After a 1-1 day at the 2026 Budds Creek National, Hunter Lawrence goes into the final round of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship Series with a one-point lead over his brother Jett. Poor starts kept Jett off the overall podium, as he went 5-2 on the day. Jorge Prado’s 3-3 result earned him the overall runner-up spot, as he beat Haiden Deegan’s 2-4 on the tiebreaker. Jett was in P4 overall, ahead of Mikkel Haarup (8-5).
Hunter led every Budds Creek lap, except for the opening lap of the first moto. Deegan grabbed the holeshot in Moto 1 and led briefly before Hunter went by. Jett was in P18 after lap 1 in the first moto and dropped back to P22 on lap 2 of the 18-lap moto, which was run in sloppy conditions. After lap 1 in Moto 2, Jett was in P10. Prado ran in P2 the entire race until Jett took it from him on the final lap.
As is often the case when the track is muddy for one moto, results were inconsistent. Aaron Plessinger and Justin Barcia swapped P10/P7 moto results. Eli Tomac went 4-13 and Dylan Ferrandis had a 14-8. Mitchell Harrison had a 13-19 day, including involvement on the final lap in the Jett vs. Prado battle.
The final round at Ironman Raceway on August 29 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, pits the two brothers against each other for the championship. The one-point edge means Hunter can take the crown with a 1-2 or 2-1 day. If Hunter finishes in P2 twice, Jett will have to win both motos to take the title. Hunter holds the tiebreaker, with 12 moto wins compared to Jett’s eight.
The modern superbike class is an arms race fought on several fronts. There’s still the battle for horsepower supremacy, that fuels endless spec-sheet skirmishes on internet forums. But what has caused more than a few designers to burn the midnight oil is the bold new frontier of MotoGP-inspired aerodynamics, and the challenge of integrating those into the already exceedingly complex superbike. Nic de Sena rode the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R at a recent Laguna Seca track day with Volant Vivere and he tells us all about what he discovered and what it takes to go fast.
* * * * *
Now here’s a rally you absolutely cannot miss—yes, we’re rapidly approaching the 34th Annual Biketoberfest Rally in Daytona Beach, sunny Florida.Biketoberfest this year runs October 15th through the 18th. Biketoberfest is all about the beautiful Florida weather, live music, the industry’s top vendors, bike shows, and motorcycle racing at Daytona International Speedway. And don’t forget, there are miles of spectacular rides along the famous A1A, the historic Main Street and the Ormond Beach Scenic Loop. There really is something for everyone here, and almost every event and attraction is free to attend. So, if you want a fun few days out in the Florida sunshine, Biketoberfest really is the place to be. Make sure you download the Biketoberfest mobile App from Apple or Google Play or visit www.biketoberfest.orgfor more details.
* * * * *
Austin and Ellie got married in 2022 and recently returned from a four-year trip around the world riding their Ural sidecar. The epic trip is documented on their Instagram page @sidebysidecar. In this second segment, Teejay Adams chats with them about the challenges and effort it took to make it all happen, and some of the adventures they had along the way.
* * * * *
Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.
Don’t forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!
We use cookies and browser activity on this website
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
