Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence took home his fifth win of the season and first ever win at Washougal. He and Jett stayed in California to test and find a hard packed setup in preparation for their “worst” track, and it paid off. At the post-race press conference, Hunter talked about the pre-race chatter about their struggles in the Pacific Northwest saying, “That was the talk of the week, right?  This was Haiden’s track and this wasn’t our best track, so it was unreal to go 1-2.”

Hunter kept Jett in check moto one but was unable to make much of a run on little bro as the duo put over 40 seconds on Jorge Prado in third. Moto two was a replay of last weekend as Jett handed the win to Hunter moments after seemingly having the win in the bag. With Jett’s penalty, Hunter extended his lead to 12 points. Although it’s unlikely the two of them go one-two every moto the rest of the season, it is very possible. They have a clear advantage on the field and if things were to play out that way, one more moto win with an overall, or two more moto wins would win him the title.  

Jett Lawrence has been showing signs of riding like his old self over the past couple weeks but has not been able to seal the deal. He has gifted Hunter two wins in a row and several points in the process. With three rounds to go, Jett has very little room for error if he wants to take home his third 450 Pro Motocross Championship. He was notably frustrated after the race saying, “We just have to try and win everything here going out, so we’ll see how that goes.”

To add insult to injury, Lawrence was also penalized one position for accelerating off track. So, yeah, had he held on for the moto win he still would have lost the moto and overall, but those two points could loom big come Ironman. Some will say he was rushing to get back on the track to keep Haiden Deegan behind him, but Jett explained his side of the story after the race explaining, “I didn’t really gain much time, and that section is pretty fast, so I did not want to come on and be going way slower and get a$$-packed, you know? So, I gave it a little gas to get on, but obviously the AMA didn’t like that.”

It is very strange seeing Jett in this position and making costly mistakes, but maybe the three weeks off will be what he needs to take another step forward with his ankle and find some additional comfort that enables him to end the championship on a dominant run.

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan checked a couple of boxes off the 450 Pro Motocross to-do list at Washougal. First, he was the fastest qualifier overall for the first time in his 450 career, and second, he got his first holeshot on a 450.

Unfortunately, the holeshot lasted all of 50 feet, as Deegan washed out coming into turn two and had to charge from last for the second week in a row. His charge to the front was both exciting and impressive, as he came from essentially last to fourth within six laps. By that point, Prado was 20 seconds ahead, and the Lawrence’s even further, so Haiden settled in for another last to fourth moto comeback.

In the second moto, Deegan started third behind the Lawrence’s and tried his best to latch on. He hung in there for a little while, but the Honda boys slowly inched away and opened nearly twenty seconds by the finish. Haiden had a second opportunity at Jett after he crashed out of the lead, but once Jett regrouped, he pulled right back out on the 450 rookie. There is no lack of effort from Haiden, but the Lawrence’s are on another level right now. Deegan’s fastest lap in both motos was two-and-a-half seconds off Jettson.

In the post-race press conference, Deegs was asked about what he learned behind the Lawrence’s in moto two.

“I see it. It’s not like, ‘Damn; these dudes are shocking fast.’ That’s not what goes through my head," Deegan explained. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary, it is just little stuff I got to work on and I’ll be right there.”

Deegan may not have fulfilled the hype leading into the weekend, but he continues to check boxes and establish himself as the third best guy in the series.

The Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing Team had their best day yet at Washougal. Dylan Ferrandis was the “best of the rest” going 5-5 for fifth overall, while Justin Barcia had himself a solid day as well, going 6-7 for seventh overall. The results were not season bests for either rider, but collectively this was the best team showing thus far.

Both Ferrandis and Barcia have spent countless hours this year testing with the team and after the race, Bam told PulpMX’s Steve Matthes that they have definitely “taken a step.” Barcia is eager to continue making improvements during the two-weekend break and it sounds like there is something specific he would like to change with the bike.

As for Dylan, he made a big change going into the motos, which is always risky, but said it saved his day. He continues to work on improving the chassis, but he will be taking the first week of the break completely off the bike before getting back into testing. All-in-all it is good to see Ducati trending in the right direction.

Liqui Moly Beta Factory Racing’s Benny Bloss has turned two weeks of embarrassing front flips into two weeks of top ten results. The highlight of Benny’s season thus far has to be his viral front flip while getting lapped at RedBud, but he has put that in the rear-view with his current four moto streak of tenth place finishes. A pair of tenths gave him eighth overall at Millville, and tenth overall at Washougal. It is the first time Bloss has strung together consecutive top ten finishes outdoors since 2022.

Things have also improved for Benny’s teammate Mitchell Oldenburg, who had a season best result of 15th overall. Again, this is Oldenburg's first Pro Motocross season since...2019! The team has certainly had their share of ups and down in their first season of Pro Motocross, but the improvements from both bike and riders have been obvious and riders should start looking at Beta as a viable option and competitive team to race for.

When Red Bull KTM’s Eli Tomac put up 9-12 scores in his return to racing at Millville, it did not seem like that big of a deal. Sure, those are not the results anybody expects from a legend like Tomac, but maybe he was not as prepared as he thought, and, he had yet to complete a Pro Motocross event on his KTM. It seemed like a sure thing that Washougal would be an improvement.

Welp, things went worse for Eli at Washougal. He went 14-14 for 14th overall and looked like a shell of himself on a track that has been so great to him throughout his career. Tomac got terrible starts, but that was not the difference between getting 14^th or getting 5^th. In the second moto, Eli’s fastest lap was a whopping eight-and-a-half seconds off Jett Lawrence.

For sure Tomac and the Red Bull KTM team will be hard at work during the off weeks trying to get Eli comfortable, and if Unadilla is not significantly better, there is going to be some serious concerns surrounding the four-time champ. This also raises a red flag as far as Team USA is concerned. It felt like Tomac’s return would slot him right into a spot on the team, but it will be difficult to send, nor would he accept the invite in his Washougal form.

It felt like Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies’ title hopes took a huge hit after an abysmal weekend at Millville. But Cole came into Washougal with a vengeance. He dominated the field and cut his 25-point deficit down to just seven. At the post-race press conference, Davies talked about how important it was to have a bounce back weekend saying, “I kind of had my back against the wall you know? I had to make up points and that is exactly what I did. We are close to where I need to be now, and just ready to fight till the end.”

Despite trailing in points, it feels like Davies is the favorite for this title heading into the final three rounds. He has three overalls to Kitchen and Beaumer’s one, and six moto wins to Kitchen two and Beaumer’s one.  He is the only one of the three that has shown the ability to dominate, and now the series heads to the only two Pro Motocross tracks he had raced before (Unadilla and Budds Creek). Kitchen and Beaumer need to put a stop to Cole’s momentum at Unadilla and put their own stamp on this championship.

In case you missed it, Levi Kitchen grew up in Washougal, Washington. Like, literally: he could ride his bike down a path from his house to the Washougal track! With that said, Washougal may be Levi’s worst track. Levi went 6-6 for fifth overall in front of his home crowd and gave up 18 points to Cole Davies.

Kitchen got caught up in turn two chaos in moto one and his charge up to sixth was an awesome ride. Then he had to overcome another mid-pack start in moto two where he admitted the first moto charge eventually caught up to him and stalled his progress in moto two.

As impressive as some of Kitchen’s charges through the field have been this season, when his main title rival is consistently starting up front, he cannot continue to start in fifteenth. He has done a good job of salvaging bad days and avoiding days like Juju had at RedBud or Davies at Millville, but he needs to get back to winning motos. Kitchen has not won a moto since moto one at Thunder Valley and his early season speed has disappeared since then. Despite all of that, he is the points leader, and a good points day at Unadilla could shift the championship momentum back his way. He was banged up at Millville so maybe this break in the schedule allows him to recover and get back up to speed. Remember, in 2024 he won both Unadilla and Budds Creek consecutively. Could he find more success at those venues next month?

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Ryder DiFrancesco put in the best result of his Pro Motocross career with a 2-2 for second overall at Washougal. Ryder has excelled on the hard pack and shadows of Washougal throughout his career, so to see him do it again was not a total surprise. He has improved immensely this season but has still struggled to put two motos together; even his podium at RedBud came via 6-3 moto finishes.

DiFrancesco’s rise through the pro ranks has come much slower than expected. He was one of the most highly touted amateur racers of all time, securing team green support as just six years old and that support carried him into the pro ranks. Unfortunately, that support ended before he got a fair shot in the pro ranks with Mitch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. Ryder went over to the now debunked Red Bull GasGas squad in 2024 and has slowly risen to a podium contender week in and week out. He will move up the ranks of the Austrian totem pole, as he is set to debut with the Red Bull KTM squad in 2027.

At the post-race press conference, Ryder talked about the slow start to his career and leaving the brand he spent most of his amateur career with.

“Coming from a team like Pro Circuit that I was on since I was six years old, you get comfortable with those people and the people around you,” he explained. “To switch to an Austrian brand, you really do not know the people, and they did a great job welcoming me in and all that. It’s tough. It runs you through the emotions and you have to balance racing at the same time. They hire you for results. There was a couple of years where I was not providing, and I am lucky to be moving up the ranks to where I will be going next year.”

Coming into the season, ClubMX Yamaha’s Hunter Yoder had just four career Pro Motocross starts and had failed to score a single outdoor point.

He joined the series at round four at High Point where scored his first point via 25-21 finishes. He has improved each round and had a breakout performance this past weekend at Washougal. Yoder went 11-13 for 13^th overall and spent 28 of his 32 laps inside the top ten.

Hunter made massive strides in supercross this season, and now that progression is beginning to translate outdoors. For a kid who was nearly forced out of the sport when GEICO Honda closed its door (similar to fellow former GEICO amateur star Carson Mumford), Yoder has begun to make a name for himself as a pro.