Jett and Hunter Lawrence 1-2 in AMA Pro MX season opener

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Jett and Hunter Lawrence 1-2 in AMA Pro MX season opener

2024 Pro Motocross Championship
Round One – Fox Raceway National

The 53rd season of the Pro Motocross Championship picked off in the motocross epicentre of Southern California under sunny skies and balmy temperatures. Pala’s Fox Raceway was the site of the season-opening Honda Fox Raceway National, where the reigning SuperMotocross World Champions both made a statement with dominant performances in their respective divisions.

In the 450 Class, Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence picked up where he left off from last year’s perfect season to remain undefeated in premier class competition with his 23rd and 24th consecutive moto wins and a seventh straight victory at Fox Raceway.

In the 250 Class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan shined in front of the hometown crowd with an impressive 1-1 effort in which he showed an ability to come from behind and run from the front.

450 Moto One

The opening premier class moto started with the Lawrence brothers leading the way aboard their Team Honda HRC rides, with Jett edging out Hunter for holeshot. They were joined by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger, who pushed hard early to move into second behind the young Aussie. As Lawrence asserted his control of the lead, Plessinger settled in to keep him honest.

Jett inched away as the moto wore on and soon built a lead of more than five-seconds, which left the battle for second place to take shape between Plessinger and Hunter Lawrence. The KTM rider held strong for the majority of the moto, but the elder Lawrence went on the attack as the moto entered its final 10 minutes, Hunter making the pass on and then pulling away from Plessinger.

Out front, Jett cruised to his 23rd straight moto win dating back to last season, crossing the line five-seconds ahead of Hunter to complete a Lawrence 1-2 in their first 450 Class race together.

Plessinger followed in third, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton fourth and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper in fifth.

Australia’s Brad West was inside the top ten early on but eventually slipped to 25th while countryman Joel Wightman finished 35th.

450 Moto One

Jett Lawrence 36:10.854 15 Laps
Hunter Lawrence 36:15.912 +5.058
Aaron Plessinger 36:22.628 +11.774
Chase Sexton 36:37.225 +26.371
Justin Cooper 36:42.510 +31.656
Justin Barcia 37:15.963 +1:05.109
Dylan Ferrandis 37:27.657 +1:16.803
Malcolm Stewart 37:31.695 +1:20.841
Phil Nicoletti 37:32.104 +1:21.250
Jason Anderson 37:33.083 +1:22.229
Dean Wilson 37:53.506 +1:42.652
Cullin Park 37:55.849 +1:44.995
Fredrik Noren 37:57.459 +1:46.605
Derek Kelley 38:06.212 +1:55.358
Christian Craig 38:06.519 +1:55.665
Marshal Weltin 38:11.630 +2:00.776
Grant Harlan 38:22.774 +2:11.920
Jerry Robin 38:36.255 +2:25.401
Justin Hill 38:38.729 +2:27.875
Romain Pape 38:45.122 +2:34.268
Jake Masterpool 36:12.927 14 Laps
Ryder Floyd 36:15.682 +2.755
Zack Williams 36:17.519 +4.592
Scotty Verhaeghe 36:25.247 +12.320
Brad West 36:27.880 +14.953
Robbie Wageman 36:30.871 +17.944
Max Miller 36:34.379 +21.452
Kyle Chisholm 36:36.134 +23.207
Lorenzo Locurcio 36:40.287 +27.360
Shane McElrath 36:45.676 +32.749
Bryce Hammond 36:47.061 +34.134
Henry Miller 36:50.676 +37.749
Dayton Briggs 36:58.005 +45.078
Luke Kalaitzian 37:03.011 +50.084
Joel Wightman 37:06.502 +53.575
Josh Boaz 37:10.930 +58.003
Josh Mosiman 37:30.127 +1:17.200
Colton Eigenmann 37:49.691 +1:36.764
Bryce Shelly 20:07.180 8 Laps
DNF Anthony Rodriguez

450 Moto Two

The Lawrence brothers led the field into the first turn to open the final moto, with Hunter edging out Jett for the holeshot. Jett then made an early push to slip by his older brother and seize control of the lead, while Hunter briefly dropped to third behind a hard-charging Phil Nicoletti. Hunter soon reclaimed the position, while Sexton followed into third.

The top three set a torrid pace early and put several seconds on the rest of the field. Soon, a sibling battle unfolded as Hunter closed onto Jett’s rear fender. The champ fended off the challenge, but it allowed Sexton to close back in from third to make it a three-rider pursuit for victory.

As Jett continued to lead, Sexton was able to make the pass on Hunter for second and mount an attack for the top spot. Sexton kept Jett within reach for several laps but went off track just before time ran out on the moto and lost considerable ground to end the threat.

Sexton gave it his all over the final two laps and got back within sight of Lawrence, but it wasn’t enough. The Honda rider wrapped up the 1-1 effort by 1.3 seconds over Sexton, with Hunter Lawrence a distant third.

Brad West again carded a 25th place finish while countryman Joel Wightman improved to place 33rd.

450 Moto Two Results

Jett Lawrence 36:13.282 15 Laps
Chase Sexton 36:14.631 +1.349
Hunter Lawrence 36:54.650 +41.368
Jason Anderson 36:59.858 +46.576
Dylan Ferrandis 37:15.098 +1:01.816
Justin Barcia 37:28.035 +1:14.753
Malcolm Stewart 37:30.129 +1:16.847
Justin Cooper 37:38.118 +1:24.836
Phil Nicoletti 37:41.134 +1:27.852
Fredrik Noren 37:44.467 +1:31.185
Marshal Weltin 37:58.168 +1:44.886
Aaron Plessinger 38:22.016 +2:08.734
Romain Pape 38:27.148 +2:13.866
Shane McElrath 38:29.082 +2:15.800
Cullin Park 38:30.510 +2:17.228
Dean Wilson 38:32.586 +2:19.304
Christian Craig 38:39.505 +2:26.223
Grant Harlan 38:40.222 +2:26.940
Max Miller 38:54.284 +2:41.002
Scotty Verhaeghe 39:17.509 +3:04.227
Kyle Chisholm 36:25.918 14 Laps
Jerry Robin 36:29.465 +3.547
Lorenzo Locurcio 36:30.162 +4.244
Anthony Rodriguez 36:41.943 +16.025
Brad West 36:43.931 +18.013
Justin Hill 36:44.060 +18.142
Bryce Hammond 36:49.799 +23.881
Luke Kalaitzian 36:52.137 +26.219
Bryce Shelly 37:03.999 +38.081
Henry Miller 37:17.473 +51.555
Robbie Wageman 37:22.761 +56.843
Zack Williams 37:26.921 +1:01.003
Joel Wightman 37:32.318 +1:06.400
Dayton Briggs 37:35.314 +1:09.396
Josh Boaz 37:35.762 +1:09.844
Ryder Floyd 38:08.329 +1:42.411
Josh Mosiman 38:23.253 +1:57.335
Colton Eigenmann 10:33.696 4 Laps
Jake Masterpool 4:44.764 2 Laps
DNF Derek Kelley

450 Round

Jett Lawrence wrapped up the 12th overall win of his career and moved to 24-0 in 450 Class competition, spearheading a historic Lawrence brothers 1-2 in their first race together following Hunter’s 2-3 effort. Sexton rebounded strongly from a challenging first moto to round out the podium in third (4-2).

With the win, Jett Lawrence has established an eight-point lead over Hunter, while Sexton sits 10 points out of the lead in third.

It’s the third straight season that Team Honda HRC has finished 1-2 at the opening round.

Chase Sexton was resilient en route to a third-place finish (4-2).

Jett Lawrence, Team Honda HRC

“Mid-race [in Moto 2] I looked back and saw [Hunter] behind me, then I looked back again and it was Chase [Sexton]. I couldn’t let up at all. It was a great day and now I’m tied with James [Stewart] at 24-0 [in motos], which is pretty cool.”

Hunter Lawrence, Team Honda HRC

“I knew the points situation [in Moto 2] and made a change [on the bike] that we’ll get better with. I just took what it gave me. I didn’t want to do anything silly. I’m stoked to put it on the box [in my first race].”

Chase Sexton, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

“I went off the track at the top of the hill and thought the race was over. I picked the pace up and got close to Jett [Lawrence] on the final lap, but he picked it up [too] and that was it. We got off to a good start and will look to build on this next weekend.”

2024 AMA Pro Motocross Round One
Fox Raceway – 450 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish // Points)
Jett Lawrence, (1-1 // 50)
Hunter Lawrence, Honda (2-3 // 42)
Chase Sexton, KTM (4-2 // 40)

450 Round Results

Jett Lawrence 1 – 1 Honda
Hunter Lawrence 2 – 3 Honda
Chase Sexton 4 – 2 KTM
Dylan Ferrandis 7 – 5 Honda
Justin Barcia 6 – 6 GasGas
Jason Anderson 10 – 4 Kawasaki
Justin Cooper 5 – 8 Yamaha
Aaron Plessinger 3 – 12 KTM
Malcolm Stewart 8 – 7 Husqvarna
Phil Nicoletti 9 – 9 Yamaha
Fredrik Noren 13 – 10 Kawasaki
Marshal Weltin 16 – 11 Yamaha
Cullin Park 12 – 15 Honda
Dean Wilson 11 – 16 Honda
Christian Craig 15 – 17 Husqvarna
Romain Pape 20 – 13 GasGas
Shane McElrath 30 – 14 Suzuki
Grant Harlan 17 – 18 Yamaha
Derek Kelley 14 – DNF KTM
Jerry Robin 18 – 22 Yamaha
Max Miller 27 – 19 Suzuki
Justin Hill 19 – 26 KTM
Scotty Verhaeghe 24 – 20 GasGas
Kyle Chisholm 28 – 21 Suzuki
Brad West 25 – 25 Yamaha
Lorenzo Locurcio 29 – 23 GasGas
Zack Williams 23 – 32 Honda
Robbie Wageman 26 – 31 Yamaha
Bryce Hammond 31 – 27 Yamaha
Ryder Floyd 22 – 36 Honda
Luke Kalaitzian 34 – 28 Honda
Henry Miller 32 – 30 Honda
Dayton Briggs 33 – 34 Husqvarna
Bryce Shelly 39 – 29 Yamaha
Joel Wightman 35 – 33 Yamaha
Josh Boaz Eagan 36 – 35 KTM
Josh Mosiman 37 – 37 KTM
Colton Eigenmann 38 – 38 Yamaha
Anthony Rodriguez DNF – 24 KTM
Jake Masterpool 21 – 39 GasGas

450 Championship Points

Jett Lawrence Australia Landsborough 50
Hunter Lawrence Australia Landsborough 42
Chase Sexton United States La Moille, IL 40
Justin Barcia United States Monroe, NY 32
Dylan Ferrandis France Avignon, France 32
Justin Cooper United States Cold Spring Harbor, NY 31
Jason Anderson United States Edgewood, NM 30
Aaron Plessinger United States Hamilton, OH 30
Malcolm Stewart United States Haines City, FL 29
Phil Nicoletti United States Cochecton, NY 26
Fredrik Noren Sweden Lidköping, Sweden 21
Cullin Park United States Clermont, FL 17
Marshal Weltin United States Ubly, MI 17
Dean Wilson United Kingdom Glasgow, Scotland 17
Christian Craig United States El Cajon, CA 12
Romain Pape France France 11
Grant Harlan United States Justin, TX 9
Derek Kelley United States Riverside, CA 8
Shane McElrath United States Canton, NC 8
Jerry Robin United States Hamel, MN 4
Justin Hill United States Yoncalla, OR 3
Max Miller United States Springfield, OR 3
Scotty Verhaeghe France Paris, France 2
Jake Masterpool Paradise, TX 1
Kyle Chisholm United States Clearwater, FL 1

250 Moto One

The first moto began with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Tom Vialle leading the field through the first turn for the holeshot, but the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki of Levi Kitchen slotted right into second.

Kitchen showed patience early but went on the attack during the opening 10 minutes of the moto and took control of the top spot. With the lead in hand, Kitchen opened up a multi-second advantage over the field, while Vialle and Deegan engaged in a battle for second. Deegan soon made the pass to move into the runner-up spot.

Deegan showed a quicker pace than Kitchen through the middle portion of race and slowly chipped away at the deficit until he eventually closed to within a few bike lengths as the moto entered its final 10 minutes. The battle was on from that point forward as Kitchen responded, leading to trades of momentum. An off-track excursion briefly slowed Deegan’s momentum, but he regrouped and continued to put the pressure on the Kawasaki out front.

Kitchen appeared to have control of the moto as they took the two-Lap Board, but an errant track marker became lodged in his boot, which slowed the Kawasaki’s momentum while he removed it and that allowed Deegan to slip into the lead. The Southern California native dropped the hammer to sprint away and grab the first moto win of the season, 7.2-seconds ahead of Kitchen. Vialle followed in third, with Team Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas fourth, and Triumph Racing’s Joey Savatgy fifth.

Following the race, officials determined that Vialle was in violation of Rule 1.6.20 Track Cuts/Unfair Advantage of the series rulebook after the Frenchman went off track early in the moto. As a result, Vialle was docked one position to fourth, which moved Hymas into third.

250 Moto One Results

Haiden Deegan 36:15.813 15 Laps
Levi Kitchen 36:23.091 +7.278
Chance Hymas 36:34.478 +18.665a
Tom Vialle 36:32.967 +17.154
Joey Savatgy 36:34.958 +19.145
Jalek Swoll 36:49.021 +33.208
Jordon Smith 36:51.423 +35.610
Jo Shimoda 37:09.238 +53.425
Ryder DiFrancesco 37:12.125 +56.312
Pierce Brown 37:13.458 +57.645
Nate Thrasher 37:24.502 +1:08.689
Dilan Schwartz 37:29.385 +1:13.572
Julien Beaumer 37:34.157 +1:18.344
Mark Fineis 37:57.403 +1:41.590
Casey Cochran 38:06.018 +1:50.205
Jett Reynolds 38:12.866 +1:57.053
Lux Turner 38:17.487 +2:01.674
Nick Romano 38:20.361 +2:04.548
Coty Schock 38:22.230 +2:06.417
Daxton Bennick 38:30.391 +2:14.578
Brock Bennett 38:37.452 +2:21.639
Preston Boespflug 38:42.734 +2:26.921
Casey Benard 38:45.890 +2:30.077
Ty Masterpool 36:24.571 14 Laps
Anthony Bourdon 36:45.365 +20.794
Cameron Durow 36:48.836 +24.265
Crockett Myers 36:50.947 +26.376
Reven Gordon 36:54.196 +29.625
Gavin Brough 36:56.618 +32.047
Kyle Wise 36:57.306 +32.735
Slade Smith 37:01.766 +37.195
Evan Ferry 37:15.935 +51.364
Vincent Varola 37:17.510 +52.939
Maxwell Sanford 37:18.685 +54.114
Talon Hawkins 37:52.032 +1:27.461
Ryder McNabb 32:40.266 13 Laps
Ashton Bloxom 36:32.477 +3:52.211
Marcus Phelps 27:36.067 10 Laps
Hardy Munoz 20:33.591 8 Laps
DNF Jorgen Talviku

250 Moto Two

The final moto saw Deegan pick up where he left off with the holeshot as Triumph Racing’s Jalek Swoll and Kitchen gave chase. Kitchen didn’t waste any time with a pass on Swoll for second and positioned himself right behind Deegan. The early pace of the top-two finishers from the opening moto allowed them to pull away from the field. Swoll, meanwhile, came under fire from Vialle, but the KTM rider tipped over and lost positions.

Deegan and Kitchen both settled in through the middle portion of the moto, with about one-second sitting between them. Behind them, the battle for the overall podium heated up as three riders were in position to capture third overall. Swoll’s third-place positioning on the track gave him the edge, but both Vialle and Hymas were also in the mix.

With five minutes to go, Swoll, Vialle, and Hymas were running 3-4-5 on the racetrack, separated by mere bike lengths. Vialle went on the attack and successfully made the pass on Swoll for third, which gave him the advantage in the overall classification. Hymas then made the pass on Swoll for fourth.

Back out front, Deegan picked up the pace in the waning moments to prevent a late push from Kitchen and extended his lead on the final lap. He wrapped up a 1-1 sweep of the motos by 1.9 seconds over Kitchen, with Vialle finishing strong in third.

250 Moto Two Results

Haiden Deegan 36:36.131 15 Laps
Levi Kitchen 36:38.043 +1.912
Tom Vialle 37:14.495 +38.364
Chance Hymas 37:18.916 +42.785
Jalek Swoll 37:21.549 +45.418
Jo Shimoda 37:21.985 +45.854
Nate Thrasher 37:30.077 +53.946
Pierce Brown 37:34.519 +58.388
Julien Beaumer 37:49.298 +1:13.167
Ty Masterpool 37:56.146 +1:20.015
Mark Fineis 37:59.825 +1:23.694
Ryder DiFrancesco 38:05.179 +1:29.048
Joey Savatgy 38:09.212 +1:33.081
Daxton Bennick 38:23.065 +1:46.934
Dilan Schwartz 38:34.210 +1:58.079
Jett Reynolds 38:36.294 +2:00.163
Coty Schock 38:39.717 +2:03.586
Jordon Smith 38:40.531 +2:04.400
Ryder McNabb 38:57.267 +2:21.136
Talon Hawkins 39:03.867 +2:27.736
Casey Cochran 39:05.507 +2:29.376
Preston Boespflug 39:20.636 +2:44.505
Casey Benard 36:42.730 14 Laps
Hardy Munoz 36:45.004 +2.274
Brock Bennett 36:58.094 +15.364
Slade Smith 37:02.194 +19.464
Kyle Wise 37:02.723 +19.993
Maxwell Sanford 37:15.538 +32.808
Reven Gordon 37:19.846 +37.116
Crockett Myers 37:29.061 +46.331
Jorgen Talviku 37:32.093 +49.363
Gavin Brough 37:48.714 +1:05.984
Vincent Varola 37:51.475 +1:08.745
Cameron Durow 37:54.633 +1:11.903
Lux Turner 38:17.751 +1:35.021
Marcus Phelps 38:30.014 +1:47.284
Evan Ferry 39:04.073 +2:21.343
Ashton Bloxom 39:23.033 +2:40.303
Anthony Bourdon 18:13.763 7 Laps
Nick Romano 5:24.467 2 Laps

250 Round

The second career 1-1 performance by Deegan resulted in the third win of his career, kicking off the season in dominant fashion in front of the hometown crowd. Kitchen secured a solid runner-up effort with his 2-2 scores, while Vialle (4-3) edged out Hymas (3-4) for the final spot on the podium via the second moto tiebreaker.

With maximum points scored at the opening round, Deegan has established a six-point lead over Kitchen in the championship standings. Vialle and Hymas sit tied for third, 12 points out of the lead.

Frenchman Tom Vialle finished third overall with 4-3 moto finishes.

Haiden Deegan, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

“I’ve put in a lot of work [preparing for this championship]. I go out and grind. I put my heart into this sport and you guys saw that. Great job to Levi [Kitchen], he kept me honest the whole time and didn’t make it easy on me. I’m stoked to start the season with a win.”

Levi Kitchen, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki

“We [Deegan and I] know each other pretty well from years training together [at Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing]. I didn’t know if I could make a push at the end. As soon as I tried, he tried. I’m stoked to come out of here with a podium and start the season off this way.”

Tom Vialle, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

“The track was really hard to pass on and everyone was riding really well in the second moto. I just wanted to finish as good as I could in the second moto, so I’m happy with the result. I’m looking forward to next weekend [at Hangtown].”