450 Storylines: Ironman Recap
HUNTER LAWRENCE: Earned his first career 450 Class victory with a consistent 2-2 effort at Ironman. He is the 76th different winner in 450 Class history and now has 23 career SMX League* victories (32nd all-time). The win came in his 20th 450 Class start and doubles as his 15th class podium. He remains a perfect 20 for 20 in top 5 finishes and has a firm hold of second in the standings behind his brother Jett.
RJ HAMPSHIRE: Continues to impress in his rookie 450 Class season, breaking through for his first premier class podium and fourth straight top 5 finish. It was his 40th career SMX League podium (60th all-time) and keeps him a perfect 9 for 9 in top 10 finishes as a rookie. He holds down fifth in the standings and moved into the top 10 of the SMX Championship standings.
ELI TOMAC: Captured his 227th SMX League podium (most all-time) and 78th 450 Class podium (second all-time). Tomac (90) could tie Mike LaRocco (92) in all-time 450 Class top 5 finishes if he finishes top 5 at the final 2 rounds. Tomac tied Justin Barcia for fourth all-time with his 100th top 10 finish but has a way to go to tie LaRocco in that category (123). Tomac also moved into second all-time for the most career points scored in premier class competition (4,176). Unadilla is the only track in the championship that Tomac has yet to win at.
NOTES: Justin Cooper (4th): In his 20th start he earned the 20th top 10 and 15th top 5 of his young 450 Class career. He sits atop the SMX World Championship standings by a wide margin and is fourth in the 450 Class standings.
Jorge Prado (5th): Equaled the best overall finish of his debut 450 Class season. Currently sits sixth in the 450 Class standings.
Jett Lawrence (6th): With the fouled gate penalty, he failed to win over consecutive races for the first time in his 450 Class career. Still on pace to clinch the title at Unadilla, where he will need to outscore Hunter Lawrence by 3 points.
Dylan Ferrandis (7th): Made his first start of the 2025 season, returning from injury. Earned his 32nd career top 10 finish in the 450 Class.
Preston Masciangelo (31st) & Zayden Mason (39th): Made their first career 450 Class starts.Rare Occurrence: Neither 450 Class moto winner finished in the top 5 at Ironman, which hasn’t happened in at least 45+ seasons of 450 Class racing, if ever. Further research shows it hasn’t occurred in at least the past 32 seasons of 250 Class competition or during the last 19 seasons the 500cc division was contested.
450 Class: Unadilla Facts
- HISTORY LESSON: Unadilla began its storied motocross history in 1970 with Trans-AMA and Inter-Am competitions. The first Pro Motocross Championship round in New York was on July 16, 1972, run in conjunction with an Inter-Am event. Arne Lindfors (2-2) won the overall and is credited as such in Inter-Am records. However, Gary Jones (3-3) is credited with the victory in Pro Motocross record books, scoring the best among AMA sanctioned racers. The 1973 season saw another combined round at Unadilla, where Heikki Mikkola win Inter-Am with a 1-1 sweep and Pierre Karsmakers’ 4-6 result was good enough to score the AMA victory.
- 1972: The 1972 Unadilla Inter-Am/Pro Motocross combined round was won by Lindfors (2-2), but Swede Arne Kring was clearly the fastest athlete on the track all day. Kring was leading by “a mile” in the first moto before wrecking multiple times on the tough Unadilla track. In the second moto Kring lapped up to eighth place and won but was docked an entire lap due to fouling the gate. He submitted a protest that ultimately failed and officially placed him fifth overall with 6-7 scores.
- 5+ DECADES OF HISTORY: Unadilla MX is the oldest and longest-running Pro Motocross facility in the United States, with the most diverse history of any venue. In 1974, Unadilla joined the World Championship Grand Prix (GP) and other than a pair of 500cc rounds held at Unadilla in 1976 and 1977, the track only hosted Trans-AMA/USA or 250cc GP rounds through the 1988 season. From 1989-1991 Unadilla re-joined the Pro Motocross schedule with 125cc/500cc Nationals, while also staying on the GP schedule. In 1992 Unadilla hosted just the GP, but Pro Motocross returned in 1993 and Unadilla has remained on the championship schedule ever since.
- CHAMPIONSHIP %: The winner at Unadilla has won the 450 Class title 20 times in 33 seasons (61%), including Jett Lawrence and Chase Sexton each of the past 2 years, which snapped a 5-season stretch without this distinction. Prior to that, the percentage sat at 69%, with 18 occurrences in 26 seasons.
250 Storylines: Ironman Recap
HAIDEN DEEGAN: Moved closer to clinching back-to-back 250 Class titles after his Ironman sweep. It was his 13th 250 Class victory, tying him with George Holland & Jeff Emig for 11th all-time. Deegan’s 22nd SMX League* victory places him 33rd all-time. All 13 of his victories have been with Yamaha, which ties him with Jeff Emig for third on Yamaha’s all-time 250 Class wins list. One more victory will tie Deegan with Jeremy Martin and Broc Glover for the OEM record.
JO SHIMODA: A consistent 2-2 day for Shimoda netted him his 25th career 250 Class podium, tying Tomac and Mike Kiedrowski for 17th all-time. Shimoda now has 40 SMX League podiums, joining Hampshire as the 60th and 61st athletes to complete this feat. Shimoda is the only competitor who could still mathematically win the championship but will need to outscore Deegan by at least 2 points at Unadilla to extend the title fight.
TOM VIALLE: Made his 65th SMX League start and secured his 13th 250 Class podium and 28th SMX League podium. Trying to hold off Mikkel Haarup for 5th in the standings, with the international duo separated by 3 points with 2 races to go. It ended the most challenging stretch of Vialle’s Pro Motocross career with back-to-back finishes outside the top 10 and a missed race.
NOTES: Garrett Marchbanks (4th): Secured the 19th 250 Class top 5 and 30th SMX League top 5 finish of his career. Holds down third in the 250 Class and 250 SMX World Championship standings.
Drew Adams (5th): Career-best result signified his maiden top 5 finish in the 250 Class and SMX League. Made his ninth 250 Class start and 12th SMX League start.
Max Vohland (7th): Made his 70th career SMX League start (44th in 250 Class) and earned his best result of the season. Also signified his best finish since the 2023 campaign.
Seth Hammaker (10th): Made his 60th career SMX League start (29th in 250 Class) and now has 6 top 10 finishes in his past 8 starts. Has a lock on fifth in the SMX World Championship standings.
Dilan Schwartz (17th): Made his 50th career 250 Class start and 68th in the SMX League. Currently holds the 20th and final automatic seed for the SMX Playoffs.
Kade Johnson (20th): Made his professional debut with first 250 Class and SMX League start, earning 6 points.
Mathys Boisrame (22nd): French MXGP athlete earned 4 points in first career SMX League appearance.
Cullin Park (26th): Made his 50th career SMX League start and just his second 250 Class start. He has 17 career 450 Class starts. Brodie Connolly (27th): Reigning Australian MX2 Champion from New Zealand made his first SMX League appearance.
250 Class: Unadilla Facts
- HISTORY LESSON: The first 250 Class race at Unadilla was on October 15, 1989, as the season finale. Going in, Mike Kiedrowski held an 11-point lead over Damon Bradshaw. Bradshaw cut the lead in half with a Moto 1 win versus Kiedrowski’s third. Bradshaw completed the 1-1 sweep with a victory in Moto 2, but Kiedrowski’s runner-up effort gave him the title by a mere 3 points. In the 500cc finale, Jeff Ward held off Jeff Stanton to score the 500cc Championship, but it was Jean-Michel Bayle’s 1-2 result that secured the overall that day.
- 30+ SEASONS OF HISTORY: Unadilla has hosted a 250 Class race every season since 1989, apart from 1992 and 2020. That means the 2025 event will be the 35th 250 Class racer held at Unadilla. Between all 3 classes there have been 72 AMA National rounds held at Unadilla. The venue boasts 217 professional events held at the venue over its 56 years of operation.
- KIEDROWSKI & UNADILLA PRESSURE: Unadilla stood as the 250 Class season finale from 1989-1991. In each of those seasons the title came down to the final moto and involved Kiedrowski every time. After his narrow win in 1989, Kiedrowski was not so lucky in 1990 against Guy Cooper. Kiedrowski came to Unadilla with a 1-point lead but lost 5 points in Moto 1 to Cooper. In Moto 2, Kiedrowski only gained back 3 points and lost the title by a single point. Kiedrowski had more momentum going into the 1991 finale, with a 28-point lead. Misfortune in the final moto of the season spelled trouble for Kiedrowski, but he fought through to claim the title by 16 points.
- CHAMPIONSHIP %: Unadilla winners have also won the 250 Class title just 14 times in 34 seasons (41%), including only 3 times in the previous 11 seasons. Levi Kitchen usurped eventual champ Haiden Deegan in the second moto last season, which prevented Deegan from completing the feat.
