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Morning Report

The second round of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship is upon us and what a day it's shaping up to be! Fresh off his dominant win last week at the season opener, Hunter Lawrence leads Jorge Prado by six points, a lead he'll be looking to extend today. The other Lawrence, Jett, is clearly not back up to speed after a nasty leg/ankle injury sustained before the beginning of supercross. He still managed to get on the podium with a third last week, but it was obvious, both from his riding and his limp when off the bike, he's not performing at his full potential. 

Elsewhere in the class is Haiden Deegan, who made his 450 debut last week by going 5-4 for fifth overall. It was a solid start for the rookie, but you know he'll be looking for more at Hangtown. Two riders who won't be looking for results at Hangtown are Eli Tomac and Malcolm Stewart. Tomac had a hard crash last week after a collision with Garrett Marchbanks, and Stewart twisted his knee in the second moto. For a full look at who's missing the action today, check out our Injury Report.

In 250 action, things were wide open coming into the season opener at Pala, and while Seth Hammaker was brilliant with his 2-1 victory, there are plenty of riders who could do the same today. Look for guys like Levi Kitchen, Julien Beaumer, Jo Shimoda, Chance Hymas, Ryder DiFrancesco, and more to try to make their mark on the series while also battling fierce up-and-comers like Caden Dudney and Cole Davies.

Also racing today are the athletes of the Women's Motocross Championship, powered by Synchrony. They ran their first moto yesterday, and it was outstanding. Defending champ Lala Turner holeshot and started checking out, but a crash after just a couple laps caused her to lose a ton of time. She charged back forward though and made a thrilling pass for the lead on Charli Cannon on the final lap. For a full report on the action go here, and be sure to tune in today for the second WMX moto.

Update: We later learned Cannon was penalized one position for accelerating while off the track.

Whatever happens today, the athletes will have great weather. It's just after 8:00 a.m. right now and the weather is in the 60s. Yesterday was blazing hot, but today the forecast is calling for a high of just 84 degrees. Those temps should help keep the track from drying out too badly too. There are plenty of rice hulls mixed in with the dirt, so that should also help with moisture retention. As far as the track goes, it's a very similar layout to what we usually see here, with the track winding up and down the hills of Hangtown. Some new additions are an uphill roller section and a big triple in the middle of the track. The big step up jump, formerly known as the Fly 150, looks a little bigger than last year too. 

The first qualifying sessions of the day are underway, so check back soon on a report of who's flying in Northern California.

Qualifying – First Sessions

If the first 250 qualifier of the day revealed anything, it’s just how tight the racing might be today. The usual suspects hovered around the top three-five spots, with Ryder DiFrancesco ending the session fastest, but check out how close they are! The top eight riders are separated by less than a second, with the top three being separated by less than a tenth of a second.

In 450 action Haiden Deegan was fastest early, but riders like Justin Cooper, Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence, and Jett Lawrence soon set faster times. Jett put in plenty of laps cruising, but when he wanted to go, he looked great. He didn’t look like he was putting a ton of effort in, but you could tell he was flying, and he looked like he was moving from line to line with ease and going wherever he wanted. Not surprisingly, he had the fastest lap for a little while. Justin Cooper would ultimately unseat him though, posting a 1:51.014 to Jett’s 1:51.462, and as the session wore down it looked like that’s how things would end. But, on the final lap, Hunter and Deegan both had heaters and jumped past Cooper. Deegan’s lap was superior, which makes him the fastest qualifier of the day so far.

Check back soon, as the second round of qualifiers are set to begin here shortly. With the track now broken the lap times will likely be different than the first round.

Qualifying – Second Sessions

Not much to report on from the second set of 250 qualifiers. Seth Hammaker set a hot lap early in this one and that was it. Nobody would better his time, including himself, for the rest of the qualifier. His time was faster than Ryder DiFrancesco's fast lap from the first qualifier too, making Hammaker the fastest 250 rider in qualifying.

When the 450s came back out it was Jett Lawrence setting a fast time early, but it was substantially slower than the fast times from the previous session. It was destined to fall, but it took several laps for it to happen. In the opening laps the majority of the guys looked like they were just cruising around checking out the track, rather than trying to actually lay down heaters. But when the urgency started to emerge it was Jorge Prado who leapt to the top of the board. It didn't last long though, as Jett dropped down into the 1:49 range.

There were still several minutes left in this one at that point, but nobody was able to match Jett's pace. Hunter Lawrence put in an effort at the very end, and was absolutely ripping, but something happened to him out of view that ruined his lap. When he came back into view he was cruising. 

In Jett's interview afterward he was asked how important it was for him to set the fastest time, to which he joked. "It wasn't important, but it's good to know I can still do a hot lap."