3-Jo Shimoda | 111 points

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The “Cat” is back after Lakewood and that’s a good thing because I was gonna get worried if he didn’t at least podium this week. If you’re Honda and Jo, you look at those moto scores to start and you’re like “Ehhh” but then you see he’s six points out of the championship lead and you take it. His average position is almost a full spot worse than last year through the first six motos. I think Shimoda will just get better from here though the starts seem to be an issue compared to Team Green.

4-Julien Beaumer | 104 points

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Beaumer told me after the race that he’s in the process of re-signing with KTM for next year and that’s a great thing. His recovery from a serious back injury and all that time off has been impressive, he went from 13^th to 4^th in moto two in Colorado. There’s NO way anyone at KTM thought JuJu would have two podiums in the first six motos, right?

5-Nick Romano | 96 points

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This is a cool story, Romano in his first go around as an amateur star got one fourth place moto and that was about it. Then he was basically done until Mitch Payton gave him a fill-in spot. Shades of Matt Walker here as Nick has run with it, he’s gotten great starts and I think his fitness has gotten a bit better as well each round. I did not see this coming, that’s for sure. Like his buddy Justin Bogle has done a few times, Romano is authoring quite a comeback story here. 

6-Cole Davies | 93 points

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Crashes ruined his Lakewood race, but he has that moto win last week on his resume. It’s been up and down for Davies, but did I mention he’s got that moto win? We can work with speed. Next year will be his year to go for the title, I think.

7-Ryder DiFrancesco | 80 points

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I know this is going to shock you, but it seems that Ryder D does well when he starts up front and then when he doesn’t, he doesn’t do as well. Weird, right? Sooooo, yeah, work on the starts, Ryder!

8-Kayden Minear | 69 points

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A steady start for the Aussie kid, Davies is probably the star of the next wave of kids and Gordon has run up there more often but drops back, Dudney had that opening round flash but the most steady has been Minear so far.

9-Chance Hymas | 67 points

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A real bummer for Hymas that he was sick this weekend, a year after going 1-1 and dominating Thunder Valley. Starts have been an issue for sure but Hangtown wasn’t a great look as he was caught, passed and dropped by Kitchen. Hymas’ title chances are probably pretty low at this point but he needs to start getting on the box ASAP.

10-Carson Mumford | 58 points

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This is pretty good, right? Mumfy’s a bit erratic with his program but he seems to have started outdoors on the right foot. Top ten and factory guys behind him is a good thing for him. I do think he’s pretty good on the West Coast stuff so the challenge for him is to maintain these results. Also, he hasn’t completed a full MX season in five years so that’s got to be a goal for him as well.

11-Max Vohland | 57 points

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Next to Hymas, this is probably the “Hmmm” of the series to start? That crash in the first turn helped Max get the fifth but other than that, he hasn’t gotten starts at all. I thought first moto at Hangtown was good but through six motos, he’s been an average of 21^st in starting position.

12-Caden Dudney | 54 points

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He’s got that second overall at the opener! Yes, that was a bit of fortunate but 6-4 scores are good. After that, Hangtown was not good and Thunder Valley was a mixture so, yeah, we don’t know quite what we have here with Dudney besides a bunch of my friends telling me he’s hella-fast outdoors and don’t look at his SX stats.

13-Deacon Denno | 43 points

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I like what I’m seeing from Deacon “Jones” here. He seems to be a grinder, I watch him late in motos and the “try” is there, so I think he’s in good shape? Triumph needs something good to happen and Denno getting two top tens in his first six motos is impressive.

14-Michael Mosiman | 40 points

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Most of “us” expect Mosiman to be dropped by Star at the end of the year but then I look up and he’s third for most of the moto in Colorado! So, IDK man—if he keeps doing that maybe he stays there. Mosiman will always be one of the most confusing riders on and off the track.

15-Lux Turner | 39 points

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Lux has a mechanical in here which hurts but he’s been unable to top that opening round speed which makes me think him practicing at Pala a lot helped him there? I don’t know if he can get back to there, but I’m surprised he can’t get closer to top ten and also, his SX results have helped him a lot for 2027 so like, whatever man [Editor’s note: Lux has been collected in multiple first turn crashes as well, hurting his results].

450 Class Points Standings

1-Jett Lawrence | 138 points

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We had Jett on the PulpMX Show Monday night in what I thought was a candid interview with him and he mentioned that his ankle is a lot better than two weeks ago. Like, his guy popped it and got him some movement back. And yeah, if that’s true then everyone else is screwed. He’s been classic Jett Lawrence last two weeks, just controlling the race and going exactly as fast as he needs to. His start in moto two in Lakewood was ridiculous as well. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Watch the interview from Monday night here:

2-Hunter Lawrence | 130 points

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Hunter got docked in Lakewood and it was impressive in moto one how he went after Jett, even briefly getting him. He easily could’ve gone 2-2 on the day but instead it was a 4-4—he crashed twice in moto two alone! I know this sounds simple and easy, but he needs to get a win here before his baby brother really gets rolling.

3-Haiden Deegan | 106 points

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Deegs being Deegs, he can’t stay away from the controversy that overshadowed his riding with the track cutting. Still, he’s gotten better every round so far which is great. I thought maybe it was the altitude, but he looked to be less throttle happy in Colorado but maybe that was because his bike was slower? He’ll figure this out even more than he has already. As far as the track cuts, yeah, man—you can’t do that. It was a clear advantage! He knew what he was doing and this is a bit of a habitual issue with him over the years.

4-RJ Hampshire | 94 points

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RJ’s been steady this summer after a long layoff. It’s interesting to know that he’s going to most likely end up at Ducati and that the rider right below him in points has an auto-renewal with the Italians if he gets top five in the points. So, RJ could maybe determine his teammate next year?

5-Dylan Ferrandis | 86 points

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Pala was okay, Hangtown was great and Lakewood we were back to okay. Dylan’s IG comment about “Mulchocross” was great, I didn’t see much mulch out there on Saturday by moto one but regardless, “Mulchocross” will now be put into my vocabulary. Also, I thought the Ducati bike would be better outdoors off the start? Is that my bad or we haven’t seen its potential yet? 

6-Jorge Prado | 85 points

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Give Jorge his points back from Hangtown moto one and he’s fourth in the points which seems about right. He’s very start dependent, which is not breaking news and also, count me as surprised that he wasn’t closer to Coenen on Saturday.

7-Garrett Marchbanks 83 | points

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A nice story for a team that hasn’t had a lot of nice stories in the last two years. I wonder if G having some 450MX experience has helped him this go around. Remember he qualified 8^th at Pala and collided with ET3 or his points standings would be even better. Marchbanks is very happy with his bike/team, and I think there’s mutual interest to sign him up for 2027 again.

8-Aaron Plessinger | 68 points

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Tough start for AP after a long layoff but he ran third in moto one there for a bit so there’s that. It’s weird to see two friends, former teammates and national champions be tied for 8^th in the points, one is riding off into the sunset and one is trying to get back to where he once was. I think there’s very little difference to separate RJ, Dylan, AP, and Marchbanks this summer.

9-Cooper Webb | 68 points

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Webb got smoked at the opener and was laughing about it after, but he’s gotten better the last two weeks with better starts. Yes, he’s going backwards but I think if he’s in the top ten, that should be fine for him, and everyone involved. There was some confusion on what Webb was going to ride or if he was even going to ride at the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) opener after Washougal, but it looks like he will be there and on a Yamaha before switching to Husky for the other rounds later. Whether he’s leasing the bike or what, I’m not sure.

10-Mikkel Haarup | 66 points

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I thought he would be better? After not racing for a long time (I’m not counting his local amateur stuff), it’s weird that “Nickel” Mikkel’s best moto was his first one? Yes, starts help and he holeshot moto one of the year but still? I was saying I thought he could be top five and he hasn’t been that close to that so far. 

11-Chase Sexton | 61 points

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A permanent “IDK Man” and I think his outdoor season may be over after the press day video heard around the world. After everything both sides have been through, an apparent bike malfunction over a huge jump is THE absolute worst thing to happen to this relationship. I think the biggest question we have here is do we see him on a Kawasaki again? Shades of Jorge Prado last year, Sexton has some deep soul searching to do to figure his life out.

12-Christian Craig | 56 points

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Craig crashed out last moto but before that I thought he’d been…pretty good? He was moving forward in the motos and seemed to be enjoying himself out there. His team won’t be at all the nationals going forward but regardless, CC has positioned himself well in the SMX Playoffs with these moto scores.