Levi Kitchen leads 250MX qualifying at rain-soaked Budds Creek
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 22, 2026
250MX pole
Levi Kitchen took the 250MX pole at rain-soaked Budds Creek, winning the combined qualifying chart after three sessions and setting the tone in the season’s first major mud race. Kitchen’s best lap, a 1:56.283 on his Kawasaki KX250, put him on top of a 75-rider field and gave him another boost in a title fight that has stayed tight at the front. The result mattered because Kitchen arrived with a one-point edge over Cole Davies in the 250MX standings, and he backed that up with the fastest time of the day when the track turned slick and heavy rain made every lap a test of control.
Davies finished second in qualifying and Ryder DiFrancesco took third, with both riders under 1:57 on their best laps. That showed how competitive the class stayed even as the conditions grew worse across the three sessions. Chance Hymas placed fifth, keeping himself in the mix behind the front row of pace setters. Nate Thrasher, Julien Beaumer, Daxton Bennick and Michael Mosiman rounded out the top 12 in the 75-rider field, a group that had to fight through changing grip and deep mud just to find a clean lap. Kitchen’s result stood out because he handled the difficult surface without leaving room for anyone else to catch him over the full combined qualifying format.
450MX pace
Haiden Deegan led 450MX qualifying with a 1:54.734 lap, giving him the top spot in the premier class as Budds Creek turned into a mud race. Jett Lawrence finished second, RJ Hampshire was third and Hunter Lawrence took fourth, so the front of the board stayed stacked with the championship contenders and regular front-runners who know how to manage a rough track. The pace at the top was quick despite the rain, and Deegan’s time separated him from a group that kept pressure on each other through the session.
Hunter Lawrence’s fourth-place run also came with a penalty after he was docked for jumping on a Red Cross flag. That detail added another layer to a day already shaped by the weather and by the points chase near the top of the championship. Jett Lawrence entered the day with a 10-point lead over Hunter after Hunter’s DNF the previous week, so every position mattered as the riders moved toward the end of the season. The qualifying sheet showed how little room there is between the leading names in 450MX, with Deegan setting the pace and both Lawrence brothers still close enough to keep the title picture tight. Hampshire’s third-place effort also kept him in the conversation behind the top two spots.
Standings chase
The points races in both classes got another push from Budds Creek, where Kitchen and Jett Lawrence both protected their positions near the top of the standings. Kitchen’s pole in 250MX gave him an answer to Davies’ pressure, since he arrived at the round holding just a one-point lead over the rider who finished second in qualifying. In a muddy setting that punished mistakes, that margin gave every lap extra weight. Kitchen did what a title contender needs to do in a difficult session, he set the pace when the track was at its worst and left the rest of the field chasing.
The 450MX side carried a similar edge, with Jett Lawrence holding a 10-point cushion over Hunter Lawrence after Hunter’s DNF the previous week. That meant Hunter had to make up ground and avoid more damage at a round where rain made clean execution harder. Instead, Jett backed up his lead with a second-place qualifying run, while Hunter still landed inside the top four before the flag penalty came into the picture. With Budds Creek serving as the penultimate round of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, both classes moved one step closer to the finish with the front of the points tables still unsettled. The next round will decide who closes the season with control, but the qualifying results at Budds Creek already showed which riders handled the mud best when the pressure rose.
