Hunter Lawrence retakes points lead; Cortez’s Eli Tomac returns to racing

Hunter Lawrence’s two Moto wins in Spring Creek boosted him to first in the overall point standings by 10 points. (Screen capture via NBC Motorsports YouTube)

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Hunter Lawrence’s two Moto wins in Spring Creek boosted him to first in the overall point standings by 10 points. (Screen capture via NBC Motorsports YouTube)

The weekend of Motocross racing at Spring Creek started with Cortez’s Eli Tomac back on the track following an injury and ended with Australian Hunter Lawrence growing the gap between first and second in the overall points ranking by 10 points. The weekend’s races started with Hunter Lawrence one point behind his brother, Jett Lawrence, last year’s Motocross champion.

The overall results for the two 450SX races were Hunter Lawrence in first, Haiden Deegan in second and Jett Lawrence in third. Tomac placed 11th overall after returning from a neck injury sustained in the first round of the season.

The track in Millville, Minnesota, is one that is favored by many of the racers, according to commentators, and started with Deegan crashing around the first corner, causing Tomac’s KTM teammate Jorge Prado to go off the track. The Lawrence brothers stayed clear of the crash, with Hunter taking the hole shot, followed by Jett and Justin Barcia.

Tomac started in 14th, but quickly moved to ninth.

“No one eases their way back in; you have to be fast to be in the top 10 where Tomac is,” commentators said, adding that the other riders have “outdoor legs underneath them” at this point in the season, which will put Tomac at a disadvantage for the first few races back.

Hunter Lawrence placed first in Moto 1, followed by Jett Lawrence in second and RJ Hampshire in third. Deegan finished fourth after starting outside of the top 20 due to his crash. Tomac finished in ninth.

In the second race of the day, Hunter Lawrence once again claimed the hole shot after “sweeping from the outside,” with Jett Lawrence in second and Cooper Webb in third.

Tomac started in 13th.

Jett Lawrence attacked, trying to pass Hunter Lawrence in moves that were “a lot more aggressive” than the first race. Prado and Deegan moved to third and fourth, as Tomac passed a few racers to take 10th.

“Hunter is doing everything to keep his younger brother behind him,” commentators said.

Eventually, Jett Lawrence passed, quickly lengthening the lead over his brother to three seconds. Deegan passed Prado for third.

When Jett Lawrence was about seven seconds ahead of Hunter, he crashed. In the crash, one of the handlebars on his bike got stuck in his boot, preventing him from getting up. In the time it took him to get untangled from his bike, Hunter had once again moved to first, with Deegan, Prado and Hampshire also passing.

Hunter Lawrence finished in first, followed by Deegan and Prado. Jett Lawrence placed fifth and Tomac 12th.

Round 8 of the 2026 season will be held at Washougal MX Park in Washougal, Washington, on Saturday, July 25.

bduran@the-journal.com