BUCHANAN, Mich. – The 2025 Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, officially reached its halfway point at the crown jewel event on the calendar from Michigan’s legendary RedBud MX. The Honda RedBud National Presented by Dixxon Flannel Co. signified Race 6 of the summer campaign and Round 23 of the SMX World Championship regular season in a showcase of American motocross’ own Independence Day tradition. In the 450 Class, Honda HRC Progressive rider and championship point leader Jett Lawrence put forth one of his most impressive single-moto performances to complete a 1-1 sweep and capture a sixth straight victory. In the 250 Class, Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda completed a dominant afternoon for the brand with a 1-1 performance of his own to put the “Red Riders” atop both classes at Honda’s title event.
The opening moto of the afternoon began with Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire side-by-side exiting the first turn, with Lawrence narrowly securing the Pro Motocross Holeshot and control of the lead. Hampshire went on the attack, nearly making the pass, but the Australian fended him off. As this unfolded, Jett Lawrence closed in on Hampshire from third. The top three then settled in briefly, but Jett Lawrence pushed to make the move on Hampshire for second and gave chase to his older brother out front. Behind them, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger made the pass for third and was able to close in on the lead duo.
Just before the completion of the opening 10 minutes Jett Lawrence made his move on Hunter, briefly making the pass before Hunter responded to retake the position. Jett persisted and after a brief side-by-side battle eventually took hold of the lead. The increased pace allowed the Lawrences to pull away from Plessinger and the rest of the field, as the KTM rider was then forced to deal with a hard-charging Eli Tomac and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine. Once he got to Plessinger’s rear fender, Tomac made quick work to move into third.
The top three settled in through the middle of the moto, with Jett Lawrence moving out to a lead of about five seconds. However, as the moto entered its final 10 minutes considerable smoke started to come out of Tomac’s Yamaha. He eventually came to a stop, which ultimately brought his moto to a premature end. That misfortune left the battle for third to be settled between Plessinger and Hampshire, with the Husqvarna rider able to make the move in the closing stages of the moto.
Out front, Jett Lawrence’s lead eventually surpassed 10 seconds as he surged to his ninth moto win of the season by 16.1 seconds over Hunter Lawrence. Hampshire captured his first career moto podium in third, followed by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper in fourth. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton finished fifth, as the reigning series champion and defending RedBud winner made his anticipated return to action following a crash at the opening race of the season.
The deciding moto got underway with Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha’s Coty Schock out front with the Pro Motocross Holeshot, just ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jorge Prado, the back-to-back FIM Motocross World Champion. The Spaniard pressured Schock and eventually made his move into the lead halfway through the opening lap. Behind him, both Lawrences started from deep in the top 10. As he looked to make passes, Jett Lawrence went down and remounted in 18th place. Hunter Lawrence, meanwhile, looked to move forward from seventh.
After a wild opening five minutes the field settled in with Prado leading Cooper and Hunter Lawrence, while Hampshire, Sexton, and Jett Lawrence ran in sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. Jett Lawrence was on the move and passed both Sexton and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson to break into the top five. He then passed Hampshire for fourth just over 10 minutes into the moto. The march continued past his brother, as Jett broke into the top three before the halfway point.
Out front, a patient Cooper waited for an opening to attempt a pass on Prado and successfully made his way into the lead with just over half the moto to go. That left Prado to fend with Jett Lawrence, who made quick work of the Spaniard to move into second. Prado then lost hold of third to Sexton, who was following Lawrence’s path to the front. As the fastest rider on the track Jett gained chunks of time on Cooper and easily took over the lead with less than five minutes remaining. Sexton was then able to make his way around Cooper for second but went down. He remounted in fourth as Cooper and Hunter Lawrence made their way past.
In arguably the most impressive single-moto performance of his young career, Jett Lawrence passed 17 riders to complete the sweep of the motos by 8.3 seconds over Cooper, who equaled his career-best moto result in second. Hunter Lawrence followed in third.
Jett Lawrence’s 16th career 1-1 performance netted him the 21st victory in the 450 Class, which equaled two-time champion Ken Roczen for sixth all-time. With 21 victories in 22 career starts, his career winning percentage stands at an incredible 95%. Hunter Lawrence completed the third straight 1-2 finish for the siblings in second (2-3), while Cooper earned his second overall podium result of the season in third (4-2).
Jett Lawrence’s lead in the championship standings now sits at just over an entire race, 51 points over Hunter Lawrence, who moved into second. Cooper’s podium result allowed him to move from fifth to third, 69 points out of the lead.
The podium result also helped Cooper close to within 14 points of the top seed in the SMX World Championship standings, as he continued to gain ground on his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Cooper Webb, who finished ninth (15-8).