Sexton on rails to win Washougal – Shimoda pips Deegan

2025 AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Round Eight – Washougal

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The 2025 Pro Motocross Championship made its final west coast appearance of the season with Round 8 unfolding under clear skies at the scenic Washougal MX Park in Washington. Serving as Round 25 of the combined SMX World Championship, the Military Appreciation Race brought balmy weather and big storylines to the FLY Racing Washougal National Presented by Peterson CAT.

In the 450 Class, Chase Sexton put an end to Jett Lawrence’s recent dominance with a composed and commanding ride. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider secured his fourth Washougal win in five years, taking advantage of a rare off day for the Honda HRC Progressive rider. Lawrence, who had been nearly flawless in the previous rounds, couldn’t match Sexton’s pace and settled for second.

The 250 Class saw another intense battle between Jo Shimoda and Haiden Deegan, with the pair splitting moto wins. Shimoda, riding for Honda HRC Progressive, edged out Deegan for the overall victory on a tiebreaker, his second win in the past three events. Deegan, still holding the red plate for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, maintained his position atop the standings but saw his margin slightly narrowed heading into the final stretch of the season.

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450 Moto One

The opening 450 Class moto at Washougal saw Jorge Prado grab the holeshot aboard his Monster Energy Kawasaki, narrowly edging out Jett Lawrence. As Prado drifted wide to protect his line, it opened the door for Chase Sexton to dive underneath both front-runners and take control of the race.

Sexton, the defending Pro Motocross champion, wasted no time in establishing a lead, while Lawrence remained close behind Prado before eventually making a clean pass for second. Prado’s early momentum faded further when Eli Tomac powered past to take over third for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing.

The top three, Sexton, Lawrence, and Tomac, separated themselves from the field, with Sexton maintaining a steady one-to-two-second buffer over Lawrence. As the race neared its midpoint, Lawrence mounted his strongest challenge, briefly drawing alongside Sexton, only for the KTM rider to respond and reassert control.

Lawrence’s pursuit was abruptly halted when he lost the rear and went down. Tomac capitalised, moving into second as Lawrence remounted in third. With Lawrence no longer applying pressure, Sexton stretched his lead to nearly 10 seconds, while Lawrence attempted to close back in on Tomac. However, lapped traffic helped Tomac hold his ground in the closing laps.

Sexton eased off on the final lap to secure his first moto victory of the season, finishing 3.4 seconds ahead of Tomac. Lawrence completed the podium in third, followed by RJ Hampshire in fourth for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing and Hunter Lawrence in fifth on the second Honda HRC Progressive machine.

450 Moto One Results

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450 Moto Two

Hunter Lawrence scorched away from the line to score an amazing holeshot closely followed by his younger brother Jett. Jorge Prado initially held third, but Chase Sexton quickly moved forward to challenge the lead group.  Eli Tomac also made moves early, advancing from seventh on the opening lap to slot into fourth and join the battle at the front.

The pace was intense in the opening laps as Sexton looked for a way past Jett Lawrence. Sexton’s challenge pushed the younger Lawrence onto the rear wheel of his brother, setting up a dynamic three-way fight for the lead. Jett increased his pace and slipped past Hunter to take over at the front. Sexton soon followed, briefly grabbing second before Hunter responded. However, Sexton reclaimed the position shortly after, just before a red flag was brought out due to a downed rider, stopping the race with 21 minutes and 22 seconds remaining.

In a first for Pro Motocross, the race resumed with a staggered restart, based on running order from the last completed lap. Jett Lawrence led the field away, with Hunter Lawrence, Sexton, and Tomac following in sequence.

Once back underway, Sexton wasted no time getting around Hunter Lawrence for second, with Tomac also making his way past to move into third. That reshuffle left Hunter outside the podium places as the race entered its second phase.

At the halfway mark, the lead trio, Jett Lawrence, Sexton, and Tomac, were separated by just over three seconds. Lawrence maintained a composed pace at the front while Sexton tried to close the gap, but the margin steadily widened. Tomac, meanwhile, began to lose touch with the leading duo.

Jett Lawrence gradually extended his lead and ultimately took a commanding win, crossing the line 8.7 seconds ahead of Sexton to earn his 12th moto victory of the season. Tomac completed the podium in third, mirroring his result from the first moto.

Sexton’s 1-2 scoreline gave him the overall win at Washougal, breaking Jett Lawrence’s undefeated streak in 2025 and injecting renewed intensity into the championship battle with just a handful of rounds remaining.

450 Moto Two Results

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450 Round

450 Round Points

 

450 AMA MX Championship Points

450 SMX Championship Points

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250 Moto One

The opening 250 Class moto at Washougal saw Triumph Factory Racing’s Jalek Swoll grab the Pro Motocross Holeshot ahead of Rockstar Energy GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco and defending champion Haiden Deegan. Swoll’s time out front was short-lived, however, as a crash early in the moto handed the lead to DiFrancesco and elevated Deegan and Jo Shimoda into second and third, respectively.

Deegan quickly turned up the pressure on DiFrancesco and drew alongside, resulting in slight mid-air contact between the two. DiFrancesco went down, while Deegan stayed upright to inherit the lead. Shimoda moved into second, followed by Dilan Schwartz aboard the Toyota Redlands BarX Yamaha.

As the race reached the halfway mark, Shimoda had closed to within a second of the lead, but Deegan responded with a burst of pace, logging his fastest laps of the moto to extend his advantage to over four seconds. That margin held steady in the closing stages.

Behind the lead duo, Garrett Marchbanks (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) engaged in a spirited battle with Schwartz for the final podium spot, ultimately making the pass to take third. Schwartz claimed a career-best fourth, while Triumph’s Austin Forkner rounded out the top five.

Deegan’s dominant ride earned him his 10th moto win of the season, finishing six seconds clear of Shimoda.

250 Moto One Results

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250 Moto Two

The second 250 Class moto at Washougal got underway with Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) claiming the holeshot ahead of Jo Shimoda and Triumph Factory Racing’s Mikkel Haarup. Haiden Deegan, coming off a moto win earlier in the day, started back in eighth.

Shimoda wasted no time asserting himself, making a move on Hammaker at the start of lap two to take over the lead. Once out front, the Japanese rider steadily pulled away from the rest of the field.

Deegan began picking off riders methodically and broke into the top five 10 minutes into the race. Up ahead, Hammaker held firm in second while a fierce battle unfolded for third between Haarup, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Deegan, with Garrett Marchbanks also closing in from sixth. Deegan and Marchbanks both found their way past DiFrancesco and then set their sights on Haarup.

Haarup’s challenge unravelled when he lost the front end and crashed, handing third to Deegan and fourth to Marchbanks. That set up a late-race showdown between the two for a podium spot, and with their quicker pace, both riders began reeling in Hammaker.

With less than two minutes to go, Deegan surged past Hammaker for second. Although Shimoda was well up the track with a 20-second advantage, Deegan’s late charge solidified his position.

Shimoda remained unchallenged at the front to take his third moto win of the season, crossing the line 18.2 seconds clear of Deegan. Hammaker fended off a final push from Marchbanks to hold onto third, giving Kawasaki a double podium finish.

250 Moto Two Results

 

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250 Round

Jo Shimoda’s consistency and pair of strong starts at Washougal earned him his second win in the past three rounds, taking the overall victory with a 2-1 score via second-moto tiebreaker over Haiden Deegan. It marked the fifth career Pro Motocross win for the Japanese rider.

Despite missing out on the top step, Deegan’s characteristic determination secured a solid runner-up result with 1-2 finishes—his seventh podium from nine rounds so far this season.

Garrett Marchbanks rounded out the overall podium, delivering his best performance to date with third overall (3-4), his first ever Pro Motocross podium.

In the championship standings, Deegan maintains his 45-point lead over Shimoda, while Marchbanks now holds third outright, 116 points behind the leader.

Jo Shimoda (2-1)

“It was a good day. This one means a lot to me. As a team, we worked really hard for this. I know we’re far out of the championship, but this is awesome, and I hope we can keep doing it.”

Haiden Deegan (1-2)

“I felt like I was riding a bull out there, it was wild. We finished second and didn’t lose any points, so in the big picture it was a good day.”

Garret Marchbanks (3-4)

“Every time I got close to Haiden I couldn’t finish it, so it was tough on the track today. I made some mistakes and lost some energy late, but it was a good day. I’m really excited to get my first podium outdoors.”

250 Round Points

250 AMA MX Championship Points

250 SMX Championship Points