Undefeated

Haiden Deegan has only raced professionally at Washougal twice, but he’s been extremely good there both times. In fact, he hasn’t ever lost an overall at Washougal, and it was at this same venue in 2023 that he put in an all-time come-from-behind charge to win the second moto. With two consecutive Washougal wins in his history, will Deegan pull off the three-peat this weekend? -Hansel

Familial Fray

Hunter Lawrence has yet to earn an overall victory in the 450 Class in Pro Motocross, but he came as close as humanly possible last Saturday at Spring Creek. The Honda HRC Progressive rider took advantage of a small crash from his brother Jett Lawrence early and bolted out to the lead and threw down amazing laps all moto to take the win. He wasn’t able to repeat the feat in the second moto, however, and took second to Jett, who’d taken second in the first moto. They tied, but Jett won the tiebreaker on account of his superior performance in the second moto. Things could just as easily flip at Washougal, however, and if they do, Hunter would emerge with his first 450 Pro Motocross victory. -Hansel

Mr. Consistency

That’s not a heading we would have used in the past to describe RJ Hampshire, but he sure has looked great since joining the 450 Class this summer! Despite coming off wrist surgery right before the season opener, Hampshire has been solid and consistent all season and even went 4-4 at Spring Creek for his second consecutive fourth overall. Plenty of his competitors have struggled with consistency this season too, so there’s no reason to think Hampshire won’t keep rolling at Washougal. -Hansel

The Dropoff

It’s not unfair to say Eli Tomac’s performance has dropped off since the beginning of the season. Tomac went from battling Jett Lawrence, and beating him in a couple motos, to going 6-9 for seventh at Spring Creek. In the point standings he’s currently fourth, and is 91 points back of Lawrence. The gates will drop at Washougal this weekend, which is a place where Tomac is traditionally very good. Can Tomac use his Washougal expertise to propel himself back into the battle for a win? -Hansel 

Big Swings

After a fantastic outing at RedBud, in which Jo Shimoda reduced Haiden Deegan's lead to 38 points, Shimoda went 2-4 at Spring Creek, which increased Deegan's lead to 45. With just eight motos left in the season, that means Shimoda is going to have to make up about six points on Deegan if he wants to win this title. That doesn't seem like a lot, but when it's against a competitor like Deegan, who isn't going to lose every single moto for the rest of the season, that's a tough ask. Somewhere along the line he's going to have to have a big day in points in which he goes 1-1 (or close to it) and hope Deegan has another bad day. If the opposite happens at Washougal, this thing will probably be out of reach for Shimoda. -Hansel

Opportunity Knocks

All of a sudden a 450 class, which had been strong and healthy for most of the summer, has dissipated through injury and illness. At RedBud, Dylan Ferrandis was the only full-time front runner out with injury. Since then Aaron Plessinger, Cooper Webb, Jason Anderson, Joey Savatgy, Derek Kelley, and Grant Harlan have all hit the injury list. Bummer news for sure, but it does open the door for others to surge forward. Candidates include a rider like Valletin Guillod, who went 10-6 at Millville. Or Coty Schock, who could turn one of his signature holeshots into a huge day. It’s a 450 motocross tradition for a privateer or support rider to deliver eye-popping results at the end of the season. The time is now. –Jason Weigandt