Race Report: Chase Sexton and Levi Kitchen Triumph at Unadilla

Round 9 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship at the ELF Unadilla MX National in New Berlin, NY, encountered a significant hurdle as Hurricane Debbie drenched the area with heavy rain. Despite the downpour on Friday during Press Day, the track crew's diligent efforts earlier in the week to seal the surface paid off. Instead, what could have been a muddy disaster turned into a prime racing venue. The track performed exceptionally well throughout Saturday, providing a thrilling day of racing. Here’s a recap of the action at Unadilla, complete with quotes from the podium finishers during the post-race press conference, the overall results, and the updated points standings.

450MX

The day kicked off with Aaron Plessinger from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing taking the holeshot, closely followed by Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence and Plessinger’s teammate Chase Sexton. Lawrence quickly overtook Plessinger after the mechanics' area to grab the lead. Sexton then made his move, passing Plessinger for second place and setting his sights on the leader. The battle between Hunter and Sexton was fierce, with both riders trading the lead multiple times. The decisive moment came when Lawrence capitalized on Sexton’s missed tear-off over the Skyshot, reclaiming the lead and holding it for the rest of the moto. Lawrence was resilient, securing the moto 1 victory on the debut of the 2025 CRF450R.

In the second moto, Sexton was unstoppable, nailing the holeshot and rapidly pulling away from the field. His dominance was evident as he built a massive lead, leaving the competition in his wake. In his return to the series, Progressive Insurance/ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen made his presence felt by moving up to second place early on during the second moto. However, fatigue set in, allowing Dylan Ferrandis to snatch second while Jason Anderson and Lawrence engaged in a fierce battle for position behind them. Lawrence’s relentless pursuit paid off as he made a late-race pass on Ferrandis, securing second place and impacting the final podium standings. After a terrible start in the race, Plessinger made his way through the pack to move into 4th by the end, solidifying him third overall on the day.

Chase Sexton’s impressive performance earned him his fourth consecutive overall win. The championship battle now sees Sexton with a 28-point lead over Lawrence, with only four motos remaining.

Chase Sexton, 1st Place: ”To be honest, I was just really excited to get a holeshot (In the second moto). We made some adjustments to the bike, and it really paid off. I wanted to show my sprint speed because I've been working on it a lot the last three weeks. With a track like this, you have to be on your toes the whole moto, not slack off too much, but not over-ride it because it can bite you. The second Moto, I really tried to ride more like myself and be more free on the bike. That seems to be the tale for me this year.”

Hunter Lawrence, 2nd Place: “The new bike is amazing—handling is a lot better, and it's something we're all really proud of. It was good to get back to feeling like myself, being strong for both motos. The second Moto, I was in the fight all race long. You have to be patient out there, especially on a tough track where passing is difficult.”

Aaron Plessinger, 3rd Place: “This is what you dream of when you're a kid—getting consecutive podiums like this is awesome. That last lap (in the second moto), I didn’t really know where I was going to get [Anderson], but when he came up on a lapper, I pinned it up, we made contact, and I got around him. It felt like they held the gate for so, so long in the second Moto. I was almost about to let off, then the gate dropped. Man, it's been crazy to see all the fans. It's awesome. They show out, and I try to bring the best out of them, and they bring the best out of me.”

250MX

The first moto saw Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates Levi Kitchen and Ty Masterpool taking control early. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle's race quickly turned sour due to a costly mistake that dropped him out of contention on the first lap. Team Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas started in that third-place position, and in those opening laps, it was he who made his mark, passing Masterpool quickly and then Kitchen to build an impressive lead. But disaster struck for Hymas as he crashed hard, losing the lead and shaking up the race. This left Kitchen and championship leader on the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team, Haiden Deegan, who started around the fifth place position, to battle for the top spot. Deegan eventually made a strong pass to secure the lead in the later stages and would go on to win the moto. Kitchen did indeed keep the pressure on but had to settle for second place in the moto, with Deegan’s teammate Max Anstie taking the final podium position.

In the second moto, Kitchen came out swinging, grabbing the holeshot and pulling away early, much like Chase Sexton did in the 450MX class. Kitchen’s smooth and consistent riding kept him at the front while his closest competitor in the moto, Team Honda HRC’s Joe Shimoda, faced challenges. Shimoda was in pursuit of Kitchen for a majority of the moto but suffered a tip-over, ending his chances of catching and potentially passing Kitchen. Deegan, who was in third, moved up to second but couldn’t close the gap on Kitchen. With a 2-1 finish, Kitchen secured the overall win, his second career overall win in the Pro Motocross series and his second victory in the last three rounds.

Deegan extended his points lead to 70, putting him in a prime position to clinch the championship as the series heads to Budds Creek next weekend. One of the day’s standout stories was Jalek Swoll’s podium finish, marking the first-ever podium for the Triumph Factory Racing team and machine in the United States during their debut year.

Levi Kitchen, 1st Place: "After Washougal, I took it more as like I needed a break... I pretty much fished for like two weeks and golfed, and then, yeah actually didn’t really ride much at all, but that kind of recharged my batteries and made me excited to go racing again. I want to win every time... I mean, once we got the white flag (during the first moto), yeah, I went into like, 'Alright, next moto, we’ll see who gets it. From here on out, I just want to try to replicate it like I did today, and that’s the goal.”

Haiden Deegan, 2nd Place: Deegan was not present for the press conference after the race due to feeling under the weather and left early.

Jalek Swoll, 3rd Place: "I’ve been close a lot this year... getting it out of the way and getting out of here with a good result is awesome... the track was pretty gnarly and, yeah, next weekend try to follow it up with another good result. For us, you know, we just got to show up, and obviously, we have a good setup and a good bike, but you just never know... racing while learning, I guess, is the toughest part. I’ve found myself in a lot of positions where I could make a podium happen... I’ve always been close which has kind of just driven me all year."