450 Class
Jett Lawrence
Jett Lawrence got his swagger back at Hangtown and now heads to a race track, Thunder Valley, where he has won four straight times dating back to his 250 days. He’s won five of his six motos there on a 450 and his only blemish came in the form of a second place in moto 1 in 2024. He has 59 laps led there on a 450 and could possibly leap from Ryan Dungey (63), Eli Tomac (64), and James Stewart (67) for second most 450 laps led at the venue. Ken Roczen’s 133 will be untouchable for the foreseeable future.
Another win at Thunder Valley and Jett would become the first rider to win four in a row in the class at the venue. He and Dungey both have three race win streaks there.
Jett is inching up on a legend in the win lists. He is two moto wins away from tying Bob Hannah’s 48 for fourth most all time in the class and is two overall wins away from tying Hannah for fourth most overall wins. Jett currently has 25.
Hunter Lawrence
Going back to his 250 days, Hunter Lawrence has not finished outside the top five of a moto at Thunder Valley since his rookie season in 2019. That’s twelve straight motos inside the top five at the venue. He earned his first career 450 moto win at the venue in 2024 and narrowly missed out on the overall victory as well. His 1-2 was bested by Jett who went 2-1.
Another podium overall finish for Hunter would give him a career 450 podium percentage of 80.00% which would bump ahead of Ryan Dungey (79.31%) and into fifth for best podium percentage of all time. In 2025, Hunter went 4-4 at Thunder Valley for fifth overall. Since then, he has finished off the moto podium just two times in twenty motos, both came at the same race at Washougal (5-4) last season.
Haiden Deegan
In his two visits to Thunder Valley after his 250 rookie season, Haiden Deegan has not finished worse than second in any metric at Thunder Valley. He finished second or better in qualifying, all four motos, and both overalls since, one of those being an overall victory in 2024.
Deegan has gotten better in every moto this season so far. He has gone 5-4-3-3 to begin his 450 career and went from sixth in qualifying at round one to second at round two. To highlight how dominant his 250 MX career was, Deegan has not led a lap in two rounds so far this season; You have to go all the way back to rounds 6-7 of his 250 rookie season in 2023 to find back to back rounds in which he did not lead a single lap.
Chase Sexton
After an eleventh in moto one last week at Hangtown, Chase Sexton rebounded in moto two, posting a fourth place finish, his best of this young season. He will hope that will provide some positive momentum into Thunder Valley because despite a solid average finish of 4.50 at the venue, he has never won a moto or overall there in the 450 class. This is the only track on the circuit where he does not have a moto victory.
He has finished in each overall position 3rd through 6th. His best finish of third came in 2022 when he also finished qualifying on the pole position.
Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado suffered a mechanical at Hangtown that ended up hindering his entire weekend. He finished 17th, tied for his worst career AMA finish. He will look to avenge that race and his 2025 Thunder Valley experience where he also suffered a DNF in a moto.
Prado’s result won’t tell the full story from Hangtown. In moto one, he had the third fastest average lap time and the fourth fastest lap. He had a top five average sector time in all five sectors, including the best in sector four. Prado will try and get back to his 2-2 form from Fox Raceway at Thunder Valley.
Lucas Coenen
Belgium native and current MXGP points leader, Lucas Coenen, will make his highly anticipated pro motocross debut at Thunder Valley. He will be the first rider from Belgium to race pro motocross since June 1, 2013 when both Clement Desalle and Kevin Strijbos raced at Muddy Creek. The pair of Belgians finished sixth and seventh overall respectively.
Coenen is riding a three race win streak and has four wins in his last five in MXGP. He already has a 62 point points lead eight rounds into the series. Coenen will wear #104, last worn in 450 motos by Australian rider, Jed Beaton, at Washougal in 2023.
250 Class
Levi Kitchen
Fresh off a victory, things could be getting even better for Levi Kitchen because Thunder Valley is statistically his best track on the circuit. He does not have an overall victory at the venue but he averages a finish of 3.50 there, nearly twice as good as his career average of 6.85.
Kitchen’s first career moto victory and overall podium came at Thunder Valley back in 2022. He went 1-5 for third overall, leading fifteen laps in that first moto. That was the first of his three podiums in four visits to the race track. His one non-podium was a fifth place in 2024. He has finished on the moto podium one time in all four of his visits.
Seth Hammaker
After a first and a third at the first two rounds of the season, Seth Hammaker is making strong indications that this will be his breakout summer in motocross. This will surprisingly be just his second ever visit to Thunder Valley. It’s the only motocross track he has raced just one time. His one result was a 5-15 for 9th in 2022.
Hammaker has podiumed the first two rounds and 250 riders that podium the first two to start the season, go onto podium 69.41% of the time at round three. Kawasaki has not had a rider podium the first three rounds of a 250 season since Adam Cianciarulo in 2019.
Julien Beaumer
Julien Beaumer is also on the precipice of a breakout season. He had three top five overall finishes in 21 starts entering 2026 and now has two in two. Only points leader Seth Hammaker (48) has more laps spent in the top five this season than Beaumer (45).
Beaumer has struggled at Thunder Valley in the two visits he has made there. A ninth in 2024 and a seventeenth in 2025. He is in a strong position for big career bests at the venue this season.
Jo Shimoda
Pre-season title threat, Jo Shimoda, has yet to earn an overall podium this season but made a stride toward doing so in moto one at Hangtown when he finished third. Shimoda averages an overall of 5.00 at Thunder Valley, tied for his third best track, but he does not have a moto win, overall win, or even overall podium at the track.
Shimoda has finished fourth overall three times and has not finished worse than seventh overall there. Consistent but yet to breakthrough for a win. Hangtown, Thunder Valley, and the next round at High Point are the only three current venues Shimoda does not have a career lap led
Chance Hymas
Chance Hymas has been elite at Thunder Valley in his young 250 career. He has a fifth, a second, and an overall win in three visits. His average finish there is 2.67 which is the best among active riders and the sixth best in the class all time. His 47 laps led are the fourth most ever there in the 250 class.
Hymas has won three consecutive motos at Thunder Valley going back to moto 2 in 2024. He has finished fourth or better in five his last five motos there. His only moto where he wasn’t in the top five was his debut moto at the venue in 2023 in which he finished eleventh. With an average overall of 8.00 so far this season, this could be the race track where Hymas gets his season on track.
Sacha Coenen
Sacha Coenen will join his brother, Lucas, stateside and race in the 250 class at Thunder Valley. Sacha, like his brother, is leading the points of his respective class, the MX2 class. He holds a 37 point lead over defending champion Simon Längenfelder.
Sacha has five podiums and two victories so far this season in MX2. He raced Ironman last season in the Motocross of Nations, he showed flashes of speed but crashes held his results back. He finished ninth among the MX2 riders. Sacha will be the first Belgian rider on record to race in the 125/250 motocross class in the states.