Thunder Valley Motocross by the numbers: A new 450 winner will be crowned

The first Pro Motocross race held at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado in 2005 was swept by Ricky Carmichael in a season where he won all but two motos while James Stewart won there in a 2008 night race on his way to winning all 24 motos and those are some of the numbers highlighting the track’s 18 years. Through two rounds and four motos, Jett Lawrence has been perfect in 2023 and he looks to add to the history of Thunder Valley.

One thing is certain, Thunder Valley will have a new 450 winner this week as none of the active riders have won in this division. Jett has one win on this track, but it came in the 250 class last year over his brother Hunter Lawrence, who is also undefeated in overall victories so far in 2023.

The odds are good that Jett will be in the hunt for both moto wins. Thunder Valley was his fifth-best Motocross venue in 250s with a third-place average finish but three other riders who have swept the top five this season will have some to say about that. Dylan Ferrandis (third at Fox and second at Hangtown), Aaron Plessinger (with two fourths), and Cooper Webb (fifth and third) each have a pair of strong runs.

Ken Roczen leads the league with five wins over Ryan Dungey with four. Eli Tomac has three wins on his home track, but neither he nor Roczen will participate this week.

This weekend, the track will host a race for the 19th consecutive year, giving it the third-longest active streak. Only RedBud in Buchanan, Michigan and Spring Creek in Millville, Minnesota have longer streaks.

Supercross statistician Clinton Fowler points out that Honda has dominated the opening two rounds for the past two seasons. In 2023, they have won six motos in the combined classes compared to five in 2022. Honda has led