Jett Lawrence Leads Every Lap at Southwick for 
Fifth Consecutive Pro Motocross Championship Victory

Deegan Mirrors Effort in 250 Class, Goes Wire-to-Wire for Fourth Win

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 Class

Moto 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.”

250 Class

Moto 1

The first moto of the day saw a trio of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing riders out front off the start, with Nate Thrasher earning the Pro Motocross Holeshot ahead of Deegan and amateur prospect Kayden Minear. Thrasher paced the field for most of the opening lap before Deegan made the pass to take control of the moto. Behind them, Minear went down, which handed third place to Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker.
 
Deegan wasted little time moving out to a multi-second advantage as Thrasher settled into the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, the battle for third saw Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen make the move around his teammate. Kitchen continued his move forward and was able to catch and pass Thrasher for second a little more than 10 minutes into the moto. A few minutes later, as the moto passed its halfway point, Hammaker made the pass on Thrasher for third.
 
Out front, Deegan continued to build on his lead, which eventually surpassed 10 seconds. The Yamaha rider was in a class of his own and cruised to his fifth moto win of the season by seven seconds over Kitchen, with Hammaker earning a career-best moto result in third. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle was fourth, followed by Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Chance Hymas in fifth.

Moto 2

The deciding moto began with Vialle leading the field to the Pro Motocross Holeshot, but it was Deegan who made early moves to storm into the lead ahead of the Frenchman. Hymas started third but made the move on Vialle to take control of second before the end of the opening lap.
 
The clear track proved to be advantageous for Deegan as he opened up a multi-second lead over Hymas, who put distance between himself and Vialle. For Vialle it became a fight for third as Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda pressured from fourth, only to go down while searching for an opening.
 
In a replication of Moto 1, Deegan was able to pull away from the field by a double-digit margin and easily brought home his sixth moto win by 17.5 seconds over Vialle, who took advantage of a last-lap incident with Hymas, who dropped to 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.”