The first race of the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship took place on Saturday night in Anaheim, California, and as usual, it delivered plenty of superb racing. To get a better understanding of how everything went down, we sent questions to former pro and NBC on-track analyst, Jason Thomas.
The A1 track was pretty busy and had plenty of rhythm sections. What were some of the upsides, and downsides, of the track design?
It was a busy layout for the opener. We have seen basic designs at the opening round in the past but not so in 2026. We don’t often see rhythm sections that separate riders but we had two of those at A1. The triple-ons after the bridge sections (both, ironically) were difficult but also very key to lowering lap times. I love when layouts challenge the best of the best and A1 delivered.
It was sunny and there was consistent wind all afternoon, which dried out the track, especially during qualifying. What’s it like trying to set a fast lap in those conditions?
The dirt was one of the trickiest aspects of this round. Heavy rains leading up to the event kept the water trucks at bay leading up to race day. The heavy winds doubled down on the weird dirt as it went from soft and wet, to loose and slippery at different times for different sections. The dirt had a hard base but an incredible amount of loose dirt on top which is very challenging to find consistent grip on. Most of the mistakes were due to the dirt, not so much the obstacles themselves.
Further complicating some of the qualifying sessions were red flags. How does that affect your flow when you’re in the middle of trying to lay down heaters and then have to take a break? How do you stay in the zone?
It’s not a big deal in qualifying. It can even be a benefit as you have a moment to talk to your team, who has a broader perspective on where you may be losing time. You can immediately adjust your lines or approach instead of waiting to see it on film at the hauler. Of course no one wants to see a red flag because that means someone is down bad, but in a purely competitive framing, it’s not the worst thing.
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Tue Dec 16 Honda HRC Progressive Confirms Returning Roster for 2026 SMX Season There were a lot of riders on new teams and bikes at A1. Who were the big winners, and who has work to do?
A1 breeds uncertainty. New teams, new bikes, and changes to current bikes, even on the same team. These all create an atmosphere unique to the opener. Eli Tomac and Jorge Prado clearly showed their moves were the right ones. They immediately adapted and were fast all day and night.
Sexton had the toughest night but I would pump the brakes on any panic. He was incredibly fast in qualifying and got a great start in the heat race. I saw enough to know he will be very good. He needs to get out of his own head, though. He let one mistake turn into about 30, which is what he has to fight against.
Cooper Webb blasted Aaron Plessinger in their 450SX heat race. This isn’t something we normally see from Webb, especially in a heat race. What happened here?
This was an accident, pure and simple. Webb was trying to block Prado (I think) and protect the inside. He goosed it going into that righthand corner to make sure he wouldn’t get pushed out and lose important track position on the first lap. That aggression bit him and Plessinger both, though, as he didn’t anticipate Plessinger diving to the inside. He was also late to begin his braking process. So many racing dynamics boil down to riders anticipating each other’s actions. Ninety-nine percent of the time this all goes to plan and the average viewer is unaware of these well-orchestrated predictions. That other one percent looks like this particular incident and chaos reigns.
Haiden Deegan was pushing hard in the 250SX main after getting a horrible start, and in the final two laps he was closing fast on Ryder DiFrancesco. Did you think Deegan was going to catch DiFrancesco? Were you surprised that DiFrancesco was able to withstand the pressure at the very end?
I did think he was going to get Ryder D. He was charging and he’s so lethal late in any race. He made a couple of critical mistakes, though, and lost the forward progress he needed. Coming in, there were still questions about his level of dominance in SX versus MX. I can’t say this opening round silenced any of those. I still have him as the guy to beat, but his starts are too inconsistent to rule out more weekends like this.
Levi Kitchen started in dead, dead last and was able to charge to sixth, just two spots back of his main rival, Deegan. Was this a lost opportunity or was it great damage control?
I think it was both! Sixth is not the goal nor anywhere near it. But, crashes happen and he did a good job to mitigate the adversity. He also caught a break with Deegs’ result. Make no mistake though, to win this title he has to win races. He’s fast enough but championships can often come down to details and he is leaving points on the table accordingly.
What happened in the red flag situation in the 450SX main event when Justin Barcia tangled with Malcolm Stewart?
Those first laps are chaotic. There are so many riders in such tight confines. When something goes wrong, the likelihood of disaster jumps off the charts. Malcolm couldn’t jump the triple and when everyone behind you decides to jump anyway, things go from bad to catastrophic. Barcia came down right as Malcolm was cresting the landing of the triple and they collided. It could have been much worse for Malcolm but for Barcia, this was a near worst case scenario. He was immediately sent into an endo and onto his head. It looked as though he lost consciousness in that first impact as his body limply flipped and tumbled into the berm. If he was still alert post initial impact, you’d likely have seen a much less erratic flailing of arms and legs as he tightened up. This is speculation on my part, which is typically a bad idea, but I’ve seen about 10,000 crashes in this sport and feel confident in what I saw. This was a huge bummer all the way around.
Read the update on both Barcia and Stewart.
Barcia left the stadium on a stretcher. How hard is it for the rest of the field to go race hard again after seeing something like that happen?
It’s very difficult to push that out of your mind and focus. Riders have to be able to compartmentalize their fears and worries and go do what the job entails. That’s far easier said than done but it’s what is required.
Jorge Prado was a new man in Anaheim. He won his heat race and landed on the podium in the main event with a third place. From what you saw, do you think this is sustainable?
This was easily the story of the night for me. Sure, Tomac won and that’s amazing, but everyone knew he would be good, right? Prado’s performance was literally out of nowhere. I was like, ‘Whoa,’ when he threw up that fourth in the first session, but the heat race was full confirmation that he’s in a better place. His ability to hold off and eventually pull away from Jason Anderson in the main event further cemented his stance. I was, and am, speechless as to how much better he looks. If this was Pala, this would not be a surprise. To do this at A1 is the biggest shocker in quite a while for me.
Hunter Lawrence struggled to get by Jason Anderson for most of the 450SX main event, but late in the race he caught fire, went around Anderson, and nearly reeled in Prado before running out of time. How can this be explained?
He was very hesitant to put a definitive pass on Anderson, and for good reason. He and Jason have a history and it’s all bad news. Anderson would like nothing more than to put Hunter over a berm (not necessarily in a dirty way, just aggressive). Hunter knew he absolutely could not leave the door open and that changes the approach. If it were a different rider, he would have pressed much harder, earlier. It’s a tough dynamic to swallow when a podium was possible, but as Hunter told me on the SMX Insider post show, he knew the upside was a podium but the downside was being on the ground. He was trying to weigh both options in real time.
