Jett Lawrence seizes Red Plate with Colorado double

Honda star shakes off lingering ankle issues to rule Thunder Valley from start to finish 

The Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, made its third summer stop in the Rocky Mountains for Round 20 of the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship, where the high elevation at Thunder Valley Motocross Park created one of the season’s most distinctive challenges. The Toyota Thunder Valley National Presented by American Petroleum Institute delivered another compelling day of competition. In the 450SMX class, Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence [#1] put together a statement ride with two wire-to-wire moto wins to earn back-to-back overall victories and take over the points lead. In the 250SMX class, the unpredictability continued for a third consecutive race as Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda [#30] became the third different winner in as many rounds, despite not winning a moto. It marked Honda’s first sweep of class victories this season.

The 450SMX qualifying sessions were among the most competitive of the young season, with several riders in contention for the fastest time. Jett Lawrence led the opening session, but by the end of the second it was his Honda HRC Progressive teammate and older brother Hunter Lawrence [#96] on top with a lap of 2:01.727. That put him half a second clear of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen [#104], the MXGP points leader, who posted a 2:02.201 while making his Pro Motocross debut during an off weekend. Jett Lawrence’s 2:02.489 from the first session put him third overall.

Moto 1, run over 30 minutes plus two laps, began with Jett Lawrence taking the holeshot ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb [#2] and championship leader Hunter Lawrence. Hunter moved past Webb on the opening lap and immediately began trying to close on Jett, while Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan [#38] worked his way into third.

The Lawrence brothers quickly became locked in a hard fight at the front, with Jett managing to hold Hunter off. At one point Hunter looked to have completed the move, but Jett responded right away and stopped him from finishing the pass. That allowed Deegan to close in and turn it into a three-rider fight. Deegan then took over second and put pressure on the lead for the first time this season. The anticipated battle between Jett Lawrence and Deegan then took shape in front of the crowd, but as the moto reached its midpoint the gap between them steadied.

After overcoming a couple of small mistakes, Deegan closed back in and brought Hunter Lawrence with him to reestablish the three-way fight. Then, with a little more than 12 minutes remaining, Deegan slid out and dropped to third. A short time later he went down again and fell to fourth, which moved Coenen into third.

The final 10 minutes became a battle centered on the Lawrence brothers, though Coenen continued to gain from third. The siblings traded momentum in different parts of the track, and that ultimately kept Hunter from getting close enough to mount a decisive challenge. As the race moved toward the finish, Jett appeared to neutralize the threat and stretched the margin to more than three seconds, while Coenen remained secure in third.

When time expired on the race clock, Hunter Lawrence crashed and remounted in third, which elevated Coenen to second. Hunter rejoined just ahead of Deegan, setting up a last-lap fight over the final podium spot. Jett Lawrence took the white flag with only a two-second lead over Coenen, who made a final push. Lawrence held on for his third straight moto win, beating the Belgian by 1.4 seconds in Coenen’s first gate drop. Hunter Lawrence crossed the line in third, followed by Deegan in fourth and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado [#26] in fifth.

Following the moto, race officials reviewed an inside line that several riders had used on multiple laps and that took them beyond track limits. That line was ruled illegal, and three riders received penalties for cutting the track, with each lap infraction counted. Hunter Lawrence was the highest finisher penalized and was dropped one position from third to fourth. Deegan lost seven positions and was moved from fourth to 11th, while Prado was penalized two positions and fell from fifth to seventh.

Moto 2 started with another holeshot from Jett Lawrence, completing a sweep of the starts as he led his brother and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger [#7]. As Hunter tried to pressure the front, he went down. He got going again quickly but resumed deep inside the top 10.

With open track ahead, Jett Lawrence built a two-second advantage by the end of the opening lap over Coenen, who had already charged into second. Plessinger settled into third. Hunter Lawrence then mounted an impressive comeback, climbing back to fifth within just a couple of laps.

Through the middle portion of the moto, Jett Lawrence kept the lead under control at about 3.5 seconds while Coenen tightened his hold on second. In the battle for third, Deegan gradually reeled in Plessinger and made the pass. A few laps later, Hunter Lawrence followed into fourth.

With the top two unchanged, Hunter Lawrence remained determined to complete his recovery from the early fall. He closed on Deegan and, with less than two minutes left, made a quick and aggressive move into third. Moments later he fell again, handing the position straight back to Deegan. Hunter rejoined in fourth, still ahead of Prado and Marchbanks.

Jett Lawrence finished off a perfect afternoon by stretching his moto win streak to four, taking the checkered flag 9.6 seconds ahead of Coenen. Deegan finished third, more than 30 seconds back, and Hunter Lawrence managed to save fourth.

The pair of wire-to-wire rides, combined with the 20th 1-1 result of his career, gave Jett Lawrence his 26th win in 30 starts in the premier class. With overall victories in back-to-back rounds, he also moved into control of the 450SMX class points lead. It was his fourth straight win at Thunder Valley, where he remains unbeaten, and it also gave Honda a sixth consecutive victory in Colorado.

Coenen’s first Pro Motocross outing ended with an impressive runner-up overall result on 2-2 moto scores. He will now return overseas to defend his MXGP championship lead, and he is set to race once more this summer at Southwick on July 11th.

Despite repeated adversity and the penalty in Moto 1, Hunter Lawrence still came away with an overall podium finish on 4-4 scores, limiting the championship damage.

A 14-point swing at Thunder Valley moved Jett Lawrence to the top of the standings with an eight-point lead over Hunter Lawrence. Deegan remains third, 32 points out of the lead.

1st Place – Jett Lawrence 
“I felt a lot better in Moto 2, with a lot better lines and better flow. It was a really tricky track. It was a good 1-1 weekend and I’m happy with that. I’m getting more used to riding with my foot, but it wasn’t easy on a track like this. But it was still good enough for a 1-1. It’s hard to learn much when you’re out front (On Deegan), but you do get a sense of where they’re going to pass, and you can read what’s-his-name like a book. You know where he’s going to try to pass, so it’s a little easier to defend against that. Hunter gets a lot more creative. He was able to get around me, and I was able to fire back and get a good run up the start straight. I wouldn’t say I learned a crazy amount; I’d probably learn more battling with them from behind.”

2nd Place – Lucas Coenen 
“It was an amazing experience. I was able to get a good start [in Moto 2] and went from there. I’m so grateful for the team and everything they did to make this happen. The second moto was hectic with the lappers, but I’m racing against the best rider in the world. I can’t wait to come back [at Southwicjk], but we’ll go back [to MXGP] and try to win there.”

3rd Place – Hunter Lawrence 
“It was a tough one today. I felt like my riding was really good, but I struggled with the connectivity of the track and my motorcycle. I struggled a lot more than I usually do in keeping the bike under me. All good, we’ll move on to the next one.”

2026 Thunder Valley Pro Motocross Results

2026 Pro Motocross Championship Standings After Round 3