Last Saturday at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team rider Cole Davies motored to 5-4-1 race finishes to finish third overall, in the rain lashed Cleveland Supercross. In doing so, the eighteen-year-old competitor moved to within four points of clinching the 2026 250SX East Division Championship over title rival and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki pilot Seth Hammaker. Now looking to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for this Saturday’s fifteenth round of the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, Davies just needs to gain four points on challenger Hammaker to earn the first professional championship of his career. A winner of four 250SX East Division main events and only off the podium on one occasion, it’s been an exceptional and highly impressive second professional season for the teenager out of Waitoki, New Zealand. With only the Philadelphia and Salt Lake City 250SX East/West Showdown races remaining on Davies’ 250SX East schedule, he’s hoping to snag the East #1 plate on Saturday over in the City of Brotherly Love.
“It’s going good. I’m going to go over to Philadelphia and take it for what it is and not force anything,” offered Davies from his base in Tallahassee, Florida. “Yeah, it would be nice to try and wrap it up in Philadelphia, honestly.”
Davis comes off a third-place finish at last Saturday’s Cleveland Supercross which he felt was a rough race and one in which he felt a bit too eager all day.
“Cleveland was quite a tough weekend for me,” offered Davies, who actually lengthened his points lead from 19 marks to 21 over title rival Seth Hammkaer in Cleveland. “I kind of crashed in the first race. I didn’t get a great start in the second race. And then I was able to turn it around for the last race. It was a tough weekend for me and there was the rain, as well, so it was a difficult one.”
Amazingly, and going back to his first gate drop at Angel Stadium on January 11, 2025, Davies has only competed in twenty-one AMA Pro Racing events thus far in the United States of America. Furthermore, Davies also competed in eight 250SX Futures races from 2023 through 2024.
“No, I haven’t been over here for long,” said Davies. “It’s probably been about three years now since my first race in Anaheim for the Futures. It’s taken a lot of constant hard work to get where I am, but everything has been working out. I’ve been doing well with being consistent and it’s been working out for me. Yeah, I’m happy with the season so far and I’m excited for this weekend in Philadelphia. I’m just going to go into it as any race and not force anything. If it has to come down to Salt Lake City, it will be okay. I’m just going to take it like every other weekend I’ve been into and just take it for what it is.”
Was Davies confident that his 2026 250SX East racing season would go as amazingly well as it has?
“I would say so,” answered Davies. “It’s kind of what I expected from myself and it’s been good. I would say that the first couple races didn’t really go to plan because I feel like I was too eager and forcing things. Now I’ve kind of calmed down and just everything came to me, and it’s worked out a lot better. Yeah, I’m just calming everything down. Going race by race and not forcing anything has been a better approach for me.
“For the most part, I’m happy with most of the races,” continued Davies. “There has been a couple of races that I’m not too stoked about, but it is what it is. I’m stoked with my season so far and I’m excited to keep it going.”
Davies weighed in on the competition he has faced along the way in the 250SX East championship fight.
“Yeah, the competition has been good,” he explained. “Unfortunately, Jo Shimoda got hurt. It’s been good. It’s been a battle. They’ve been good. They had really good starts at the start of the season. They’re all good starters and they’re always kind of going to be there. Yes, it has been good, and it has been fun battling with all of them.”
Whoop speed has underlined Cole Davies 2026 racing campaign. Even legends Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto have recently gone on record in speaking of Davies’ profound talent in powering trough the whoops.
“Everyone is kind of impressed, and to be honest, I don’t know… I look at it as a part where I can make up time, so I try to come into them and make up time because I know I can when I come into them. I enjoy them. I find them fun. There is no better feeling than having a perfect run through the whoops. It feels great. I would just say it’s a lot of commitment and confidence and years of perfecting my technique. You know, I feel like that’s all there really is to it. And you need a good bike, as well. I’m stoked to hear people talk about it. To hear all that is pretty cool.
Since first coming to the United States of America to race the 250SX Futures in 2023 and 2024 – Davies won races Anaheim 2 and Salt Lake City in 2024 – Cole Davies has genuinely come to enjoy racing in the U.S.A.
“It’s cool. Everything is on a pretty big scale compared to where I was in New Zealand,” explained Davies. “Yeah, everything is on a big scale. It’s cool. I like it. It’s kind of what I dreamed of. I’ve dreamed of coming here and racing since I was a little kid. It’s a lot here. I try to block it out, you know? I just focus on racing for the most part.”
New Zealander Ben Townley, the 2004 FIM MX2 World Championship winner and 2007 AMA 250SX East Supercross Championship winner, worked with Cole Davies along the way.
“Ben worked with me in New Zealand and kind of got me to where I was before I started working with Wil Hahn,” explained Davies of his countryman. “Ben kind of got me here and I definitely would not be here without him. He kind of taught me the basics of supercross and got me here. Yeah, I talk to Ben on a weekly basis. We just kind of break down the races and what I can do better. Ben helps me on what I can be doing better. Also, Wil Hahn came in as team manager here at Star. Wil and Gareth Swanepoel are here now, so they both kind of help out now. It’s been going well and I’m stoked it is producing how it is.”
And has the talented Davies contemplated riding and racing the 450 in the near or immediate future?
“Yeah, I would say that my riding style would suit a 450,” said Davies. “I feel like I ride pretty low revs and I can kind of put the bike where I want it. I don’t fight it too much, so I feel like I would work pretty well on a 450. We’ll work for that when we get to it. I’m just thinking about the present right now and being focused on this championship.”
Next stop: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“I’m looking at it as any other race. I’m going to this next one confident and I plan to go win it and see where that takes me. From there, I’ll go into Salt Lake and try to go win that, as well. Yeah, I’m just focusing on going out and riding to my potential.”
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cole Davies | Waitoki, New Zealand  | 181 |
| 2 |  Seth Hammaker | Bainbridge, PA  | 160 |
| 3 |  Daxton Bennick | Morganton, NC | 138 |
| 4 |  Coty Schock | Dover, DE | 119 |
| 5 |  Nate Thrasher | Livingston, TN | 116 |
