As for the premier class, Cooper Webb has been on quite a roll. In the last six rounds the two-time champion has won three times and finished second three times. This Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider has always been known as a closer, so his 15-point lead with eight races to go puts Coop in the driver’s seat for this championship. Chase Sexton is next closest, and then it’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen 26 down. We’ve seen six different winners in this class, but Webb has been on the podium seven times and top-five in every round—he’s winning the series in the races he loses by minimizing mistakes and thinking about the points as much as the wins, and it’s working for him. Webb is also the first rider in any of the three classes to get to three wins on the season.

Supercross is not the only racing happening this weekend. The FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) runs for the second week in a row with the MXGP of Europe at the St. Jean D’Angely circuit in France. More on that below. And down under the FIM Oceania Women’s Cup is up for grabs between four different teams: the home team Australia, New Zealand, FIM Africa, and AMA Team USA. The five riders representing Team USA are Jamie Astudillo, Jordan Jarvis, Kyleigh Stallings, Lachlan Turner, and Mikayla Nielsen. They all competed in the 2024 Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship last season and will be doing likewise this summer when the girls race the featured Friday afternoon races in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. We’re fortunate to have our friend Steve Hall, an Australian moto journalist and the host of the Outside Gate Podcast, living nearby and he offered to help the Team USA girls out as best he could. He’s providing Racer X with updates and photos, which you will be seeing mixed in with our Brimingham SX and MXGP of Europe coverage. And make sure you follow along with @ama_womensmxteam, @racewmx, and @fim_oceania for up-to-date coverage. And you can visit FIM-MOTO.TV for live streaming motos and times. Good luck to Mikayla, Kyleigh, Jordan, Jaime, and “LaLa” and bring that Oceania Cup home!

No Room for Error (Jason Weigandt)

Since Chase Sexton won the Glendale Triple Crown race on February 1, Cooper Webb has outscored him by 25 points over the next five races. Webb was 10 points behind Sexton leaving Arizona, he’s now 15. Momentum is on Webb’s side, but, I do not think, with eight races still to go, this is even close to over. Sexton has this tendency to win races early in the supercross season, go through a mid-season slump, then start winning again at the end of the year. I asked SMX statistician Clinton Fowler to look that up, and his data supports it: Sexton has 11 career supercross wins. Of those, only one has ever taken place in the middle eight rounds of the season, and that one win was actually handed to him when Aaron Plessinger crashed out of the lead in Detroit with a lap to go in 2023. That’s Sexton’s only “mid-season" win. The other 10 have come in the early or late rounds.

So, if you’re a Sexton fan, there’s plenty of time. The 15-point deficit isn’t much, with a win or two he gets this within 10 with a few races to go and it’s well within range, even factoring in Webb’s usual consistency.

That’s the positive side. The other side? Jason Thomas and I discussed it in this week’s episode of SMX Insider. The 15-point gap is manageable but Sexton has zero room for error now. Ken Roczen experienced that in Indy. He got tangled in the first turn, didn’t quite feel 100 percent, and finished seventh. Roczen was tracking as a title contender even with his Tampa DNF, but he couldn’t afford a single bad race, and that Indy seventh leaves him 26 points out of the lead now. That’s the worry for Sexton. One bad race and it gets really dicey. He can get back in this, but he’ll have to be nearly perfect. We’ll see how that works out over the next few weeks.

#54: Two Unfortunate Streaks Continue (DC)

The week started with the unfortunate news that Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha rider Jett Reynolds crashed while practicing last Friday and suffered a broken leg. It was the latest in a long line of setbacks for the winningest minicycle rider in the history of the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Reynolds, who hails from Bakersfield, California, has been racked by injuries since even before he turned pro. As a matter of fact, he's never been able to put in a full 250SX supercross season without injury, going back to 2021 when he got hurt on press day to start the season.  

There's another streak that continues, though one that doesn't involve Jett Reynolds alone. He's wearing #54 this season, and as we mentioned after the Indianapolis SX, when #56 finally got a win thanks to Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Seth Hammaker, the #54 has never been affixed to a motorcycle that won an AMA Supercross or Motocross in any of the classes, the lowest number to have never won. This strange little bit of trivia goes back to 1972, the first year of AMA Pro Motocross. The closest anyone has ever come was back in 1992, the second year of the Pro Circuit team, when they raced Honda CR125s and #54 Mike Brown finished second at the Pontiac SX in the Silverdome. 

And in case you missed it, you can check out Eric Johnson's interview with Hammaker about winning again after nearly four years. 

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

While most of the supercross paddock took a much-needed moment to breathe, I headed off to Spain for round two of MXGP. Unfortunately for everyone in attendance, mother nature didn't cooperate with plans for a great weekend of racing. Rain was the steady theme leading up to and through the weekend, leaving everything about Castilla La Mancha water-logged. The paddock was flooded, the track was in various states of disarray, and everyone else was left to force a smile. Motocross is an all-weather sport, though, and the racing went on as planned. Credit to the track crew for doing everything in their power to work a miracle but the rain was just relentless. In the end, Tim Gajser and Liam Everts put on a clinic, each dominating their classes—especially in race two. They say that mud is the great equalizer, but Gajser may have debunked that theory as the series favorite was untouchable on Sunday.

Back stateside, sunshine abounds here on Friday at Birmingham and smiles resonate. It's amazing what a weekend off can do for the body and mind and the same can ring true for racing performance. Let's see how the "second half" of this series looks after everyone got to reset and regroup.

That Rain in Spain (DC)

As he mentioned above, Everts won the second MX2 moto last Sunday by one minute, 21 seconds, and he did it just six months after he broke his neck at the '24 season-ending MXGP of China. In the MXGP class, Honda HRC's Gajser put on a masterclass in mud-riding, winning both motos as well as taking over the points lead from Maxime Renaux, who had a lousy day in the mud. For Gajser, it was his 50th win, putting him in a tie with Joel Robert for fifth on the all-time Grand Prix wins list.

But the more interesting story may have been the fact that two Fantic riders—Glenn Coldenhoff and Andrea Bonacorsi—finished on the overall podium in MXGP. And in the second moto a third Fantic rider, Brian Bogers, finished fourth, giving Fantic riders 2-3-4 finishes in the moto!

Fantic wasn't the only boutique Italian brand to have a great day in the rain in Spain. In the first EMX125 race of the season Jarne Bervoets, the son of former Belgian Grand Prix star Marnicq Bervoets, won on a Yamaha YZ125 but finishing second and third overall were TM riders Niccolo Manini and Ricardo Pini, both Italian prospects.  

Not doing so hot were the two Ducati riders in MXGP, Jeremy Seewer and Mattia Guadagnini. After a great start to their season in much drier Argentina, they struggled to 14th and 15th overall finishes in Spain.

MXGP continues this weekend with its third round in St. Jean D'Angely, France, in what's called the MXGP of Europe. 

Triumph '26 (DC)

Triumph's 2026 is already starting to take shape as Jalek Swoll, a charter team member and the man who gave the British brand its first AMA podium last year at Unadilla, has signed a contract extension for next season. Swoll was injured just before the start of the start of the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, dropping out with an Achilles tendon injury. He hopes to be back at the races sometime this summer. According to Triumph team manager Jeremy Coker, "The team is really excited to extend its partnership with Jalek. During the pre-season he was on track to show people what he’s capable of so it was really unfortunate that he got injured. Looking forwards, this new extension through to the end of 2026 with Jalek staying on the TF 250-X gives him plenty of time to fully recover and get back to racing when he’s 100 percent. Rehab of his Achilles injury is on track, but it’s something that you can’t really rush and at this stage we’re hopeful he’ll be back for the second half of Pro Motocross. Then together we can look forward to a full season of SMX next year. Overall, everyone involved is excited to have Jalek continue racing with us and I’m looking forward to seeing him back in action.”

Meantime, Triumph scored their first win of the whole dirt bike project when Jordon Smith topped the 250 class at the Glendale Triple Crown race.

Swoll and Another Achilles (Weigandt)

Davey mentioned Jalek Swoll above. I talked to him this week. Jalek tore that Achilles downsiding a jump he had done hundreds of times at the Triumph test track. He didn’t come up short or long. He did the same thing he’d always done, and bam, it snapped.

“I went to Tomac’s guy, the doctor he used in Vail, and I asked him, ‘Dude what did I do? No soreness, nothing, and now I’m out.’ And he said, ‘I’ve seen people tear theirs stepping off a curb.’”

This sport has seen virtually zero Achillies tears at the pro level for nearly 50 years, and now in the last two we’ve seen quite a bit. Jalek knows it could be random, but there also could be an explanation.

“I’ve ran through it in my head a few times,” Swoll says. “I feel like before, before the Lawrences came on and were so good with their technique, the emphasis was just go as fast as you can whatever way you want to do it. Since the Lawrences, I think everyone is focused on riding more efficient. Everyone has slid their feet back onto their toes. And I feel like maybe if you didn’t grow up riding that way, you don’t have that muscle memory, your body works a little bit harder at it. You’re forcing yourself to do it and you’re not used to it, and maybe that’s what puts the stress on the Achillies. Because I feel like now more than ever you’re seeing everyone try to ride proper. I don’t know what you can pinpoint it on, but to me that makes the most sense. I don’t know. It could be random.”

Check out my full interview with Jalek, who is a great personality. He talks about having to use his racing money to support his family, the evolution of his Triumph team, and going to one race this year, in Tampa, and watching long-time friend and supporter Malcolm Stewart win. Jalek is going to Birmingham this weekend. We’ll find out if he’s Malcolm’s good luck charm!

Also, we can probably now add Achilles tears to other injuries/illnesses that have trended in moto, like broken naviculars, arm-pump-surgery-gone-wrong, Epstein-Barr virus…

SMX Next Preview (Mitch Kendra)

This weekend will be the third SMX Next – Supercross qualifying round for the top A and B amateur supercross riders in the country. With just one more qualifying round remaining after this weekend’s Birmingham race—the final qualifying race being the Foxborough SX in early April—riders will only have one more opportunity to get into the championship finale in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in late April. The way the program works is there are no championship points and the top five finishers from each qualifying main event will be slotted into the 25-rider championship finale. The winner of the finale is the National Champion.

Alex Fedortsov was leading in the last SMX Next round in Daytona but suffered a DNF after getting a rear flat tire. That opened the door for Landen Gordon to take his second main event win of the season. Gordon’s two wins do not mean anything in terms of the winner-takes-all championship finale at the end of April, but race wins do bring confidence. Enzo Temmerman has been rolling out front too, with two straight P2 finishes. And last-minute entry Jesson Turner got into the Daytona round as an alternate...and landed third place, finishing on the podium! There are lots of fast riders in the field, but the big question is, can Fedortsov have that speed this weekend or was it a Daytona specific thing? In our latest Racer X round table video, Travis Delnicki and Cody Darr joined me to discuss the Daytona round, the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Daytona Supercross (RCSX), and preview Saturday’s Birmingham round. Check out our full preview video below!

2025 Husqvarna FC250 Rockstar Edition (Kris Keefer)

Simon Cudby and I ventured out to (you guessed it) Glen Helen Raceway to accept our 2025 Husqvarna FC 250 Rockstar Edition. With the rain we had in Southern California it made for great track conditions and a good test day. Sometimes these new half year model "Editions" aren't that much more money considering what you're getting over the standard models. The MSRP is only $1,200 more for the Rockstar Edition 250 than the standard FC 250. This doesn't mean that your local dealership won't scoot that price up but at least some manufacturers aren't skyrocketing prices for these updates special editions. I brought in over 60-year-old Dr. Gardner Tarlow with me to see what he thought of the new white Husqvarna. There is a new batch of old dudes flocking towards 250cc four strokes from the standpoint of they can actually ride the bike instead of the other way around when it comes to 450s. Does this new Hampshire-ish Husqvarna make for a good buy? Watch the incoming Racer X Films test we did in the next few days!

Hey, Watch It!

FULL MOTO! Eli Tomac DOMINATES field by 90 seconds | 2015 Hangtown 450 Moto 2

Want to see a real mudder? Check out last weekend's MXGP in Spain, by Jaume Solar:

Jalek Swoll on Achilles Injury, Technique in Racing | Jason Weigandt's Exhaust Podcast