1. Comeback Complete
Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Kenny Roczen has overcome a 31-point deficit to take a four-point lead into the penultimate round of the series in Denver. Roczen had to make his way around Cooper Webb and Hunter Lawrence to get to the lead, fend off a mid-race attack from Lawrence, and then a late-race charge from Webb to get it done. We have seen the late race charges from Webb on Roczen so many times before and they almost always fall into Webb’s favor, but not this time. Not in 2026.
Regardless of the outcome of this series, it is time to throw all your previous Ken Roczen conceptions out the window. The “fading,” the “choking,” the “illnesses,” etc. are a thing of the past. Philly was as clutch of a win as you can get; not only beating Lawrence, but for Kenny not to succumb to Webb’s late charge, it was massive. Those three extra points may be the difference come Salt Lake.
With everything Roczen has been through, it is truly incredible that he is the best version of himself at now 32-years old. His win in Philadelphia was the 28th 450SX victory of his career, but it may turn out to be the biggest.
2. Vintage Coop
The muddy conditions shined a tiny glimmer of hope back into Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb’s championship defense. Just last year, Webb’s performance in final laps of the Foxborough mudder swung the points massively in his favor. A similar outcome in Philadelphia could have turned his 22-point deficit into a more reasonable ten or so points with two rounds to go.
It was not to be, as all three of the title contenders got out front and separated themselves from the field. Once Hunter Lawrence went down, Webb set his sights on long-time rival Ken Roczen. He began taking seconds a lap out of Roczen’s lead late and got right to the back the 94 machine. It looked like a vintage Cooper Webb come-from-behind win in the making, rev bombs, and all, but he fell just short of the win. What could have been an 18-point deficit, ballooned out to 24, and that may be the nail in the coffin for his title defense.
After the race Coop was notably frustrated, taking a couple of shots at Kenny in the Press Conference saying, “We know how Kenny gets late in the race, how he is, so I started catching him.” He also wanted make a point that he felt he was affected by the lappers just as much as Roczen. At this point, all Webb can do is go for the win and hope for a miracle.
3. Davies Clinches
At A1 last season, Cole Davies was a late addition to the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 West Division roster. He was “flying at the test track,” so he and the team decided it was time to turn pro. He came into the season as an unknown, with little to no expectations from many fans and media, but it did not take long for it to become evident that Davies had elite level talent.
In just 16 months, Davies has gone from an unknown rookie to a 250SX Champion. He got his fifth victory of the season in Philadelphia to clinch the title a round early. Cole narrowly avoided getting caught up in Seth Hammaker’s first lap crash. His front wheel literally went between Seth’s front wheel and frame while the #10 bike was still flipping and he was somehow able to ride out if it like nothing happened; a classic example of “when it’s your year, it’s your year.”
Davies is the second New Zealander to win an AMA Supercross Championship, the first being Cole’s mentor Ben Townley. Cole talked about his journey to getting here saying, “Four or five years ago now, we sat in Ben Townley’s living room and set out a plan on what we are going to do and how we are going to get here and we’ve followed that step by step and what we’ve planned out has happened exactly."
4. Savatgy Matches Career Best
Quad Lock Honda’s Joey Savatgy has been slowly climbing himself out of a mid-season lull after breaking his foot in Indianapolis. Savatgy’s results have been on the rise as his he regains health, and he matched a career-best result of fourth in Philadelphia. His previous fourth place came back in 2019 in Minneapolis.
Aside from the good result, Joey can also take claim as the only rider aside from the three title contenders to stay on the lead lap! On Monday night’s PulpMX Show, he joked about being able to stay on the lead lap saying, “I did the finish line, I made the left, where Hunter crashed, I made it through that little double double single. I went left and then I doubled back onto the start straight. When I double onto the start straight, like going into that rhythm lane, the flames went off and I was like, ‘There is no way.’”
Savatgy has had a renaissance season, and it is nice to see him rebounding from the foot injury. His future for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship and even into next season seems to be a little up in the air for now, but if he is in the free agency market, he should have several options to choose from.
5. Shane’s a Mudder
Savatgy’s Quad Lock Honda teammate Shane McElrath has become quite a mud specialist over the past few years. With results of fourth in San Francisco 2024, second in last season’s Foxborough mudder, and sixth this past weekend in Philly (Editor's note: plus a sixth at the '23 East Rutherford SX mudder), Shane’s success is clearly a trend more so than happenstance.
However, Shane was good all day in the City of Brotherly Love. He qualified seventh in dry conditions and has been trending in in the right direction. He is now on a three-race streak of top ten finishes, and this late season surge is eerily similar to last season's. You have to respect Shane’s willingness to switch back and forth between the 250 and 450 to make money during the off-season, but maybe staying on the 450 year-round could help him get these results earlier in the season? Regardless, do not be shocked to see McElrath battling for a top five in these final two rounds.
6. Bam Bam is Back
The entire industry was holding their breath waiting for a Justin Barcia Update following he and Malcolm Stewart’s A1 crash. It was one of the scariest crashes we have seen maybe ever but when Justin released an update video after walking out of the hospital Sunday afternoon it was a massive sigh of relief.
Bam started riding about six weeks ago but due to the severity of the injury, it was a surprise to see him on the entry list. Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing's Team Manager Josh Weisner admitted that the decision to bring Justin back for some supercross was influenced by the need to please Ducati and partners of the team. “It is just keeping everybody happy. We have a lot of great partners putting in a lot of money to make this happen. And he was part of the package,” Weisner told Steve Matthes after the race.
It did not take long for Barcia to go full Bam Bam. In his first heat race back from a significant injury, Justin found himself in the lead after slamming Joey Savatgy. The two went back and forth a few times with Justin Cooper getting in the mix late. Revs and slide jobs out of the #51 were plentiful and it was a nice reminder of how Justin Barcia is a one-of-a-kind racer. He finished 11th in the main event to cap off a successful return to racing.
7. Denno Dominates
Philadelphia hosted the final and Championship round of SMX Next for 2026. Sure, the idea of making SMX Next a five-round, points paying championship is widely agreed upon, but not every kid is invited to each round, therefore the powers to be continue to shut that down. So, for now, the top 20 kids over the four qualifying rounds are invited to the final round to battle it out for the SMX Next SX National Championship.
Triumph’s Deacon Denno dominated the main event, leading every lap of the abbreviated race and winning by nearly ten seconds over Team Green’s Kade Johnson and Orange Brigade's Jeremy Fappani. It was Denno’s second win of the season, and after the race he announced that he would be turning pro at Pala.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Kayden Minear and ClubMX Yamaha’s Ryder Malinoski were a couple of the favorites coming into the night but struggled in the muddy conditions. Minear nearly had the holeshot but slid out in the first turn and was only able to make his way up to seventh. Ryder Malinowski was the fastest qualifier in the dry but struggled in the mud and finished a disappointing 14th after two separate crashes, the first of which put him dead last just about a lap into the race.
8. Dax Ends the Streak
It took nearly the entire season, but Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Daxton Bennick finally put an end to his "podium at the first round only” streak. Bennick got himself into third and right after the restart, he took second from Derek Kelley. He remained there for the rest of the race. He finished 12 seconds behind Cole Davies but 14 seconds ahead of Seth Hammaker after Seth went down on the last lap.
Dax has really flipped the script on his career since joining the Husqvarna squad under the tutelage of his old Orange Brigade team manager Nathen Ramsey. He has not finished worse than sixth and has third in points on lock with one round remaining. There has not been as much flash, but this season is a solid foundation to build from to become a podium regular and race winner in 2027.
9. Hometown Let Down
Seth Hammaker was in a similar position to Cooper Webb heading into his hometown race in Philly. Winning the title was beginning to look like a longshot, but a win and some issues in the mud for Cole Davies could have kept Seth in the mix heading into Salt Lake.
Hammaker ripped a much-needed holeshot in the main event but cross rutted in the first rhythm lane and went down hard, nearly collecting Davies with him. Seth has taken several hard hits in this series, and for somebody that started his career pretty injury-prone, it makes you hold your breath every time.
Fortunately, he was able to get up and begin working his way through the field. He put in a commendable charge back into podium position, but with Davies taking the win, that crash put an end to Hammaker’s title chances. After the race Seth explained that he and the team are deep into a new contract discussions, so it sounds like he will be back aboard a Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki to give it another title run in 2027.
Recommended Reading
Tue Apr 28 Seth Hammaker on 2026 250SX Season: “All in all, I think I stepped up everywhere in all the areas” 
Tue Apr 28 Deacon Denno Wins SMX Next SX Title, Set for Pro Debut—and Full Season—in Pro Motocross 
Mon Apr 27 Webb on Philadelphia: “I started catching him there at the end and just kind of ran out of time. Shorter main event didn’t help us tonight” 
Mon Apr 27 Bennick on Philadelphia SX Podium: "Last time I was in this stadium I broke my back and had a concussion so this one is special for me!" 10. Hunter Surrenders the Red Plate
Hunter Lawrence, Ken Roczen, and Cooper Webb were well aware of magnitude the Philadelphia main event could have in this championship. Like we have seen so many times, when it comes title time, the cream rises to the top. Lawrence grabbed the holeshot with Webb and Roczen in tow and the battle was on.
Roczen passed Hunter early, but Hunter let things settle in and he began to put pressure on his closest title rival. He took a couple stabs at Kenny, but the German held strong as Hunter began to make mistakes. Those mistakes eventually led to a crash and Lawrence was forced to settle for a third and surrender the red plate.
Considering Hunter has lost 35 points to Ken Roczen in five weeks, the momentum isn’t as heavily in Ken Roczen’s favor as you would think. Lawrence dominated Nashville and race one of the Cleveland Triple Crown, so the riding is still at the level it needs to be at to win. Winning this championship is simply going to come down to execution. There is no more room for off days or playing it safe. Denver is a “must beat Ken Roczen” scenario for Hunter Lawrence.
