Following its first break in action of the 2025 season, the Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, returned to the track for Race 5 of the summer campaign and Round 22 of the SMX World Championship regular season.

A morning of cloud cover and mist gave way to sunny skies for the motos at the Crestview Construction Southwick National, where the sand track of The Wick 338 is legendary for challenging racers both physically and mentally. While the track pushed many riders to the limit, the series points leaders enjoyed their most dominant performances thus far as Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence cruised to his fifth straight victory and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan rode to an emphatic fourth win in five races.

450 ClassMoto 1
The first moto of the afternoon kicked off with Lawrence leading the field to the Pro Motocross Holeshot, followed by his brother and teammate Hunter Lawrence and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger. The lead trio soon settled into their respective positions, with Jett Lawrence establishing a multi-second lead mere minutes into the moto.

As the race surpassed its halfway point the duo of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jorge Prado, a back-to-back FIM Motocross World Champion, and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac made their push to the front, with both riders making the pass on Plessinger to move into third and fourth, respectively. Prado and Tomac’s battle continued for third, until Prado pushed too hard in a corner and went down. That allowed Tomac to assume third while Prado remounted behind Plessinger in fifth.

Out front, Jett Lawrence enjoyed a quiet moto and completed a wire-to-wire performance with his largest winning margin of the season to that point at 13.7 seconds over Hunter Lawrence, with Tomac an additional five seconds behind in third. Plessinger held on for fourth, just ahead of Prado, who equaled his best moto result in fifth.

Moto 2
The deciding moto started the same way as Moto 1, with Jett Lawrence leading the way to sweep the Pro Motocross Holeshots ahead of Prado and Hunter Lawrence, who was quickly passed by Tomac. The clear track allowed Jett Lawrence to pull away and establish a three-second lead over Prado and Tomac, who settled into second and third, respectively.

As the moto neared its halfway point, Lawrence’s lead had grown to 8.5 seconds over Prado, who maintained a firm hold of second as Tomac started to lose ground and fall into the clutches of Hunter Lawrence from fourth. Lawrence appeared to be the faster rider and was easily able to slip past Tomac for third. The Australian’s momentum continued forward and carried him onto the rear fender of Prado. As he navigated lapped riders, Prado went down and lost multiple positions, reentering in sixth place. That allowed Hunter Lawrence to move into second and Tomac into third.

Leading the way, Jett Lawrence was in a class of his own and significantly bettered his winning margin from the opening moto to take the checkered flag 20.1 seconds ahead of his brother. Tomac followed in third, more than a half-minute behind Jett.

Overall
The most dominant performance of the season so far brought Jett Lawrence his landmark 20th career 450 Class victory, which ties him with former Pro Motocross Champion and AMA Hall of Famer James Stewart for seventh all time. It also marked the young Australian’s 15th career 1-1 result in 21 starts and was his third consecutive Southwick victory. Hunter Lawrence completed the Honda and sibling 1-2 for the second straight race (2-2), while Tomac captured his fourth podium in five races in third (3-3).

Jett Lawrence’s lead in the championship standings now sits at 38 points over Tomac with the halfway point of the season looming. With his second straight runner-up finish, Hunter Lawrence moved into third, 43 points behind his brother and just three points behind Tomac.

1st Place: Jett Lawrence, Honda HRC Progressive (1-1): “I just got to keep focused on each race. You can’t look forward and start thinking about the championship because that can work against you. Just take each race as it comes. It was a great day and even better with Hunter [Lawrence] in second with a 2-2.”

2nd Place: Hunter Lawrence, Honda HRC Progressive (2-2) “We’ve been working hard. Nothing too crazy. Just putting in the work and getting better, both in my riding and with the bike. To be honest, I’m getting sick of the number 18 [Jett Lawrence] on top so we’ll see if we can get one of these [wins] soon.”

3rd Place: Eli Tomac, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing (3-3) “It’s just Jett and Hunter [Lawrence] riding better [today]. They had an amazing flow on the track, and I just needed to be better out there. It wasn’t what I wanted to do today, but that’s how it goes sometimes. We’ll come back and try again next weekend.”

450 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish // Points)

Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda (1-1 // 50)

Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda (2-2 // 44)

Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha (3-3 // 40)

Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (6-5 // 33)

Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, Kawasaki (5-6 // 33)

RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna (8-4 // 32)

Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM (4-8 // 32)

Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (7-7 // 30)

Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., GASGAS (10-9 // 25)

Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Husqvarna (12-10 // 22)

450 Class Championship Standings (Race 5 of 11)

Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda - 240

Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha - 202

Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda - 197

Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM - 188

Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha - 181

RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna - 149

Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha - 130

Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Honda - 118

Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, Kawasaki - 115

Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Kawasaki - 99 

450SMX Regular Season Standings (Round 22 of 28)

Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha - 495

Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha - 462

Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM - 443

Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., KTM - 363

Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Husqvarna - 359

Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda - 311

Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha - 282

Ken Roczen, Mattstedt, Germany, Suzuki - 271

Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Honda - 271

Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda - 259

450 Class Highlights - Southwick National

250 ClassMoto 1
The first moto got underway with Deegan at the head of the pack, quickly opening multiple bike lengths on the field coming to the Pro Motocross Holeshot while his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Michael Mosiman gave chase from second, ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle in third.

As Deegan pulled away Vialle looked to pressure Mosiman for second, only to tip over, which dropped the Frenchman outside the top 10. Vialle’s misfortune allowed Triumph Factory Racing’s Mikkel Haarup to move into third briefly, but he was soon passed by Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen.

Deegan soon stormed out to a margin of more than 15 seconds well before the halfway point of the moto, which left Mosiman and Kitchen to battle it out for second. The Kawasaki rider closed in on his Yamaha counterpart and the two engaged in a spirited fight. Mosiman withstood the pressure and inched away, but Kitchen was able to claw his way back to once again initiate a battle. The end result was the same, with Mosiman able to fend off the pressure. However, with two laps to go Kitchen made the pass after Mosiman’s pace slowed in the closing stages.

Out front, Deegan enjoyed his most dominant single moto of the season with a wire-to-wire effort that saw him finish 25.1 seconds ahead of Kitchen. Vialle was able to get by Mosiman on the final lap for third in an incredibly resilient effort. Haarup secured a best moto result in fifth.Haiden Deegan enjoyed a perfect afternoon earning fastest qualifier, both

Moto 2
The start of the final moto of the day was a duplication of Moto 1 as Deegan was well ahead of the field to sweep the Pro Motocross Holeshots, with Triumph Factory Racing’s Jalek Swoll in second and Kitchen in third, followed by Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda and Vialle right behind. While this group of riders jockeyed for position, the clear track allowed Deegan to establish a two-second lead at the completion of the opening lap.

A spirited opening five minutes saw both Deegan and Kitchen pull away from the rest of the field as Swoll and Shimoda battled for third, with the Japanese rider able to secure the position. Not long after that, Vialle made the move on Swoll for fourth and looked to track down Shimoda for third. Meanwhile, Shimoda was charging forward and quickly caught and passed Kitchen for second just over 10 minutes into the moto. Kitchen then dropped back to Vialle, who surged into third. The top three went unchanged from then on.

While Deegan’s lead and control of the moto was never in doubt, Shimoda was able to keep him honest as the margin hovered just under 10 seconds over the second half. Deegan wrapped up his eighth moto win of the season by 8.9 seconds over Shimoda, with Vialle a distant third.

Overall
The fourth 1-1 outing of the season secured Deegan’s fourth win in five races and the 11th victory of his career. He became the first back-to-back Southwick winner in the 250 Class since Tyla Rattray during the 2010-2011 seasons. Vialle secured his second straight runner-up finish (3-3), while Kitchen finished third (2-4) for the fourth race in-a-row.

Deegan strengthened his grip on the championship lead even more and now has a 58-point lead over Shimoda, who finished fifth (10-2). Vialle gained two positions and is now third, 79 points out of the lead.

1st Place: Haiden Deegan, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing (1-1) “I really just came out and rode like I did. Nothing special to it today. I’ve been training hard and evidently I was pretty good in the sand today.”

2nd Place: Tom Vialle, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (3-3) “After crashing [in Moto 1] and using so much energy I was pretty tired in the second moto. The track was really difficult at the end of the day. Third was all I had in the second moto. I’m happy with the result and I’m looking forward to next weekend.”

3rd Place: Levi Kitchen, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki (2-4) “I drank a lot of fluid before the final moto and ended up getting a stitch in my side about three laps in. I had to ride through that and recollect myself to finish strong. I’m obviously still working on things, but happy to be on the podium again.”

250 Class Overall Results (Moto Finishes // Points)

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (1-1 // 50)

Tom Vialle, Avignon, France, KTM (3-3 // 40)

Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki (2-4 // 40)

Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Yamaha (4-5 // 35)

Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda (10-2 // 34)

Mikkel Haarup, Silkeborg, Denmark, Triumph (5-6 // 33)

Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki (6-8 // 30)

Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki (9-9 // 26)

Ty Masterpool, Fallon, Nev., Kawasaki (8-11 // 25)

Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., Triumph (14-7 // 23)

250 Class Championship Standings (Race 5 of 11)

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha - 244

Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda - 186

Tom Vialle, Avignon, France, KTM - 165

Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki - 164

Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki - 162

Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda - 132

Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Yamaha - 113

Mikkel Haarup, Silkeborg, Denmark, Triumph - 113

Ty Masterpool, Fallon, Nev., Kawasaki - 113

Maximus Vohland, Sacramento, Calif., Yamaha - 103 

250SMX Regular Season Standings (Round 22 of 28)

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha - 465

Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda - 349

Tom Vialle, Avignon, France, KTM - 345

Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki - 307

Julien Beaumer, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., KTM - 280

Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki - 276

Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda - 262

Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Yamaha - 244

Maximus Vohland, Sacramento, Calif., Yamaha - 223

Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., Triumph - 220