The opening race of the AMA Pro Motocross season kicked off at the Fox Raceway in Pala, California as the highly anticipated rivalry between generational talents Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan finally went down.
450 Class Race 1
Hunter Lawrence stole the show in Race 1 as he took an early lead from Spain’s Jorge Prado. The pair would hold their positions until the end of the race, with Justin Cooper making up the podium.
Both Lawrence and Deegan were swallowed up at the start of Race 1. However, the pair found themselves alongside each other while battling for 10th place. Both riders passed one another as they cut through the field, eventually finishing in 4th and 5th respectively with Jett taking the edge in their first 2026 meeting.
Eli Tomac was injured early after a collision with Marchbanks in the race and was transported as a result.
| Position | Rider | Team |
| 1. | Hunter Lawrence | Honda |
| 2. | Jorge Prado | KTM |
| 3. | Justin Cooper | Yamaha |
| 4. | Jett Lawrence | Honda |
| 5. | Haiden Deegan | Yamaha |
| 6. | R.J. Hampshire | Husqvarna |
| 7. | Chase Sexton | Kawasaki |
| 8. | Aaron Plessinger | KTM |
| 9. | Dylan Ferrandis | Ducati |
| 10. | Mikkel Harrup | Triumph |
250 Class Race 1
The first race of the 250 class was dominated by Kawasaki who finished 1-2 and almost swept the podium places were it not for a late charge from Cole Davies. In the inter-Kawasaki battle, a mistake from Seth Hammaker handed Kitchen the lead and eventually the race win while Davies managed to pass Nick Romano for third despite having a poor start out of the gate.
| Position | Rider | Team |
| 1. | Levi Kitchen | Kawasaki |
| 2. | Seth Hammaker | Kawasaki |
| 3. | Cole Davies | Yamaha |
| 4. | Jo Shimoda | Honda |
| 5. | Nick Romano | Kawasaki |
| 6. | Caden Dudney | Yamaha |
| 7. | Daxton Bennick | Husqvarna |
| 8. | Lux Turner | Yamaha |
| 9. | Nate Thrasher | Yamaha |
| 10. | Chance Hymas | Honda |