2023 Washougal Motocross Photo Gallery

2023 Washougal Motocross Recap

Hordes of fans braved hot and dusty conditions for Round 8 of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship series on Saturday at Washougal MX Park in Washougal, WA to watch one phenom continue to run away in the 450 class and another to make it a series in the 250 class.

Maybe getting in one last hurrah before the country descends into madness next year. Kidding. Sort of. Lots of people though. Perhaps the most ever? Does anyone really have an accurate count? The widely sought after MotoSport Washougal t-shirt (with the track map on the back) sold out mid-morning. We will order more next year. Granted a number of fans bought the shirt during amateur racing in the days leading up to the big show, overall the MotoSport booth was busy.

A surprising number of people paying cash gives us hope that the coming digital currency faces some resistance but sorry for those turned away. So, here's the deal about that. Yes, it's way easier to pay by card using the machine that does everything, than calculate sales tax, collect cash and rummage through a box looking for the necessary change to give back. If we even had it. Plus, we'd have to carry around all the cash!

Enough of that, off to the races!

Haiden Deegan killed it. He grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot in Moto 1 and never looked back. Well, maybe he did but only to see who was approaching and how far back. His main foe in Hunter Lawrence started outside the Top 5 but worked his way up to second and appeared ready to take the lead. But Deegan was having none of it and held on for the checkers.

It was Moto 2 where he shined even brighter. Crossing the Holeshot in third, dropping a spot during the opening lap before getting back to third, Deegan was mostly forgotten as hometown favorite Levi Kitchen (8-3) and Justin Cooper battled with Cooper in the lead and fighting off some Kitchen aggression. Lawrence, who was pulling away from the field in the standings earlier this season before a crash and bike malfunction negated up to 50 possible points and handed the lead to Deegan for one round before grabbing the points lead again last week, looked to get by Deegan with the overall hanging in the balance. But Lawrence slid out dropping his bike around the 19 minute mark falling to fifth, then the stirring movie music cued.

Deegan rolled up on Kitchen and got around him halfway through the Moto and the rookie slowly reeled in Cooper. With the patience of a veteran, Deegan passed Cooper with about 80 seconds on the clock remaining and quickly put a five second cushion on Cooper a lap later. Deegan posted his fastest race time near the end of the Moto, four seconds faster than everyone else at the stage, notched the first 250 class sweep this year as well as his first career sweep.

"Those last few laps I put my heart into this thing," Deegan said. "It's nerve racking and I'm sure it's nerve racking for Hunter too. He's supposed to be winning these things. I'm glad I can put the American up front for all the fans."

Deegan (1-1) pulls to within three points of Lawrence, who finished third overall on a (2-4) day, in the standings. Cooper (3-2) took second overall and still has a shot at the title being 19 points back of Lawrence jumping from fifth to third in the standings.

2023 Motocross 250 Class Standings after Round 8

Hunter Lawrence - 300
Haiden Deegan - 297
Justin Cooper - 281
RJ Hampshire - 274
Jo Shimoda - 269

450 Class

The only excitement in the 450 class occurred in Moto 2 when a gate malfunction forced an immediate Red Flag. For those who stayed that long (if you've never been, it takes HOURS to get in the park and HOURS to get out of the park depending on what time you arrive or leave) they got to see and hear the rumbling ecstasy of the Holeshot twice. Make that the MotoSport.com Holeshot.

Jett Lawrence continued his domination in the depleted field winning both Motos and making mincemeat of his competition. The undefeated streak continues and outside of a crash or mechanical Lawrence appears headed for only the fourth undefeated season in history, even if a round short, as this year's newly created SuperMotocross Championship took one round away from the Outdoor season. Lawrence's primary competition comes from Chase Sexton who took second overall on a (2-2) day. Sexton has finished second to Lawrence in nine of the 10 Motos raced this season as he missed three rounds from injury and illness. His attempt at interrupting the undefeated season in Moto 2 ended with about 90 seconds left on the clock when he went down in the â€œSâ€? turn. The chase was over.

Lawrence holds a 95 point lead over Dylan Ferrandis (3-5) who finished fourth overall on the tie-breaker to Jason Anderson whose (4-4) day gave him third. Two more race wins clinches the championship for Lawrence the next time out at Unadilla. TWO ROUNDS EARLY.

Carson Brown wearing the newly unveiled RDRCO riding gear from MotoSport won the 2-stroke challenge along with a $15,000 purse filled by MotoSport, MotoMeme and Jettson Donuts. Brown persevered through a bought of heat stroke in Moto 2 and finished 21st overall on a (18-21) day.