1. Hunter Gets It Done
It was not a matter of if, but when Hunter Lawrence would get his maiden 450 supercross win, and it finally happened in Arlington's AT&T Stadium; the same place he got his first 250SX win. Not only did he get the win, but he did it in impressive fashion, battling all three of his closest championship rivals. The win surely puts an end to whatever doubt was left about the legitimacy of Hunter's title chances. Hunter Lawrence has arrived in 450SX and is filling the void of his brother Jett to the highest level. The biggest question now is whether this win leads Lawrence to more. Can he begin to take control of this championship?
2. Pierce Brown's Redemption Tour
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Yamaha's Pierce Brown led the 2025 250SX East Division opener until a violent crash ended not only his night but his entire 2025 season. Pierce broke his T5 vertebrae, which was later complicated by an infection. His injury may have gone a bit under the radar, but his future as a racer was genuinely in question at one point. This weekend in Arlington, Brown got his redemption in the sweetest way. He qualified P1, and in the main event, got himself into the lead after the "light gate" and never looked back. He withstood immense pressure from Jo Shimoda without cracking to claim the first supercross win of his career. Despite what your opinion of the light situation may be, it should not take away from this incredible comeback story.
3. Red Light/Red Flag Gate
Typically, two first-time winners would be enough to steal headlines for the week following a race, but Hunter Lawrence and Pierce Brown's victories are being overshadowed by the lack of penalties that were handed out after the race. During the 250SX main event, Jo Shimoda forfeited the lead when he rolled the finish line and double before it because he noticed the red light was on. Behind Shimoda, Pierce Brown and Daxton Bennick jumped through the section, which allowed Brown to move into the lead. Video evidence after the race showed that Bennick and Brown both jumped with the lights on, yet no penalties were handed out. On Monday, the AMA released a statement claiming, "the presence of the warning light alone does not prohibit riders from executing jumps unless accompanied by additional flag signals or directives indicating otherwise." Therefore, Dax and Pierce were ruled to be within compliance of the rules.
In the 450 Class, there was a red cross flag being "displayed" on the finish line, not necessarily waved. Hunter Lawrence noticed the flag and rolled the finish while Tomac, Roczen, and Webb jumped. In that same statement by the AMA, no penalties were handed out because "riders were already committed to the jump without a visible warning light to reasonably signal the restricted condition prior to takeoff."
This has understandably stirred up quite a controversy. Honda HRC progressive released a statement of their own following the official ruling.
"The team, Honda management, and I are absolutely infuriated that there was not more done in this situation after what has happened to us in the past for the same things. I am very disappointed with this decision, and we will be fighting hard to have it overturned," said Team Manager Lars Lindstrom.
Regardless of your stance on this, it is unlikely any of these riders jumped with the intent to gain an advantage, knowing they may have been putting somebody else in danger. The AMA is in a sticky situation, and there is an obvious disconnect between the riders and the rulebook. Stay tuned.
4. Round One Hero?
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Daxton Bennick is now three for three in podium finishes at the opening round of his 250SX divisional championship. Bennick had an up-and-down day in Arlington. He qualified 12th in the first qualifying session but rebounded to P3 in the second session. Then he had a mediocre heat race but rebounded again to finish third in his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna debut race. Finishing on the podium in every opening round is a great stat for the resume, but what is not a great stat is that those three podiums are the only three podiums of his career. Dax has had his share of injuries through the first two years of his pro career, but he has also underperformed past round one. Is the switch back to the Austrian bike he spent his amateur career with the switch he needs to be a contender week in and week out?
Related: Daxton Bennick Has 3 Consecutive Opening Round Podiums, What About the Rest of His 250SX Races?
5. Cole Davies is Still Great
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Cole Davies shocked the supercross world in 2025. A relatively unknown amateur from New Zealand, Davies got a factory ride and showed an elite skill set and mindset that got him two 250SX wins in his rookie season. With that comes expectations for 2026. Davies came into Arlington as one of the championship favorites, but after missing most of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship from his injuries suffered at the SX finale in Salt Lake City and then suffering a thumb injury in the Monster Energy SMX World Championship Playoffs, there was some talk of a potential sophomore slump. Davies put that theory to rest as he was as good as ever. He was the first rider in either class to jump the quad out of the rhythm lane before the whoops, and his whoops speed was the best of any rider in either class. Unfortunately, in the main event, Cole locked bars with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Seth Hammaker going into the first turn and started a massive pile-up. Davies made an impressive charge back to fifth and is going to be a genuine problem throughout the 250 East Championship.
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Chase Sexton needed an A2-esque performance in Arlington, not just to keep his championship hopes alive, but to have some peace of mind that all is well at his new team. Sexton was more competitive in qualifying than he has been in recent weeks, but at the end of the night, he could only manage a sixth in the main event. Chase continues to struggle with his starts. This weekend he came around lap one in 15th but managed to get up to sixth by lap nine. From there, he rode around in no man's land. The top four were long gone, but the concerning part was his inability to close in on Justin Cooper for fifth. It is going to be interesting to see where Sexton's supercross season goes from here. Do a preseason title favorite's goals and approach shift after one podium in the first seven races?
7. Roczen Almost Rebounds
Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki Team’s Ken Roczen came into Arlington looking to gain back the points he lost in last weekend's get-together with Hunter Lawrence. Roczen stole the lead from Cooper Webb early in the main event and led the first 17 laps. He fended off several counters from Webb, and once Hunter Lawrence moved into second, Kenny fended off several attacks from him as well. The two went back and forth a few times throughout the race. Once Lawrence made the pass stick, it was not long before Ken was swallowed up by Tomac and Webb, which put him off the podium and extended his points deficit to 18. After the race, Roczen explained that he had gotten progressively more ill throughout the week, and it caught up to him 15 minutes into the main event. With that said, his ride in Arlington was solid, but the mid-season illness does raise concern going forward.
8. Shimoda Surprises
After suffering a broken vertebra in late November, early reports were that Jo Shimoda would likely miss all of the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross. As his recovery progressed, the timing of his return got bumped up to " we'll see both of them back in supercross at some point.” But on the Monday before Arlington, Honda made a surprise announcement that Jo would be returning for the 250SX East Opener. He may have had just a handful of days of supercross prep, and he admitted his fitness is not where it should be, but you would never have known based on his Arlington performance. The race will forever be overshadowed by whether he was robbed of the win, but in the bigger picture, just being on the gate in Arlington was a win itself. After Arlington, Shimoda's expectations will surely shift from "lucky to be here" to "win championship" as the series heads into Daytona.
9. Dudney's Debut
Another surprise on the entry list was Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rookie Caden Dudney. Dudney, along with his two amateur teammates Landon Gordon and Kayden Minear, have proven to be three of the most elite amateurs through the first two rounds of SMX Next, and it was almost expected that one of them would turn professional for Arlington. After an impressive A2, Dudney followed that up with a win in Houston and became the chosen one. He impressed, qualifying fourth overall (out of the 250 B group) and then grabbing the holeshot in his heat in his first professional gate drop. After getting passed by his teammate Cole Davies, Caden showed he is not intimidated by the seasoned pros, getting into a back-and-forth battle with his other teammate Nate Thrasher and Triumph's Jalek Swoll. In the main event, Dudney was collected in the first-turn pileup but made his way up to 13th. All in all, it was a solid debut for the 16-year-old kid who did not know he was turning pro until Monday before round one!
10. Jordon Smith's 450 Debut
Arlington was also the debut of Jordon Smith's 450 career. Smith had a delayed start to the season due to his shoulder injury suffered at the SMX Finals in Las Vegas. The injury turned out to be more significant than expected and required surgery. Smith got back to riding about six weeks ago and was only back on supercross for two weeks. He admitted that the return was probably a little early, partly due to the team wanting to have their new 450 on track. Despite the limited prep, his shoulder is 100 percent healthy, so they gave it a go. Jordon had several crashes in the main event and finished 19th, but the result on paper does not tell the whole story. Smith qualified an impressive ninth overall and spent a good bit of time on the board throughout qualifying. After a few reps, expect Jordon to be battling for top tens.
