The Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, celebrated America’s 250th Anniversary with the longstanding Independence Day tradition that is the 5.11 RedBud National. One of the biggest crowds in event history was on hand for Round 22 of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship, as overnight rain gave way to sunny skies and a continually evolving racetrack. With a heightened atmosphere for the milestone holiday the action on the track responded with compelling action across both classes. In the premier 450SMX Class, Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence [#96] made it two in-a-row and three for the season following an incredible second moto win in which he overcame a near 10-second deficit. In the 250SMX Class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies [#37] became the first repeat winner in the class this summer with back-to-back victories.

450SMX Class

Qualifying

• The two timed sessions in the premier class were split atop the charts, with championship leader and Honda HRC Progressive rider Jett Lawrence [#1] leading the way in the first session with a time of 2:16.573 and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan [#38] setting the pace in the second session with a time of 2:16.818. Lawrence’s lap was enough to narrowly edge out Deegan by a few tenths to earn the first gate pick.

Moto 1 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The opening moto started with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Jorge Prado [#26] leading the Lawrence brothers to the holeshot, as the Spaniard then assumed control of the lead. Behind him, Jett and Hunter engaged in a spirited fight for second, while further back Deegan was involved in a first-turn incident and started at the tail end of the field.
• The top three settled in through the opening five minutes as Jett Lawrence asserted his hold on second and started to chip away at the deficit to Prado while Hunter Lawrence lurked a couple seconds behind in third. A couple laps later Jett pulled the trigger on a quick, decisive pass to take control of the lead.
• The top three remained unchanged through the middle of the moto, but Hunter Lawrence was able to close in on Prado just past the halfway point and made a quick pass to take over second. With about a dozen minutes left on the race clock the brothers were separated by 3.5 seconds.
• The distance between Jett and Hunter remained about the same until the moto entered its final two minutes, when Hunter closed within striking distance of his younger brother. The elder Lawrence put in a charge and made the pass just before time ran out on the race clock then sprinted away to a lead of more than seven seconds.
• On the final lap, Hunter tipped over as he navigated lapped riders, which allowed Jett to reclaim the lead and bring home his fifth moto win of the summer by 3.2 seconds. Prado finished more than 20 seconds back in third, followed by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire [#24] in fourth and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks [#36] in fifth.
  

Moto 2 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The final race of the day got underway with Prado out front for a sweep of the holeshots, followed closely by Deegan and Jett Lawrence. Hunter Lawrence started just outside the top five in sixth.
• As the lead trio sprinted away from the field Hunter Lawrence fought his way around Hampshire and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb [#2] to move up to fourth.
• While pursuing Deegan for second, Jett Lawrence lost traction with his rear tire and went down, eventually remounting just outside the top 10 in 11th place. That moved Hunter Lawrence up to third.
• With the clear track, Prado was able to seize control of the moto and sprint out to a lead of 3.5 seconds over Deegan as Hunter Lawrence looked to close in from third. Behind them, Jett Lawrence experienced even more misfortune and went down for a second time while running eighth. He remounted once again in 11th place.
• Prado continued to build on his advantage, which sat at nearly nine seconds at the halfway point of the moto. Deegan maintained a firm hold of second, but Hunter Lawrence inched in from third to initiate a battle for the position. Further back, Jett Lawrence continued to fight his way through the field and was on the cusp of the top five.
• Hunter Lawrence easily got the upper hand in a brief battle with Deegan and took control of second place with 13 minutes left on the race clock. At that point, Lawrence faced a 9.2 second deficit to Prado.
• Over the next few laps, Lawrence took big chunks out of Prado’s lead and soon enough the Honda rider moved within three seconds of his KTM foe. Lawrence’s push continued and moved him onto Prado’s rear fender.
• Prado responded and was able to stabilize his advantage as the moto approached its final five minutes. Hunter then went on the attack and made an assertive pass for the lead with under three minutes remaining. Moments later, Jett Lawrence made a pass on Marchbanks for fifth.
• Once out front, Hunter Lawrence surged out to lead of more than five seconds and went on to redeem his miscue from the first moto with his fifth moto win of the season. He took the checkered flag by a margin of 11.2 seconds over Prado, with Deegan a distant third. Jett Lawrence made a valiant charge to salvage fifth.

Overall

• Hunter Lawrence’s 2-1 effort netted him a second straight win and class-leading third overall victory of the season.
• Prado’s pair of holeshots carried him to 3-2 finishes and a second career podium result, which equaled his career best from the opening round.
• Jett Lawrence captured his 38th premier class podium in third following a 1-5 performance and finished tied with Prado in event points but lost out on the second moto tiebreaker.
• For the first time in 53 years, the overall podium at RedBud was composed entirely of international athletes.
• With the win Hunter Lawrence reclaimed control of the championship points lead and holds a three-point lead over Jett. Deegan, who finished sixth overall (10-3), remains third, 51 points out of the lead and 12 points ahead of Prado in fourth.

Results & Standings

450SMX Class Overall Results (Moto Finishes // Points)

Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda (2-1 // 47)

Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, KTM (3-2 // 42)

Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda (1-5 // 42)

RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna (4-4 // 36)

Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki (5-6 // 33)

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (10-3 // 32)

Mikkel Haarup, Silkeborg, Denmark, Triumph (7-7 // 30)

Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon, France, Ducati (6-9 // 29)

Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (8-8 // 28)

Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., Triumph (11-11 // 22)

450SMX Class Championship Standings (Race 5 of 11)

Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda - 227

Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda - 224

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha - 176

Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, KTM - 164

RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna - 157

Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki - 149

Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon, France, Ducati - 125

Mikkel Haarup, Silkeborg, Denmark, Triumph - 124

Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha - 111

Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM - 102

SMX World Championship Regular Season Standings (Round 22 of 28)

Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda - 573

Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha - 426

Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, KTM - 353

Ken Roczen, Mattstedt, Germany, Suzuki - 349

Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha - 323

Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon, France, Ducati - 301

Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Kawasaki - 298

Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki - 291

Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., KTM - 275

Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda - 224

450SMX Class Overall Results

450SMX Class Box Score

450SMX Class Championship Standings

Combined 450SMX Class Regular Season Standings

Quotes

1st Place – Hunter Lawrence | #96 Team Honda HRC Progressive (2-1)
“[This win] is so good. It’s America’s 250th birthday and we’re so grateful for the opportunity we have here [in this country]. We’re living the American dream and couldn’t have this life anywhere else in the world. What a day.”

2nd Place – Jorge Prado | #26 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (3-2)
“It’s an awesome experience racing at RedBud. We used the week off to make some improvements on the bike and in the second moto I felt way more like myself. We led laps, we got the holeshot, and I’m really happy with the steps we’ve made. We’re coming.”

3rd Place – Jett Lawrence | #1 Team Honda HRC Progressive (1-5)
“I doubled down [in Moto 2] with my terrible riding today. I made a decision with the team to go a certain way on the bike, and it didn’t work. Hunter [Lawrence] is riding really well so we’ll go back to work and try to come out better at Southwick.”

250SMX Class

Qualifying

• Fresh off a first career win at the previous round, Davies kept the momentum rolling in Qualifying with the fastest lap of the morning at 2:19.661. The New Zealander set the pace in each session but did have his first fast lap disallowed after his motorcycle failed sound inspection. He sat 1.3 seconds clear of the 2:21.048 set by his rookie teammate Caden Dudney [#82] in second.

Moto 1 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The first moto of the day started with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing duo of Dudney and Davies side-by-side, with Dudney able to grab his first ever holeshot and early lead. Behind them, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Nick Romano [#141] started third, battling Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer [#13], who then went down and dropped to the tail end of the field. Championship leader Levi Kitchen [#47] started sixth aboard his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
• Dudney was able to seize the moment and lead the first laps of his young career, soon opening up a lead of more than three seconds over Davies. The top two then pulled away from the rest of the field, building a double-digit advantage over third just 10 minutes into the moto.
• A multi-rider battle for third unfolded between Romano, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Casey Cochran [#56], and Kitchen. Cochran made the pass for third and inched away from the Kawasaki teammates. Kitchen then made the move for fourth.
• Back up front, the battle for the lead picked up as the moto approached its halfway point. Davies hounded Dudney and attempted multiple passes for the lead, only to be denied every time. The lead then restabilized at around two seconds.
• Inside the final 10 minutes the battle for third heated up again as Cochran, Kitchen, and Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda [#30] sat within less than a second of one another. As Kitchen looked to make a pass on Cochran, Shimoda took advantage and made his way by both riders to take control of third.
• With less than five minutes to go Davies closed in on Dudney for the lead once again. Davies was patient and waited for his opportunity, and with just over 30 seconds remaining on the race clock he made the pass. He pulled away from Dudney over the final two laps, as Davies captured his third straight moto win by 2.6 seconds. Shimoda followed in third, with Kitchen fourth, and Cochran fifth.

Moto 2 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]

• The second moto kicked off with Davies leading the field to the holeshot ahead of Honda HRC Progressive’s Chance Hymas [#29] and Cochran, with Shimoda in fourth and Dudney in fifth. Kitchen started outside the top 10 in 13th place. Cochran put in a charge on the opening lap and was able to make the move around Hymas for second.
• As Davies sprinted out to a lead of nearly three seconds it was Shimoda who took the opportunity to push forward. He made the pass on his teammate for third and then went after Cochran. After several laps of pursuit, Shimoda made the pass for second but faced a 7.3 second deficit to Davies with 20 minutes remaining. Cochran, meanwhile, lost hold of third to his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Ryder DiFrancesco [#34] and then dropped behind Kitchen.
• Just past the halfway point of the moto, Kitchen started to pressure DiFrancesco for third as Shimoda made small inroads on his deficit to Davies. Kitchen made the move around DiFrancesco but went down a couple laps later and dropped from third to sixth, which moved DiFrancesco back into a podium spot.
• Back up front, Shimoda erased almost the entire deficit to Davies and moved within striking distance with more than five minutes left in the moto. The Japanese rider got alongside the New Zealander and made the pass with about 3.5 minutes remaining on the race clock.
• The reigning SMX World Champion charged home to his first moto win of the summer, and 15th of his career, by a margin of 11.1 seconds over Davies. DiFrancesco finished third.

Overall

• Despite losing his grasp on another sweep of the motos, Davies’ 2-1 effort still placed him atop the overall classification, with back-to-back victories to make him the first repeat winner of the season.
• Shimoda’s impressive win in Moto 2 landed him in the runner-up spot (1-3) for his third straight podium result. It also paid big dividends in the championship standings as it moved him atop the points as the third different rider to carry the red plate through the first five races.
• A quiet and consistent afternoon for DiFrancesco netted him the first overall podium result of his career (6-3), which came in his 43rd start. He’s the sixth different rider to earn a maiden overall podium this season.
• Shimoda’s lead atop the 250SMX Class standings sits at four points over Davies. Kitchen dropped from first to third following a fifth-place finish (4-5) and now faces a nine-point deficit to Shimoda.

1st Place – Cole Davies | #37 Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing (1-2)
“Jo [Shimoda] was riding good. It’s a long championship and we have a long way to go. It was a good day, and we got a win at RedBud. That’s all I can ask for. We’re in a really good spot with the bike right now so I’m really happy.”

2nd Place – Jo Shimoda | #30 Honda HRC Progressive (3-1)
“The bike was better today. I felt good and didn’t get tired until the end [of Moto 2]. Every bit of it today was better. We’re making progress and that’s exactly what we need right now.”

3rd Place – Ryder DiFranceso | #34 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (6-3)
“This [first podium] has been a long time coming. I was sitting in third [in the second moto] and was thinking I was the only American to get on the podium [on 4th of July]. This is what every motocross rider dreams of.”

Results & Standings

250SMX Class Overall Results (Moto Finishes // Points)

Cole Davies, Waitoki, New Zealand, Yamaha (1-2 // 47)

Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda (3-1 // 45)

Ryder DiFrancesco, Bakersfield, Calif., Husqvarna (6-3 // 36)

Casey Cochran, Portsmouth, Va., Husqvarna (5-4 // 35)

Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki (4-5 // 35)

Caden Dudney, Des Moines, Iowa, Yamaha (2-12 // 32)

Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda (8-6 // 30)

Carson Mumford, Simi Valley, Calif., KTM (11-7 // 26)

Kayden Minear, Perth, Western Australia, Yamaha (9-9 // 26)

Nate Thrasher, Livingston, Tenn., Yamaha (10-10 // 24)

250SMX Class Championship Standings (Race 5 of 11)

Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda - 194

Cole Davies, Waitoki, New Zealand, Yamaha - 190

Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki - 185

Julien Beaumer, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., KTM - 159

Ryder DiFrancesco, Bakersfield, Calif., Husqvarna - 147

Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki - 134

Kayden Minear, Perth, Western Australia, Yamaha - 127

Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda - 120

Nick Romano, Bayside, N.Y., Kawasaki - 116

Caden Dudney, Des Moines, Iowa, Yamaha - 105

SMX World Championship Regular Season Standings (Round 22 of 28)

Cole Davies, Waitoki, New Zealand, Yamaha - 421

Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki - 362

Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki - 314

Ryder DiFrancesco, Bakersfield, Calif., Husqvarna - 311

Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda - 294

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha - 233

Daxton Bennick, Morganton, N.C., Husqvarna - 203

Max Vohland, Sacramento, Calif., Yamaha - 203

Nick Romano, Bayside, N.Y., Kawasaki - 188

Nate Thrasher, Livingston, Tenn., Yamaha - 182

Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Yamaha - 182