Hunter Lawrence wins RedBud 450 in first all-foreign podium sweep
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 6, 2026
Hunter Lawrence
Hunter Lawrence won the 450 class at RedBud MX and capped a landmark day for the event with the first all-non-American podium in class history. Jorge Prado finished second and Jett Lawrence took third, giving the race a sweep that stood out even in a holiday crowd packed around the Michigan track. Haiden Deegan led the American side in sixth, and officials brought him onstage to wave the flag after the race. Lawrence, meanwhile, turned the victory lap into a celebration with the fans. He stopped to spray champagne from the podium and shared the moment with the crowd that lined the fences, the hills and every open view of the circuit. The result gave the 450 class its clearest storyline of the day. Lawrence beat a deep field, Prado matched him on the box and Jett Lawrence completed the top three. The order carried extra weight because all three riders came from outside the United States, a first for the class at RedBud. That made the win more than a race result. It became the headline for an event that mixed speed, noise and a strong sense of occasion. The atmosphere around the track matched the moment, with fans responding to the finish and the podium celebration with the kind of energy that only RedBud tends to draw.
Cole Davies
Cole Davies won the 250 class and gave the undercard its own sharp finish. Jo Shimoda finished second after winning RedBud’s 250 race in 2025, and Ryder DiFrancesco completed the podium in third. DiFrancesco said the result was his first career pro motocross podium, and he called the day America’s birthday. That line fit the scene at RedBud, where the holiday crowd leaned hard into the patriotic tone of the event. Davies put together the performance that mattered most on the track, and the finish order behind him gave the 250 class a mix of proven race winners and a rider reaching a new milestone. Shimoda stayed on the podium after his 2025 RedBud win, while DiFrancesco left with a breakthrough result that changed the shape of his season. The class had its own share of attention, even with the 450 race carrying the historic first. Davies’ victory kept the focus on the racing itself. It gave the fans one more reason to follow every lap and every exchange at the front. The podium also added another layer to a day that kept building from one strong result to the next. In a setting already filled with flags, anthem rituals and holiday noise, the 250 finish delivered its own clean story, a new winner, a familiar threat and a rider taking a first step onto the pro motocross podium.
RedBud crowds
RedBud MX in Buchanan, Michigan, drew a large holiday crowd and delivered the kind of scene that has made the venue one of the sport’s most recognizable stops. The race came with hot, muddy conditions, but that did little to thin the audience. Fans watched from RVs, pickup trucks, hillsides and walkways, and the full setting gave the event a festival feel without taking away from the racing. The patriotic atmosphere matched the holiday, with the national anthem, merchandise lines and a crowd built around the nation’s 250th birthday. The track offered enough drama to keep that crowd locked in. The event included 450 Moto qualifying and Moto 1 action, giving spectators a steady flow of on-track moments before the day reached its decisive finishes. RedBud has long paired strong racing with a loud, engaged fan base, and this edition carried that formula all the way through. The setting helped frame the wins by Hunter Lawrence and Cole Davies, but it also stood on its own as part of the story. The crowd response, the weather and the holiday feel turned the venue into the backdrop for one of the more memorable RedBud dates in recent years. The racing delivered the results. The atmosphere gave them weight.
