2025 AMA PRO MOTOCROSS | LAWRENCE LANDSLIDE

There’s something uniquely satisfying about watching an Aussie roll into the heart of America’s motocross empire and absolutely own the place. Baseball, apple pie, and motocross glory—it’s all meant to belong to the Yanks, but in 2025 the red, white, and blue banners flapping across AMA Pro Motocross circuits should have been in our flag’s design of thanks to the unmistakable swagger of Jett Lawrence.

The kid from Landsborough, Queensland, has turned the most American of championships into his personal playground, and this year he doubled down on his status as the sport’s next great ruler by clinching his second 450 AMA Pro Motocross Championship one round early at Unadilla MX. Eight overall wins in ten rounds, a record that reads less like a fight and more like a coronation.

For Jett, this wasn’t just another season—it was a vindication. He came in still carrying the scar tissue of a torn ACL that wrecked his 2024 Supercross defence, forced to answer whispers about durability, about whether his rookie sweep of the outdoors in 2023 was lightning in a bottle. The answer was emphatic. He stormed through the series with the same playful aggression that’s become his trademark—turning mistakes into highlight reels, holeshots into disappearing acts, and pressure from rivals like Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton into opportunities to flex his composure. Americans like their champions brash, but Jett did them one better: he showed up as an Aussie who could beat them at their own game, with a grin on his face while doing it.

And then there’s the family angle. Behind every Jett highlight, Hunter Lawrence was right there, the older brother finally stepping out of the shadows. Hunter scored his first career 450 overall win in Indiana, stacked podiums across the summer, and locked himself into second in the standings—a Lawrence one-two that made the series look more like a backyard brawl in Queensland than a national championship across America. Together, the brothers took what was supposed to be a season of parity and turned it into a two-man show.

The 2025 AMA Motocross Championship will be remembered not just for Jett’s dominance but for how the Lawrence brothers bent the whole narrative of American motocross around themselves. In a season littered with turning points—Tomac’s brief flashes of old speed, Sexton’s in-and-out threats, and the occasional spoiler—it was the Australians who defined the story. What follows are the ten pivotal moments that proved it.

The Return at Pala

Jett Lawrence didn’t just turn up at Round 1 in Pala, California—he turned up with scars. Barely four months after tearing his ACL, the reigning golden boy of motocross was expected to roll in cautiously, maybe chase some podiums, maybe build his strength. Instead, he went 1-1 in both motos and reminded the world that he isn’t wired for half-measures.

“With everything we’ve gone through, with injuries and having to deal with the mental battle, and my body not handling the pain killers very well—I had all that emotion, and I was thinking, ‘I can’t wait for Pala—I want to win,’” Jett said after the race.

It wasn’t just a victory; it was a statement. Eli Tomac had flashes, Hunter was sharp on his return from a shoulder injury, but Jett absorbed all the questions about his fitness and blew them away with raw speed. From the holeshot in Moto 1 to fending off Tomac in Moto 2 for over half an hour, he showed the composure of a veteran and the hunger of a kid who still feels he has something to prove.

Surviving the Swelter at Hangtown

Round 2 at Hangtown threw another test at Jett—heat and brutal bumps. He dropped the first moto to third after a missed shift, but he regrouped, reset, and came back to dominate the second outing.

That mentality summed up the way he raced the whole year. Even when he looked mortal, even when rivals smelled blood, he had a way of turning the day into his day. The 3-1 tally gave him back-to-back overalls and stretched his points lead to double digits. Already, America was learning that if you gave Jett a bad moto, you were only poking the bear.

Thunder Valley Perfection

By the time the series rolled into Thunder Valley in Colorado, Jett’s momentum was rolling like a freight train. Jett led every lap in both motos and locked up his third-straight overall, proving that altitude, rivals, and even Tomac’s best efforts weren’t going to rattle him.

The win also tied him with Kent Howerton for eighth all-time on the premier-class overall wins list. Not bad for a 21-year-old still technically on the comeback trail.

High Point Hustle

The first real cracks in Jett’s armour came at High Point. Rain turned the track into a mudbath, and while Hunter grabbed a holeshot and Tomac hit the front, Jett found himself buried mid-pack. He still clawed his way to third in the second moto, enough to secure his fourth-straight overall win, but it wasn’t the domination fans had come to expect.

This was the weekend that showed just how complete he is as a rider. Others cracked in the storm, others folded under lightning delays and churned ruts, but Jett dug in. Winning when everything goes right is one thing. Winning when the sport throws chaos at you is another—and that’s what separates champions from contenders.

RedBud Redemption

By the Fourth of July weekend, the championship was already leaning heavily in Jett’s favour, but RedBud is America’s track. The patriotic holiday, the wild crowds, the fireworks—if there was ever a place where the Americans could rally around Tomac or Sexton to topple the Aussie, this was it. Instead, Jett put on one of the greatest rides of the year.

He won Moto 1 after stalking Hunter, then in Moto 2 he crashed early, started 18th, and still charged to the front, passing both Prado and Sexton to win by over eight seconds. It was the kind of comeback that left jaws on the floor.

“The big bosses were in town, so you’ve got to lock in and ride well—you want to look good for them!” Jett joked after the race.

That was his sixth-straight overall, his 21st in 22 attempts, and it officially turned the season into a rout. By the time the fireworks cracked across the Michigan sky, it wasn’t a question of whether Jett would win the championship—it was how early he’d seal it.

Spring Creek Showdown

Millville’s Spring Creek National showcased Jett’s resilience. Moto 1 didn’t start well—an early tip-over left him scrambling while Hunter assumed the lead. Jett cut through the field like a surgeon, slicing from 11th to second behind his brother. Hunter finally got his moment in the sun with a 15-second win, and suddenly the Lawrence family had America watching a sibling showdown for the ages.

Moto 2 flipped the script. Jett grabbed the start, Hunter shadowed him, and the brothers disappeared out front. By the end, they had put 40 seconds on third place, and Jett’s 2-1 results gave him the overall.

Washougal Wobble

Every great season has its stumbles, and Washougal was Jett’s. The slick, hard-pack surface and deep tree shadows made visibility tricky, and this time Chase Sexton stole the show. While Sexton went 1-2 for his first win of the season, Jett looked mortal for once, finishing off the podium overall.

But instead of panic, Jett treated it like a reset button. He was still the championship leader by a wide margin, still dictating the narrative. And crucially, it reminded the paddock that he wasn’t invincible.

Ironman Redemption

Indiana’s Ironman Raceway was where Hunter claimed his first 450 overall win, but it was also where Jett reminded everyone of his adaptability. A gate slam in Moto 1 saw Jett charged with a start infraction, docking him back to 17th after initially storming through to third. Lesser riders would’ve sulked, written the day off. Jett instead came back in Moto 2, pulled the lead over his brother, and won with authority.

“Obviously, there was the incident in the first moto, which in my mind is kind of silly because I feel like AMA has double standards; we’ve got guys cutting the track and they don’t do anything. I guess this is what we have to deal with… I came back and won the second moto, so we’ll leave with that,” Jett said.

That attitude summed up his 2025 season. Frustration didn’t linger; he answered with results.

Sealing the Deal at Unadilla

Unadilla in upstate New York is as American as motocross gets. It was here that Jett made the season official, clinching the 450 title one round early with a perfect 1-1 performance. It was his eighth win in ten rounds, and it came just after his 22nd birthday.

“All around it was a great weekend, and I’m super happy with the result. Going 1-1 on the day and finally wrapping up the championship feels amazing… I’m just super grateful and really happy right now,” he said.

Unadilla wasn’t the exclamation point — it was the entire sentence. The championship belonged to Jett Lawrence, the Aussie who came to America and rewrote the script.

Stand back and applaud

Jett Lawrence’s 2025 AMA Pro Motocross campaign was nothing short of awe‑inspiring. Wrapping up the 450cc title one round early at Unadilla with a crushing 1‑1 performance, Jett claimed his second premier-class crown and ninth professional title overall. Across just 16, 450-class motos this season, he amassed 12 moto wins and seven overall victories.

When you add up every premier-class overall from his career so far—22 in 450MX, plus earlier triumphs in 250MX—you get a number usually reserved for legends. At just 22 years old, Jett isn’t merely riding through the pack—he’s rewriting the entire track record.

But even beyond the raw numbers lies the making of an enduring legacy. He’s not only proving to be one of Honda’s most prolific warriors—securing the manufacturer’s 15th premier-class title, pulling them clear of Kawasaki in the record books—but he’s also laying the foundations for what could be an unprecedented dynasty. With his consistency, Jett is setting the stage to shatter long-standing records and redefine what’s possible in motocross. Jett Lawrence isn’t just riding fast—he’s building a legend.

What the Hell Happened to Eli Tomac in 2025?

Eli Tomac started the 2025 AMA Pro Motocross season strong, grabbing early podiums and reminding fans why he’s a four-time champion. But as the summer wore on, the results slipped, and by season’s end he sat a distant third behind the Lawrence brothers. At 32, Tomac openly admitted the physical toll of age was real. Add to that recurring fallout from past injuries and setup mistakes—like suspension miscalculations at Spring Creek—and the edge that once defined “Beast Mode” began to dull.

More telling was the mental shift. While he fought with flashes of old brilliance, the urgency and risk appetite weren’t the same. The Lawrence brothers also raised the bar to a level where podiums no longer guaranteed relevance. In the end, Tomac’s fade wasn’t a collapse—it was a transition.

Deegan Dominates—Where Did Everyone Else Go?

Haiden Deegan laid near-total waste to the 250cc championship field this season. He opened with a moto‑sweep at Fox Raceway, went 4‑0 through the first two rounds, and claimed overall victories at High Point, Southwick, Spring Creek—even carrying on through Ironman with perfect 1‑1 motos there too. By mid‑season, he had already accumulated five overall wins and eight individual moto wins—and steadily stretched his lead atop the standings, ending with 418 points, a commanding 51‑point gap ahead of Shimoda.

Meanwhile, Jo Shimoda refused to let the championship vanish. He mounted his strongest resistance at RedBud and Unadilla, earning overall wins at both, and also edged Deegan via tiebreaker for the Washougal round.

As for the rest of the field—Garrett Marchbanks, Levi Kitchen, and Tom Vialle, filled out the top five, but remained firmly in Deegan’s wake