• Defending champ goes 2-1 for the premier-class overall win
• Fourth overall for Hunter Lawrence in 450 division
• In the 250 class, Jo Shimoda and Chance Hymas finish fourth and 18^th, respectively

Just 66 days after undergoing surgery for a thumb injury, Team Honda HRC Progressive rider Jett Lawrence turned in an impressive overall win during playoff 1 of the SuperMotocross World Championship at North Carolina’s zMax Dragway, giving the 2025 CRF450R its first-ever overall victory in U.S. professional racing. The success was earned via 2-1 finishes, the moto 2 result coming after a late pass on moto 1 winner Eli Tomac, and it showed that Lawrence—the defending SMX 450 champion—has lost none of his trademark speed or competitiveness during his recovery process. Hunter Lawrence rode to 3-6 finishes for fourth overall in the same class, while Jo Shimoda notched a steady 3-5 tally for fourth overall in the 250 ranks. Chance Hymas suffered from poor starts and ended the day 18^th overall, determined to improve at playoff 2.

Aboard their twin 2025 CRF450R race machines, Jett and Hunter emerged from the split start second and third in the first 450 moto, and Hunter quickly moved by Jett to assume second place. After trailing his older brother for several laps, Jett eventually got back around, and the brothers went on to finish in second and third. Jett was again second off the moto 2 start and was quickly passed by Eli Tomac. He powered by Justin Cooper early in the race to retake second and began dogging Tomac, eventually taking over the lead heading into the sand section and going on to the moto and overall wins. Hunter rode the entire race just a few spots back, finishing sixth in the moto and fourth overall.

After a red-flag restart of the first 250 moto, Shimoda emerged from the split start in third place, then quickly advanced to second. RJ Hampshire got by him in the sand, and Haiden Deegan moved by shortly after. After regaining a position due to a Hampshire crash, the Japanese rider finished a comfortable third. Meanwhile, Hymas was buried in the pack after the start but managed to work his way up to 13^th by the finish. Shimoda was fifth after the moto 2 start, lost a couple of positions early on, and then regained them back, finishing a close fifth for eighth overall. Once again plagued by a poor start, Hymas finished the moto in 20^th, for 18^th overall.

NOTES

• On Friday morning, American Honda announced that Progressive is the factory race team’s title sponsor and unveiled their race bikes with new Progressive branding. The sponsorship is part of a multifaceted agreement that extends beyond racing, with Progressive involved in an array of Honda’s initiatives, including support of its Demo Ride events and Rider Education Centers.
• Team Honda HRC Progressive was back to full strength at Charlotte, with both Jett Lawrence and Jo Shimoda returning from injury. All four riders participated in the press conference on Friday morning.
• American Honda had a large contingent of guests on hand at Charlotte, from several different groups. From Alpharetta, Georgia, were associates from the Power Sports and Products North American headquarters, including Vice President & Business Unit Lead Yuichiro Ishii. From Timmonsville, South Carolina, were associates from the Honda of South Carolina Manufacturing side-by-side production plant. From Swepsonville, North Carolina, were associates from the Honda North Carolina Manufacturing plant that produces ATVs and select power-equipment products. Purchasing staff from both facilities were also on hand.
• Also in attendance at Charlotte were approximately 70 employees from Team Honda HRC Progressive sponsor TrueTimber, including founder and CEO Rusty Sellars.
• Displayed in the Team Honda HRC Progressive pits at Charlotte was an amazingly intricate cardboard CRF250R created by Seth Atkins. After spotting Atkins’s work on his Cardboard Motorsports social-media channels, Honda invited him and his family to be guests of the team at the event.
• Jett Lawrence’s CRF450R was wearing the yellow number 1 on a blue background, highlighting his status as the reigning 450 SMX champ.
• Granite Falls dealership Honda of North Carolina staffed a pop-up activation booth in the Team Honda HRC Progressive pits at the Charlotte race.
• Jett and Hunter Lawrence ended the morning qualifying sessions second and fifth in the 450 class, respectively, while Shimoda and Hymas were ninth and 14^th, respectively, in the 250 division.
• Honda has the record for most wins of all manufacturers during past AMA Supercross, AMA Pro Motocross and SuperMotocross racing in the Charlotte area, at six. Past premier-class Red Riders to have won there include Jean-Michel Bayle (twice), Jeremy McGrath (three times) and Chase Sexton.
• Because riders carry a certain number of points into the SMX Playoffs from the regular season, and Jett missed most of the AMA Pro Motocross series with injury, his overall win at the SMX opener doesn’t give him the points lead in the postseason. The Australian sits second to former teammate Chase Sexton in premier-class points (45-41), with Hunter Lawrence one more point back, in third. Shimoda and Hymas are fourth and 18^th, respectively, in the 250 class.
• Two more races remain for Team Honda HRC Progressive this season, with the next one coming in one week in Fort Worth, Texas.

Jett Lawrence 18 “I feel like I surprised myself more than anyone else today. Practice and qualifying went okay, but it’s a lot easier to put down one fast lap than it is to do an entire 20-minute moto. In both races, I felt like my lines and flow were really good, but I just had trouble staying close to the leader in the first one. Hopefully we can build off of this one and keep improving. Race intensity is a lot different than practice, so it was good to get some real gate drops under my belt.”

Hunter Lawrence 96 “I’m happy to put a respectable run on the board and keep the points close to start the playoffs. A big thank-you to the team for the setup today, because I felt we were very prepared compared to where we were last year. I’m looking forward to getting better in Texas.”

Jo Shimoda 30 “Overall, a solid day. I need some more pace to keep up front and battle for the win, but I’m excited about where we are so far. I’m positive going into the week, and I know we’ll be in a better place at the next round.”

Chance Hymas 48 “The first SMX race of my career was disappointing; I just didn’t ride like I know I can, and my starts weren’t where I needed them to be. It was a struggle all day, but we’ll be looking to rebound in Dallas.”

Lars Lindstrom Team Manager “Even though it’s been a long and grueling season, this race felt a little bit like Anaheim 1. There were a lot of top American Honda management there, along with many more Honda Associates from the Southeast, and it was awesome to get such an amazing win in front of them! I’m pretty sure I saw Jett get into a UFO after he left, proving that he is in fact an alien—what a performance for his first race back, and we couldn’t be prouder of him! Overall, it was great having all four riders back in the truck, and we’re looking forward to improving on their results this next weekend in Texas, and finishing off the series strong in Las Vegas the week after that, before getting some much-needed time off from the races.”