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Morning Report

Good morning, race fans! Welcome to the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania here for the first East Coast race of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. We should be set for a true, “Chamber of Commerce Day” at the one and only Country Club of Motocross. High today is about 78° and sunny. But you never know when rain will come during the summer so that could factor in at some point. You can never count out a random, 12-minute rain shower throughout the day.

On track, the racing should continue to be great. The first three rounds have been epic and we expect today to deliver as well. We already had a fantastic first moto in the Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship powered by Synchrony when WMX rookie Mayla Herrick holeshot and won the race, stopping Lachlan Turner’s four-moto win streak to start the season. Their second moto will be in the middle of today’s Pro Motocross race day.

In the 450 Class, Jett Lawrence is leading the championship after a four-moto win streak of his own. Hunter Lawrence and Haiden Deegan will look to best the #1, as will Jorge Prado and the rest of this stacked field.

Speaking of stacked, check this stat out: only five riders have finished inside the top ten in all six of their motos to start the season—and Jo Shimoda is the only rider to do so in the 250 Class! 

The 250 Class will be led by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates Levi Kitchen and Seth Hammaker. Jo Shimoda is lurking just six points behind, so it would not be shocking to see the #30 lead with the championship lead at the end of the day. The Kawasaki duo will be hard to beat though. Hammaker has been sneaky good in his two Pro Motocross starts here at High Point Raceway. Who knows, the consistently inconstant 250 Class could provide a big shake up any given second—even from moto to moto!

In both classes it will be fun to see who does better in these East Coast conditions.

As always, riders' meeting starts at 7:15 a.m. with Pastor Jake, then bikes on are track at 8 a.m. Here we go!

First Qualifying Sessions

250 Class

Local Luke Fauser topped the first qualifying session of the day with a 2:09.354 on his #462 KTM 250 SX-F to lead the 250 Class group B session. In the 250 Class group A session, it was championship leading teammates Levi Kitchen and Seth Hammaker with 2:04 and 2:05 laps, respectively, leading the field early on, as Cole Davis, Lux Turner, and Nick Romano were running tip five on the results page after fast opening laps. Julien Beaumer and Ryder DiFrancesco moved into the top three positions behind Kitchen. Then, on the very last lap, Davies put in his best lap—a 2:04.433—to top the field. Kitchen’s 2:04.658 was second fastest as the only other sub-2:05. DiFrancesco’s 2:05.059 was third fastest, then Beaumer (2:05.293) and Hammaker (2:05.406) rounded out the top five. Caden Dudney put in a fast lap that was sixth fastest with a 2:05.558.

The first sessions the track was moist but not too bad. The sun is out and will harden up the track more throughout the day so the motos this afternoon. For being only 65 degrees, it is starting to get hot already with 64 percent humidity.

450 Class

In the 450 Class, it was the Lawrence duo of Jett and Hunter leading the field when the green flag waived, with Haiden Deegan right behind them. Deegan and Jett went back and forth a few times both on the track and on the results page as Garrett Marchbanks put in a P3 lap early. Deegan’s 2:01.317 was leading Jett Lawrence’s 2:02.996 and they two were gesturing back and forth a few times after it looked like they got in each other’s day. Jorge Prado put in two very slow roll laps then went for a fast lap but went down at one point because he came back through the finish line jump with dirt on his right shoulder. Once he finally got in a good lap—a. 2:03.248—Prado moved into P3. When the session ended, Deegan’s time held up over Jett Lawrence’s as Prado was third, then Hunter Lawrence and Mikkel Haarup rounded out the top five. The #31 Triumph could be a sleeper pick here, as could be RJ Hampshire (sixth), Marchbanks (seventh), Dylan Ferrandis (eight), and Christian Craig (ninth). Those guys were all ripping! Jordon Smith threw down a few scrubs on his fast laps as the riders navigated the slick dirt that saw several squirrely lines up the faces of different jumps.

Conner Mowry topped the 450 Class group B session.

Second Qualifying Sessions

250 Class

The second session was again led by Cole Davies, Levi Kitchen, and Ryder DiFrancesco. Davies' 2:02.283 was the top time, besting his 2:04.433 from the first session to stand as the top overall 250 Class qualifier. 

450 Class

The second 450 Class group A session saw more of the same back and forth on the results and on the track between Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan. The Lawrences and Deegan were the first three off the line when the session started. Jett Lawrence had a big get off then Deegan went by and looked to have said something. Watch the interaction this session as Jett Lawrence looked to give a gesture to Deegan.

Things could get interesting this afternoon if the #1 and the #38 find one another during the motos!

Dylan Ferrandis also had a get-off in the same section as Jett Lawrence did. He got up and got back on his bike and returned to the track as well, which was a good sign. Check out that sequence below! He was okay but not happy with the flagging because of his awkward local while trying to pick up his bike.

On the results page, Jett put in a blazing 1:59.977 to take P1 overall on the day, besting Deegan's 2:01.317 from the first session to take the fastest overall 450 Class qualifying spot. Hunter Lawrence, Jorge Prado, Deegan, and Mikkel Haarup rounded out the top five.

First Motos

250 Class

During rider introductions after the sight lap, it was Pennsylvania’s own Seth Hammaker who got the most cheers before the 30-second board went up.

The gate dropped on the first moto of the day, and it was Casey Cochran with the holeshot and early lead! Julien Beuamer made a pass into the race lead as Cole Davies and Jo Shimoda both made their way forward. Beaumer had a lead of about five seconds but then went down on the finish line jump, losing a position as Davies got by, inheriting the lead from the #13’s bad luck. Davies and Beaumer would start to break away from the field, but the top six riders were still pretty close. Beaumer kept Davies honest but was not able to make a pass attempt. At the finish line, it was Davies taking the win over Beaumer by 1.5 seconds, then Shimoda, Cochran, and co-championship leader Seth Hammaker rounding out the top five. Hammaker’s co-championship leading teammate Levi Kitchen had a crash but came through sixth. Dudney came through eighth after running third for the early portion of the moto. Carson Mumford had a bike problem on the first few laps, which ended his moto early. We also saw DNFs from Maximus Vohland, Enzo Temmerman, Cole Timboe, and Aden Keefer.

450 Class

The gate dropped on the first 450 Class moto and it was Hunter Lawrence with the holeshot over Jorge Prado! But coming out of the third turn, Prado cut off the #96 going up the face of the Carmichael Tunnel Jump! That bunched up the field as no one sent the double into the rollers. The push wide by Prado allowed Cooper Webb to sneak up the very inside and it was a three-way battle of chicken going down the rollers between Webb, Hunter Lawrence, and Prado! The #96 was able to get into the race lead. About a lap into the race and it was Hunter Lawrence with the lead over Webb then Prado. Jett Lawrence did not get a bad jump off the start, but he was right next to Prado, who got a great jump. Jett Lawrene and Haiden Deegan both started to move forward from about tenth as Prado struggled to get around Cooper Webb. Prado finally got around Webb, then the #1 followed Prado by Webb as well, putting Prado into a Lawrence brothers sandwich. RJ Hampshire had two crashes, which dropped him from inside the top five to about 12th. His banged-up visor showed the brutality of his slams. Jett Lawrence was able to pass Prado to take over second but the #96 was rolling a 7-second lead out front. The older brother would start to open that gap up, even, as he managed to get it out to 14 seconds. The running order then was Hunter Lawrence, Jett Lawrence, Prado, Deegan (who charged forward to fourth), Garrett Marchbanks, Aaron Plessinginger, Webb, Mikkel Haarup, and Jordon Smith, then Cornelus Tondel and Dylan Ferrandis were battling for tenth place! Ferrandis made the pass, then Hampshire got by Tondel after regrouping following his crashes. The checkered flag came out, and it was Hunter Lawrence taking the moto win! He won by 11.635 seconds as Jett Lawrence came through second after some late pressure by Prado. Deegan and Marchbanks rounded out the podium in two strong rides as well. Aaron Plessinger, Webb, Harrup, Smith, and Hampshire rounded out the top ten. 

Second WMX Moto

Following Friday's first moto, the WMX field had their second moto split the Pro Motocross motos. Riders had a morning practice session to warm up before their second points-paying moto of the weekend.

The gate dropped and it was Votte van Drunen out front, but a massive pileup happened in turn one. First moto winner Mayla Herrick was one of the near ten riders involved and unfortunately, she needed medical attention. The race was red flagged and would get a full restart. 

Once the race restarted, Lachlan Turner got a much better jump and this time she holeshot! She would make a mistake that would allow Charli Cannon by into the lead. Cannon would lead the final lap or so and win the moto! Cannon's moto win won the overall with 5-1 finishes over Turner's 3-2 and van Drunen's 2-4. 

Big, dark clouds before the start of the second 250 moto.

Second Motos

250 Class

A giant dark cloud got overhead of the facility and as the gate dropped on the second 250 Class moto, the rain drops also starting coming down! This was a rerun of the 450 Class second moto last year! When the race started, it was Cole Davies picking up right where he left off in the first moto: out front. Kayden Minear had his best start of the season, and he was running second until he was passed by Julien Beaumer. Seth Hammaker had a huge crash near the mechanics’ area that resulted in a DNF for our one of our co-championship leaders. Davies cruised to the moto win over Beaumer to complete his first Pro Motocross overall win with 1-1 fashion. The first two Pro Motocross events Davies won a moto he was NOT on the overall podium. This time, Davies got it done with both motos! Minear and Jo Shimoda engaged in a gigantic battle that would come down to the wire. Minear would hold off his elder competitor, then Levi Kitchen would round out the top five. Great fight there for Minear to earn his first career moto podium! Unfortunately, local Gavin Towers had a bike issue that ended his moto early and Derek Kelley had a crash and was taken off the track on the back of a medical cart. 

In terms of the overall, Davies’ 1-1 math was easy for the overall win with Beaumer’s 2-2 second overall and Shimoda’s 3-4 for third overall. Kitchen’s 6-5 and Minear’s 10-3 rounded out the overall top five. I believe Kitchen will continue to lead the championship standings, although Shimoda is right behind him by a point.

The rain that started when the race did was not a hard rain and did not last long. The crowd braced the short rainstorm and was greeted by more sun before the end of the moto.

450 Class

450 Class

And just like that, the final moto of the weekend was here. The second 450 Class was set up to be a good one.

The gate dropped and it was Jett Lawrence with a great jump…but it was Hunter Lawrence with a sneak up the inside of the holeshot line heading into the second turn! The two were side by side going down the rollers section as fans cheered! Hunter opened up a two-second lead after about two laps, but we still had a long moto to go. Dylan Ferrandis and Cornelius Tøndel had a racing collision that sent them both to the ground. It was a brutal slam. Ferrandis rode back to the mechanics’ area and then rode off back to the pits as his moto was over. KTM teammates Aaron Plessinger and Jorge Prado were battling for third and about ten minutes into the moto, Prado made a pass stick. The orange duo had Haiden Deegan in their rear mirror as Mikkel Haarup, RJ Hampshire, Garret Marchbanks, Cooper Webb, and Christian Craig rounded out the top ten. Webb had a bike problem and had to stop in the mechanics’ area before ultimately pulling off. Deegan got around Plessinger to take over fourth as the #38 went after Prado. Marchbanks moved into seventh with a pass on Haarup.

Around the mid-way point of the race, Deegan was going after Prado. After a few laps, the #38 was able to make a pass to take over third. Deegan was about four seconds behind Jett Lawrence by the time the #38 passed Prado and the Yamaha rider was getting the message to go after the #1! There. Was about eight minutes left on the clock as it was in the later stages of the race. Out front, Hunter Lawrence was rolling, leading by eight seconds.

Prado came under pressure late by Plessinger and Marchbanks. Plessinger took the position, but Prado was not giving up! Their battle would not determine the overall podium though. Two laps to go and these guys were going full send for P4! Plessinger would hold off Prado by four seconds after their battle to the finish line!

Hunter Lawrence’s 1-1 would take the overall win over Jett Lawrence’s 2-2 finishes as Deegan’s 4-3 finishes were third overall.