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2026 Washougal Pro Motocross Research

By Brett Smith

“America’s Most Scenic Raceway” is a proper nickname for Washougal MX Park in southwestern Washington state. Opened to racing in 1971, the natural terrain course winds in and out of the giant fir trees that tower over the facility. The venue is 30 minutes from Portland, Oregon, and lies just north of the town of Washougal and a river of the same name.

  • Name of Facility: Washougal MX Park
  • This is the 35th running of the Washougal National
All-Time Facts
  • Ryan Dungey has the most Washougal wins in the 250/450 class (5 in 7 starts)
  • Most Washougal podiums: Eli Tomac 8/8 in 450MX.
  • Most starts at Washougal: Kyle Lewis (12). Freddie Noren has 11.
  • Chase Sexton has won 4 of the last 5 Washougal Nationals.
  • In the 125/250 class, Mark Barnett and James Stewart have 3 wins (most ever).
2025 Notes
  • 450: Chase Sexton (2-1) won the overall over Jett Lawrence (3-2)
  • 250: Jo Shimoda (2-1) won the overall over Haiden Deegan (1-2).
WASHOUGAL HISTORY

450 Rider Facts

  • Hunter Lawrence could secure the #1 seed for the SMX Playoffs after Washougal M1. He neeeds just +2 points on Cooper Webb.
  • Hunter Lawrence now has 5 career 450MX wins, the same count as legends such as Tony Distefano, Greg Albertyn Jim Weiner, Jimmy Ellis, and Marty Tripes.
  • Combined, Hunter Lawrence has his 10 premier class wins (SX+MX). Justin Barcia and David Vuillemin also have 10 wins.
  • Hunter Lawrence has a class-leading 6 holeshots and an average L1 position of 2.3 (nearly a full position better than Jett with 3.2)
  • Tale of 2 Motos: Hunter Lawrence was fastest in 12 of 17 laps in M1 last week while Jett Lawrence was fastest in 8 of the 17 in M2
  • Haiden Deegan (2nd) finished ahead of Jett Lawrence (3rd) for the first time in 450MX.
  • Haiden Deegan’s best venue as a 250MX rider was Washougal: 6 moto starts and 6 podiums (4 wins). More on this below.
  • Benny Bloss (10-10 / 8th) got his first top 10 since Fox Raceway 2022!
  • Jordon Smith finished a season/career best 7th in moto 2 last week at Spring Creek.
  • Eli Tomac is REALLY GOOD at Washougal. 8 starts, 5x fastest qualifier, 16/16 moto podiums and 3 overall wins.
  • Tomac has never been off a moto podium and his worst finish is 3-3 for 2nd overall here last year!
  • Expected to return: Justin Cooper said he would return at Washougal. He chrased out of M2 at Hangtown.
  • Justin Cooper opened the season with a 3rd place in M1 at Fox Raceway and finished 4th overall.

250 Rider Facts

  • Julien Beaumer is the 98th different winner in Pro Motocross 125/250 history and the 6th different winner this season (more on that below)
  • Julien Beaumer is the 4th different first-time winner this season (Seth Hammaker, Cole Davies, Sacha Coenen)
  • 10 different riders have been on the overall podium in the first seven rounds (9 made it on the podium in all of 2025)
  • 11 different riders have been on a moto podium after 14 motos, the same # as 2025 (after 22 motos)
  • 8 different riders have taken holeshots and points leader Levi Kitchen isn’t one of them.
  • Levi Kitchen averages a 7.3 overall finish at Washougal (3 starts)
  • In 6 moto starts at Washougal, Levi Kitchen only has one podium (3rd in 2023).
  • Julien Beaumer is #13. The last time #13 won a Pro Motocross overall was our own Sebasiten Tortelli in 2001 when he beat Ricky Carmichael at the Hangtown National.
  • Career best: Carson Mumford’s 3rd in M2 at Spring Creek was his first top 5 moto since August 2020. He was 5th overall, his first career top 5.

Hunter’s Epic Season

Hunter Lawrence is currently executing one of the best seasons of his career and stamping that he’s among the very few elite riders to ever throw a leg over a dirt bike.

He’s also on the cusp of securing the #1 seed and the coveted 25 seeding points for the SMX Playoffs. He has a +198 point lead over Cooper Webb in the combined SX+MX season points and needs +175 point lead after M1.

The Season So Far…

  • He finished 2nd in the Supercross season after securing the red plate at round 5 and getting his first career win at round 7 in Arlington. He’d ultimately lose the title by just 3 points but not after demonstrating he’s a title threat in Supercross moving forward.
  • 7 rounds into an 11 round Pro Motocross season and he has a 10 point lead over his brother. He’s one of the few that has straight up beaten Jett Lawrence and he’s now done so multiple times.
Hunter Lawrence 2026

While the #1 seed is important, he’s got just 4 more rounds to secure his first career premier class title…

Emma and Dazzy Taught Their Boys to Share

Jett Lawrence likes to tell the story of a childhood spent stealing (and breaking) his big brother’s toys. But they sure are good at sharing the 450MX red plate! Gotta make the parents proud.

Hunter Lawrence regains the red plate (again), the third time he’s earned the points lead in 2026. At Washougal, he will wear the red plate for a 4th round.

  • Hunter is +10 over Jett after 7 rounds.
  • Notable: This is Hunter’s biggest points lead of the season but he was actually +12 over Jett leaving round 1 (Jett was in 3rd place).
Hot Plate! 450MX Red Plate Movement

Deegan’s Best Chance: Washougal

After 7 rounds, Haiden Deegan’s rookie 450 season has been good, but not on par to Jett Lawrence’s 2023 season and a notch off of Hunter Lawrence 2024.

Let’s compare the 3 headed into RD7.

Rookie Season Comparisons (thru 7 rounds)

This weekend at Washougal is likely his best opportunity to lead a lap, win a moto, or win an overall. No question, he’s been spectacular at this venue – he’s never finished worse than 2nd place in a moto with 1-1-2-1-1-2 moto finishes!

Deegan @ Washougal (250MX 2023-2025)

So the question is…

  • Will he be the 58th rider to win at least 1 premier class moto in their first 15 moto starts?
    • Notable: James Stewart and Ezra Lusk got their first premier class moto win in their 15th moto start.
    • 21 of the 57 riders have just 1 moto win in their first 15 moto starts.
  • Will he be the 46th rider to win at least 1 premier class overall in their first 8 overall starts?
    • Notable: 7 different riders got their first win on their 8th start including James Stewart, Ezra Lusk, Johnny O’Mara, Matthew Goerke, among others.

Levi Kitchen is Winning Without Winning

In the 250 class, Levi Kitchen, improbably, somehow takes over the red plate (again) after (another) lopsided finish. What a weird journey. A season recap:

  • RD3: Kitchen scores 1-8 motos and leaves Thunder Valley with a share of the red plate (Seth Hammaker)
  • RD4: Kitchen goes 6-5 at High Point and takes sole red plate ownership.
  • RD7: Kitchen passes 38 total riders over two motos (from white holeshot line), finishes 8-2 and assumes a massive +24 points lead. He takes the red plate to his hometown.
250MX Red Plate Movement

250MX Parity Party

Six different winners in the first seven rounds!

  • Julien Beaumer’s first career 250MX victory ties a record for the most unique winners in a single season and there is still four rounds left to run.
  • If Chance Hymas, Kayden Minear, Ryder Difrancesco, etc. pull off an overall win, it would set a new record for most unique winners in the class.
  • Notable: In 2021, 6 different winners won the first six rounds before Jeremy Martin and Jett Lawrence opened it up.
  • The 2026 winners: Seth Hammaker, Levi Kitchen, Jo Shimoda, Coles Davies (2), Sacha Coenen, Julien Beamer
Most Unique Winners in a Single 125/250MX Season

Milestones

450MX
  • Freddie Noren (139) tied Mike Larocco (139) for 2nd all-time 450MX starts.
  • Eli Tomac (32 wins) needs one more to tie Rick Johnson (33 MX wins) for 3rd all-time.
  • The next first time winner in 450MX is the 72nd different rider to win the class (Haiden Deegan, Justin Cooper…)
450SX+MX
  • Jett Lawrence (36 combined SX+MX premier class wins) is 1 shy of Jeff Stanton (37) for 12th all-time. He needs another 9 to catch Jeff Ward for 11th all-time.
Both Classes, SX+MX
  • Justin Barcia is 3 starts shy of Kevin Windham and Eli Tomac… on current pace he’ll tie them at Budds Creek.
  • Justin Barcia is 5th all-time (8,288 points) after passing Ryan Dungey (8,271 pts) and Jeff Ward (8,251) in the last two weeks.
250s
  • Jo Shimoda (30) tied Erik Kehoe and Mike Brown for 10th all-time 250MX podiums. One more and he ties Johnny O’Mara and Ryan Villopoto with 31 and 8th all-time. We hope for a Jo return ASAP!