Carson SMX Qualifying Report: Hunter Lawrence, Julien Beaumer Rebound

Sports admin September 19, 2026 0 Comments

Carson SMX Qualifying Report: Hunter Lawrence, Julien Beaumer Rebound

After a muddy SMX Playoff 1 event in Columbus last weekend, things returned to normal during qualifying at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday morning. The qualifying sessions in Carson marked the first qualifiers of the 2026 postseason and gave riders an opportunity to build momentum into the night show. On Friday, each division had a pair of free practice sessions once again. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Eli Tomac led the 450 field by four tenths over Columbus winner Haiden Deegan. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco led the way in the 250 class after a podium last weekend, just two tenths ahead of Julien Beaumer. In the SMX Next World All-Stars class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Carson Wood led the way ahead of Monster Energy Team Green Kawasaki teammates Kade Johnson and Vincent Wey.

450 Class

The first name at the top of the board on Saturday morning was Jorge Prado. The points leader ran a 51.7 in his first flying lap to start the party in Q1. Haiden Deegan destroyed the lap time, putting a 50.5 down just a few minutes into the session. He improved with a 50.0 and pushed the pace further after Prado got within a tenth of his original fast lap. Prado responded once again, running the first 49 second time of the weekend. Prado, Deegan and Hunter Lawrence sat within two tenths of each other as time expired in Q1.

Hunter Lawrence led the practice start to begin Q2, followed by Ken Roczen and RJ Hampshire. Lawrence led the times early until Deegan went to the top around the halfway mark, albeit four tenths slower than his Q1 lap. Lawrence continued to improve and took the session and overall lead with a 49.7. The time held up and Lawrence secured the fastest qualifying time to gain some much needed momentum after struggling at Columbus.

Hunter Lawrence-49.756
Jorge Prado-49.908
Haiden Deegan-50.008
Cooper Webb-50.289
Ken Roczen-50.405
Garrett Marchbanks-50.717
Justin Hill-50.724
RJ Hampshire-50.834
Eli Tomac-50.890
Malcolm Stewart-50.891

250 Class

The 250 wild card riders kicked off the morning sessions, with Pierce Brown leading the way. Brown eclipsed the best Friday times immediately, running a 52.0 to set the tone. Ryder DiFrancesco was the first rider in the 250 Seeded Q1 session to run a sub-52. Cole Davies followed suit a minute later until he was displaced by Julien Beaumer. It was close at the top in the first session, as the top ten sat within a second of each other. Beaumer’s 51.3 led the way with DiFrancesco’s 51.5 and Jo Shimoda’s 51.6 just behind.

Beaumer led the way once again at the practice start to begin Q2. Cole Davies returned to the top of the leaderboard early but Beaumer put down a lap that improved his Q1 benchmark. A 51.099 gave Juju more breathing room at the top and he improved by three thousandths before the checkered flag was displayed. DiFrancesco and Shimoda weren’t able to improve, but stayed in the top three.

*-denotes wild card rider

Julien Beaumer-51.096
Ryder DiFrancesco-51.574
Jo Shimoda-51.692
Chance Hymas-51.761
Levi Kitchen-51.809
Cole Davies-51.822
Drew Adams-51.877
Lux Turner-52.037
Pierce Brown*-52.060
Landen Gordon-52.100

SMX Next World All-Stars

Several riders held the top spot during the SMX Next World All-Stars qualifying sessions. Canada’s Dylan Rempel led the way early aboard his Quad Lock Honda. Rempel ran a 53.5 in the first session and sat just ahead of Columbus fastest qualifier Jesson Turner and Columbus race winner Kade Johnson until time expired, when Turner put a 53.0 on the board. Johnson led the majority of the second session, improving his time to a 53.1 as Ryder Malinoski put down a 53.3. Malinoski went quicker with a 53.0 but was six hundredths slower than his teammate’s Q1 lap. Johnson improved again and broke into the 52 second range during the final minute of qualifying. The time would stand, putting the #177 at the top of the leaderboard once more after his victory in Columbus.

Kade Johnson-52.799
Jesson Turner-53.027
Ryder Malinoski-53.092
McKayden Fitch-53.268
Wyatt Thurman-53.483
Dylan Rempel-53.513
Brennon Harrison-53.739
Landon Gibson-53.771
Kane Bollasina-53.902
Max Shane-54.160

250 Wild Card

It was a Club MX Yamaha 1-2 to begin the 250 wild card race, with Devin Simonson leading Max Anstie. Simonson led the field at the green flag but crashed after the first rhythm lane thanks to a small case and threw away his race. Anstie was held up by the crash, allowing Pierce Brown to take the lead. Brown checked out as Avery Long and Nick Romano started to duel for the final transfer spot. Romano got ahead of Long and gained more of a cushion after Long went down. The sophomore clipped Romano’s rear wheel and got up in eighth. Henry Miller started to gain ground on Romano and got to his rear wheel with a little over a minute to go. The two caught Marshal Weltin, creating a train of riders. Long also caught the group and put four riders under a blanket. Miller looked on the inside by the mechanic’s area with two to go but thought better of his move. On the final lap, Long jumped by Miller and tried desperately to find away into sixth, but couldn’t get by Romano. Brown took a commanding victory, getting some quality time on the track before the night show. Long, Miller, Simonson and Parker Ross failed to qualify, with Ross sitting out of the LCQ after a crash in the second session and subsequent concussion diagnosis.

Pierce Brown
Josh Varize
Max Anstie
Cameron McAdoo
Marshal Weltin
Nick Romano

450 Wild Card

During the second 450 wild card qualifying session, it was announced that Twisted Tea Suzuki’s Jason Anderson would sit out of the remainder of the day. A hand injury following his collision with Malcolm Stewart at Columbus contributed to the decision and narrowed the wild card race down to nine riders for five spots.

ISRT Kawasaki led the way around the first corner, with Vince Friese leading Cornelius Tondel to take the holeshot. Shane McElrath worked by both men to take the lead at the green flag, returning to the front after his wild card win in Columbus. The early battle for the final transfer spot was between Freddie Noren and Benny Bloss. Noren moved by Tondel to get some more insurance as Mitchell Harrison snuck by Bloss. Colt Nichols crashed in the sand and fell out of the transfer spots, shaking up the picture as Bloss moved by Tondel and Harrison in the split lane before the finish. Harrison slammed Tondel on the exit of a corner on the next lap, causing the Norwegian to roll the gap double. He ended clipping a tuff block and went down, dropping out of the transfer battle. Things calmed down as McElrath scored another wild card victory, with Harrison taking the final spot. Grant Harlan, Colt Nichols, Valentin Guillod and Cornelius Tondel were the four riders left out of the night show.