The Inevitable

You can’t win ‘em all, although for a while it sure seemed like Jett Lawrence could! His streak of overall wins came to its inevitable end at Washougal, however, where he was bested by Chase Sexton, who went 1-2 for the overall. The question now is, will Lawrence come roaring back to dominance, or will a reinvigorated Sexton be able to take his second overall win in a row? -Hansel

Career High

Garrett Marchbanks was very good at Washougal. In fact, he qualified fastest and earned his first career podium at the last race, going 3-4 for third overall. He did it the hard way too, fighting through multiple riders after starting outside of the top ten. Starts have been Marchbanks’ weak point his whole career, but if he manages to start well at Ironman, he’ll be in the hunt for his second career podium. -Hansel

Head Turner

Dilan Schwartz is another rider who had a fantastic outing at Washougal. He was at the top of the board for much of qualifying before ending up P2, and in the first moto he held third for most of the moto before Marchbanks got him at the end. A bad start in the second moto relegated him to 11th, and ultimately sixth overall, but all things considered, it was a remarkable day for Schwartz. We’ll see if he can put it all together again at Ironman. -Hansel  

Peak Jo

There’s no time like the present if you’re an avid Jo Shimoda fan! The Honda HRC Progressive rider has been phenomenal lately, and if not for a problem with his rear brake at Spring Creek, would probably have three consecutive wins (he won at RedBud and Washougal). With just three rounds left he’s 45 points back of Haiden Deegan, making the title a longshot, but if he keeps performing like he has been lately, he’ll be right where he needs to be if Deegan stumbles or has some bad luck. -Hansel

Improvement

Austin Forkner had a heck of a year in 2024, with a gnarly crash in supercross leading to the discovery of a brain aneurysm, which he had surgery to remove. Recovery from brain surgery is no joke and people have not always been so understanding as Forkner took longer than expected to get back up to speed. However, with eighth overall at Spring Creek and 5-5 moto scores for fifth overall at Washougal he seems to be finding his form again. Will Forkner continue this trend this weekend? -Sarah Whitmore