2026 Unadilla Motocross Photo Gallery

2026 Unadilla Motocross Recap

After two weeks off, the 2026 Pro Motocross Championship series resumed on Saturday at Unadilla MX in New Berlin, NY marking the final three-round stretch of the season where the championship battle for both classes got even tighter.

A harrowing Moto 2 crash in the 450 class turned over the Red Plate and the leader in the 250 class holds on by a point after mounting an impressive Moto 2 comeback to salvage the day.

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In the 450 class, Hunter Lawrence (1-DNF) entered Round 9 with a 12 point gap over his brother Jett Lawrence (2-1) and he increased that to 15 after looking untouchable in the first race. He grabbed the lead less than two minutes into Moto 1 and checked out. Behind him, Jett and Jorge Prado (3-2) battled for rights to second-place and all appeared lost for Jett when he crashed near the 24-minute mark while in third, trying for second, which dropped him to sixth.

Prado, in third at the time, grabbed second at the 19-minute mark and held firm until after time expired but with two laps left, Lawrence found the line and passed Prado for second.

In Moto 2, Hunter grabbed the Holeshot by a wide margin looking ripe for the sweep. Again, Jett and Prado battled behind Hunter for second with Jett winning again and using that momentum to catch Hunter. Near the 21-minute mark, Jett made the pass on Hunter and less than a minute later, Prado passed for second.

Hunter, now third, but still in line for the overall podium stayed on the gas but with less than 14 minutes on the clock, went off track at the steepest downhill section. His bike lay to rest halfway down the hill with Lawrence at the bottom having to run up the steep incline in full gear to remount. He fell again after getting on the bike stumbling partway down the hill because of the unforgiving slope and struggled to climb up again. Finally underway, it was apparent the handlebars were damaged and outside of points earning range with an inability to effectively move forward, he called it a day with six minutes left.

Jett held off a charging Prado briefly before building a large gap and took the win and overall.

"I'm bummed, I don't want to do it like this. (Hunter) was right there," Jett Lawrence said. "It sucks, it is what it is. Hopefully he's OK, I've been told he's OK so that's good. Hopefully he can rebound."

The DNF in Moto 2 for Hunter left him eighth overall and results in a massive points swing where he now sits in second, 10 points back with four Motos remaining. It was the first time Lawrence finished outside the Top 5 for an overall in his 450 class career which started in 2024.

250 Class

Riders in the 250 class have treated the Red Plate like a hot potato over the course of the season but Levi Kitchen put on his oven mitts and held on to it for another round, just barely.

In Moto 1, Casey Cochran (40-DNS) grabbed the Holeshot with Cole Davies (2-1) second and Chance Hymas (4-2) third. Kitchen (1-6) was outside the Top 5. After two minutes, Cochran went down hard, this held up Hymas allowing Davies to take the lead. Kitchen was on a charge of his own and was fourth after four minutes and third after seven minutes, closing on second-place Hymas.

With less than 18 minutes left, Kitchen passed Hymas for second and began to run down Davies. Their battle put a gap on Hymas and about four minutes later, Kitchen got around Davies and pulled away for the win. Meanwhile, Hymas and Davies engaged for second-place with Hymas passing Davies with more than 10 minutes remaining which Davies didn't let last for long. But Hymas fought back, made the pass and locked down the runner-up position. Unfortunately, with about eight minutes left, Hymas crashed gifting second back to Davies as Carson Mumford (3-4) took third to finish the Moto.

In Moto 2, Davies took the Holeshot while Kitchen got pushed to the outside along with a few others on the first turn and went straight, literally, off the track. He resumed the race in 37th place with his now 10-point lead (7 points entering the round) over Davies erased to a 15-point deficit.

Kitchen was 21st after four minutes and 13th at the 20-minute mark. While he worked his way up front, Davies and Hymas put in a brief brew-ha-ha as Davies held firm and never relinquished the lead. At the midway point of the race, with Davies solidly in first, Hymas second and Ryder DiFrancesco (5-3) third Kitchen was nearing 10th place and trying to catch Michael Mosiman (18-8) until he went off the track and fell further behind Mosiman.

It didn't take long though, Kitchen caught Mosiman for 10th and quickly captured ninth after Kayden Minear (14-14) went off the track. He then grabbed eighth which put him in position for the overall podium and got into seventh near the seven-minute mark which brought him even in points with Davies if the race were to end at this point. Sixth-place was now eight seconds ahead of Kitchen. So

With less than two minutes on the clock, Kitchen passed for sixth which put him second overall and gave him a one-point edge in the standings. Apparently not good enough for Kitchen, who rubbed out a six second gap behind Brodie Connolly for fifth-place and passed him after time expired with two laps remaining. BUT!

Connelly (8-5) came roaring back and passed Kitchen at the final turn and took back fifth place. Kitchen, who was more or less cruising home at that point, after the race said he thought Connelly was a lapper until it was too late. Connelly, a New Zealand native, enjoyed his best career Moto finish and overall taking sixth.

"I've had 12 of those this year I feel like," Kitchen said of racing from the back of the pack. "It's been tough but got to just take the positives. I feel great, I'm riding great, the bike's working good. I'm happy. I'm glad I didn't crash. Me and Julien (Beaumer) almost went into the next state (at the start of Moto 2), it's sketchy."

Beaumer (9-13) who entered Unadilla 25 points behind Kitchen in third finished 10th overall and falls 44 points back of the lead.

Don't expect an early Championship trophy lift at Budds Creek on Saturday for Round 10. Four riders remain mathematically in title contention for the 450 class and six for the 250 class with 100 points on the table.