2026 Thunder Valley Motocross Photo Gallery

2026 Thunder Valley Motocross Recap

Jett Lawrence bested the Pro Motocross debut of the MXGP points leader - and the rest of the field - for his second straight sweep of the 2026 season on Saturday at Thunder Valley MX in Colorado.

Lawrence, who entered the year hobbled with a foot injury that kept him out of Supercross, now has the Red Plate and just three rounds in, seems fully in control of defending his 2025 Outdoor title.

Lawrence grabbed the Holeshot in both Motos and didn't encounter much resistance. Lucas Coenen (2-2), the overseas MXGP (450 class) series points leader racing in his first of three American Motocross rounds battled to second from a bad start in Moto 1 and looked ready to contend for the Moto 2 win but just didn't have enough to catch Lawrence.

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"I felt a little better in that one (Moto 2) I had some better lines bit better flow," said Lawrence who mentioned the slippery track gave him more problems than his foot injury. "Traction is not like there at all, you think you have some and then you don't. Really tricky. Good 1-1 weekend and was happy with that."

Meanwhile, his brother Hunter Lawrence (4-4), who swept the opening round, had some battles of his own including with the ground and a penalty. Hunter and What's His Name (if you know, you know and maybe like MotoSport, Jett has also been given an obscure cease and desist order from mentioning the 250 class MX Champ now in the 450 class) rumbled for much of Moto 1 as What's His Name held firm in second and even creeped up behind Jett Lawrence midway through the race as a brief would-be 1-2-3 battle ensued. Not much came from it and it all ended when

What's His Name hit the deck with about 12 and half minutes on the clock. Fifteen seconds or so later he crashed again. His race unraveling, Hunter Lawrence picked up in second, Coenen third. After time expired Lawrence lost the rear end of his dirt bike and crashed rather spectacularly but quickly got up to finish third, Coenen gladly took second.

Lawrence, however, was docked a spot for riding inside track markers. What's His Name lost seven spots for doing the same thing (seven times). Jorge Prado also got penalized two spot for riding inside track markers. (Hmm, maybe a problem with the track markers? The ones seemingly in question all looked flattened on the ground on a curved section of the track. MotoSport.com says "You make the call.")

Anyway, Garrett Marchbanks got the benefit of all the penalties and popped into third for the first Moto.

Moto 2 was more or less Jett Lawrence and Coenen destroying the field while Hunter Lawrence and What's His Name engaged in another potential brew-ha-ha which as the season progresses might result in some additional entertainment for fans. What's His Name held court in third for much of the race until a bump and run on an inside corner from Lawrence with a minute on the clock dropped him to third. But Lawrence washed out with three laps remaining and fell back to fourth but managed a third overall.

Marchbanks (3-6) finished fourth overall and Prado (7-5) fifth overall.

250 MX Class

Alright then. 250 class.

Seth Hammaker looked unstoppable. He grabbed the Holeshot in Moto 1 and checked out. Then Levi Kitchen showed up. With two laps left, Kitchen raced past Hammaker and easily took the win. Joe Shimoda finished a very important third.

Sacha Coenen, the overseas MXGP (250 class) series points leader racing in his first of three American Motocross rounds (and brother of Lucas) decimated the field in Moto 2. Known for his starts which failed to materialize in Moto 1 (along with an early crash) Coenen grabbed the Holeshot and disappeared after a brief battle with Nick Romano.

Meanwhile, Hammaker and Kitchen were outside the Top 30 thanks to a first turn crash dumping them both. That opened the door for Shimoda or Romano to get the overall. But Kitchen was already 17th after five minutes.

Romano's fourth in Moto 1 put him in overall victory formation for much of the race. Ultimately, he dropped from second to third when Ryder DiFrancesco passed and with about 12 minutes left, Shimoda passed him for third which put Shimoda in line for the overall.

All this happening as Kitchen was passing riders like a movie-goer eats popcorn. He made it to eighth and closed in on seventh but Shimoda eventually passed DiFrancesco for second in Moto 2 which gave him more than enough to claim the overall victory. Kitchen took second overall allowing him to share the points lead with Hammaker.

"I just need to start up front. First moto was OK but I crashed," Shimoda said. "I wasted too much energy on the first Moto coming back, just didn't have the burst of energy this time (Moto 2). We still have lots of things to work on, we need to get a win. We will keep this ball rolling. Coming back from my neck injury it's not a Moto win but this one kid of means a lot.

A practice crash in November left Shimoda with two fractured and displaced vertebrae in his upper back and lower neck. And he still raced the East rounds for 250 Supercross until a left fibula fracture from a Heat race crash ended his season early.

Romano held on for fifth and his first career podium. Coenen took fourth overall and DiFrancesco fifth. Hammaker made it to 12th in Moto 2 for seventh overall.

Sunny skies on tap for Motocross Round 4 Saturday at High Point National in Mt.Morris, PA.

2026 Motocross 450 Class Thunder Valley Results