2026 Budds Creek Motocross Photo Gallery

2026 Budds Creek Motocross Recap

Hunter Lawrence did exactly what he needed to do then let the chips fall where they may.

And they went in his favor.

A week after potentially blowing his chances to claim the 450-class title for the 2026 Pro Motocross Championship series when he went off track, crashed and posted a DNF in Moto 2 at Unadilla, Lawrence returned with vigor and swept Round 10 on Saturday at Budds Creek.

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His brother Jett Lawrence, the defending champion who grabbed the points lead because of Hunter's DNF, endured some trouble of his own this week. He didn't crash but bad starts and muddy conditions knocked him back a few pegs and erased his 10 point lead to a one point deficit with one round remaining.

All night rains and morning downpours prior to gate drop left the track muddy and slick but Hunter had no trouble staying upright. A third-place start in Moto 1 turned into the lead after two minutes and Lawrence pulled away for an easy win. Jett, meanwhile, banged bars with a rider at the start and rolled past the Holeshot inside the Top 20, dropped out of the Top 20 at one point, but carefully worked his way to fifth to salvage points.

In Moto 2, Hunter grabbed the Holeshot and left (the field behind). At this point, with now decent track conditions, the sweep was a foregone conclusion. And, Jett started outside the Top 10.

But as he normally does, Lawrence methodically pushed towards the front and was third after 10 minutes yet still 12 seconds behind the lead and about 10 seconds back of Jorge Prado in second. He had no chance of catching his brother but closing the points gap turned into a priority as he also had no chance of making the overall podium. A third place finish put him three points back of his brother in the standings but a second place finish closed that gap to one point and every point counts with Hunter owning the end of season tie-breaker.

Jett was close in the final minutes and got on Prado's rear fender for the final three laps after time expired. Prado held his own but ultimately a more dexterous Lawrence and some lappers in the way of Prado gave the defending champ the line and room he needed to make the pass for second on the last lap. Red Plate back in Hunter's hands by a point and a final-round family-showdown for the championship.

"Anything can happen so I just focused on myself, try to get around the first turn as best as I can," said Lawrence of his overall win. "It was a good day we'll take it. I've been feeling terrible all week. My stomach has been such a pain. It's good to get it done even when you don't feel that good."

Though Prado (3-3) dropped to third he took second overall and Jett Lawrence (5-2) finished fourth overall.

Flashes of prime Eli Tomac (4-9) in Moto 1 as he raced in the Top 3 for a time before settling on fourth but a 13th in Moto 2 left him ninth overall in arguably his best outing since returning to racing at Round 7 from an opening lap injury at Round 1. Mikkel Haarup (8-5) rounded out the Top 5.

250 Class

The 250 Class did face muddy conditions in Moto 1 which helped upend Levi Kitchens quest for a 250-class championship.

Racing from behind seemingly all year, Kitchen nursed a one point lead over Cole Davies entering Budds Creek but got his first Holeshot of the year in the first race then went down about a minute later when he lost the front end in the mud. Chance Hymas skirted around the down dirt bike and took the lead. Kitchen got moving in 17th.

Hymas' past success racing in the mud helped but Davies caught him around the 25 minute mark, took the lead and checked out. Hymas held on to second while Landon Gordon finished third.

Kitchen, meanwhile, struggled to move forward hovering around the Top 10, took his goggles off with 18 minutes remaining after running out of tear-offs, fell to 12th at one point and ultimately finished 10th. However, his Holeshot included an asterisk as he went off the track at the start, was determined to gain an advantage and docked four spots leaving him 14th for the Moto. A crushing points blow. (Michael Mosiman went off track on the opposite side of Kitchen and was docked docked three spots. Jett Lawrence incurred a similar infraction in the 450 class but was determined not to gain an advantage and was docked a license point.)

In Moto 1, Hymas grabbed the Holeshot with Davies second. Kitchen was sixth and after five minutes got into third. A mostly routine race for a time with these three upfront as Kitchen slowly gained on Davies and Davies slowly gained on Hymas. But with less than eight minutes on the clock Davies encountered a thick patch of mud allowing Kitchen to pass for second.

Davies settled down in third as Kitchen went for the win but Hymas held on taking the checkers and overall becoming the seventh different winner this season, a record for the 250 class.

"I feel like you get a flash of all the hard times you've gone through. Just to get back to this point was a full team effort," said Hymas who has endured two ACL repairs in his left knee, one in his right and, this year, left shoulder surgery after crashing at Anaheim 2. "Everyone in my corner has given everything they have to this program. This is for them as well. Holeshot, wire to wire, it doesn't get any better than that."

Hymas entered Budds Creek in fifth 20 points back from third and now sits in fourth, just five points behind Julien Beaumer who finished fourth overall on a (8-4) day. Kitchen hands the Red Plate to Davies who now enjoys a 14 point cushion heading into the final round.

The 2026 Motocross season concludes Saturday at Ironman.