Unadilla National Penalties: 15 Rider License Point Penalties For Cutting Track in First 250 Moto

There is a lot to unpack on this week’s post-race penalty report from the AMA officials following the Unadilla National: 15 penalties were handed out in just the first 250 Class moto alone! The week's notes on penalties also included several incidents reviewed that both resulted in penalties and some that did NOT result in penalties.

There was a section of the track that a ton of 250 riders were cutting—the inside berm of the tree turn following the Gravity Cavity section—which is the section 11 noted in the penalty report below. Several factory 250 riders received penalties (Nate Thrasher, Daxton Bennick, Ryder DiFrancesco, Deacon Denno, and Cole Davies) but Jesson Turner’s ten rider license points (because he cut the track on 10 laps) was the harshest penalty. Since Turner received ten points on his rider license, that hit the threshold that forced him to receive the final gate pick for the second moto.

In the 450 Class, three different riders received one rider license point for cutting the track: Haiden Deegan and Mitchell Harrison in the first moto and Mark Fineis in the second moto.

We spoke with the AMA's Jeremy Albrecht this morning and he explained that riders will receive position penalties (such as what Jett Lawrence received at Washougal or Haiden Deegan at Thunder Valley) if they're deemed to gain a major competitive advantage or don't slow down during a long run on the side of the track. But even if a rider goes off the track and doesn't gain a major time advantage, the rider will still receive license points, because going off the track is discouraged in general.

Check out the AMA's full post-race report below.

Race Direction (RD) Review – Round 26 – Unadilla (New Berlin, NY) – August 15, 2026
Reviews Resulting in Penalties

• 450 A Qualifying 1- Race direction reviewed rider #14 (Ferrandis) for jumping on red cross/light in section 6.  Resulting in loss of fast lap.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #25 (Thrasher) for off track section 11. Resulting in one rider license point.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #58 (Bennick) for off track section 11. Resulting in five rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #443 (Timboe) for off track section 11. Resulting in seven rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #486 (Keefer) for off track section 11. Resulting in one rider license point.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #34 (DiFrancesco) for off track section 11. Resulting in two rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #140 (Buccheri) for off track section 11. Resulting in three rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider # 199 (Denno) for off track section 11. Resulting in two rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #800 (Masciangelo) for off track section 11. Resulting in one rider license point.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #71 (Mumford) for off track section 11. Resulting in six rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #144 (Connolly) for off track section 11. Resulting in one rider license point.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #37 (Davies) for off track section 11. Resulting in one rider license point.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #751 (Ferry) for off track section 11. Resulting in three rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #951 (Serles) for off track section 11. Resulting in three rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #40 (Ross) for off track section 11. Resulting in three rider license points.
• 250 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #507 (Turner) for off track section 11. Resulting in ten rider license points, and last gate pick in Moto 2.
• 450 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #38 (Deegan) for off track section 26. Resulting in one rider license point.
• 450 Moto 1 - Race direction reviewed rider #41 (Harrison) for off track section 25. Resulting in one rider license point.
• 450 Moto 2 - Race direction reviewed rider #88 (Fineis) for off track section 25. Resulting in one rider license point.

 Reviews Resulting in No Penalty

• 250 Moto 1: Race direction reviewed rider #29 (Hymas) for off track in section 11. No penalty assessed.
• 250 Moto 1: Race direction reviewed rider #47 (Kitchen) for off track in section 11. No penalty assessed.