Indianapolis SX: Hunter Lawrence Wins 450SX as Cole Davies Gets First 250SX Win of 2026 Season

450SX

The first 12 Minute + 1 Lap premier class race of the evening featured an impressive performance by Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, who charged his way to the front early and cemented control to take a pressure-free win by 5.4 seconds. The battle behind him was anything but calm, as several of the championship’s key players duked it out for a spot on the podium. In the end, Lawrence came away with second, followed by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tomac, who overcame a start outside the top 10. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb finished fourth after running most of the race in second, while teammate Justin Cooper rounded out the top five.

The intensity picked up in Race 2 and it ultimately ended Roczen’s chances at victory when he mistimed a rhythm section on the opening lap and landed on Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger, which took Plessinger out of the race and dropped Roczen to the tail end of the field. Out front, it looked to be Tomac’s win for the taking after an early pass for first around early leader Cooper, but the Yamaha rider recollected himself, found a rhythm, and closed back in. Cooper pulled the trigger on a pass to reclaim the lead from Tomac and carried on to win by 3.5 seconds over his KTM counterpart. Webb followed with an uneventful third place, while Lawrence suffered a costly incident with lapped riders that dropped him from third to fourth.

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The third and final race of the night saw Lawrence and Tomac seize the moment to put themselves out front early. The deteriorating racetrack made track position a priority and Lawrence’s holeshot allowed him to settle into the lead by about a second over Tomac. As the race wore on, Lawrence slowly added to his advantage over Tomac, and it continued to grow as lapped riders factored into the race. Behind them, Roczen settled into third, while the Yamaha teammates of Webb and Cooper battled it out for fourth. Lawrence was never challenged when it mattered most and put together a wire-to-wire effort to end the night on top by a margin of 5.5 seconds over Tomac. Roczen bounced back from his difficult second race in third, while Webb kept Cooper at bay for fourth.

Lawrence picked an opportune time to have his best race of the night as it carried him to the overall victory. The Australian and Tomac ended the night tied in points, with seven apiece, but Lawrence’s 2-4-1 effort bettered Tomac’s 3-2-2 performance by virtue of Lawrence’s better result in the Race 3 tiebreaker. It was Lawrence’s second win of the second and the second of his career. Webb and Cooper ended the night tied for third overall at 11 points each, with the edge going to Webb’s 4-3-4 effort over Cooper’s 5-1-5 finishes.

The biggest win of the season thus far for Lawrence allowed him to extend his lead in the title fight to four points over Tomac heading into the lone off weekend of the 17-race championship. Webb sits third, 25 points out of the lead.

Hunter Lawrence – 1st Place – 450SMX Class

Eli Tomac – 2nd Place – 450SMX Class

Cooper Webb – 3rd Place – 450SMX Class

250SX

The annual visit to Indy not only served as the third race of the Eastern Divisional 250SMX Class Championship, but it also signified the division’s first Triple Crown action of the season. The first of three 10 Minute + 1 Lap races proved to be the beginning of an overdue breakthrough for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies, who came into the season as the title favorite. The young New Zealander was in complete control during Race 1 and took the win by two seconds over Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda, with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker in third. However, the most notable outcome of the race was a 10th-place finish by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Pierce Brown, as the entering points leader faced adversity off the start and was forced to fight back from a last-place start.

Davies had his work cut out for him in Race 2, when he and Shimoda duked it out as both riders looked for a way past Triumph Factory Racing’s Jalek Swoll, the early leader. Davies and Shimoda traded positions several times, but Davies got the upper hand, made his way past Swoll, and carried on to victory. Shimoda followed into second and gave chase late but crossed the finish line 2.2 seconds behind Davies. Brown rebounded from his challenging first race in third. Hammaker was the rider who faced the most adversity in the second race, as an early crash put him deep in the field and resulted in a ninth-place finish.

The third and deciding race once again saw Davies lock in as he secured another good start and methodically worked his way to the front where he closed in on Swoll for the race lead for the second time. Davies made the pass and then sprinted away from the field. As Swoll settled into second, Shimoda was in an extended battle with ClubMX Yamaha’s Devin Simonson for third. Shimoda made the pass and then tracked down Swoll to take second just before time ran out on the race clock and brought Hammaker along with him into third. Hammaker then went on the attack on the final lap, as both he and Shimoda closed in on Davies and reduced the deficit to just over a second. Hammaker made the pass on Shimoda, who briefly went off track, while Davies completed the Triple Crown sweep by a margin of just eight tenths over Hammaker. Shimoda settled for third, while Brown followed in fourth ahead of Swoll.

Davies’ first-ever 1-1-1 effort in a Triple Crown put him atop the podium for the first time this season and the third time in his young career. Shimoda earned his second runner-up finish of the season with seven points following 2-2-3 scores, while Hammaker overcame his troubles in the second race to grab a podium result in third with 14 points on 3-9-2 finishes. Brown missed the podium for the first time this season in fifth with 17 points following 10-3-4 finishes.

The early title fight has tightened up dramatically as four riders now sit within two points of one another. Davies has grabbed hold of the points lead by a single point over Hammaker, while Brown and Shimoda sit tied for third, two points out of the lead. What lies ahead is the first East/West Showdown of the 2026 season, which is poised to dramatically alter what has been a close battle in the Eastern Division thus far.

Cole Davies – 1st Place – Eastern Divisional 250SMX Class

Jo Shimoda – 2nd Place – Eastern Divisional 250SMX Class

Seth Hammaker – 3rd Place – Eastern Divisional 250SMX Class

The Monster Energy SMX World Championship and Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship will observe its lone break in action next weekend before returning on Saturday, March 21, for the 10th race of the season from Birmingham, Alabama’s Protective Stadium.