Are we having any fun yet? The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship is ramping up with five rounds to go and now, three riders are solidly in this this. We were in St. Louis this weekend, plenty to talk about when it comes to the series, tracks, and more so let’s dive into it.
Look, I know we had an issue with lime (a dry drying agent) in San Diego all those years ago with Feld Motor Sports having to pay out money to riders whose bikes and bodies were affected by the stuff that was put on standing water and way too much of it. I believe there were even lawsuits involved as some of the photos were pretty gruesome on the aftereffects of it. So, a mistake was made one time and we’re going to go away from a substance that helped the tracks be safer and better for fans forever? Sounds like a lawyer got ahold of someone, right?
Lime would make tracks like St. Louis this weekend or Indy a few weeks ago SO much better for the racers. They wouldn’t feel like they’re taking their life in their hands every single jump, it would be better for the fans as the racing would be better and again, we used it for 20 years to help dry the dirt out. Why can’t we go back to it with strict monitoring protocols in place, so we don’t end up with another San Diego? Bring the lime back!
Well, well, well, I picture Ken Roczen in his gear yelling “Are you not entertained?” like Russel Crowe or something after ripping off his second win in a row. Roczen looked great on a track that was really tough, he’s been unreal for, like, a month now and probably should have more than the two wins he’s gotten. He’s five points back in this thing! Can you imagine if he creates that Yellow Magic and wins the title? It would be amazing and also, does Suzuki have a million dollars to pay him?
I’m only half-joking here folks.
I also have to think that some of his comfort and speed is just because he’s Ken f***ing Roczen and truly one of the most bad ass riders in the world but part of me also sees… *gestures to the entire paddock…all this talk of bike set-up and testing and wonders if anyone on other teams looks at Roczen on a eight-year old platform that he rarely touches and thinks, “Hmmm, maybe we should leave our bike alone?” Again, some of it is because Ken Roczen is a magician but also, I think there’s something to be learned about leaving a bike alone to where the rider knows EXACTLY what it’s going to do at all times.
Also, when it comes to Roczen’s bike, huge props need to be handed out to REP Suspension (Mark Johnson, old KTM WP guy) and Twisted Development (Jamie Ellis) to get KR to a place where he loves his bike and it wins at the very pinnacle of the sport. These are companies owned by regular guys and you can take your bike to them for modifications. Again, on a bike that hasn’t been developed in eight years and has a kickstart.
Justin Cooper is back! After a race win in Indy in the Triple Crown, a fourth in Detroit from the back, he went and rode into a runner-up spot in St. Louis. Great ride by the #32 and after the race his team manager Rich Simmons said that he’s really dialed in with his bike right now. It took a bit, but the switch of clutch master cylinders and a shock setting have made J-Coop a happy rider. And it’s showing for sure. He was impressive in St. Louis.
Lots of silly season stuff around J-Coop as he’s the #1 rider to probably get signed this off-season. Unless Cooper Webb moves but most of us don’t think that’s that serious. I would bet that he leaves his long-time home there at Star to get on a new color, but I’ve certainly been wrong before. One source close to the situation says 50/50 on whether he re-signs with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing again.
Hunter Lawrence got third, made up all those points he was down in the title fight and rode pretty well. He’s probably not stoked that #32 rode on by him but also, he mentioned he’s dealing with a wrist injury. But yet my “people” around the Honda team told me the wrist is no big deal. So, if it’s NOT a big deal, why did Lawrence mention it? He’s not one to make excuses about getting beat or whatever, right? I’ve just worked myself into a huge conundrum right here in this column.
We’re still waiting to find out what happened with that Malaysian plane and also, we’re trying to find out what’s up with Eli Tomac. He rode around to an uninspiring sixth this weekend, he got caught and passed by Cooper Webb late and he lost his four-point lead in the series. He gave some interviews that said he’s fine, he went to SoCal to test (which I don’t think an injured rider would do?) and yet, I don’t know man. There’s just, in my opinion, no way there’s not SOMETHING bugging him these last three rounds. Whether it’s sickness, injury (that’s now healed?) or whatever, he’s not the same dude he was earlier this year. But he’s still tied for the points lead and we wait to see which Eli shows up this weekend.
Five rounds to go, five points between three riders. This thing should be awesome- get your tickets now!
Rough night for Chase Sexton when he either (according to Phil Nicoletti and Trevor Reis on Monday's PulpMX Show) tried to quad in a rhythm section or (according to me, JT, and Justin Brayton) forgot where he was in a rhythm section and cased it badly. He rode around for another lap before calling it a day. He did put out that he’ll be in Nashville so that’s good but yeah, before that “mistake” or “attempt,” he had crashed earlier while around a top five. So, one week after some progress with a second, we’re back to rough waters for Chase and Kawasaki. Stay tuned for another week in the long running “As the Kawasaki Turns…”
We had Colt Nichols on the PulpMX Show Monday night and didn’t talk much about St. Louis because he wasn’t stoked on his race. He got a season best eighth a couple weeks ago and had hoped to build on that, especially with the field thinner. He told us on the show that he feels like his riding this year has been better but he’s placing around the same place!
Thanks to MX Reference we actually have Nichols stats from last year to this year and he ain’t wrong!
Colt Nichols' 2025 Stats vs 2026 Stats
| STATS | 2025 | 2026 |
| Points | 84 | 90 |
| Starts | 11 | 12 |
| Points per Starts | 7.64 | 7.5 |
| Avg Finish | 13.91 | 14.08 |
| NET Positions +/- from HS | 10 | 16 |
| Avg Holeshot Position (Including TCs) | 15.29 | 15.63 |
| Lap 1 Avg Pos | 14.76 | 15.63 |
| Lap 5 Avg Pos | 15 | 15.33 |
| Lap 10 Avg Pos | 14.87 | 14.47 |
| Avg Qualifying Pos | 16.08 | 15.42 |
| Avg Qualifying Gap Seconds | 3.336 | 2.414 |
| Avg Qualifying Gap % | 5.74% | 4.36% |
So, yeah, his riding is better in his eyes but we’ve yet to see it on the track.
He mentioned that watching Kenny is pretty eye-opening for him and on a track like that, it’s better to go faster than slower but as he said, “lot easier said than done!”
Also, there were heavy rumors Pipes Motorsports was going to get a popcorn machine in their pits earlier this year, so I dug deep into my sources over to find out what the hell is happening with it and was told it’s been tabled until 2027. Which is BS, BTW.
In the 250 class it was the Haiden Deegan show, the defending champ clinched another championship with another stellar ride coming from sixth to a dominating win. He’s on rails right now, he can put the bike wherever he needs to and yeah, he’s a LOT better at SX this year.
Again, I was thinking—like Birmingham—we were gonna see some Cole Davies/Deegan battle for the win. They’re not exactly buddies over there and I was thinking Davies wants to prove a point after the Alabama beatdown.
Except, yeah, it was more the same as Deegan went right on by and pulled out a huge lead. He went into a tie for third all-time in 250SX wins as well, which with the way he started is pretty impressive. Also, his win taken away (wrongly) in Birmingham might stop him from running the table all the way to the end.
But hey, Cole extended his lead in the series and looked pretty good doing it. He’s the second best 250SX rider on the planet!
I’ll say the same thing about Seth Hammaker I said last week in that you’ve gotta be bummed to have Davies be so much better than you. But as we saw in Detroit with Hunter, anything can happen at the races, so he’s got to keep the points deficit to a minimum and play the long game. That’s all he can do but you never know!
The Winter of Devin Simonson continues as he becomes the top ClubMX rider at the showdown and rode great all night even with two off-track excursions on the same place in heat and the main. He’s been a real revelation for sure, and it’s been fun to watch a potential podium guy emerge in front of all of us.
Some other news and notes:
-Henry Miller might be the most underrated 250SX guy out there. He’s in every main (but one this year), he’s always solid.
-Joey Savatgy told me that last week, with his broken bone in his foot, he shifted one time after lap four last week. One time! This week he said on Monday that he could shift more but after a certain number of laps, his foot hurts too much so he just left it. SO, you think you wanna be a SX rider?
-He didn’t show it in St. Louis, but Dylan Ferrandis looked good again. He stalled the Ducati in the same section in both the heat and the main which didn’t help things (it was actually kind of scary as he rolled backwards) but he did look better.
-Both Ryder DiFrancesco and Daxton Bennick had good main events in the showdown as the followed each other through the pack from outside the top ten. It looked like a team photo shoot as they were never far apart from each other.
-I don’t know how much longer Levi Kitchen can go on. He’s dealing with a back injury that he says felt pretty good but then he rode his dirt bike. His last two mains have seen him look like a shell of himself, we got the outdoors coming up and, yeah, he needs to get some medical attention, I think.
-I don’t know what’s wrong with Max Anstie. He won Anaheim! He led San Diego! And since then, wow. No idea what’s gone on here. If you know, hit up Lewis Phillips. Yes, he crashed in St. Louis but before that, there wasn’t much flash there.
Thanks for reading OBS, send me an email matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else in the sport. We’re onto Nashville!
