450 Storylines:
HUNTER LAWRENCE: (1st, 2-4-1) Retains points lead with his 2nd career 450SX Class victory & 26th SMX league victory, tying Ron Lechien and Jeremy Martin for 27th all-time. He also earned his milestone 100th SMX League top-5 finish, tying Mark Barnett for 39th all-time. It was Honda’s 1st 450SX Class Triple Crown win since Jett Lawrence at Indy in 2024. H. Lawrence did win the 2022 Glendale Triple Crown overall in the 250SX Class and won 2 Triple Crown races across his 250SX Class career.
ELI TOMAC: (2nd, 3-2-2) Nails his 109th 450SX Class podium, only 2 back from Jeremy McGrath in 2nd. Adds to his all-time records in SMX League podiums (238) & SMX League top-5’s (292). Sits 2nd in the points going into the break. Tomac just missed his 20th Triple Crown race win, a category he leads by 9 wins over the next closest, Cooper Webb (10).
COOPER WEBB: (3rd, 4-3-4) Moves up in all-time 450SX Class podiums, tying Mike LaRocco and Ken Roczen for 6th all-time with 81. It was his 125th SMX League podium, only 2 behind Marvin Musquin for 12th all-time. He also passes Roczen in the point standings for 3rd. Lastly, Webb snagged his 250th career SMX League top-10 finish in 279 starts (90%).
NOTES: Justin Cooper (4th, 5-1-5): 15th 450SX Class top-5 finish in 47 starts (32%). Ties Davi Millsaps in SMX League top-5 finishes for 32nd all-time (108/176, 61%). Earns his 1st 450SX Class Triple Crown race win & 2nd in his Supercross career (won race 3 in Glendale ’20). Ken Roczen (5th, 1-10-3): Earns 9th career 450SX Class Triple Crown race win (3rd all-time). Passes Kevin Windham for 4th on the all-time SMX League top-5’s list with his 235th (235/317, 74%) & passes him on the 450SX Class top-5 list with his 114th (114/171, 67%). Ties Jeff Ward for 11th on the all-time 450SX Class starts list. Christian Craig (8th, 10-8-10): Best 450SX Class finish since Detroit ’23. 15th career 450SX Class top-10 in 44 starts (34%).
450 Venue Notes:
- HISTORY LESSON: Alabama hosted five rounds of SMX League & AMA competition before last season’s Birmingham Supercross round, including in the first ever Pro Motocross season (1972). Talladega Speedway hosted the 450 Class finale and 8th round of the 500 Class that season with Gary Bailey (450, Bultaco) & Brad Lackey (500, Kawasaki) winning. The series returned to Talladega in 1973 with Gary Jones (450, Honda) & Pierre Karsmakers (500, Yamaha) winning.
- MORE ALABAMA RACIN’: In 1984, one season before the 250SX Class debuted, Talladega hosted Alabama’s first Supercross round with Jeff Ward (Kawasaki) scoring the victory. In 2004, the Women’s Motocross Championship made a stop for round 4 at Montgomery’s Monster Mountain. Tarah Gieger (Honda) scored 1-2 results for the win over eventual series Champion Jessica Patterson (3-1, Honda).
- RETURN TO ALABAMA: Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama opened in October 2021 but became the 64th different 450SX Class venue and 58th different 250SX Class venue in 2024. College Football’s University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers have used the stadium since it opened in 2021. Garth Brooks’ concert in 2022 is still the Stadium’s attendance record at 50,000, but 2024 & 2025 Supercross ranks as the 4th-5th biggest attendance in the stadium’s history.
- CHAMPIONSHIP %: Including all AMA competition, there have been 10 rounds of racing in Alabama (2 450 Pro Motocross, 2 500 Pro Motocross, 1 WMX, 3 450SX, and 2 250SX). 5/10 winners also won their respective Championships, including Jett Lawrence (450SX) and Tom Vialle (250SX) in Protective Stadium’s inaugural Supercross. Last season however, neither Birmingham Triple Crown Overall winner won their respective title (450SX: Chase Sexton, KTM & 250SX: Nate Thrasher, Yamaha).
250 East Storylines:
COLE DAVIES: (1st, 1-1-1) Scores his 3rd career 250SX Class victory & 5th 250SX Class podium in only 12 starts. He also steals the points lead & red plate from Pierce Brown who was handicapped by a 10th in Race 1. Davies has won 6/9 Triple Crown races in the 3 Triple Crown rounds competed in, but this was his 1st Triple Crown overall victory. Yamaha has won 11 of the last 15 250SX Class Triple Crown races, 6 straight Triple Crown races, and 4 straight Triple Crown overalls (across either Divisional). Both are Triple Crown records in either class.
JO SHIMODA: (2nd, 2-2-3) Collects multiple milestones in his runner-up finish: 130th SMX League start, 85th SMX League top-5 finish, and 35th 250SX Class top-5. Additionally, he nails his 13th 250SX Class podium. Though he is 4th in the points, he is only 2 points off the red plate, putting him right in the middle of the title fight.
SETH HAMMAKER: (3rd, 3-9-2) Overcame a 9th place finish in the 2nd race to earn a podium, the 12th in his 250SX Class career in 32 starts. It was also his 15th career SMX League podium in 68 starts.
NOTES: Daxton Bennick (4th, 4-4-7): Just misses out on a podium & sits only 9 points off the red plate in 5th place in the point standings. 8th top-5 in 18 250SX Class starts & 8th top-5 in milestone 40th SMX League start. Pierce Brown (5th, 10-3-4):Battles back from bad race 1 to salvage a 5th & only drop his red plate by 1 point to teammate Davies. 21st top-5 in 39 250SX Class starts. Devin Simonson (6th, 7-6-6):Best career 250SX Class & SMX League finish, sits 7th in the point standings.
250 West Storylines:
HAIDEN DEEGAN: Claims his 5 straight victory, the 1st athlete to win 5 straight 250SX Class rounds in the same season since Ryan Villopoto in 2007. His 12th 250SX Class win (35 starts) ties him with 5 former Champions: Brian Swink, Ernesto Fonseca, Eli Tomac, Hunter Lawrence, & Damon Huffman. Deegan also became the 25th athlete to win 30 career SMX League races (79 starts), tying David Bailey for 24th all-time.
LEVI KITCHEN: After a back-and-forth battle, Kitchen settles for his 3rd straight runner-up finish. He earned multiple milestones: 30th SMX League podium in 85th start, and 15th 250SX Class podium in 30th start. He sits 5th in the points 42 points off the red plate
MAX ANSTIE: Jumped on the podium for the 1st time since his win in the Western Divisional Opener. Earned his 10th 250SX Class podium in 45th 250SX Class start and has that many podiums in 115 SMX League starts. Is 2nd in the points, but 35 points off the red plate.
NOTES: Ryder DiFrancesco (4th): Moves into 4th in the point standings with his 7th top-5 finish in 18 250SX Class starts. Has 9 top-5’s in his milestone 65 SMX League starts. Cameron McAdoo (5th): Ties Christian Craig for 25th on the all-time 250SX Class starts list with his 58th. His 30th 250SX Class top-5 finish ties him with Stephane Roncada, Tim Ferry, & Cole Seely for 13th on the all-time list. Michael Mosiman (6th): Rounds out a top-3 point standings sweep for Star Yamaha, nailing his 48th 250SX Class top-10 (16th all-time) & 81st SMX League top-10 finish in his 64th 250SX Class start (19th all-time) & milestone 120th SMX League start.
250 Venue Notes:
- THE BEGINNING: The 1st 250SX Class Showdown, then called “Combined Mains”, was on April 20, 1985, at the Houston Astrodome in the 1st season of 250SX Class racing. Eastern Divisional athlete Eddie Warren (Kawasaki) won en-route to the 1st ever Eastern Divisional title. Western Divisional Champion Bobby Moore (Suzuki) struggled to a 16th, the worst finish of his title run. From 1985-1996 there were 31 Combined Mains before the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shoot-outs began in 1997.
- EAST/WEST: Starting in 1997, the series ended points-paying Combined Mains and instead held an exhibition round in Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium inviting the top athletes from each Divisional. They ran like a normal Supercross round alongside the 450SX Class. Kevin Windham (Yamaha, Western Divisional Champ) scored the victory over teammate John Dowd (Eastern Divisional 5th-place finisher). These races continued every year through 2015, with 19 total exciting Shoot-outs. From 2011-2014, the Shoot-outs used points-paying finales for each Divisional that qualified athletes into a Shoot-out. The final Wrinkle was bringing back points-paying Shoot-outs, now being called “Showdowns” in 2016.
- SHOWDOWNS: The 1st points-paying Showdown since St. Louis ’96 was on May 7, 2016 in Las Vegas, and featured the 1st ever Showdown that was also a finale for both Divisionals. Both titles were decided with Malcolm Stewart (3rd, Honda) & Cooper Webb (11th, Yamaha) finishing in title clinching positions. With Joey Savatgy (Kawasaki) winning, Webb’s path was a little more difficult after some early misfortune. He needed a 12th or better to tie (he would have won the tie breaker) or 11th to win outright. 2018-’19 marked the 1st time since ’96 where there were multiple Showdowns & 2025 was the 1st season since ’96 where there were at least 3, and that number continues into 2026.
- STAPLE OF THE CLASS: Fans circle Showdowns on the calendar since they have been brought back officially in 2016, and adding a 3rd made sense to give each Division 10 rounds of racing. Overall, Birmingham will be the 49th points-paying East/West Showdown & the 68th Showdown when including the Dave Coombs Sr. non points-paying Shoot-outs from ’97-’15. Last year, the Western Divisional won 2 of the Showdowns (Philly: Cole Davis, Yamaha & Salt Lake: Haiden Deegan, Yamaha) while the Eastern Divisional won Indy (Seth Hammaker, Kawasaki).