LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, headed to the Rocky Mountains for its third stop of the summer and Round 20 of the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship, where the mile-high altitude of Thunder Valley Motocross Park provided one of the season’s most unique challenges.
The Toyota Thunder Valley National Presented by American Petroleum Institute featured another captivating afternoon of racing, which saw Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence [No. 1] put forth a statement performance with a pair of wire-to-wire motos to claim back-to-back wins and seize control of the 450SMX Class points lead.
In the 250SMX Class, the unpredictability continued for the third straight race as Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda [No. 30] became the third different winner in as many races, albeit without winning a moto. It signified Honda’s first sweep of class victories this season.
The most competitive qualifying session of the young season saw several riders put themselves in the mix for pole position. While Jett Lawrence topped the charts after the first session, it was his Honda HRC Progressive teammate and older brother Hunter [#96] who ultimately led the way at the end of the second session with a time of 2:01.727, which put him a half-second ahead of the 2:02.201 by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen [#104], the MXGP points leader who took advantage of an off weekend to make his Pro Motocross debut. Jett Lawrence’s 2:02.489 from the first session placed him third.
Moto 1 [30 Minutes + 2 Laps]
The opening moto of the afternoon got underway with Jett Lawrence out front with the holeshot over Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb [#2] and Hunter Lawrence, the championship leader. Lawrence pushed on the opening lap to get around Webb and looked to close in on his younger brother. Meanwhile, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan [#38] was able to climb his way up to third.
The Lawrences engaged in a spirited fight for the lead, with Jett able to keep Hunter at bay. For a moment Hunter appeared to have the pass made on his brother, but Jett responded immediately to prevent Hunter from completing it. That allowed Deegan to make it a three-rider battle. Deegan then made the pass for second and pressured for the lead for the first time this season. The highly anticipated showdown between Jett Lawrence and Deegan unfolded, to the roar of the crowd. While Deegan kept Lawrence honest, the gap between them soon stabilized as the moto reached its halfway point.
Deegan overcame a couple minor miscues to close back in on the lead and brought Hunter Lawrence with him to reignite the three-rider battle. However, with a little more than 12 minutes to go Deegan slid out and dropped to third. He then went down again a short time later and dropped to fourth, which allowed Coenen to take third.
The final 10 minutes turned into a Lawrence versus Lawrence affair, with Coenen gaining ground from third. The siblings traded momentum throughout various parts of the racetrack, which ultimately prevented Hunter from getting close enough to mount a challenge. As the clock wound down, Jett seemingly ended the threat and opened up a lead of more than three seconds, while Coenen settled into third.
As time ran out on the race clock Hunter Lawrence went down and remounted in third, which moved Coenen up to second. Lawrence reentered the race just ahead of Deegan to set up a last lap battle for the final podium spot.
As Jett Lawrence took the white flag he held a mere two second advantage over Coenen, who made one final push. In the end, Lawrence held on to take his third straight moto win by 1.4 seconds over the Belgian in his first ever gate drop. Hunter Lawrence followed in third, with Deegan fourth and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado [#26] in fifth.
At the conclusion of the moto race officials reviewed an inside line that several riders used across multiple laps that took them beyond the track limits. The racing line was deemed illegal, and three riders were subsequently penalized for cutting the track, with each lap infraction taken into account. The top-finishing rider to receive a penalty was Hunter Lawrence, who was docked one position from third to fourth.
Deegan was penalized seven positions, dropping him from fourth to 11th, while Prado received a two-position penalty, dropping from fifth to seventh. The updated top five following the penalties was 1. Jett Lawrence; 2. Coenen; 3. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Garret Marchbanks [#36]; 4. Hunter Lawrence; 5. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire [#24].
Jett Lawrence completed off a sweep of the holeshots to begin the second moto with the lead ahead of his brother and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger [#7]. As he looked to apply pressure on the lead, Hunter Lawrence went down. He remounted quickly but resumed deep in the top 10.
The clear track allowed Jett Lawrence to establish a two-second lead at the conclusion of the opening lap over Coenen, who quickly fought his way up to second. Plessinger settled into third. Meanwhile, Hunter Lawrence made an impressive recovery to fight back up to fifth place in a matter of a couple laps.
Jett Lawrence was able to stabilize the lead at about 3.5 seconds through the middle of the moto as Coenen strengthened his grasp of second. The fight for third saw Deegan methodically close in on Plessinger and successfully take the position. Hunter Lawrence followed into fourth several laps later.
As the lead duo continued on in their respective positions Hunter Lawrence was determined to complete his comeback from the early tip over. He closed in on Deegan and made a quick, aggressive move with less than two minutes to go to take over third. Moments later, he fell again, which gave the position back to Deegan. Lawrence resumed in fourth, but just ahead of Prado and Marchbanks.
Jett Lawrence completed a perfect afternoon by extending his moto win streak to four, taking the checkered flag 9.6 seconds ahead of Coenen. Deegan finished more than 30 seconds back in third, with Hunter Lawrence able to salvage fourth.
A pair of wire-to-wire performances and the 20th 1-1 result of his career gave Jett Lawrence his 26th win in 30 premier class starts. With back-to-back victories, he has also grabbed control of the 450SMX Class points lead. It’s his fourth straight win at Thunder Valley, where he remains unbeaten, and marks the sixth consecutive year Honda has claimed victory in Colorado.
Coenen’s Pro Motocross debut resulted in an impressive runner-up effort (2-2) as he’ll now return overseas to defend his lead in the MXGP championship. He’ll race once more this summer, at Southwick on July 11th.
Despite numerous bouts of adversity and the penalty in the first moto, Hunter Lawrence still secured a podium finish (4-4) to minimize the points lost in the championship.
A 14-point swing at Thunder Valley has moved Jett Lawrence atop the points standings with an eight-point lead over Hunter. Deegan remains third, 32 points out of the lead.
Another wild afternoon of 250SMX Class racing saw Shimoda emerge victorious following 3-2 moto finishes. It’s the seventh win of the Japanese rider’s career and gives Honda four Thunder Valley wins in the past five years.
Kitchen’s resilient second moto salvaged a runner-up finish (1-8) and gives the Kawasaki rider back-to-back podiums.
Romano enjoyed a career breakthrough with the first overall podium finish of his career (4-5) in his 22nd career start. He’s the third different Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider to finish on the podium through the first three races.
Hammaker finished seventh overall (2-12) for his first finish off the overall podium this season.
Hammaker and Kitchen now sit tied atop the 250SMX Class standings with a share of the red plate. Shimoda now sits third, six points behind the teammates.
