Ironman finale delivers three champions, a KTM double and SMX Next drama

2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship

Round 11 – Ironman Raceway

Images by Stephen Hopkins

The 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship reached its conclusion in front of the largest crowd in the 13-year history of the Ironman National, with perfect weather in Crawfordsville providing a sharp contrast to the mud of the previous weekend.

Three championships remained undecided. Hunter and Jett Lawrence arrived just one point apart in 450MX, Cole Davies held a 14-point advantage over Levi Kitchen in 250MX, and Lachlan Turner carried a 21-point WMX lead over Australian challenger Charli Cannon.

Those margins came from a dramatic penultimate round at Budds Creek, where Hunter swept the 450 motos, Davies turned a one-point deficit into control of the 250 title fight, and Turner completed a fourth 1-1 WMX performance.

Ironman provided a very different set of twists. Jorge Prado and Julien Beaumer delivered a double overall victory for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, while none of the three championship winners topped their class on the day.

Hunter survived a first-lap collision and then shadowed Jett home to win the 450 crown by two points.

Davies became the first New Zealand-born AMA Pro Motocross champion on his 19th birthday after Kitchen’s challenge ended in the opening moto.

Turner recovered from costly mistakes in both WMX races to hold off a perfect Cannon by six points.

The SMX Next – Motocross Scouting Moto Combine also contested two motos at Ironman, with Carson Wood and Landon Gibson sharing the victories before Wood completed a sweep of the summer’s two Combine events.

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450MX

The Lawrence brothers may have carried the title fight into Ironman, but Jorge Prado immediately made it clear that they would not have the racetrack to themselves.

The four-time World Motocross Champion topped both qualifying sessions for the first time in his AMA career. Prado’s 2m07.134s benchmark put him only 0.119 seconds ahead of Hunter Lawrence, with Jett Lawrence third and 0.781 seconds away from the KTM rider. Haiden Deegan was fourth and RJ Hampshire fifth.

Hunter and Deegan charged towards the opening turn together in Moto One. Hunter secured the holeshot, but Deegan surged past before losing the front in the opening sequence. Hunter had nowhere to go and struck the fallen Yamaha, leaving the two motorcycles tangled together and both riders at the rear of the field.

Jett had also made a poor start and completed the opening lap outside the top 20. He passed Hunter while the elder Lawrence was still disentangling his damaged Honda, but the defending champion had aggravated his existing ankle injury and could not produce his normal pace.

Cooper Webb initially emerged at the front and led the opening lap. Prado soon passed Webb and Hampshire, however, before checking out at a rate the rest of the field could not match.

Hampshire settled into second, while Mikkel Haarup displaced Webb for third. Behind them, Hunter began a remarkable recovery from 39th position. He reached 20th with 20 minutes remaining, caught Jett near half-race distance and then made the pass that would fundamentally change the championship equation.

Prado extended his advantage into double figures and was never seriously challenged. He crossed the line 11.566 seconds ahead of Hampshire to claim the first AMA Pro Motocross moto victory of his career.

Haarup looked set for third until a final-turn mistake allowed Webb back through. Haarup remounted in fourth ahead of Aaron Plessinger, Garrett Marchbanks and Eli Tomac.

Hunter’s charge carried him all the way to eighth, 38.993 seconds behind Prado. Jett could progress no further than 11th and returned to the Honda pits nursing his ankle. Deegan recovered to 16th after further trouble.

The three-position difference increased Hunter’s championship advantage from one point to four before the final moto of the season. Jett now needed to put at least five points between himself and his brother to take the crown outright.

Prado made that task even more difficult by taking the Moto Two holeshot ahead of Hunter, Jett and Deegan. Deegan quickly attacked Jett for third and made the pass, then began pressuring Hunter.

A slide from Hunter allowed Deegan into second. Hunter remained third ahead of Jett until losing the front near half-race distance. He remounted quickly, but Jett was through.

That left the brothers third and fourth on the track. Hunter repeatedly closed onto Jett’s rear wheel but did not need to make the pass; finishing directly behind his brother would preserve two points of his championship advantage. Each time a move appeared possible, Hunter left himself a margin and concentrated on staying upright.

Out front, Prado was again in a class of his own. His lead over Deegan exceeded 15 seconds before he eased his pace over the final laps and took the chequered flag by 6.697 seconds. Prado led 31 of the day’s 32 racing laps and completed a perfect afternoon of fastest qualifier, two moto victories and his first overall win in the United States.

Jett finished third, 15.741 seconds behind Prado, with Hunter another 5.830 seconds back in fourth. Hunter had achieved precisely what was required.

Prado’s 1-1 scorecard delivered the overall victory ahead of Hampshire’s consistent 2-6 results. Webb completed the podium with 3-8 finishes in his final full-time Pro Motocross appearance, edging Hunter and Tomac after both completed the round on 32 points.

Hunter’s 8-4 scorecard secured fourth overall and the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross 450 Championship with 474 points. Jett’s 11-3 results left him sixth overall and two points short on 472.

The brothers had traded the series lead a record six times and combined to win 20 of the season’s 22 motos. Hunter’s crown made the Lawrences the first siblings to each win a premier-class AMA Pro Motocross title, while Honda completed its second consecutive 1-2 in the rider standings and secured the Manufacturers Championship.

It was the culmination of an 11-year journey through Australian junior racing, Europe and the United States. We have traced that bigger story separately in Hunter Lawrence’s long road to the 450 crown.

Deegan retained third in the championship by only three points after Prado’s 50-point haul reduced what had been a 25-point deficit at the start of the day. Hampshire completed the top five in the final standings.

Tasmanian Jed Beaton finished 13th overall with 13-11 moto results. His three-round American campaign yielded 58 points and 22nd in the final championship standings.

Jorge Prado

“It was a perfect day. Fastest in qualifying and P1 in both motos. This is why I came to the United States—to win.”

Hunter Lawrence

“I just knew I had to finish behind Jett. Most of my work was done in the first moto.”

Cooper Webb

“This is a dream ending to a racing career at my last ever National. This feels like a win.”

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250MX

Cole Davies began his 19th birthday by setting the fastest 250MX qualifying time. His 2m10.092s lap placed him 0.413 seconds clear of Chance Hymas and 0.467 ahead of Drew Adams.

Ryder DiFrancesco, Caden Dudney and Levi Kitchen completed a top six covered by less than one second. Kitchen therefore had the speed required to challenge Davies, but his championship hopes would unravel within the opening minutes of Moto One.

Julien Beaumer took the holeshot ahead of Davies and Hymas, while Kitchen started outside the top ten. Hymas attacked immediately and displaced Beaumer for the lead before the opening lap was complete.

Kitchen went down on that first lap and dropped towards the back of the 40-rider field. He began recovering, only to crash again on Ironman’s steep downhill with a little more than ten minutes completed. The Kawasaki was left in the middle of the circuit and proved difficult to restart.

Kitchen eventually rejoined but soon withdrew with crash damage and a mechanical problem. Five completed laps left him classified 40th and effectively ended the championship fight.

There was plenty of movement at the front as well. Hymas crashed out of the lead around seven minutes into the moto and remounted fourth, allowing Beaumer back into first ahead of Davies and Landen Gordon.

Once Davies received confirmation that Kitchen was out, he had no reason to contest unnecessary risks. Hymas moved back past the New Zealander and set about erasing Beaumer’s advantage, which had stretched beyond seven seconds.

Hymas was running close to two seconds per lap faster during the decisive phase. He caught Beaumer, reclaimed the lead as the race clock expired and then pulled clear. Beaumer fell in the wooded section on the final lap but retained second.

Hymas won by 26.293 seconds from Beaumer, with Davies 33.613 seconds behind in third. That result, combined with Kitchen’s failure to score, gave Davies an insurmountable championship lead before the final gate drop.

Daxton Bennick finished fourth ahead of Gordon and Pierce Brown. DiFrancesco recovered from 28th at the end of the opening lap to finish seventh, one place ahead of Western Australian Kayden Minear.

Kitchen was battered by his crashes and the team elected to withdraw him from Moto Two for further medical evaluation, preserving his best chance of recovering for the SMX Playoffs.

With the championship decided, the final 250 moto became an unrestricted fight for the Ironman victory. Gordon scored the holeshot ahead of fellow Yamaha riders Minear and Davies, while Hymas crashed in the opening corners and was left outside the top 20.

Davies quickly passed both team-mates and led the opening seven laps. Beaumer, meanwhile, had work to do from outside the top ten but sliced through to third, passed Minear and Gordon, then rapidly closed on Davies.

Beaumer took the lead with a little more than 12 minutes remaining and immediately pulled away. DiFrancesco charged into second, while Hymas posted the fastest laps of the race as he recovered through the field.

Hymas passed Davies for third and then displaced DiFrancesco for second during the closing stages. Beaumer was already beyond reach and completed his second moto victory of the season 7.241 seconds ahead of Hymas.

DiFrancesco took third, just 0.310 seconds ahead of Nate Thrasher, with Adams fifth and Gordon sixth. Davies progressively backed off once the title was secure and brought the Yamaha home 13th.

Beaumer’s 2-1 scorecard tied Hymas’ 1-2 performance on 47 points, with the second-moto tiebreak awarding the KTM rider his second overall victory of the season. DiFrancesco’s two recovery rides produced 7-3 results and the final podium position.

Davies finished seventh overall, but the day belonged to the teenager from Waitoki. He became the first New Zealand-born AMA Pro Motocross champion and the third-youngest rider to capture 250-class Supercross and Pro Motocross crowns in the same season.

Davies completed the championship on 407 points, 38 ahead of Beaumer. Kitchen and Hymas finished tied on 364, with Kitchen retaining third on countback. DiFrancesco was fifth and Minear completed an excellent rookie season sixth on 297 points.

Minear’s identical eighth-place moto finishes gave the Perth teenager eighth overall at Ironman. South Australian Alex Larwood qualified through the LCQ, finished 20th in Moto One and then charged from 33rd in the early Moto Two order to 12th. His 20-12 scorecard delivered 17th overall.

New Zealander Brodie Connolly recorded consistent 18-18 results for 18th overall and finished his interrupted campaign 27th in the championship. Larwood was 31st in the final standings after contesting the final three rounds.

Cole Davies

“I worked my whole life to be where I am now. It was an up-and-down season, but it was all worth it.”

Julien Beaumer

“We made a lot of progress outdoors and it’s been rewarding to be back racing. We’ll shift our focus to SMX now.”

Levi Kitchen

“It’s disappointing to end the season like this, but now the focus is on recovering and doing everything I can to be ready for SMX.”

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WMX

A breakthrough 2026 Women’s Motocross Championship reached its conclusion across Friday and Saturday at Ironman, with reigning champion Lachlan Turner holding a 21-point advantage over Queensland challenger Charli Cannon entering the sixth and final round.

The title appeared to be Turner’s to lose, but Cannon produced her most dominant American performance to ensure the contest remained alive until the final laps of the season.

Turner made the first statement by topping both qualifying sessions. Her 2m18.740s benchmark placed her 2.342 seconds ahead of Cannon, while FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship points leader Daniela Guillen was only another 0.075 seconds behind in third ahead of her first race in the United States.

Cannon launched into the Moto One holeshot ahead of Mayla Herrick and Turner. The Australian immediately exploited the clear track to establish a small advantage while Turner worked her way around Herrick and Guillen advanced from fourth into the top three.

Cannon and Turner then separated themselves from the rest of the field. The two mirrored one another through much of the circuit and traded small surges of momentum, but Turner could not get close enough to attempt a pass.

Lapped traffic forced both riders to search for alternative lines as they entered Ironman’s deeply rutted woods section. Turner lost her balance in one rut and veered off the circuit. She remained upright but surrendered valuable ground to Cannon.

Turner appeared to settle back into second, only to make another costly error in the same section as the race clock expired. This time she fell, and the Yamaha proved slow to restart. Turner eventually rejoined in sixth position.

With the pressure removed, Cannon completed a faultless wire-to-wire victory. Her best lap was only 0.193 seconds faster than Turner’s, but the champion’s two mistakes allowed Cannon to take the chequered flag by 24.408 seconds.

Guillen finished second on her American debut ahead of Herrick and Brandy Richards. Turner recovered one position to fifth, reducing her championship advantage from 21 points to 13 ahead of Saturday’s deciding moto.

Cannon and Turner arrived at the final gate drop side-by-side. Cannon claimed her second holeshot of the weekend, but Turner attacked immediately and briefly moved into the lead.

The same woods section again proved Turner’s nemesis. She tipped over before completing the opening lap and remounted in 17th position, while Cannon escaped at the front with Herrick in pursuit and Hannah Hodges initially third.

Turner needed to finish no worse than tenth to guarantee the championship. Rather than panic, she worked patiently through the field, picking off riders one by one and entering the top ten with more than half the moto remaining.

Cannon and Herrick moved more than ten seconds clear of the field during the closing minutes. Behind them, Guillen emerged from a multi-rider contest to take third, while Turner continued her charge into the top five.

Herrick recorded the fastest lap and ensured Cannon could not relax, but the Australian absorbed the pressure and completed her first American 1-1 sweep by 3.421 seconds. Guillen finished third, while Turner climbed another position during the closing stages to complete a 17th-to-fourth recovery.

Cannon’s perfect scorecard delivered her second overall victory of the season and her WMX career. Herrick’s 3-2 results secured a career-best second overall, with the second-moto tiebreak placing her ahead of Guillen’s 2-3 performance.

Turner’s 5-4 scorecard left her fourth overall, marking the first time in her WMX career that she had failed to stand on the round podium. It nevertheless delivered the result that mattered most.

Turner secured her third consecutive WMX Championship with 267 points. Cannon’s two victories brought her to 261, leaving the Australian only six points short after six rounds.

The fight for third in the championship was also decided on countback. Mikayla Nielsen and Jordan Jarvis completed the season tied on 190 points, with Nielsen retaining third for a second consecutive year.

Australian Taylah McCutcheon recorded 9-9 results for eighth overall and slipped from third to fifth in the final standings on 187 points, only three behind Nielsen and Jarvis. Fellow Australian Tayla Jones finished 12th in both motos for 11th overall and completed the championship in 16th position.

Charli Cannon

“Overall, I’m super happy to end the season like this. I didn’t come into the weekend really thinking about the championship, I just wanted to build and get back to the top step of the podium. I executed all weekend and I’m really proud of how I did. Two good starts, two moto wins, I couldn’t have asked for anything more this weekend.”

Mayla Herrick

“It’s been an amazing season. I’m bummed I couldn’t be in the points [battle], but I didn’t have pressure and could just be myself. We had the highest of highs at High Point [with a moto win] and ended the summer on the podium. I’m really thankful for the opportunity and excited for the future.”

Daniela Guillen

“I’m really happy. This is amazing. I’m so happy in my first race [in the U.S.] to get on the podium. I want to do more races. Thank you so much to the team for helping me get here. I’m so happy.”

Lachlan Turner

“There’s definitely a big weight lifted off my shoulders. It’s been an emotional two days. This just means so much. Back-to-back-to-back championships feels amazing. I can’t thank everyone enough for backing me and making this possible.”

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SMX Next

Motocross Scouting Moto Combine

The Ironman programme began on Friday with the second and final SMX Next – Motocross Scouting Moto Combine of the summer, bringing together another field of leading amateur prospects for an event designed to provide far more than two opportunities to race.

Before taking to the circuit, the riders participated in classroom-style sessions covering training and fitness, nutrition and media engagement. They were then divided into four groups under Rider Coaches Broc Glover, Kevin Windham, Michael Byrne and Gareth Swanepoel, who provided guidance and feedback throughout the event.

RedBud winner Carson Wood emerged fastest in combined qualifying with a 2m08.226s lap. ClubMX Yamaha’s Jesson Turner Jr had set the pace in the opening session and finished 1.701 seconds behind Wood on the combined sheet, while newly crowned Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award recipient Landon Gibson qualified third.

Darren Pine made an immediate impression in his first SMX Next appearance by taking the Moto One holeshot ahead of Turner and Kade Johnson. Wood completed the opening lap in sixth, while Pine showed considerable composure at the front and retained the lead through almost the first half of the race.

The contest behind Pine intensified between Turner, Johnson and Wood. Turner encountered trouble and dropped deep into the top ten, leaving Wood to overcome Johnson and close onto the rear of the Triumph.

Wood made the decisive pass just before half-race distance and was not headed again. Pine kept the Yamaha rider honest but could not mount a counterattack, with Wood taking his third consecutive Combine moto victory by 4.293 seconds.

Pine completed an impressive debut in second ahead of Johnson and Turner. Gibson produced one of the recovery rides of the moto, advancing from 19th at the end of the opening lap to fifth at the chequered flag.

Gibson transformed his afternoon with the Moto Two holeshot ahead of Wood and Pine. Pine briefly forced his way into the lead during the opening lap, but Gibson responded quickly and reclaimed control before beginning to establish his advantage.

Wood moved around Pine for second, while Canadian Dylan Rempel displaced the Triumph rider from the final podium position. Once clear, Gibson set a pace nobody else could match and stretched the lead into double figures.

Wood recognised that second place would secure the overall and concentrated on bringing the Yamaha home. Gibson completed a dominant victory by 12.992 seconds, with Rempel third ahead of Luke Fauser and Kane Bollasina.

Wood’s 1-2 results delivered the Ironman overall on 47 points and completed a sweep of the summer’s RedBud and Ironman Combine events. He won three of the four motos contested across the two meetings.

Gibson’s 5-1 scorecard secured second overall and marked his fourth runner-up finish in Scouting Moto Combine competition, including three in succession. Johnson completed the podium with 3-6 finishes, extending his combined SMX Next Supercross and Motocross podium streak to four events.

The podium replicated the top three from RedBud. Rempel, Fauser and Pine each completed Ironman on 34 points, with their second-moto finishes deciding fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Australian Blake Thomas qualified 27th and improved from 22nd in Moto One to 19th in Moto Two, finishing 22nd overall aboard his Honda.

Carson Wood

“This [win] means a lot. This is my second year [in SMX Next] and we got it done. We won RedBud and we won here [at Ironman] and almost a clean sweep [of the motos]. In this last moto I just wanted to bring it home and that’s what we did. I’m stoked, this is what we work for.”

AMA Hall of Famer Glover was also named the recipient of the Coaches Cup.

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SMX Playoffs next

The Pro Motocross and WMX seasons are now complete, but the 2026 SuperMotocross World Championship continues after one race-free weekend.

Hunter Lawrence and Cole Davies will enter the postseason as the top seeds in their respective classes when Playoff One takes place at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on September 12.

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450 Moto One Results

450 Moto Two Results

 

450 Round

450 Pro Motocross Points

450 SMX Points

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250 Moto One Results

250 Moto Two Results

250 Round

250 Pro Motocross Points

250 SMX Points

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WMX Race One Results

WMX Race Two Results

WMX Round

WMX Championship Points

WMX Qualifying

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SMX Next Race One Results

SMX Next Race Two Results

SMX Next Round

SMX Next Championship Points

TBS

SMX Next Qualifying