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2026 High Point Pro Motocross Research

By Brett Smith

The Country Club of MX

Situated in a valley on a family farm in southwestern Pennsylvania and just 18 miles north of the MX Sports headquarters, High Point Raceway has been a cornerstone of the Pro Motocross schedule since 1977.

  • Name of Facility: High Point Raceway
  • High Point has always been a holiday weekend destination, first Memorial Day, and now on Father’s Day weekend.
  • This is the 49th running of the High Point National (no event in 2020)
All-Time High Point Stats
  • Ricky Carmichael is the High Point premier class wins leader (6)
  • Jett Lawrence is undefeated at High Point (3 wins in 3 starts). Another win would tie him with Rick Johnson and Damon Bradshaw.
  • 37 different riders have won the 42 125/250MX races held. It’s guaranteed to climb to 38 unique in 2026.
HIGH POINT HISTORY

450MX Rider Facts

  • Hunter Lawrence is the first rider in premier class history to finish top 5 in each of his first 25 starts (more below)
  • Justin Barcia, all-time points check. (He only scored +7 in CO. But he’s close to passing 3 riders on the list.
  • Bad news for Jett Lawrence’s competition… he’s won every career 450MX overall at the next 4 venues (3 for 3 at High Point, 2 for 2 at RedBud, 3 for 3 at Southwick, and 2 for 2 at Spring Creek). See Venue Perfection below for more details.
  • Jett Lawrence has now led every single lap in 4 consecutive motos.
  • Jett Lawrence missed a Walk-Off Grand Slam at Thunder Valley because he was 3rd fastest qualifier. (Walk off is a fast q, 2 holeshots, fastest overall, led every lap, double moto winner).
  • Among active riders, only Jett Lawrence (3) and Dylan Ferrandis (1) have won at High Point.
  • RJ Hampshire has yet to finish top 5 but he’s 4th in points and has already scored +7 more points after 3 rounds than he had in 2025 at this point.
  • In 2025, the same 5 riders finished top 5 in the first 3 rounds. In 2026, 8 different riders have been top 5.
  • With Eli Tomac (5 moto wins) and Chase Sexton (1 moto win) out injured, Jett Lawrence (5 moto wins) will be the only active rider with a moto win in the premier class at High Point.

250MX Rider Facts

  • We’ve only run 6 motos and Jo Shimoda is the only rider with perfect top 10 attendance.
  • 7 different riders have been on the podium. For reference: just 9 different riders made the podium in ALL of 2025.
  • We’ll have a first-time High Point overall and moto winner in 250MX
  • Levi Kitchen (3rd in 2025), Jo Shimoda (3rd in 2022), Chance Hymas (3rd in 2024), and Austin Forkner (2nd in 2018) all have overall podiums.
  • Jo Shimoda (2,274 points) passed Mark Barnett (2,257 pts) for 10th all-time points in 125/250MX.
  • 3 Kawasaki riders have finished on the podium within the season for the first time since 2017.
  • The last time Kawasaki put 4 riders on the 125/250 podium in a single season? 2004!
  • Levi Kitchen will have a red plate in Pro Motocross for the first time in his career.
  • Nick Romano avg. L1 position is is 3.0 – that’s +3.8 positions better than the next best (Julien Beaumer 6.8)
  • We’ve had 15 different riders in the top 10 overall and 21 different riders in the 10 top moto this season.

All-Time Moto Wins – Jett’s Taking Off

Sorry not sorry if you’re sick of hearing about how Jett Lawrence is ascending the all-time ranks. This sort of rise is something we’ve seen only once before and that was the GOAT, Ricky Carmichael.

  • Jett is now tied with Bob Hannah for 6th most moto wins in 250/450MX history (48)
All-Time Premier Class Moto Wins
Next Milestone:
  • One more moto win and he ties Jeff Ward for 5th.

5th is his ceiling for 2026. With 16 motos left to run, he can get to 64 moto wins (-4 to Eli Tomac and Ryan Dungey)

Venue Perfection

Before this season, Jett Lawrence had a perfect record (won every moto and overall) at Pala/Fox Raceway. While that record falls, he’s still perfect at 2 other venues (RedBud and Unadilla).

Rider Who Won Every Moto (2+ Starts)
Won Every Overall (3+ Starts)

When you look at 3+ starts and won every overall (but not every moto), it’s still incredibly rare. 3 riders have done it 10x (Bob Hannah, Ricky Carmichael 6x, and Jett Lawrence 3x).

  • Bob Hannah did it back the late 1970’s.
  • Ricky Carmichael did it at 6 of the 13 venues he raced in the premier class!
  • Jett Lawrence has done so at 3 venues – Lakewood where he’s now 4 for 4, High Point and Southwick in 3 rounds.
Looking Ahead

Jett Lawrence has won every overall at 6 of the last 8 venues (any start total). Only Washougal (2025 – Sexton) and Ironman (2025 – H Lawrence) has he lost the overall. I guess when you’ve won 26 of 30 career starts you’re bound to dominate a LOT of venues.

Hunter Lawrence 25 for 25

Hunter Lawrence survived a rough day at Thunder Valley with penalties and crashes but still got 3rd overall with 4-4 moto finishes.

  • It was Hunter’s 20th career podium.
  • Hunter now has 25 career 450MX starts and 25 top 5 finishes, a first in the Pro Motocross premier class.
  • While riders such as Ricky Carmichael, Jean-Michel Bayle and his younger brother, Jett had more podium finishes within their first 25 starts, Hunter is the only one with perfect top 5 attendance.
Most Top 5 Finishes in First 25 Career Starts (250/450 Class)

Nick Romano – Rags to Riches

“A year ago, I told myself, my family and my parents that I was quitting,” Nick Romano said after a third place finish at Thunder Valley.

Romano, 21, might feel like he’s on bonus time. The kid from Queens was a 4-time Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Motocross champion who led the first lap of the second Pro Motocross moto he lined up for (Fox Raceway 2022) but it went downhill from there.

Romano was supposed to make his SX debut at the same time as Haiden Deegan: Houston 2023. Injuries derailed that and more.

  • Jan. 3, 2023: grade 3 shoulder separation took him out of Houston.
  • Feb. 2023: ACL and meniscus injury took him out of 2023 entirely.
  • Feb. 2025: Another ACL injury in qualifying at the 250SX East opener in Tampa.
  • May 2025: Dislocated shoulder at Fox Raceway. Didn’t make it to the motos.

Last summer Romano told his family he was done. Quitting. But then he bought his own bike, bet on himself and then BEGGED Mitch Payton for a longshot second chance ride.

He’s making the most of it. The Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider has the best Avg. L1 position (3.0) in the topsy turvy 250 class and just knocked down his first overall podium (although he’s still looking for a first moto podium).

Romano has seen many improvements from his two previous MX seasons (except in qualifying, where he’s averaging nearly 17th).

Nick Romano MX Yearly Comparisons

Lopsided Finishes – 250 Class Chaos

The 250 class in 2026: expect the unexpected. The last 5 years of the class has been dominated by 3 riders winning 32 of the 55 total starts.

Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence, and Haiden Deegan made the class relatively predictable from 2021-25.

That’s no longer the case; Levi Kitchen and Seth Hammaker share the red plate heading into round 4. They’ve each won an overall, won 2 motos, and had 1 moto outside the top 10!

Red Plate Holders Most Lopsided Day
Rest of Top 10 Most Lopsided Day

The red plate holders aren’t the only ones having off motos. Here’s a look at the rest of the top 10.

Something in the Air – Thunder Valley Madness

If the first two rounds didn’t have enough inconsistency in the top 10, then Thunder Valley made it clear – this will be a year with great potential for lopsided days.

Young Guns

The future is bright, albeit a bit inconsistent. Or maybe it’s inconsistent because the future is bright!? Inside the top 20 of the 250 class we have 12 riders that are 21 years or younger. You decide.

250 Top 20 – Riders 21 Years or Younger
  • You can add another 11 if you look at the top 40 including Casey Cochran, Daxton Bennick, Carson Wood, Paker Ross, Avery Long, Jeremy Fappani, Drew Adams, CJ Benard, Aden Keeper, and Preston Masciangelo.

WMX Spotlight – Ashley Fiolek

Ashley Fiolek blazed a trail for female motocrossers by claiming a factory ride with American Honda, winning four WMX championships (’08-’09, 2011-2012) and snagging two X Games gold medals in Women’s Moto X Racing.

And she did so while profoundly deaf.

With four championships in a 5-year period–against fierce competition from Jessica Patterson–Fiolek rare finished worse than second place.

Ashley Fiolek Career

Milestones

450MX
  • Jett Lawrence (48) tied Bob Hannah (48) for 6th most moto wins in 450MX last week.
  • Freddie Noren (138) needs 1 more start to tie Mike Larocco (139) for 2nd all-time 450MX.
  • Justin Barcia (3,568 points) needs 9 to tie Rick Johnson (3,577) and 12 to tie Jeff Ward (3,580) for 9th and 8th all-time 450MX
  • The next first time winner in 450MX is the 72nd different rider to win the class (Haiden Deegan, Justin Cooper, Aaron Plessinger…
450SX+MX
  • Keep an eye on RedBud… Jett Lawrence (35 combined SX+MX wins) is 2 shy of Jeff Stanton (37) for 12th all-time.
250s
  • Milestone watch… Jo Shimoda (28) is 2 podiums shy of 10th all-time.
  • Jo Shimoda (2,274 points) passed Mark Barnett (2,257 pts) for 10th all-time in 125/250MX.