There was fire in Jett Lawrence’s heart last week at Unadilla MX after he lost back-to-back rounds for the first time in his 450 Pro Motocross career. It was extinguished by a champagne shower behind the podium after he swept the motos for the 18th time in 26 starts and clinched his second outdoor championship in three seasons on the big bike.
Jett now has his sights set on a 24th career overall victory in the Budds Creek National in Mechanicsville, Maryland, to ice the cake of his 2025 Pro Motocross Championship. He finished 1-1 at Budds Creek in 2023.
Jett’s dominance is shown in many ways. He has won eight of the 20 motos by leading from the gate drop to checkers. No one else has more than one perfect race, with Eli Tomac, Hunter Lawrence, and Chase Sexton each doing so earlier in the season.
According to WeWentFast.com, Jett and Hunter have each won six holeshots. One way or another, one of the Lawrence brothers will walk away with the honor of having the fastest starts after this round. There is also the chance that they will remain tied at the conclusion.
As of Wednesday, the weather forecast called for a 45 percent chance of rain on Thursday, clearing before Friday’s Press Day and Saturday’s race. That should aid in track preparation by giving the groomers a chance to till deeply into the soil.
Most of the spots at the top of the Pro Motocross standings are safe, but riders’ thoughts are starting to turn to the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) Playoffs.
Justin Cooper clinched the No. 1 seed and will enter with a three-point lead over second-place.
Jett likely will secure that spot unless there is an unexpected reappearance of Cooper Webb or Chase Sexton, both of whom are currently recuperating from injuries, so they can return to action in the playoffs at 100 percent. Jett’s probable No. 2 seeding is remarkable since he missed half of the Monster Energy Supercross season with a ruptured Achilles Tendon.
If Hunter finishes first in one moto and second or better in the other, he could become the No. 3 seed by passing Webb.
The ever-important 20th seed will come down to Justin Hill, Mitchell Harrison, Valentin Guillod, and Coty Schock (who sits 21st). Schock needs to score 23 points if the three riders ahead of him score their season-average points. Schock has scored that many points in three rounds this season.
250 Notes
Jo Shimoda was ripping last week in Unadilla, and his 1-1 finish denied Haiden Deegan the opportunity to clinch the championship before the final round. Odds are good that Deegan will do so in the first Budds Creek moto, however, since all he needs to do is finish 15th or better.
Deegan’s 43-point lead is tied for the second-largest in the history of the division. Micky Dymond entered the 1987 finale with a 49-point lead over George Holland. Doug Henry had a 43-point advantage on Steve Lamson in 1994.
Deegan has clinched the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. Shimoda is locked into the second seed, but the battle for third bears watching. Garrett Marchbanks holds a three-point advantage over Tom Vialle entering the round.
Marchbanks needs to get an above-average start (better than 15th) to ease his path to third. By the end of the Unadilla National, he had gained 182 positions (nine per moto), and too many things can go wrong in heavy traffic. Impressively, he has not lost any positions.
Motocross 2025 Top-10 finishers
450s
Jett Lawrence (8 wins, 9 podiums, 9 top-fives, 10 top-10s) [14 moto wins]
Hunter Lawrence (1 win, 7 podiums, 10 top-fives, 10 top-10s) [1 moto win]
Chase Sexton (1 win, 2 podiums, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s) [1 moto win]
Eli Tomac (7 podiums, 8 top-fives, 9 top-10s) [2 moto wins]
Justin Cooper (2 podiums, 8 top-fives, 9 top-10s)
Aaron Plessinger (2 podiums, 4 top-fives, 5 top-10s)
RJ Hampshire (1 podium, 5 top-fives, 10 top-10s)
Jorge Prado (2 top-fives, 6 top-10s)
Justin Barcia (1 top-five, 6 top-10s)
Malcolm Stewart (7 top-10s)
Cooper Webb (5 top-10s)
Valentin Guillod (4 top-10s)
Jason Anderson (3 top-10s)
Joey Savatgy (3 top-10s)
Dylan Ferrandis (2 top-10s)
Benoit Paturel (1 top-10)
Coty Schock (1 top-10)
Harri Kullas (1 top-10)
Colt Nichols (1 top-10)
Mitchell Harrison (1 top-10)
Kyle Webster (1 top-10)
250s
Haiden Deegan (6 wins, 9 podiums, 10 top-fives, 10 top-10s) [12 moto wins]
Jo Shimoda (3 wins, 7 podiums, 8 top-fives, 10 top-10s) [5 moto wins]
Chance Hymas (1 win, 1 podium, 3 top-fives, 3 top-10s) [2 moto wins]
Tom Vialle (5 podiums, 6 top-fives, 6 top-10s)
Levi Kitchen (4 podiums, 4 top-fives, 8 top-10s)
Garrett Marchbanks (1 podium, 6 top-fives, 9 top-10s)
Michael Mosiman (1 podium, 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Jalek Swoll (1 podium, 1 top-five, 3 top-10s)
Jeremy Martin (1 podium, 1 top-five, 1 top-10) [1 moto win]
Mikkel Haarup (2 top-fives, 7 top-10s)
Julien Beaumer (2 top-fives, 3 top-10s)
Seth Hammaker (1 top-five, 7 top-10s)
Austin Forkner (1 top-five, 3 top-10s)
Drew Adams (1 top-five, 1 top-10)
Ty Masterpool (4 top-10s)
Dylan Schwartz (4 top-10s)
Jordon Smith (4 top-10s)
Maximus Vohland (3 top-10s)
Ryder DiFrancesco (3 top-10s)
Casey Cochran (2 top-10s)
Nate Thrasher (2 top-10s)
Parker Ross (1 top-10)
450s
2024: Chase Sexton [1-1] (Followed by Hunter Lawrence [1-2], Aaron Plessinger [3-3])
2023: Jett Lawrence [1-1] (Aaron Plessinger [4-3], Jason Anderson [2-5])
2022: Jason Anderson [2-2] (Eli Tomac [1-5], Ken Roczen [3-3])
2021: Dylan Ferrandis [2-1] (Ken Roczen [1-2], Eli Tomac [4-3])
2019: Eli Tomac [1-1] (Jason Anderson [4-2], Marvin Musquin [3-3])
250s
2024: Levi Kitchen [3-1] (Tom Vialle [2-3], Haiden Deegan [1-10])
2023: Hunter Lawrence [2-1] (Justin Cooper [1-2], Jo Shimoda [7-3])
2022: RJ Hampshire [1-2] (Jo Shimoda [3-1], Jett Lawrence [2-3])
2021: Jeremy Martin [3-1] (Jett Lawrence [1-4], Justin Cooper [1-4])
2019: Shane McElrath [1-1] (Adam Cianciarulo [1-5], Justin Cooper [6-2])
Motocross Previews
Unadilla | Ironman | Washougal | Spring Creek | RedBud | Southwick | High Point | Thunder Valley | Hangtown | Fox Raceway
Supercross Previews
Salt Lake City | Denver | Pittsburgh | New Jersey | Philadelphia | Foxborough | Seattle | Birmingham | Indianapolis | Daytona | Arlington | Detroit | Tampa | Anaheim 2 | San Diego | Anaheim 1
More SuperMotocross News
Budds Creek Betting Guide
Mikkel Haarup breaks collarbone in Unadilla mid-air crash
Unadilla 450 Results | 250 Results
Jett Lawrence sweeps Unadilla motos, secures MX Championship
Jo Shimoda sweeps Unadilla, pushes Deegan’s championship a week
Jett Lawrence wins Unadilla Moto 1 on a rough track
Jo Shimoda wins Unadilla Moto 1 by 40 seconds
Jett Lawrence wins Unadilla Qualification
Drew Adams fastest in Unadilla 250 Q1
Lachlan Turner wins Unadilla WMX overall, Charli Cannon wins first moto
