Lawrence is also good here (he’s good everywhere), but it’s worth noting the only 450 Class AMA Pro Motocross race he’s ever lost was right here when he crashed hard in the first moto last year. No matter what happens, let’s hope we get to see more great racing up front. Unfortunately Chase Sexton will not be part of it. The Red Bull KTM rider crashed in the first moto last week and pulled out for the day, and earlier this week it was announced he’d miss Hangtown too. Let’s hope he’s able to make it back to Pro Motocross soon.

The weather today is going to play a factor. It was scorching here yesterday, and at 7:00 this morning it was already getting hot. The forecast is predicting a high of 101 degrees, which will make putting in hard motos a brutal endeavor. The track won’t make anything easier, either. Hangtown always gets nasty and rough and today’s layout is the same classic Hangtown we’re used to seeing. The start stretch is long and fast, the big hills will get gnarly, and there are a few pretty big jumps. Something new this year is a lot of sand that’s been added to the soil, so we’ll see how that affects today’s racing.

Check back soon for a report on who’s fast in qualifying.

Qualifying – First Session

In the 250 ranks it was Chance Hymas who set the first meaningful fast lap, a 1:57.010. Usually the times start to fall as the session progresses, but this time Hymas’ lap held strong for quite a while. Deegan didn’t look like he was trying especially hard for most of the session, although he did turn in a 1:57.282 on lap four. Then, when he crossed the finish line with just a few seconds left in the qualifier, he came alive and was absolutely ripping. He was airing out jumps and railing the outsides at what seemed like Mach 6, and not surprisingly, recorded the fastest time when he took the checkers, a 1:56.501. Full results here.

In 450 action Justin Cooper was fast early with a 1:57.790, but Aaron Plessinger displaced him after a few laps. As the session wore on not much was happening, and Jett Lawrence looked like he was just out for a Sunday drive at times. Then Eli Tomac dipped into the 1:56-range, only to be topped by Cooper, who turned a 1:56.439. Then Lawrence uncorked a 1:55.914 to top them all! Full results here.

Qualifying – Second Session

We could give you one guess as to who was the fastest in the second set of qualifiers and you’d be correct. That’s right, Haiden Deegan was with a 1:57.655. You'll notice that time was slower than the first session, and that was true for most everyone. The track had broken in and changed a lot, which slowed the riders down a tad. 

There was a red flag in this one too when Trevor Colip had a big crash and went down hard. He was taken to the Alpinestars Medical rig, and at this time we do not have an update on his condition.

When the session was on the last lap Chance Hymas was on a fast lap and he came up to the back of Deegan, who was just rolling the track. Deegan saw him coming though and wicked up the speed and messed with Hymas a bit. Deegan never misses an opportunity!

In the 450s, if you guessed Jett Lawrence was fastest, you'd be right again. He wasn't up top all session though, as RJ Hampshire was ripping and held the fastest spot for a little bit. Eli Tomac was up there too, recording a 1:56.905, but in the end nobody had anything for Lawrence, who ruled the qualifier with a 1:56.463. He looked good too! Check out the clip below for proof.

250 Class First Moto

The first moto of the day dropped the gates, and it was Chance Hymas who blasted out ahead of the pack. Hymas led the first lap but then jumped wide and off the track going up a hill, which let Casey Cochran take over the race lead. Cochran took it and led a handful of laps, putting in a strong ride in just his third moto of the season after he missed all of supercross due to his broken leg suffered in November. He did fade late, but he put in one heck of a moto and this type of ride is exactly what he needed. Haiden Deegan was about seventh or so off the start but got to work. Tom Vialle and Ryder DiFrancesco were up in the top five early on, but Vialle crashed and collected DiFrancesco’s rear end, which took the GasGas rider down, too. Vialle would pull off, which would score him 40th. Deegan made passes to get into a podium position, but he was not done yet as he kept moving up the results page. He made a pass on Cochran to take over the lead and then charged all the way to the checkered flag. Deegan starts with three straight moto wins; Shimoda starts with three second second-place finishes as the #30 came through 6.997 seconds back. Levi Kitchen charged forward, battling a few of his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates in the process, before handing his first moto podium of the season after a tough opener. Ty Masterpool came through fourth as Michael Mosiman charged forward in a very strong ride to take fifth. Hymas, who had a few off-track excursions, and lost tow late in the moto, finished 13th. Jeremy Martin had a crash that ended his moto early, scoring him 34th.

450 Class First Moto

The second 450 Class moto blasted out of the gates, and it was Justin Cooper with the holeshot, but Aaron Plessinger quickly got into the race lead. From there, the #7 would ride nearly a perfect race, pulling away out front on his KTM 450 SX-F. Eli Tomac passed his teammate Cooper to take over second but still could not run down Plessinger as Jett Lawrence eventually got by Cooper as well. Lawrence would kinda stall out once in third as for the first time in a 450 moto he was really unable to run down Tomac ahead of him—not that that is an easy feat by any means! Plessinger was damn strong but him and Tomac took the two-lap card, you knew Tomac would strike. And he did. Tomac took over the lead and took the race win! it was his first moto win in Pro Motocross since the 2022 season finale. Can he back it up with a moto two win? In the 450 class, Tomac has won six of out the seven second motos he has raced at Hangtown. Could he got 1-1 to get his first overall win of the season? Plessinger came through second, followed by J. Lawrence as Cooper and Hunter Lawrence rounded out the top five. RJ Hampshire (sixth) and Cooper Webb (seventh) put in solid results as Malcolm Stewart, Jason Anderson, and Joey Savatgy rounded out the top ten, respectively.

The key now will be who can recover for the second moto. We will find out for this second 250 Class moto here momentarily.

250 Class Second Moto

The second set of motos were shortened from 30 minutes to 25 minutes (plus two laps), but that didn’t seem to make a difference for Haiden Deegan. It wasn’t handed to him right away, however. Casey Cochran nailed the holeshot, but it was Lance Kobusch who would take over the lead and lead for a couple laps. Deegan, meanwhile was moving forward after not starting right with the leaders. When he got to Kobusch the foregone conclusion was that he would blow right by, but Kobusch hung in there and the two put on a great show for a while, going back and forth with Deegan and hitting jumps side by side. Deegan eventually took off for the uncontested win, however. Afterward he revealed he’d been sick and that his throat was closing up during the moto, and you could hear it in his voice too. Tough ride from Deegan in the heat!

Jo Shimoda had another great ride to take second in this one. He started a few spots back and had to work his way by several riders, including a great battle between Levi Kitchen and Casey Cochran. Cochran rode well early, but would fade back to 12^th. Tom Vialle came back after crashing out of the first moto and battle up to eighth after a so-so start.

450 Class Second Moto

Cooper Webb shot out to the holeshot in the last moto of the day, but Jett Lawrence quickly took over the lead. Eli Tomac, meanwhile, got a horrible start and was in just about dead last. Lawrence would check out up front, leaving Tomac to battle through the pack. Tomac seemed up to the task and was absolutely flying, but went down all by himself while running eighth. He got back up and charged forward to finish ninth in the moto.

Aaron Plessinger ran sixth early on but started making moves. He charged up to fourth, where he had a great battle with Hunter Lawrence. He was able to get the better of Lawrence for third, but that’s as far as he could get. Justin Cooper was riding fantastic in second place and for Plessinger to catch him, it would have required superhuman skill.

Jett Lawrence rode to the uncontested win, with Cooper and Plessinger rounding out the podium.