The AMA considered crossing over after the first UFO marker in the middle of the track, which signaled the start of the split lane section, as effectively cutting the track, despite him gaining no time. He saw ClubMX Yamaha rider Max Vohland ahead in the outer lane and made a split-second decision to go inside.

Needless to say, Haiden was outraged at the decision, as was his father Brian and their entire team, even though the win remained with the team, courtesy of Davies. He argued his case with the officials, but they would not budge. He asked them to fine him instead of penalizing him, as he wants to move up in the record books as his 250 career winds down. Again, the answer was no. To Deegan's credit, he remained composed, even though the penalty likely cost him at least $100,000 in bonus money. He made some of that back with a merch drop on shopdeegan38.com, releasing a "6 for 6" shirt for $38, which he announced with a video of him burning a piece of notebook paper that had 6 for 6 scratched out on it. He did something similar last year when arrested for "stunt driving" in his Audi A8, selling a ton of T-shirts featuring his mugshot. As our own Jason Weigandt joked on Haiden's post, "When life gives you lemons, make headlines."

Deegan wasn't the only rider penalized for crossing lanes; 450 riders Garrett Marchbanks and Cole Thompson also lost a position each, but neither was near the podium, let alone winning. (Earlier in the race, Phoenix Racing Honda's Evan Ferry received a five-point championship penalty for taking out Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Pierce Brown on the last lap of their 250 heat race, but that's a different conversation.)

I will throw this out here: In my personal opinion, split lanes can be interesting but are also too gimmicky and problematic for what they usually add to the racing. And how can you "cut the track" when you're smack-dab in the middle of it? If we’re going to keep having split lanes, it might be better to mark them and separate them better than an UFO marker…

The bigger concern many have with the decision is that it's the third time this season we've seen a questionable or inconsistent interpretation of the rules affecting a race outcome; the red lead-in lights/caution flags double debacle in Arlington were the first two.

Another issue with this penalty is the lack of mention of split lane protocol or penalties in the current AMA Supercross rulebook. Riders were apparently informed at the riders meeting that morning and reminded in staging that crossing lanes would be considered a track cut. While there's no denying that Deegan crossed the lanes in Birmingham, the penalty he received—losing a race win and all that money—was excessive (again, in my personal opinion). I felt the same way at last summer's Ironman National when Jett Lawrence was docked a lap for "fouling" the starting gate. 

Earlier today I learned that Ezra Lusk, the former professional racer who has been working with the AMA, had decided to step away from the job. I don’t know if it had anything to do with what happened in Birmingham, nor have I spoken to anyone, but I don’t think this recent run of confusion is any one person or official’s fault, let alone Ezra’s. The sport collectively needs consistency across the board in rules, in flagging issues, in common sense penalties, track design, sound testing, and more.

Wait, just got an email from Matthes…

YOGI OUT (Matthes)

We've all been scratching our heads at the AMA's decisions lately when it comes to dishing out or not dishing out penalties lately. I've been a vocal supporter of the revamping of the AMA's discipline process the last few years and the implementation of the license points this year was another positive step in the right direction. But starting in Arlington, when the AMA refused to uphold their own rule book (but last year at Ironman it was explained that they HAD to go by the rule book with Jett Lawrence on the starting gate) with jumping on the red cross flag (while pointing out the lead-in lights, which were not in the rule book?) to then not penalizing any lappers in Indianapolis (which watching live to me was bizarre there was no license points handed out to a couple of riders) and then rebounding to Birmingham where the penalties to Haiden Deegan and Evan Ferry seemed way too harsh. So, with all of this taking a lot of the media coverage away from the actual, you know, RACING, it seems that former 125SX champion Ezra Lusk has had enough. Lusk was working as a rider liaison for the AMA and applying a lot of common sense to things, helping out Mike Pelletier and others with what the teams and riders were  thinking. I've had a lot of conversations with Yogi and it's all been positive, he's been on PulpMX Show a couple of times as well. Having someone that's raced at his level is a great move by the AMA. 

I know he wasn't a fan of nothing being done for the Arlington cross flags but he held back a bit. But it appears Birmingham was the final straw as he has confirmed to me, he's stepped away from his role. That's too bad for Lusk, the AMA and the sport as a whole. I hope we can get someone else to do what Ezra was doing, it's needed for sure.

And I hope the AMA can somehow regain some trust in the paddock as we've, in my opinion, taken a wild turn here from the upward momentum they had in penalization of riders and teams.

Here’s what Phoenix Racing had to say about Evan Ferry’s penalty:

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

Some rounds are more important than others. For example, last year's Pittsburgh round was pivotal for the points dynamic down the stretch between Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton. Webb's win allowed him the points leniency he needed to let Sexton run roughshod through the remaining rounds without being able to overcome the deficit. As the rounds wind down, the races become more and more of a math equation. While I don't think we are quite there yet, I do believe that picture is starting to take shape in the 450 class.

Hunter Lawrence sits nine points ahead of Eli Tomac for the ‘26 title. That feels like a small number and in reality, isn't anything to feel comfortable with. This weekend "feels" important because of the potential from here, though. If Hunter was to win again (he's won three out of the last four), he would take that lead to a minimum of 12 points. If that went to 14, as would be based on the result in Birmingham, we would be in a different conversation. Fourteen points would put immense pressure on Tomac through the final five rounds. He would basically be without any room for error. In any round where he lost further points, the situation becomes more dire. Not only because of the number but because of the ticking time clock. A higher number of points to erase coupled with fewer opportunities is the nastiest of combinations. That's what makes this weekend so important. If Tomac can take the gap to six or fewer, this championship simply feels different. If Hunter can take it to 12+, the sentiment will feel much worse. Same amount of points as any other round but as the rounds dwindle, the emphasis grows. On paper, Detroit is no different but as for the pendulum of momentum, this one feels momentous.

Jeff Smith (1934-2026)

Jeff Smith was born in Lancashire, England, in 1934, several years before the outbreak of the Second World War. Coming from a motorcycling family, he enjoyed a long and influential life on two wheels. He won his first Grand Prix in 1954 aboard a BSA and claimed his first FIM 500cc World Championship in 1964. Smith successfully defended that title the following year, marking the last occasion a British-made motorcycle would win the world crown. He also won the FIM Motocross of Nations for England four times and competed in the International Six Days Enduro, where he led the UK to win and multiple gold medals.

Smith retired from racing in 1969 when his beloved BSA brand discontinued its motocross program. However, he quickly found a new opportunity with Bombardier Corporation in Canada, where he helped develop and manage what would become Can-Am. In 1975, Jimmy Ellis won the AMA Supercross Championship on the bike that Jeff helped bring to life.

A passionate vintage motorcyclist, he played a key role in shaping the governing rules for the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) and served as its executive director. Additionally, he was a member of the AMA's Board of Directors.

By the time of his passing recently at the age of 91, Smith was not only inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame but also recognized as a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Jeff Smith's extraordinary journey in motorcycling was both successful and well done.

Mark Thome forwarded us this link about Smith's contributions to AHRMA, which you can read here.

Coincidentally, Jeff Smith was the last man to win an FIM Motocross World Championship on a British-made bike. This past Sunday,  Camden McLellan, a very fast young South Africa, won the MX2 class in Spain, marking the first win for Triumph in the MXGP series. It was also the first win for a British bike since Smith’s teammate, Dave Nicoll (father of Kurt Nicoll), won the 1969 Grand Prix of Luxembourg. And at the Birmingham SX, Jordon Smith gave the British-made Triumph its first top-10 finish in the premier 450 class; he is already in the record books as the first Triumph rider to win a 250SX.  Jeff Smith would have smiled and approved.

Busy Weekend (Mitch Kendra)

As Davey mentioned, GNCC Racing and the MXGP series are both also in action this weekend. Tune in Saturday and Sunday to watch both two-day events!

Get your MXGP-TV pass today

PULPMX GIVES BACK (Matthes)

Reminder that we have a new experience up on PulpmxGivesBack.com where for $30 bucks you're entered into a raffle where the winner and a guest get to spend a day at the Lawrence compound! Pretty cool experience for a race fan and all the money raised goes to help injured riders out. For more, check it out!

THIS WEEK'S WIN ADS

It was a busy week of racing around the dirt bike world. Here's a shortcut to see the big winners, according to the win ads in cyclenews.com.

Strangest Story of the Week (DC)

One of the stranger stories we've ever read started with this headline: "Quadruple amputee cornhole player fatally shoots man, authorities say." It was posted on EPSN.com and explained a bizarre and seemingly distant tragedy that involved a man named Dayton Webber, who had gained a national following as a professional cornhole player, despite the fact that he had no arms or legs, having had them amputated as drastic life-saving measure as an infant, due to a blood infection that led to sepsis. Webber had enough of his arms to grip and toss the bean bags used in cornhole, and he became so good at it that he was profiled by ESPN a few years ago. In regards to the shooting mentioned in the headline, for which Webber's now been charged with first degree murder, he apparently shot a man who was inside his car in La Plata, Maryland.

And that's where the story hits closer to home. La Plata is the town right above Budds Creek Motocross Park. That rang a bell for our senior online content manager Mitch Kendra, who remembered seeing a quadruple amputee as he did donuts on a lawnmower the night after the Budds Creek National. And then this post popped up on the Budds Creek Facebook page:

Bradrick Michael Wells was the man who was killed. He was a regular rider at Budds Creek that everyone called "Cuz." He loved dirt bikes and cars and was a new dad. 

Here's what happened, according to the Charles County Sheriff’s patrol:

"On March 22 at 10:25 p.m., officers with the La Plata Police Department were flagged down by two people near the area of La Plata Road and Radio Station Road in La Plata. A preliminary investigation revealed the witnesses were in the back seat of a car when the driver, Dayton James Webber, 27, of La Plata, shot and killed the front seat passenger during an argument. Webber pulled over in the area of Radio Station Road and Llano Drive and asked the passengers to help pull the victim out of the car; however, the witnesses refused, got out of the car, and left the scene. Webber then fled with the victim still in the car. All occupants of the car are known to each other."

The two people who refused to help and got out of the car then flagged down police. Two hours later, Wells' body was found in a yard about he was trying to improve his standings 10 miles away. Later that night Webber was tracked down and found in Virginia, where he was seeking medical attention at a hospital. 

This story is still developing. Stay tuned.

Hey, Watch It!

GoPro: Camden McLellan 2026 FIM MX2 Moto 2 from Round 2 Spain

The incredibly well-traveled Dean Wilson raced in Costa Rica last weekend:

Shane McElrath: This track was DESTROYED | Birmingham sx

Joey Crown, former pro racer turned ClubMX team suspension guy, still rips!

The late Jeff Smith winning the 1964 FIM Motocross of Nations at Hawkstone Park in the UK. 

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week 

"Maryland man's fried chicken craving leads to $1M lottery win" -UPI

"Squirrels are 'vaping' e-cigarettes after mistaking fruity aromas for food " -NY Post

Random Notes

Phil Nicoletti lands factory...vet ride?!