The first month of the 2025 Pro Motocross Championships wrapped up with the Father’s Day weekend tradition that is the High Point National from legendary High Point Raceway in Pennsylvania.
Round four of the summer campaign – and round 21 of the SMX World Championships – took place under mostly overcast skies for the first three 450/250 races of the day, but the skies opened up for the final moto to set up a dramatic 450 class finish that saw Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence prevail with his fourth straight win to open the season.
In the 250 class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan reasserted his dominance over the division with his third 1-1 performance of the season.
450 CLASS
The opening premier class race kicked off with Jett Lawrence out front for the Pro Motocross Holeshot as Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper slotted into second and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger into third.
Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence – Jett’s elder brother and team-mate – latched on from fourth and helped push the lead foursome forward to a gap over the rest of the field.
Lawrence managed a small advantage in the opening laps as Plessinger made the pass on Cooper for second and looked to make inroads on the leader.
Behind him, Hunter Lawrence made the pass on Cooper for third. The top three settled into their respective positions until 10 minutes into the moto when Jett Lawrence stalled his motorcycle, which allowed Plessinger and Hunter Lawrence to get by as Jett resumed in third.
Plessinger sprinted out to a four-second advantage as the Lawrences battled for second, with Jett able to get the better of Hunter. Jett continued his push back to the front and started to take chunks out of Plessinger’s lead.
An initial attack saw Lawrence make some minor miscues and allowed Plessinger to inch away, but the Honda rider bided his time and remounted another charge which saw him make the pass and reclaim the lead with just under 10 minutes to go.
Inside the final three minutes a battle for second unfolded between Plessinger and Hunter Lawrence, with the elder sibling able to make the move up into second.
With one lap to go a battle for third unfolded between Plessinger, Cooper and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac. Cooper made the pass briefly, but Plessinger fought back to regain third as Tomac lurked behind.
Out front, Jett Lawrence stormed to his sixth moto win of the season by 1.8 seconds over his brother, while Plessinger fended off both Cooper and Tomac by mere bike lengths for third.
Heavy rain started to fall just as the second and final moto got underway as Hunter Lawrence led the field to the holeshot, only to be passed by Tomac.
Jett Lawrence, meanwhile, was forced to battle from a start deep in the top ten. The clear track allowed Tomac to sprint out to a big lead, leaving Hunter Lawrence to settle into second while Cooper and Plessinger battled for third. Jett Lawrence sat ninth.
Tomac’s lead settled in at five seconds over Hunter Lawrence nearly 10 minutes into the moto as Plessinger made the pass on Cooper for third.
As the rain continued to come down track conditions got more challenging and allowed Hunter Lawrence to briefly make inroads on Tomac’s lead, which dropped to just over two seconds, only for the Yamaha rider to respond and re-establish control.
Jett Lawrence, meanwhile, was making a charge forward. He worked his way into the top five and methodically created opportunities to pass Cooper for fourth and then Plessinger, who had removed his goggles, for third.
With 7:02 left on the moto clock, race officials waved the red flag to bring the moto to an end, as lighting had come within the designated radius to take precautionary action. Per the series rulebook, since the moto had surpassed 20 minutes the red flag made the race official. That gave the moto win to Tomac, with Hunter Lawrence in second and Jett Lawrence in third.
OVERALL
Jett’s resilient effort in the final moto was enough to place him atop the overall classification with 1-3 moto finishes for the 19th win of his career, which edged out Hunter Lawrence (2-2) by a single point. Tomac’s winning effort in the final moto helped him secure third overall (5-1), for the 75th podium result of his 450 class career.
With the win, Jett Lawrence added to his lead in the championship standings, which now sits at 28 points over Tomac. Plessinger, who finished fourth (3-4), is 34 points out of the lead.
“I needed to make sure I didn’t make a mistake any bigger than the one I made on the start [of Moto 2],” said Jett Lawrence afterwards.
“Eli [Tomac] and Hunter [Lawrence] were gone, and I saw AP [Aaron Plessinger] and knew I had to do the best I could, which was third place. I didn’t know how much time was left when they flew the red flag, but thankfully I was third [to secure the overall].”
Photo courtesy Simon Cudby
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
450 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish // Points):
- Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda (1-3 // 45)
- Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda (2-2 // 44)
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha (5-1 // 42)
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM (3-4 // 38)
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (4-5 // 35)
- Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Honda (8-6 // 30)
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Kawasaki (7-7 // 30)
- RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna (6-8 // 30)
- Coty Schock, Dover, Del., Yamaha (10-9 // 25)
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (9-11 // 24)
450 Class Championship Standings (Round 4 of 11):
- Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda – 190
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha – 162
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM – 156
- Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda – 153
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha – 148
- RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna – 117
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha – 100
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Kawasaki – 99
- Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Honda – 98
- Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, Kawasaki – 82
450SMX Regular Season Standings (Round 21 of 28):
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha – 465
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha – 429
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM – 411
- Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., KTM – 363
- Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Husqvarna – 337
- Ken Roczen, Mattstedt, Germany, Suzuki – 271
- Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia, Honda – 261
- Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., Honda – 251
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Kawasaki – 250
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha – 242
250 Class Overall Results (Moto Finishes // Points) :
- Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (1-1 // 50)
- Tom Vialle, Avignon, France, KTM (4-2 // 40)
- Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki (2-6 // 38)
- Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda (5-3 // 37)
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki (7-4 // 33)
- Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda (6-5 // 33)
- Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki (3-14 // 28)
- Casey Cochran, Portsmouth, Va., GASGAS (11-9 // 24)
- Nate Thrasher, Livingston, Tenn., Yamaha (10-10 // 24)
- Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Triumph (14-8 // 22)
250 Class Championship Standings (Race 4 of 11) :
- Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha – 194
- Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda – 152
- Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda – 132
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki – 132
- Tom Vialle, Avignon, France, KTM – 125
- Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki – 124
- Casey Cochran, Portsmouth, Va., GASGAS – 88
- Ty Masterpool, Fallon, Nev., Kawasaki – 88
- Julien Beaumer, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., KTM – 87
- Maximus Vohland, Sacramento, Calif., Yamaha – 82
250SMX Regular Season Standings (Round 21 of 28) :
- Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha – 415
- Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda – 315
- Tom Vialle, Avignon, France, KTM – 305
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki – 277
- Julien Beaumer, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., KTM – 276
- Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda – 262
- Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki – 250
- Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Yamaha – 209
- Maximus Vohland, Sacramento, Calif., Yamaha – 202
- Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., Triumph – 197