1. Penalty Palooza
The AMA is not having a good time right now. In Arlington, they were criticized for the lack of penalties when several top riders appeared to jump on the flashing lead-in lights and/or red cross flag and in Indianapolis they were criticized for not penalizing lappers for disobeying the blue flag.
Well, the AMA was out with vengeance in Birmingham. It started with Phoenix Racing Honda’s Evan Ferry getting an “aggressive riding penalty” after an attempted pass on Pierce Brown for the final transfer spot in the heat race. The penalty resulted in a loss of five championship points (Ferry now has -2 championship points), two license points, and a fine. Evan’s dad, and 1997 125SX East Division Supercross Champion, Tim Ferry voiced his displeasure with call in an Instagram story stating that, “we still don’t know what the fine is. Make it make sense.”
And then the penalty heard around the world. After a dominating win in the 250SX East/West Showdown, Haiden Deegan was penalized one position for “cutting the track” in the main event. Deegan cut through a single Acerbis track marker entering the split lane and popular opinion is the penalty does not fit the crime. The intent of the split lane rule is to keep riders from going inside to inside, which Deegan did not do. The move had no effect on the outcome of the race, and it’s a shame to see Deegan lose the win after such an incredible performance. Garrett Marchbanks and Cole Thompson were given the same penalty for the same move in the 450 main event.
Fans and industry members alike are outraged about the inconsistency of the calls that have been made thus far in 2026. Giving out major penalties for seemingly minor infractions one week, while giving no penalties for infractions that arguably affected the results or safety of others is certainly questionable decision making. The license point system is a progressive concept that the AMA brought in this season, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to utilize that. It will be interesting to see how the AMA responds in the coming weeks.
2. Hunter Goes Back-To-Back
Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence went into the break with the momentum of his Indianapolis victory and carried that right into Birmingham, taking back-to-back victories for the first time in his 450 supercross career. Hunter made quick work of early leader Jorge Prado and put in some of the best opening laps we have seen from him all season. He pulled out a small gap while his title rivals tried to find their way around Prado and maintained that gap for the entirety of race. Despite a strong charge from Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki's Ken Roczen, Lawrence led every lap of the main event and was relatively unchallenged.
Hunter has now won three of four races and the confidence and momentum he’s gained over the past month may be more difficult to overcome for Eli Tomac and Red Bull KTM than the nine-point deficit itself. Although the thought of becoming an AMA Monster Energy 450 Supercross Champion is becoming more a reality with each passing weekend, Hunter continues to keep the underdog mindset saying: “I’m just trying not to be an idiot and just focus on weekend in weekend out and act like, you know, I don’t have the championship lead and am trying to get it back.”
3. Roczen is on Rails
Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki's Ken Roczen may have been winner the 450 winner in Birmingham if not for an abysmal start. Kenny came around the first turn in 16th and within seven laps he was in the runner-up position and closing the gap down on race leader Hunter Lawrence. He had the fastest lap of the race by over half a second and was able to get the lead down to about two seconds, but in the end his start was too much to overcome. Nonetheless, Roczen has proved there is no late-season slump coming from the 94 in 2026.
You could argue that Roczen has the most raw speed of anybody in the field right now and had a few things gone the other way this championship could look a lot different. Regardless of the if and buts, Kenny is as good as ever and he may be the only guy to steal wins from Lawrence and Tomac from here on out.
4. Tomac’s Messy Day
Red Bull KTM’s Eli Tomac has had an eventful string of races. We had “tooth gate” followed up by “lapper gate,” and in Birmingham we had “air filter gate.” Tomac qualified fastest, but in the heat race he went for an aggressive pass on Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper and the two came together. The impact led to Cooper not only on the ground, but with his leg getting sucked into the back wheel of Tomac’s KTM. After a few attempts of trying to continue forward, Eli realized what was going on and was forced to stop and get Justin’s leg free. In the post-race press conference, Eli chalked the move up to a racing incident saying he, “shot the gap and it didn’t work out. Looking back, maybe I should have been a little more patient, but it is what it is.”
Things worsened for Tomac. When he and Cooper came together, Cooper’s bar went straight into Eli’s airbox and pulled the number plate and air filter halfway out. Once Eli was free of Cooper’s leg, he rolled around briefly, unsure of what to do before pulling into the mechanics area where his mechanic, Jade Dungey, put the filter back in place. Tomac finished the heat but only got up to 15th position.
Tomac won the LCQ and finished a distant third in the main event. He looked eager to latch onto the back Lawrence early, but struggled to get around his teammate Prado, and then was passed by Roczen. He was forced to settle into third and cruise it in for a podium finish. It was and off-night for the #3 and while a podium finish is better than a seventh or eighth we have seen from him on “off-nights” in previous seasons, it is time for Tomac to put a stop to Hunter Lawrence’s momentum next weekend in Detroit.
5. Deegan Dominance
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan took the entire 250 class to school in the first East/West Showdown of the season. Deegan started in tenth, and worked his way pass all the other big names in the 250 class with relative ease to “win” the race. It was a dominant performance and there is no debate on who the top dog in 250 Supercross is in 2026.
As mentioned above, the win was taken from Deegan after his track cutting penalty, and in true Deegan fashion he let the people know how he felt about it at the post-race press conference. “I don’t care, honestly. The only sad part is maybe that it’s going to affect the streak thing, six in a row. But, I mean, everyone knows who won. I fricken started tenth place, ran over a marker, and I got docked. A little gift to the East boys, but I kicked their butt straight up.”
We will see him take on the East boys again in a couple of weeks in St. Louis where, if things go according to plan, he could wrap up his second 250SX West title at the eighth round of the ten-round championship.
6. Nichols’ First Top Ten
Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki’s Colt Nichols has been riding better than the results show. Starts have hindered the 2021 250SX East champion, but in Birmingham Nichols put together a solid main event from start to finish and get a season best result of eighth. Colt has struggled to build momentum since moving up to the 450 class in 2023 but has found a solid home at HEP. With his coach and best friend Justin Bogle now alongside him under the rig, look for Nichols to finish out the season strong.
7. Fill-Ins
Fill-in rides are not as common as they once were, but it is always cool to see what guy can do when given an opportunity. This week we saw Nick Romano join the 250SX East Division aboard a Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki and 2014 250SX East Champion Justin Bogle make his return to 450SX with the Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki Team—the same team he raced for when we last saw him in Supercross in 2022. These two are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of where they are in their careers but ended up having similar nights.
For Romano, joining the series at a showdown was a tall task but he came through by making the main via the LCQ and finishing the night in 18th place. He was the tenth best East rider, and if he can back that up with a top ten result in a solely East round this weekend in Detroit, that would be a solid start to Romano’s comeback. News broke prior to Birmingham that Romano’s deal will be through the SMX Playoffs which could take a little pressure off Nick and allow him to build throughout the season.
Meanwhile for Bogle, he came into the weekend with no expectations aside from appreciating the opportunity to be a racer again. On press day he mentioned that anything beyond making the main event would be a bonus. He easily made the main with an impressive sixth in his heat race and like Romano, finished the night 18th. It is uncertain how long Justin’s stint with HEP will be for, but he is enjoying it while it lasts.
8. Next Gen
Birmingham was the final opportunity for the SMX Next amateurs to qualify for the their championship race in Philadelphia. Team Green’s Vincent Wey pulled the holeshot and led every inch of the way, taking his first career SMX Next win in dominant fashion. He has shown serious potential since debuting in SMX Next last season but struggled to keep it together for an entire race. He has made a huge leap this year, showing much improved consistency and race craft and it finally paid off in Birmingham. Vincent may be more well known for being the son of 1998 125cc Millville National winner Nick Wey, but he is beginning to carve his own path in the sport. His teammate, Kade Johnson, who was a late addition to the Team Green roster this year, finished second.
Meanwhile the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing duo of Kayden Minear and Landen Gordon were involved in a massive first turn pile up where Gordon literally had his head run over. Minear finished the race with an extremely banged up bike, while Gordon immediately took his goggles off and ran off the track. Fortunately, Gordon posted an update on his Instagram saying he was, “luckily only sore.”
9. Davies “Wins”
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cole Davies will go down in the history books as the winner the East/West Showdown in Birmingham, but that does not mean he was stoked on his night. After the race he voiced his disappointment saying he was “just not happy” with his riding. Davies went back and forth with Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen early but gained control of the lead around halfway. He got passed by Deegan with a handful of laps to go, but his title rivals Jo Shimoda and Seth Hammaker were also on the charge and the three of them got into intense battle for second. Shimoda had the position with three turns to go, but allowed Davies was able to sneak up the inside after the whoops and then made a mistake in the penultimate turn allowing Hammaker by, falling to fourth.
In hindsight, that battle had much bigger implications for the championship standings than it seemed in the moment because of the Deegan penalty. Shimoda was three turns away from winning the race and taking a one-point lead into Detroit but instead loses seven points and now trails Davies by nine; a ten-point swing in the matter of three turns! Hammaker also ended up losing an extra three point in this whole deal. In the end, Deegan’s penalty ended up being to the advantage of Star Racing.
10. AP Takes Another Hit
This has not been Aaron Plessinger’s year. The Red Bull KTM rider ripped the holeshot in the first heat race of the year at A1, then was accidently T-boned by his good friend Cooper Webb moments later and it has not gotten much better since then. He had a huge crash in his heat race in A2 and then another big one before the break in race two of the Indy Triple Crown when he got collected with Ken Roczen.
The Cowboy went for a wild ride once again in Birmingham. He described what happened on his Instagram saying, “I was near the top five and just came around to the long rhythm, ended up hitting a rock on the first triple face and nose bonked the landing and took another hard hit.”
He immediately took his boot off and limped back to the tunnel. Fortunately, in that same post, he says he is going to try and ride Thursday and give it another go in Detroit.
