Jett Lawrence has had some added pressure up front this year. You’d never know it by looking at his results on paper because he’s won every single overall, but he’s had to deal with some pretty heavy pressure form Aaron Plessinger and Eli Tomac several times so far. At Thunder Valley last week Plessinger even caught and passed Lawrence! Lawrence got him back, but still, Lawrence getting passed for the lead isn’t something we see a lot of. Will he encounter even stronger resistance at High Point? -Aaron Hansel 

Well, familiar might be a stretch for Jorge Prado because he’s racing all these tracks for the first time, but as far as track type goes, High Point just might prove to be the venue Prado needs to kick his season into high gear. Since its inception almost fifty years ago High Point has featured a European-style layout and is littered with plenty of hills and off-cambers. It’ll still be new to Prado, but hopefully he’ll find his elusive groove this weekend. -Hansel

RJ Hampshire has quietly been pretty good so far in his rookie foray in the 450 Class. He was ninth at the opener, just days after wrist surgery, and he’s taken seventh at the last two rounds. Following the first round Hampshire told us, “Give me until High Point and I think I’ll have two solid motos in me.” Well, after three good races so far, it’s time to see if Hampshire’s prediction for High Point was accurate. -Hansel 

Just one week after having to sit the second moto out at Hangtown due to the lingering effects of food poisoning, Chance Hymas put in the best day of his professional career. He went 1-1 and was even the fastest 250 rider in qualifying! Hymas has made it no secret that he expects to be winning races this summer, and if his performance at Thunder Valley is any indication of how he’ll do at High Point, he’ll be competing for the win once again this weekend. -Hansel 

Nobody likes losing, but Haiden Deegan really seems to loathe it, especially if it’s to the same person multiple times. You can double that when it’s someone like Hymas, who Deegan has gone back and forth with on social media in the past. So, with Hymas fresh off a perfect day at Thunder Valley, you can likely expect a fully-fueled Deegan ready to show up and force his way back to the middle of the podium. No matter what happens, you know we’ll have the popcorn ready! -Hansel 

Garrett Marchbanks is extremely fast and can almost always be seen going hard and moving forward at the end of the motos. Trouble is, he rarely seems to get good starts. In the first moto he was thirteenth early, and in the second moto he ran 23rd early. If he can get out of the gate better there’s no doubt he could get himself on the podium, but that’s going to be tough to do, considering he’s so much bigger and heavier than most of the guys he’s racing against. Can he figure out a way to make it happen at High Point? -Hansel 

In case you haven’t noticed, Casey Cochran has been doing pretty well this season. He even led a few laps at Hangtown before fading a bit, but that’s to be expected considering he’s coming off a broken leg that kept him on the sidelines during supercross. He was more consistent at Thunder Valley, going 13-6 for seventh, and if he can get some good starts at High Point, he just might crack the top five. -Hansel

If history can teach us anything, it's that Hunter Lawrence riders really well at High Point. He got his first ever moto win there in 2019, his first-year racing in the US. Swapped moto wins with his brother in 2022 (they also battled pretty much every lap of both motos that year) and won he overall in 2023. Could we be in for another Lawrence brothers High Point battle this weekend? Let’s hope so! -Sarah Whitmore

The already deep field of the 250 class is going to get even deeper this weekend when Triumph Racing’s Jalek Swoll returns from an Achilles injury. Also joining the mix will be Australian rider, Ried Taylor who was supposed to make his pro debut for Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX back in supercross but got postponed due to injury. Swoll also rides very fast at High Point, it's the location of his one and only Pro Motocross win, which is probably why he chose this race to make his return. -Whitmore

Justin Cooper has had a strong outdoor season so far. He has been on the podium three out of six motos and in Thunder Valley logged his first ever 450MX fastest qualifier. He even led laps the second moto at Thunder Valley! With a bit more consistency and good starts he can be on the podium every moto, fighting for wins. -Whitmore