opening moto started with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Jorge Prado [#26] leading the Lawrence brothers to the holeshot, as the Spaniard then assumed control of the lead. Behind him, Jett and Hunter engaged in a spirited fight for second, while further back Deegan was involved in a first-turn incident and started at the tail end of the field.
• The top three settled in through the opening five minutes as Jett Lawrence asserted his hold on second and started to chip away at the deficit to Prado while Hunter Lawrence lurked a couple seconds behind in third. A couple laps later Jett pulled the trigger on a quick, decisive pass to take control of the lead.
• The top three remained unchanged through the middle of the moto, but Hunter Lawrence was able to close in on Prado just past the halfway point and made a quick pass to take over second. With about a dozen minutes left on the race clock the brothers were separated by 3.5 seconds.
• The distance between Jett and Hunter remained about the same until the moto entered its final two minutes, when Hunter closed within striking distance of his younger brother. The elder Lawrence put in a charge and made the pass just before time ran out on the race clock then sprinted away to a lead of more than seven seconds. 
• On the final lap, Hunter tipped over as he navigated lapped riders, which allowed Jett to reclaim the lead and bring home his fifth moto win of the summer by 3.2 seconds. Prado finished more than 20 seconds back in third, followed by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire [#24] in fourth and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks [#36] in fifth.

Moto 2 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The final race of the day got underway with Prado out front for a sweep of the holeshots, followed closely by Deegan and Jett Lawrence. Hunter Lawrence started just outside the top five in sixth.
• As the lead trio sprinted away from the field Hunter Lawrence fought his way around Hampshire and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb [#2] to move up to fourth.
• While pursuing Deegan for second, Jett Lawrence lost traction with his rear tire and went down, eventually remounting just outside the top 10 in 11th place. That moved Hunter Lawrence up to third.
• With the clear track, Prado was able to seize control of the moto and sprint out to a lead of 3.5 seconds over Deegan as Hunter Lawrence looked to close in from third. Behind them, Jett Lawrence experienced even more misfortune and went down for a second time while running eighth. He remounted once again in 11th place.
• Prado continued to build on his advantage, which sat at nearly nine seconds at the halfway point of the moto. Deegan maintained a firm hold of second, but Hunter Lawrence inched in from third to initiate a battle for the position. Further back, Jett Lawrence continued to fight his way through the field and was on the cusp of the top five.
• Hunter Lawrence easily got the upper hand in a brief battle with Deegan and took control of second place with 13 minutes left on the race clock. At that point, Lawrence faced a 9.2 second deficit to Prado.
• Over the next few laps, Lawrence took big chunks out of Prado’s lead and soon enough the Honda rider moved within three seconds of his KTM foe. Lawrence’s push continued and moved him onto Prado’s rear fender. 
• Prado responded and was able to stabilize his advantage as the moto approached its final five minutes. Hunter then went on the attack and made an assertive pass for the lead with under three minutes remaining. Moments later, Jett Lawrence made a pass on Marchbanks for fifth.
• Once out front, Hunter Lawrence surged out to lead of more than five seconds and went on to redeem his miscue from the first moto with his fifth moto win of the season. He took the checkered flag by a margin of 11.2 seconds over Prado, with Deegan a distant third. Jett Lawrence made a valiant charge to salvage fifth.

Overall

• Hunter Lawrence’s 2-1 effort netted him a second straight win and class-leading third overall victory of the season.
• Prado’s pair of holeshots carried him to 3-2 finishes and a second career podium result, which equaled his career best from the opening round.
• Jett Lawrence captured his 38th premier class podium in third following a 1-5 performance and finished tied with Prado in event points but lost out on the second moto tiebreaker.
• For the first time in 53 years, the overall podium at RedBud was composed entirely of international athletes.
• With the win Hunter Lawrence reclaimed control of the championship points lead and holds a three-point lead over Jett. Deegan, who finished sixth overall (10-3), remains third, 51 points out of the lead and 12 points ahead of Prado in fourth.

Qualifying

• Fresh off a first career win at the previous round, Davies kept the momentum rolling in Qualifying with the fastest lap of the morning at 2:19.661. The New Zealander set the pace in each session but did have his first fast lap disallowed after his motorcycle failed sound inspection. He sat 1.3 seconds clear of the 2:21.048 set by his rookie teammate Caden Dudney [#82] in second.

Moto 1 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The first moto of the day started with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing duo of Dudney and Davies side-by-side, with Dudney able to grab his first ever holeshot and early lead. Behind them, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Nick Romano [#141] started third, battling Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer [#13], who then went down and dropped to the tail end of the field. Championship leader Levi Kitchen [#47] started sixth aboard his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki. 
• Dudney was able to seize the moment and lead the first laps of his young career, soon opening up a lead of more than three seconds over Davies. The top two then pulled away from the rest of the field, building a double-digit advantage over third just 10 minutes into the moto.
• A multi-rider battle for third unfolded between Romano, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Casey Cochran [#56], and Kitchen. Cochran made the pass for third and inched away from the Kawasaki teammates. Kitchen then made the move for fourth.
• Back up front, the battle for the lead picked up as the moto approached its halfway point. Davies hounded Dudney and attempted multiple passes for the lead, only to be denied every time. The lead then restabilized at around two seconds.
• Inside the final 10 minutes the battle for third heated up again as Cochran, Kitchen, and Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda [#30] sat within less than a second of one another. As Kitchen looked to make a pass on Cochran, Shimoda took advantage and made his way by both riders to take control of third. 
• With less than five minutes to go Davies closed in on Dudney for the lead once again. Davies was patient and waited for his opportunity, and with just over 30 seconds remaining on the race clock he made the pass. He pulled away from Dudney over the final two laps, as Davies captured his third straight moto win by 2.6 seconds. Shimoda followed in third, with Kitchen fourth, and Cochran fifth.

Moto 2 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The second moto kicked off with Davies leading the field to the holeshot ahead of Honda HRC Progressive’s Chance Hymas [#29] and Cochran, with Shimoda in fourth and Dudney in fifth. Kitchen started outside the top 10 in 13th place. Cochran put in a charge on the opening lap and was able to make the move around Hymas for second.
• As Davies sprinted out to a lead of nearly three seconds it was Shimoda who took the opportunity to push forward. He made the pass on his teammate for third and then went after Cochran. After several laps of pursuit, Shimoda made the pass for second but faced a 7.3 second deficit to Davies with 20 minutes remaining. Cochran, meanwhile, lost hold of third to his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Ryder DiFrancesco [#34] and then dropped behind Kitchen.
• Just past the halfway point of the moto, Kitchen started to pressure DiFrancesco for third as Shimoda made small inroads on his deficit to Davies. Kitchen made the move around DiFrancesco but went down a couple laps later and dropped from third to sixth, which moved DiFrancesco back into a podium spot.
• Back up front, Shimoda erased almost the entire deficit to Davies and moved within striking distance with more than five minutes left in the moto. The Japanese rider got alongside the New Zealander and made the pass with about 3.5 minutes remaining on the race clock.
• The reigning SMX World Champion charged home to his first moto win of the summer, and 15th of his career, by a margin of 11.1 seconds over Davies. DiFrancesco finished third.

Overall

• Despite losing his grasp on another sweep of the motos, Davies’ 2-1 effort still placed him atop the overall classification, with back-to-back victories to make him the first repeat winner of the season.
• Shimoda’s impressive win in Moto 2 landed him in the runner-up spot (1-3) for his third straight podium result. It also paid big dividends in the championship standings as it moved him atop the points as the third different rider to carry the red plate through the first five races.
• A quiet and consistent afternoon for DiFrancesco netted him the first overall podium result of his career (6-3), which came in his 43rd start. He’s the sixth different rider to earn a maiden overall podium this season.
• Shimoda’s lead atop the 250SMX Class standings sits at four points over Davies. Kitchen dropped from first to third following a fifth-place finish (4-5) and now faces a nine-point deficit to Shimoda.

The first gathering of the summer for SMX Next – Motocross brought 25 of the top amateur prospects in the sport to the RedBud Scouting Moto Combine. On Friday, the athletes took part in several education sessions surrounding various aspects of the sport and received mentorship from a decorated group of Rider Coaches featuring AMA Hall of Famers Broc Glover and Kevin Windham, along with Michael Byrne and Gareth Swanepoel. After one moto on Friday weather forced the second moto to be held on Saturday, as both races saw Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Carson Wood [#260] take the victory for a 1-1 sweep and his first SMX Next victory.

The 2026 Pro Motocross Championship will reach its halfway point next Saturday, July 11, for Round 23 of the SMX World Championship regular season and the annual visit to the iconic sands of Massachusetts’s The Wick 338. The Crestview Construction Southwick National will be shown live in its entirety on Peacock, beginning with Race Day Live at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET, followed by coverage of the motos at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET.

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MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc., manages and produces the world's premier motocross racing series – the Pro Motocross Championship sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing. MX Sports Pro Racing is an industry leader in off-road powersport event production and management, whose mission is to showcase the sport of professional motocross competition at events throughout the United States. Through its various racing properties, partnerships and affiliates, MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc., organizes events for thousands of racing athletes each year and attracts millions of motorsports spectators.
 
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Pro Motocross Championship
The Pro Motocross Championship sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing features the world's fastest outdoor motocross racers, competing aboard homologated bikes from one of eight competing manufacturers on a collection of the roughest, toughest tracks on the planet. Racing takes place each Saturday afternoon, with competition divided into two classes: one for 250cc machines, and one for 450cc machines. MX Sports Pro Racing, the industry leader in off-road powersports event production, organizes the Pro Motocross Championship series.
 
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SMX World Championship
The SMX World Championship™ is the premier off-road motorcycle racing series in the world that combines the technical precision of stadium racing with the all-out speed and endurance of outdoor racing. Created in 2022, the SMX World Championship Series combines the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the Pro Motocross Championship sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing into a 28-round regular season that culminates with the season-ending SMX World Championship Playoffs.
 
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AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization for North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. It serves as the sanctioning body of the Pro Motocross Championship.
 
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