450 Storylines: Hangtown Recap
JETT LAWRENCE: (1st; 1-1):Became the fifth athlete in Pro MX history with 25 premier class victories. Bob Hannah (5th, 27 wins) & Eli Tomac (3rd, 32 wins) are within reach for Jett to surpass in 2026. Jett made his 126th SMX League start and earned his 67th victory, for a winning percentage of 53%. He trails brother Hunter by 6 points going into Thunder Valley.
HUNTER LAWRENCE: (2nd; 2-2): Retains points lead with a 2-2 effort at Hangtown. Hunter officially moved past Ron Lechien to take sole possession of 25th on the all-time SMX League podiums list with his 81st. He continues his incredible efficiency in the 450SMX Class, with 19 podiums and 24 top 5 finishes in 24 starts. It was his 40th Pro MX podium in 76 attempts across both classes (53%).
HAIDEN DEEGAN: (3rd; 3-3):Scored his first career 450SMX podium with a 3-3 effort at Hangtown. He made his 85th career SMX League start and captured his 58th podium (68%). Only 148 athletes have scored a podium in the premier class, while Deegan will look to become the 120th to earn multiple.
NOTES: Dylan Ferrandis (4th; 4-6):Scores Ducati’s first SMX League and Pro MX top 5 finish. It was his 25th 450SMX top 5 in 41 starts.
Garrett Marchbanks (5th; 6-5): Second career 450SMX top 5 finish, his first since Southwick in 2023. Made his 140th career SMX League start (26 in 450SMX).
RJ Hampshire (6th; 5-7): Has 13 top 10s in 13 career 450SMX starts in Pro MX. Hunter Lawrence & Jean-Michel Bayle are the only other verifiable athletes to hold a perfect top 10 record with 13+ career starts.
Mikkel Haarup (9th; 7-12): First career 450SMX top 10 finish. He scored 7 in his maiden Pro MX season last year on a 250. Austin Black (40th; 41-37): Made his first career 450SMX start. Had 9 starts in 250SMX.
450 Class: Thunder Valley Facts
- HISTORY LESSON: Thunder Valley hosted its first 450SMX round on July 24, 2005, when Ricky Carmichael conquered the field on a Suzuki en route to his sixth championship. He also swept Thunder Valley in his final full season in 2006 for his second title with Suzuki and seventh 450SMX crown. With Carmichael absent the following season, James Stewart scored his one and only victory of the 2007 campaign with a 4-2 effort in Colorado.
- 22 MILE-HIGH YEARS: Thunder Valley Motocross Park hasn’t missed a season since its inaugural race in 2005, marking the 22nd season on the Pro MX schedule. Only RedBud and Spring Creek have longer active streaks.
- CHAMPIONSHIP %: The winner of the 450SMX Class at Thunder Valley has won the championship 12 times in 21 seasons (57%), including last season when Jett Lawrence swept Thunder Valley for the second time in 3 years.
- THUNDER VALLEY MOMENTS: The altitude of the venue seemingly evens the field with its thin air, sitting at 6,128 feet above sea level… In 2008 the track hosted the first ever nighttime Pro MX round with Stewart sweeping on the way to his perfect season… New Mexico’s Ivan Tedesco earned both his first 250SMX outdoor win and lone 450SMX outdoor win at Thunder Valley, his proverbial home race… Ryan Dungey and KTM captured their first Pro MX win together at Thunder Valley in 2012, which also signified KTM’s maiden premier class triumph… Ken Roczen is the current king of Thunder Valley, winning 5 of 9 races between 2014-2022… Jett Lawrence tied Dungey with his third straight win at Thunder Valley last season and could become the first to win with 4 straight at the venue… Honda is currently in the midst of a 5 year win streak at Thunder Valley.
250 Storylines: Hangtown Recap
LEVI KITCHEN: (1st; 2-2): Relied on consistency to earn his fourth Pro MX win and ninth SMX League victory. He ties RJ Hampshire and others for 47th all-time on the 250SMX Class wins list in Pro MX. It was Kitchen’s 15th career podium in 48 Pro MX starts and his 33rd SMX League podium in 91 starts. He trails teammate Seth Hammaker by 7 points heading into Colorado. Pro Circuit Kawasaki has won the first 2 races with 2 different riders for the first time since it swept the 2011 season.
JULIEN BEAUMER: (2nd; 4-3): Scored his first career Pro MX podium and first SMX League podium since the 2025 Supercross finale in Salt Lake City. He had made 23 starts in Pro MX prior to that. He sits third in the point standings heading into the third race. KTM is seeking its first 250SMX Class victory in Pro MX since 2023.
SETH HAMMAKER: (3rd; 1-9): Cruised to his second moto win of the season and of his career in Moto 1 before starting a multi-rider incident to begin Moto 2, where he salvaged an overall podium. He holds the red plate going into Thunder Valley after back-to-back podiums to open the season, which are also the first 2 of his career.
NOTES: Cole Davies (4th; 11-1): Scored his second career moto victory but narrowly missed out on back-to-back overall podiums.
Kayden Minear (10th; 6-13): Scored his first 250SMX Class top 10 finish in 4 Pro MX starts.
Aden Keefer (32nd; 31-27), Nate Freehill (36th; 35-32), & Alvin Hillan (37th; 33-34): Each made his first career Pro MX and SMX League start.
250 Class: Thunder Valley Facts
- HISTORY LESSON: Thunder Valley hosted its first 250SMX round on July 24, 2005, when Ivan Tedesco swept aboard his Kawasaki, just as Carmichael did in 450SMX. At the halfway point of the 2005 season, Mike Brown had a 16-point lead on Tedesco entering Thunder Valley. Brown went 7-8 for seventh overall while Tedesco’s sweep vaulted him into the points lead. Tedesco never looked back on the way to winning the championship.
- 22 MILE-HIGH YEARS: The 250SMX and 450SMX Classes share the same venue history at Thunder Valley, with 2026 serving at the 22nd edition of the National. Roczen has the track record for combined wins with 5 and is tied with Ryan Villopoto for combined moto wins with 8. Jett Lawrence could tie Villopoto & Roczen with a sweep in the 450SMX Class, despite winning a single 250SMX moto in 2022.
- STREAKS: Chance Hymas has won 3 straight motos at Thunder Valley, including a sweep last season… Kawasaki won 7 straight overalls and 14 straight motos between 2005-2011 at Thunder Valley. Since then, it has scored 4 overall wins… Yamaha won every first moto at Thunder Valley from 2018-2024 but won the second moto just once while securing 3 overalls during that span… Honda has won the second moto each of the previous 5 seasons.
- CHAMPIONSHIP %: The winner of the 250SMX Class at Thunder Valley has won the title only 9 times in 21 seasons (43%). Thunder Valley winners were on a 3-year streak of winning the championship until last season with Hymas. Combined (450SMX + 250SMX0, the winner at Thunder Valley has scored the title exactly half the time (21 times in 42 attempts).
WMX Storylines: Hangtown Recap
LACHLAN TURNER: (1st; 1-1): The Yamaha bLU cRU athlete withstood arguably her stiffest challenge yet en route to the sweep of the motos but still prevailed with a 1-1 effort to grab the points lead. Turner has won 5 straight WMX rounds dating back to Hangtown last season and is credited with 9 victories over the last 3 seasons as she chases a third straight WMX title.
CHARLI CANNON: (2nd; 3-2): The Australian was in position to claim her first WMX win via a 1-1 effort by leading in each moto but was docked a position in Moto 1 due to cutting the track and then tipped over while holding a multi-second lead in Moto 2. Cannon has finished runner-up to Turner for 4 straight rounds dating back to Ironman last year.
MIKAYLA NIELSEN: (3rd; 2-3): The endurance off-road champion was as consistent as ever and ended up tied with Cannon for second overall, losing out on the Moto 2 tiebreaker. Nielsen has finished third for 3 straight rounds dating back to Unadilla last season and is the only rider other than Turner to claim an overall win over the past seven rounds.
NOTES: Jordan Jarvis (4th; 5-4): One of the most highly regarded WMX athletes of all time, Jarvis transcended the sport by lining up for 6 Pro MX rounds from 2020-2023, finishing as high as 33rd at Fox Raceway in 2020.
Lotte van Drunen: The reigning back-to-back FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion is coming stateside after a rough start to her pursuit of a third MXGP crown. The fierce Dutch competitor opened the season in fourth place in France, but suffered a tough wreck in Germany en route to a 10th place finish.
