HUNTER BACK IN THE LEAD AFTER BUDDS

For the first time all summer Mother Nature played a central role in the outcome of the action at the penultimate race of the Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, from Budds Creek Motocross Park. Heavy morning rains set the tone for a challenging afternoon that remained free from rainfall at Round 27 of the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship, where a wet and muddy track eventually transitioned into a competitive racing surface as the sun emerged at the Yamaha Racing Budds Creek National Presented by Carter CAT. In the premier 450SMX Class, Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence [#96] put forth a dominant performance to capture his sixth win of the season and reclaim control of the points lead, setting up a winner-take-all showdown at the season finale with his teammate and brother, Jett Lawrence [#1]. In the 250SMX Class, a day that saw a dramatic shift atop the point standings also welcomed the summer’s seventh different winner as Honda HRC Progressive’s Chance Hymas [#29] prevailed to set a new record of parity in the smaller displacement and give Honda a sweep of the day’s victories.

• The first session of the morning ultimately became the deciding factor in the combined time sheet as a heavy rain shower prior to the second session effectively forced every rider to forego logging any laps. As a result, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan [#38] ended up atop the charts with a time of 1:54.734, which placed him a half second ahead of Jett Lawrence and his time of 1:55.266, while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire [#24] followed in third [1:55.501]. Hunter Lawrence ended up fourth [1:55.541] after his fastest lap was disallowed for jumping on a red cross flag. He held the second-fastest lap prior to the penalty.

• The opening premier class moto kicked off with Deegan out front for the holeshot, with Hunter Lawrence and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Eli Tomac [#3] in tow. Jett Lawrence got a poor jump off the gate, made contact with another rider while navigating the first turn, and emerged deep inside the top 20 before eventually falling outside a points-paying position.
• Hunter Lawrence showed patience on the opening lap and pulled the trigger on a pass that caught Deegan off guard and allowed the Honda rider to take control of the moto. Deegan responded to keep the battle engaged, but Lawrence soon pulled ahead by more than two seconds.
• As the top three settled into their respective positions the focus shifted on Jett Lawrence’s climb through the field. He fought his way into the top 15 through the opening 10 minutes and held a pace that was on par with the leaders.
• As the moto surpassed its halfway point, Jett broke into the top 10. Meanwhile, the gap between Hunter Lawrence and Deegan dwindled down to just over a second as the top two navigated heavy lapped traffic. Behind them, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado [#26] made the pass around his teammate Tomac for third.
• Hunter Lawrence weathered the pressure from Deegan and reestablished a lead of more than three seconds inside the final five minutes. Further back, Jett Lawrence continued to move up the running order and on the cusp of the top five. As time ran out on the race clock, the championship leader made the pass for fifth.
• Back out front, Hunter Lawrence finished strong with his biggest lead of the moto and took the checkered flag for the 11th time this summer by a margin of 5.6 seconds over Deegan. Prado finished more than 50 seconds back in third, with Tomac posting a season-best moto finish in fourth ahead of Jett Lawrence, who salvaged fifth.
• Hunter Lawrence’s exceptional pace saw him lap up to 11th place in the 40-rider field.

• The final moto of the afternoon provided the best conditions of the day and saw Hunter Lawrence wrestle his way into the lead with the holeshot over Prado and fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Aaron Plessinger [#7]. Deegan and Jett Lawrence emerged deep in the top 10.
• Hunter Lawrence looked to take full advantage of the clear track and laid down a blistering opening lap to establish a 3.4 second lead over Prado, as 5.11 Triumph Factory Racing’s Mikkel Haarup [#31] moved into third.
• As the lead trio settled in, Jett Lawrence was patiently moving his way forward and picked off several riders to make his way into fourth through the opening five minutes of the moto. Deegan sat a few positions back in seventh.
• Out front, Prado made inroads on his deficit to Hunter Lawrence and held a faster pace as the first 10 minutes drew to a close. Jett Lawrence, meanwhile, attacked Haarup for third and made an impressive outside move to take the position.
• Hunter Lawrence withstood the pressure from Prado and once again extended his lead, which soon reached nearly six seconds with less than 10 minutes to go. Further back, Jett Lawrence started to make gains on Prado. As time ran out on the race clock Jett closed in on Prado to initiate a two-lap battle for the position. On the final lap Jett forced the issue and used a lapped rider as a pick to make the pass on the Spaniard.
• Back out front, a wire-to-wire performance in the final moto capped off another dominant outing for Hunter Lawrence, who made it a dozen moto wins on the season. He crossed the line 5.9 seconds ahead of his younger brother, with Prado third and Deegan fourth.

• Hunter Lawrence’s sixth 1-1 performance and sixth victory of the summer is the seventh of his career, but more importantly, moved him back atop the championship standings with one race remaining.
• Prado secured back-to-back runner-up finishes after a 3-3 afternoon.
• Deegan captured his fifth consecutive overall podium result in third (2-4) and now has eight podiums in the first 10 races of his rookie season.
• Jett Lawrence settled for fourth (5-2), which signified just his third-ever non-podium finish in 37 premier class starts and his first not impacted by a crash nor a penalty.
• An 11-point swing moved Hunter Lawrence back atop the championship standings heading into the final round, with he and Jett separated by a single point. It signified the sixth time the points lead has changed hands between the siblings this summer.