Jett Lawrence wins at Hangtown

The oldest race in American motocross was the site for Round 19 of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship, as the Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, traveled to the shadow of the California capital for the 57th running of the iconic Coker Pump Hangtown Motocross Classic. A challenging racetrack, combined with near-perfect weather conditions, was a recipe for another compelling afternoon of racing that saw a return to dominant form for Honda HRC Progressive's Jett Lawrence, the reigning Pro Motocross and SMX World Champion who swept the 450SMX Class motos and has seemingly fast-tracked his comeback from a major offseason ankle injury. In the 250SMX Class, the unpredictability of the wide-open division was once again on display as Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Levi Kitchen grabbed his first win since the 2024 season. The first premier class moto of the day kicked off with Lawrence out front for his first holeshot of the year ahead of Deegan and Honda HRC Progressive's Hunter Lawrence [#96], the championship leader. Behind them, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Jorge Prado [#26] slotted into fourth. The top three settled in through the opening 10 minutes of the moto, with Jett Lawrence managing about a four-second advantage over Deegan and Hunter Lawrence. Jett continued to build on his lead and pushed it to the cusp of double digits, which left the fight for second to be decided between Deegan and Hunter Lawrence. The elder Lawrence kept the rookie within reach, and as the moto dipped into its final five minutes, Lawrence went on the attack. He made a quick pass around Deegan and proceeded to sprint away. Out front, Jett Lawrence completed an impressive wire-to-wire performance to take his first moto win by 7.7 seconds over his brother. Deegan earned his first career moto podium in third, followed by Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing's Dylan Ferrandis [#14] in fourth and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's RJ Hampshire [#24] in fifth. Prado, who ran fourth almost the entire moto, appeared to have a chance at challenging Deegan for third, but lost power on his KTM just before the final lap and finished in 36th place. The final moto of the afternoon was halted early when a red flag stopped the race for a downed rider, which necessitated a restart. When racing resumed with a second gate drop, it was the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine of Cooper Webb [#2] out front of the Lawrences with the holeshot. Jett Lawrence made quick work to seize control of the lead, as Webb engaged in a brief battle with Hunter Lawrence before the Honda rider solidified his hold of second. The Lawrences soon established a gap over the rest of the field as Webb lost third to Monster Energy Kawasaki's Chase Sexton [#4]. Deeper in the top 10, Deegan battled his way forward from an 11th-place start and methodically started to pick off riders to move into the top five within the first 10 minutes of the moto. Soon enough, it appeared as though the battle for the win was going to come down to the Australian siblings, who moved out to a double-digit margin over Sexton. The Lawrences traded bursts of momentum throughout different parts of the racetrack, with the separation between them hovering around a second. Meanwhile, Deegan stormed past Sexton for third. As the race approached the halfway point, Hunter Lawrence started to apply pressure on Jett and appeared to be gearing up for an attack for the lead. However, Jett countered with a sudden sprint and soon the lead went from less than a second to nearly four seconds in the span of a few laps. Jett added to his advantage as the moto continued. Jett Lawrence wrapped up a sweep of the motos by a margin of 6.8 seconds over Hunter, with Deegan well back in third. Despite his ongoing recovery that has left him competing at less than 100 percent, Jett Lawrence returned to the level that's become custom for the Australian. His dominant 1-1 effort, the 19th of his career, brought him a milestone 25th premier class win in his 29th start. Hunter Lawrence backed up his own 1-1 performance last weekend with an impressive 2-2 effort to give Honda its first 1-2 finish of the season. Deegan's first premier class podium was a quiet one, as he secured 3-3 finishes mostly riding by himself. Nevertheless, the highly touted rookie landed on the box in just his second start. Hunter Lawrence maintains his hold of the points lead, which now sits at six points over Jett. Deegan moved into third, 19 points out of the lead.