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Morning Report

Welcome to Colorado for round three of the 2025 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. We can expect exciting racing in both the 250 and 450 Classes as there are so many different storylines to follow today. Plus, add in the third round of the Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship—which was supposed to race yesterday but was rained out—and today will be filled with action from start to finish. While the elevation is no joke and will be a factor all riders have to deal with in terms of both their breathing and the way their bike runs, luckily, we will not see temperatures nearly as hot as last weekend in Northern California. Expect a chilly morning to warm up to a high of around 80° Fahrenheit with clouds above the track on and off, although there is no sign of rain at the moment.

You know the main riders to watch: Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan are leaving their respective classes and have the red plates on their race machines. Lawrence has taken three of the first four motos aboard his CRF450R—with the other moto going to Eli Tomac—while Deegan has started four-for-four in the 250 Class. The main key will be if anyone can stop the two championship leaders roll of two straight overall wins apiece or if they will keep on rolling. Aaron Plessinger was blazing fast last weekend, as he and Tomac battled for the win in the first moto. Expect both to be frontrunners again today, as well as the #18 and his older brother Hunter as well.

And do not count out Justin Cooper on his #32 YZ450F as he has done really well at this venue in the past, including last year when he landed third overall in just his third 450 Pro Motocross race. Jo Shimoda has clearly been the second best 250 rider (four straight second-place finishes behind Deegan to start this summer) but otherwise, main 250 contenders Levi Kitchen, Tom Vialle, and Chance Hymas are all in a big points hole early after all suffering at least one DNF and no points in that moto. Kitchen and Hymas both have moto wins and overall podiums here in the past and are both looking to bounce back after less-than-ideal starts to the championship. And Kayden Minear, winner of the SMX Next – Motocross Combine at Hangtown via 1-1 finishes, is making his U.S. pro debut today aboard a #106 Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine, adding another young, talented name into the mix.

The 450 Class will race first this weekend and all four motos can be seen live on Peacock. Also, both the first 250 Class moto and the second 450 Class moto will be live on NBC—just those two motos.

Check out the full race day schedule. Again, note the 450 Class racing first this weekend. Here is the final full race day schedule. While the WMX sessions are not noted, their practice is after the consolation races and their only moto is after the second 250 moto.

First Qualifying Session

450 Class

The track is pretty damp following rain earlier this week and on Friday, but we should be set for pretty good conditions come the points-paying motos. It was loamy this morning as riders tried to figure out the fast lines. It was pretty soft but it was not very muddy, which is a good sign.

The 450 Class took to the track first today as scheduled, and it was Colorado's own Eli Tomac who put down the top fast lap in the first 450 Class group A qualifying session. Tomac put in a 2:13.919 as Jett Lawrence was second with a 2:15.420, followed by a 2:16.261 from Justin Cooper. Brad Todd topped the 450 Class group B session with a 2:16.753.

250 Class

In the first 250 Class group A session, it was Chance Hymas with the fastest lap time, a 2:19.406 over Haiden Deegan's 2:20.603. Next closest was Ty Masterpool's 2:23.045. Levi Kitchen’s 2:26.063 was sixth fastest. Crocket Myers topped the 250 Class group B first qualifying session with a 2:26.825 over debutant Kayden Minear’s 2:28.689.

Second Qualifying Session

450 Class

Tomac came into the second qualifying session with P1, but it was Aaron Plessinger’s 2:13.073 that was the top time in the second session…until a heater from Justin Cooper! Cooper has been great at this track throughout his career, and he put in a 2:10.829, over a second faster than Plessinger and anyone else. Tomac and Jett Lawrence both put on heaters but could not overtake either Cooper or Plessinger even. So, for the first time in his 450 career, Cooper takes the fastest overall 450 qualifying spot. Cooper, Plessinger, Tomac, Jett Lawrence, and Hunter Lawrence rounded out the top five in both the session and in the overall combined qualifying. Jorge Prado, in his first visit to this track, was not gelling with the track in the first session as he was still learning the layout and the dirt and the bike at elevation. At one point, he was sitting 42nd in combined qualifying! Luckily, after some adjustments, Prado came through 11th fastest at the checkered flag, so he and the team can take a big sigh of relief now.

250 Class

Chance Hymas’ top time from the first session had him sitting P1 when the session began. He would end the session with the top time—a 2:15.861—which would stand as the top overall 250 Class qualifying time for the day. Haiden Deegan’s 2:16.993 was second fastest, then the Kawasaki trio of Ty Masterpool, Garrett Marchbanks, and Levi Kitchen rounded out the top five in the session and overall combined qualifying. Other highlights include Drew Adams finishing seventh overall in qualifying, Mikkel Haarup qualifying eighth, Jo Shimoda qualifying ninth, Crockett Myers qualifying tenth, U.S. Pro Motocross rookie Kayden Minear qualifying 12th, Tom Vialle qualifying 13th, as Gavin Towers and Kyle Wise tied for qualifying 36th with the exact same lap time of 2:25.813! Again, Hymas and Kitchen, and Masterpool, too, have done well here in the past. Could today be their day? Or will Deegan keep his win streak going?

WMX Practice/Qualifying

With rain canceling all on track activities on Friday, the third round of the Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship was moved to today with one practice/qualifying session and one moto. The only practice session has wrapped up now, with Charli Cannon topping the field with a 2:24.983, followed by a 2:28.048 by series points leader Lachlan Turner, then a 2:31.599 by Mikayla Nielsen. Their one moto today will be the final moto of the day, following the second 250 Class second moto.

First Motos

450 Class

The first moto of the day got underway, and it was Hunter Lawrence, Aaron Plessinger, Jett Lawrence, Eli Tomac, and Justin Cooper the first five through the first few turns. Quickly, Jett Lawrence made a pass for the lead, but the top four were battling back and forth literally the entire moto. At one point, Jett had about a three second lead and looked to be pulling away. Plessinger was a comfortable second until he was under fire from Hunter Lawrence. The #96 made a pass then went after his brother out front! Jett Lawrence held on for the lead, fighting off his older brother’s great charge, but then suddenly Plessinger came out of nowhere and went for the lead! Plessinger led briefly before Jett Lawrence got back into the lead. Eventually, he would get breathing room—on the final lap—and take the race win, his fourth moto win in the first five motos raced so far this summer. Plessinger came through 3.3 seconds back as Tomac came through third, because Hunter Lawrence had a high side crash while running in third by himself on the final lap. That crash allowed Tomac to take over third place.

That was the first time we really saw Jett Lawrence have to battle an entire moto, get passed, pass back for the lead, slow up, hit the gas again, and get enough breathing room to take the race win. It was a truly exciting battle to watch as the top four went at each other the entire race. it seemed all four had a shot at the race win, but somehow, Jett Lawrence did Jett Lawrence things and took the race win. 

Cooper came through fifth, followed by RJ Hampshire, Cooper Webb, Jorge Prado, Joey Savatgy, and Malcolm Stewart, who rounded out the top ten.

250 Class

After an exciting first moto of the day, it was time for the first 250 Class moto. Chance Hymas grabbed the holeshot over Tom Vialle, Haiden Deegan, and Mikkel Haarup as the field came roaring up the start straight. Hymas opened up a two-second lead out front as Deegan made his way around Vialle with a power move on the outside as they came past the mechanics’ area. Vialle was then passed by both Haarup and Ty Masterpool, going from second to fourth in just a few sections. Out front, Hymas was gifted a little bit of breathing room after a mistake from Deegan, opening the lead up to 5.507 seconds. Masterpool made a pass on Haarup to take over third as Michael Mosiman joined their battle as well. Mosiman then ran into a bike issue and slowed way up. Deegan closed up on Hymas but then he also started having smoke under his YZ250F, which caused the team to tell him to be easy on the clutch and to ease up. Hymas then opened up a 34-second lead with just about three laps to go, cruising to the checkered flag after not even starting the second moto last week due to food poisoning. Quite the bounce back for the #10. He won over Deegan by 45.677 seconds, easily the biggest gap of any single SMX race so far this season. Deegan was doubling the huge triples but he his 40-some-second lead over now Garrett Marchbanks was evaporating quickly. At the checked flag, Deegan barely held off Marchbanks at the checkered flag. Marchbanks with an awesome charge through the top ten after bad start. Ty Masterpool came through fourth as Drew Adams charged to a fifth-place finish after being well outside the top 15 early on. Tom Vialle came through sixth, Mikkel Haarup seventh after running as high as third, Levi Kitchen in eighth, Jo Shimoda ninth, and Dilan Schwartz a solid tenth. Just as Deegan’s moto win streak is over now, Shimoda’s four-straight second-place finishes to start the season has now ended.

Second Motos

450 Class

Coty Schock grabbed the holeshot and early race lead ahead of the rest of the field. It was Coty Schock and Cooper Webb 1-2 out front—the Yamahas everyone expected to be out front, right?! Schock led the field through the green flag and led the first few laps until a mistake cost him, giving the race led to Justin Cooper and second place to Hunter Lawrence. Jett Lawrence made a pass for third on Schock as well. Hunter Lawrence and Cooper went back and forth for the lead but eventually the #32 would hold strong. But he was under fire from both Lawrences, reminding us of their battles back in the 250 Class just a few summers ago. Jett Lawrence would take over the lead as Tomac made a pass on Plessinger to take over fourth. Tomac would get by both Hunter Lawrence and Cooper and make a run at Jett Lawrence out front. The #3 machine would get close to the #18 but with about three minutes to go, Tomac tipped over while pushing the limits of his tires on the hills of Colorado. Jett Lawrence got the breathing room he needed to take the win—another 1-1 day—for the 18th win in his 19th career start. Tomac came through second over Cooper, who rode much better in the second moto. This was another awesome battle out front between the top riders. And somehow, again, Jett Lawrence pulls off the race win. Jett Lawrence, Tomac, and Plessinger rounded out the overall podium as Cooper and Hunter Lawrence round out the top five.

250 Class

The second 250 Class moto was more of the same from the first moto. Chance Hymas got the holeshot and took off with the race lead as Haiden Deegan started in second. Garrett Marchbanks, who finished third in the first moto, went down in the first turn on the second moto start, which ruined his chances of landing on the overall podium. Deegan wanted to give Hymas a battle after the championship leader had to ease up and be smart about his overheating bike in the first moto, but Deegan was not able to get close enough for a battle with the #10. A small tip over from Deegan gave Hymas the breathing room to easily take the race win. AEO Powersports KTM teammates Avery Long and Lux Turner were both in the top ten early in the race, but it looked like both ran into bike problems. Levi Kitchen charged into the top five and then went after Jo Shimoda, who was running third. The two were not only battling for the final spot on the moto podium, but the overall podium. Kitchen made a pass stick, which bumped him to third overall, Tom Vialle to fourth overall, and Shimoda to fifth overall. Vialle came through fifth in the moto, ahead of Casey Cochran, who put in a fantastic sixth-place finish. Michael Mosiman, Maximus Vohland, Dilan Schwartz, and Jordon Smith rounded out the top ten. Kayden Minear finished 11th in his second U.S. Pro Motocross moto, going 18-11 on the day.

WMX Moto

After weather canceled all on-track activities on Friday, the third round of the Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship was bumped to today. Racing the final moto of the day, the WMX field took their sight lap and was ready to roll. They clicked into gear and blasted up the starting straight, battling for positions in the first turn. Austrailian Charli Cannon got the holeshot over Kyleigh Stallings, but quickly series points leader Lachlan Turner joined the front duo. Turner made a pass on Cannon and those two started to battle as Stallings was under pressure from Mikayla Nielsen for third. These women were going for it, and they were even hitting the huge triples. On the final lap, Stallings went for an inside pass on Nielsen in the new, uphill section by the Thunder Valley sign, but they both collided! Stuck on possibly the steepest part of the track, it took both riders a little bit to get going again, which allowed Jarvis to sneak by to steal third! Turner took the race win by over eight seconds as Cannon and Jarvis rounded out the podium. Nielsen and Jamie Astudillo rounded out the top five. They will now be on a break until the final three rounds of Pro Motocross, which will also be there final three rounds of the WMX championship.