Two tracks that have improved the most since I started visiting them WAY back in 1996 (I’m old, I know) are Hangtown and Unadilla, without a doubt. Both were legendary tracks but when I first showed up, I was left underwhelmed. Since then, the promoters or both races have worked hard to bring them back to life with dirt, sand, grass, or whatever was needed to make them two of the better tracks now. A lot goes into a national that’s out of a promoter's control, like weather, and in the case of Unadilla this year, there was a massive rainstorm earlier this year that might’ve washed away a lot of the dirt. That huge rain storm was followed by a drought! It seemed to me, from my couch in Vegas, that there wasn’t nearly enough water laid down and then track wasn't tilled enough before the race to make for good conditions.
Whatever it was, Unadilla 2025 didn’t look like it was a lot of fun for the riders. It looked dry and slippery, with intermittent water laid down, so that made for a sketchy track. And of course, there are the Unadilla rocks as well. There’s a fine line to losing a track, and I think I’ve seen way better Unadillas over the years. I can’t imagine what the view and the roost pain were like back in the pack!
As you all know, Jett Lawrence won his second 450MX title in three years, and although this one wasn’t as easy as MX title #1, where he was perfect—was there any doubt about this one at all? Okay, maybe before round one, there was some doubt when he was a few months off ACL surgery. But once he won, you knew he was only going to get stronger. Also, neither Lawrence was stoked on the outdoor setup on the new bikes at first, so that took a bit to dial in as well. At Hangtown Jett sort of rode around in one moto then dominated the next, and early on it looked to be maybe a battle as Eli Tomac got two moto wins.
Once we had that break after round four at High Point and Honda/Jett had some time to reset a bit for Southwick, this thing was over. The #18 just got even better.
I don’t know what was more amazing at Unadilla for Jett: his pass on RJ Hampshire up the hill, where he pre-jumped some bumps and made up like ten bike lengths, or his fourth-to-first in three turns on the opening lap of moto two? Both were examples of some elite skills on a bike.
We actually had Jett on the PulpMX Show and asked him what he thought. He said he thought the RJ pass was best one, but also said “my bad” for being that close to Hampshire (who told me it was “way too close”). He also said it just happened, naturally. As far as the second moto, there’s video of Jett being really not ready for the gate drop and hence the “poor” start for him. He mentioned that he was daydreaming and in his own little world before he realized the card went sideways.
Check out Jett's pass on Hampshire in this video, as well as the #18's save a lap prior.
Jett’s inside the top ten now in career 450MX wins after just two and a half years of racing in the class, which is wild.
Also, I hate to agree with Weege here, but I’m afraid I have to. On the broadcast, he was saying that he thought we wouldn’t see such a dominant rider like RC or MC anymore because there aren’t as many secrets nowadays as there used to be. There are more top riders riding with each other now than ever before; training has been standardized. The days of RC and Aldon Baker working in silence and then RC destroying everyone are over, you know? So, to see someone like Jett be THAT much better than everyone else is wild.
Hunter Lawrence won last week with a 2-2, and this week he gets second, which wasn’t bad. He rode pretty well, and in the second moto, he went after his younger brother a bit. Hunter was not scared to push the envelope early on in the moto, but in the end, he was powerless to stop Jett from slowly pulling away and sitting about five seconds ahead.
Eli Tomac had a good day, and he seemed to be okay with his 3-3 scores. Like he said, Unadilla isn’t a track that suits him well over the years, and he did a good job wearing down Justin Cooper in moto two to get the third.
We’ve been witnessing RJ Hampshire get better and better. Last week was his first 450MX podium, and this week he led laps for the first time, which was impressive. He did fall in the moto, but he also passed Jett Lawrence back! I mean, okay, so Jett made a mistake and went off the track, but still! Hampshire has been so smooth and in control all summer long—who would’ve thought? So many 250 riders tell us, while they’re in 250s, that they’re “a better 450 rider,” and then that fails to be true. Well, in this case, RJ might be a better 450 rider!
Holy smokes, was Jo Shimoda’s first moto maybe the best he’s ever ridden in his career? He had the lead early from like fifth, then had over 40 seconds on Deegs before he backed it down a bit. Like, we know he’s been on a roll lately and has now won three out of the last five nationals and should’ve won Millville, but Unadilla's first moto was something else. Shimoda’s got a great style about him—super easy on the bike and almost perfect form. Think about when was the last time you saw him in a photo looking out of control? I know in his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki days, some people there wanted him to have more sprint speed early in the motos and lamented him taking too long to get going, but there was no waiting at Unadilla.
Jo still hasn’t signed a deal for next year; all he’s doing is adding zeroes to whatever he is going to do. Honda’s got a deal for him on the table, and I don’t know why he wouldn’t take that—he can make by far the most money there, and according to Honda, they would put three 450s on the track if they had to when it's time for him to move up.
What a day for Honda HRC! 1-1 and 2-2 in 450s and 1-1 in 250MX also.
I think if this race was earlier in the year, Haiden Deegan would have gone after Jo a bit more than he did this weekend. He's got a good points lead, so hey, let’s just bring this thing home, right? Tom Vialle rode much better after some bike changes in moto two, but Deegs was, I would say, the second-best rider out in New York. Also, Haiden has been very generous with his compliments for Shimoda the last little while. I know most riders are this way, but as we’ve seen, Haiden’s podium speeches can vary wildly. So when he acts normal on the podium, we have to acknowledge it, right?
Vialle’s been very good for four-straight motos now, which is a change from before he got hurt. I’m sure he wasn’t stoked on going from first to fourth in moto one, but hey, the second moto was strong. Him and his teammate Julien Beaumer both got good starts the last four motos as well, which makes me wonder if KTM made some changes to the bikes. I don’t remember the Orange Brigade 250 guys doing this well off the line to start the year.
More news and notes from the couch watching Unadilla:
-You’re not gonna believe this, but Garrett Marchbanks got a terrible start in moto one and then rode great to pass a bunch of dudes and get fifth. Yeah! Crazy, huh? But the only rider to pass more than his 18 was his teammate Levi Kitchen, who passed 23 guys on his way to 10th.
-Speaking of Levi, I was texting with him about his season and some of the things I was wondering about. He told me he tried Drew Adams' setup for Ironman in an effort to get comfortable, but that didn’t work out great. I was trying to cheer him up at one point, but he said it was a “horrible season and he’s ‘f****ing over it.’” Embrace the outdoors! Good news for Kitch—one more, and a reset starts in SMX.
-Jorge Prado got the holeshot in moto one, then went back to 15th. It wasn’t good; his lap times were way off, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he just was over it. In the second moto, he moved forward a bit to get 12th. But after Ironman, this was supposed to be maybe “fixed,” but Prado and Kawasaki look like they are back to square one. Lots of rumors about him leaving his deal with Kawasaki to go back to KTM, and I would bet on it happening. No one in the Kawi/Prado relationship is very happy with what’s going on, and I don’t know how it gets better. Sounds like he’s lost faith in the team to get him comfortable, and the team is exasperated with him and his effort.
-Speaking of Prado, can you imagine what Valentin Guillod is thinking out there as he zooms past Prado almost every other moto? Guillod on a bone stock with exhaust YZ450F (the man had the same suspension oil for seven races!) and going by a two-time MXGP champion that he told me he had “never” passed in MXGP? Guillod continued his strong season as a privateer at Unadilla with gritty rides. He’s also becoming the star of Weege’s dumb post-race video show.
-Looking at our guy MX Reference’s stats from the summer, one thing that stands out is that whatever a rider’s fifth lap position is will basically be his 10th lap position. You can extrapolate this out to the average moto finish, but that’s affected more so by DNFs. So, across the board in the 450 class, when you look at fifth lap position to tenth lap, you see that most guys are within a spot. Chase Sexton is a little better than a spot (small sample size), Coty Schock is a little better, but standing out is Malcolm Stewart, who is over two spots better from fifth lap to tenth. Granted, he’s one of only three riders (Schock and Guillod) who are in the double digits, which means that Stewart is a better rider than those guys further back, but still, Malcolm’s been grinding!
-Scary crash for Michael Mosiman in the first moto; hope he’s okay. Mosi has re-signed with Star for next year also.
-Drew Adams qualified first! That’s a first for him, and that’s about all there is to say about his Unadilla. Track changes from qualifying to the motos were to blame, I hear, for his scores.
-I’ve been very impressed with Parker Ross this summer, although in moto one at Unadilla, he crashed off the start, then crashed again later on for a DNF. We had him on the PulpMX Show Monday night, and he confirmed that when he signed with Bar X Yamaha for this summer’s nationals, he also did a deal for 2026 as well. Ross is in great shape for sure; most motos he and teammate Dillion Schwartz are picking off riders late in the race. We also talked to Parker about dating a girl who’s super-fast, as he currently goes out with WMX racer Mikayla Nielsen.
![Drew Adams]()
Drew Adams Mitch Kendra ![Parker Ross]()
Parker Ross Mitch Kendra
Thanks for reading OBS! One more national to go, and then we’re onto the three SMX races, which should be a refreshing change of pace, right? Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else!
