Someone will make history tomorrow night. If Ken Roczen wins the title, he will be only the second rider in history to have won an FIM Motocross World Championship (2011 MX2), an AMA Pro Motocross Championship title (2014, '16), and the premier class AMA Supercross Championship. The only other rider to have accomplished this feat is Jean-Michel Bayle, who won world titles in 1988 and '89, two Pro Motocross titles in '91, and the supercross crown that same year. If Hunter Lawrence wins, he and his brother will be the first and only brothers to have both won the premier-class AMA Supercross Championship, as Jett won in 2024.

Kenny would also be the oldest rider to win his first SX title, as well as the first German-born SX Champion. And one of these two will soon have the distinction of being the highest-numbered champion of AMA Supercross, either #94 or #96. The highest-numbered champion up to this point was #22 Chad Reed, in both 2004 and '08. Other two-digit SX champions were #21 Jason Anderson (2018), #18 Jett Lawrence ('24), #15 Jeremy McGrath ('93), and #11 David Bailey ('83).

Tomorrow will also mark the end of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Haiden Deegan's 250 career, as the 250SX West Champion is moving up to the 450 full-time as soon as the checkered flag falls on the 250 East/West Showdown in SLC. It will also mark the last chance for his younger teammate Cole Davies, the 250SX East Champion, to play the spoiler. If either of them or one of the other blue bikes in the field wins, it will mark the end of the most dominant season ever for a single brand in this class, as Yamahas have won all but one round in this division in 2026.

And then there was the announcement earlier this week of a big change coming to Husqvarna Factory Racing, which our own Mitch Kendra broke down here. And is it possible that Cooper Webb signs with Team Tedder? It’s at least an option! Needless to say, there is a lot going on out in Salt Lake City. There was the St. Jude's Golf Tournament yesterday, the press conference today, the PulpMX Yamaha Privateer LCQ Challenge, and a preview screening of the Moto Nineties documentary, and, of course, tomorrow's grand finale. Before it all gets rolling, I would like to say congratulations and thank you to everyone involved with Monster Energy AMA Supercross—the riders, the teams, the industry supporters, the sponsors, the track crews, the TV and streaming crews, and, of course, everyone at Feld Motor Sports—on what has been a fantastic supercross championship. Here's hoping all of that momentum carries over to the next part of this SMX season, the Pro Motocross Championship, which starts in three weeks. Good luck to both Kenny and Hunter—may the best man win, and congratulations to you both.

Some highlights from the Roczen vs. Lawrence back and forth battle this year...

Last Words (Aaron Hansel)

We’re here in Salt Lake City, where the final pre-race press conference of the season recently let out. Unlike the season-opening press conference before Anaheim in which a multitude of riders take part, this one featured just four riders—250SX East Champ Cole Davies, 250SX West Champ Haiden Deegan, and 450SX contenders Hunter Lawrence and Ken Roczen.

Davies fielded a variety of questions, but most of them stemmed from this being his last chance to beat Deegan on a 250, the upcoming season of Pro Motocross, and his thoughts on joining the 450 Class in the not-too-distant future. As you might expect, Davies didn’t engage these questions directly, instead just saying, “I’m just going to go have fun. The pressure is off and I’m excited to go race my dirt bike,” every time someone steered the conversation toward competing against Deegan. As far as his expectations for motocross, he expressed a desire to prove people wrong who think he’s just a supercross specialist but also pointed out his lack of experience—he’s only raced two Pro Motocross races in his career! As for racing a 450 (possibly as soon as 2028), he said he’s focused strictly on what’s in front of him right now.

When it was Deegan’s turn it was clear he’s ready to leave the small bike behind. He didn’t directly say as much, but he mentioned that his goal this year was to own the class, and be the racer that makes people say, “No one can beat that guy!” Well, consider that box emphatically checked, Haiden! Sticking around in the 250 class any longer is pointless, there’s nothing left for him to achieve here, although he did mention he constantly draws motivation by wanting to prove people wrong. Well, there aren’t any people left of sound mind who think he can’t do it on a 250, but it’s a different story in the 450 class. This summer is going to be wild…

Finally, when Lawrence and Roczen took the stage, things went pretty close to what you might expect. They both said they’re trying to treat this weekend as if it’s any other weekend, and when confronted with the fact that this isn’t just another weekend, Roczen affirmed that both he and Lawrence are well aware this isn’t just another weekend, but the work that’s put in day in and day out during the week, and the confidence that comes from knowing no stone is left unturned, is what helps guide him in situations like this.

The best part of the press conference might have been when they were asked to describe this situation, being separated by a single point at the final round of the season, in a single word. Lawrence described how this is what you dream of as a little kid, talking about how you couldn’t script something like this any better, and how amazing it is to be one of the guys in the thick of it. After all that, he kind of stopped himself and said, “So I guess in answer to your question, it’s two words: ‘So sick!’” We couldn’t agree more!

Another highlight came when they were asked if they’d mentally prepared themselves for the prospect of losing on Saturday. Roczen quickly just kind of shrugged his shoulders, lifted the mic, and said, “Life goes on.”

LCQ RACE (Matthes)

By the time you read this the PulpMX Yamaha LCQ Challenge race will be going on with the winner getting at least 20K from the raffle entries. Yamaha gave us a bike to give away, and we have a bunch of other cool prizes from other companies (see graphics) so if you don't win the bike, you can win something else awesome. We have our prop bets also lined up, thanks to Aaron Plessinger who hit me up this AM to give $1,000 to the winner and $1,000 to the rider in 7th place! What a guy! Remember, tickets can be purchased up until Monday night’s PulpMX Show! Get a ticket HERE and support the 22 privateers in the race.

You can watch Kellen Brauer and the guys call the action on PulpMX or Racer X YouTube channels as well.

Mert Lawwill, Mike Kidd. Legends. Godspeed (DC)

The motorcycling world lost two true icons this week, both AMA Grand National Champions, both innovators, both entrepreneurs—Mert Lawwill and Mike Kidd, fellow members of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

Mert Lawwill was the fastest man on the planet in 1969, winning the Grand National Championship, which included several disciplines of motorcycle racing: flat track mile, half-mile, TT, and road racing. He was followed by filmmaker Bruce Brown, as were Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen. Together, they were the three riders in the epic dune-riding scenes in the On Any Sunday film that helped trigger that early seventies motorcycling boom that kickstarted the two-wheeled industry as we know it. Lawwill was also an innovator in both suspension systems for bicycles and motorcycles, as well as prosthetics.

Sadly, Lawwill was the last of the core group at the center of the film On Any Sunday. The actor Steve McQueen passed in 1980 from cancer. The director Bruce Brown died in 2017 at the age of 80. And co-star Malcolm Smith passed away in 2024. He was 83 years old.

Mike Kidd was the fastest man on the planet in 1981 when he won his AMA Grand National Championship aboard his #72 motorcycle. Coincidentally, the team he rode for in that championship season was sponsored by Mert Lawwill, along with Kenny Roberts. Kidd raced professionally for 12 seasons, then became a highly respected and successful promoter. Mike Kidd Promotions was best known for the AMA National Arenacross Championship Series, as well as various motorcycle and ATV events over the years. Kidd was battling cancer when he passed last night at home, with his wife of more than 50 years, Sandra, at his side. He was 72 years old.

Star Kids (DC)

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing uses its deep bench to call up young prospects from its amateur program whenever they feel they are ready. Wil Hahn, 250 team manager, and crew showed an incredibly effective way to bring both Haiden Deegan and Cole Davies along. They are, of course, now the 250SX West and 250SX East Champions, both clinching early.

Caden Dudney, who got his pro card last year in order to be grandfathered in at 16 years of age, struggled a bit in the 250SX East, finishing outside the top ten in each of the first six rounds before the team decided to have him drop out of SX and focus on being ready for Pro Motocross.

Next up was Landen Gordon. He made his professional debut in Nashville but ended up with a front wheel issue and entered the race three laps down, finishing but landing a 22nd-place finish. One race later in Cleveland, he went straight to the podium, no easy feat when it's a Triple Crown event. But then Landen had trouble in the muddy Philadelphia round, giving him the very unique stat line: 22-2-21.

This past weekend, it was Kayden Minear's turn. He got a somewhat rude welcome from Levi Kitchen in the last corner of their heat race battle, with Minear going over the outside berm and then failing to turn around and get back on track to cross the finish line. Kitchen finished fourth, but Minear was not scored on the last lap because he did not cross the finish line. That dropped him back to 12th and forced him into the LCQ, where he finished second to Kitchen's veteran teammate Cameron McAdoo. (We explained that weird rule earlier this week if you missed it). Maybe the extra laps did #99 some good, as he would finish fifth in the main event for his first-ever professional points, moving up from ninth on the first lap.

The New Navicular? (DC)

Fans of a certain age probably remember the first time they heard of someone breaking the navicular bone in their wrist. It was the spring of 1989, and superstar Rick Johnson collided with privateer Danny Storbeck in practice at the Gatorback National, the opening round back then of AMA Pro Motocross. Johnson was leading the points in supercross at the time, winning five of the first six rounds, back when the two series used to overlap. It was obvious that RJ's wrist was broken, but everyone figured he would be fine after a couple of months. Unfortunately, he would not. The navicular bone would not heal properly, and the wrist was never the same, leading to Johnson's early retirement two years later after what had already been the greatest career any U.S. rider had had up until that point.

In December, I think many of us heard about something called the medial talus bone for the first time. That's the bone in his ankle that Jett Lawrence broke while preparing for the '26 SX season. It turns out that the talus is as important to the ankle and as difficult to heal as the navicular is to the wrist. Lawrence, of course, was the favorite to win a second SX crown but instead was knocked out of the entire series. He will finally return at Fox Raceway for the outdoor opener on May 30, six full months since breaking that talus.

We've now heard of a fractured talus for the second time, as privateer Austin Cozadd let us know about injuring the same bone as Jett. He actually broke it back in timed qualifying at the Arlington SX in February but still qualified for the night show, despite the pain. He also raced at Daytona the next weekend, but the pain was still there, and something was obviously wrong. He got detailed X-rays of the ankle and found out he broke both his medial talus as well as the calcaneus in his ankle, along with a Grade 2 sprain. He's been out ever since.

"No idea how it wasn't more painful than it was," he told us, given how much damage had been done (which you can see in his X-ray). "But rehab and recovery are going well. It's a slow process with that bone, but I should finally be back riding in another week and will try to do a few nationals later on this summer." Austin added, "I think I was more fortunate with my fracture. Jett's seemed to be a bit worse."

Here's hoping both Jett and Austin come back 100 percent from their broken navicu—er, talus bones!

Broadcast Value, Operational Efficiency, and Track Conditions (Hansel)

Last week in Denver, I was on track walk, and I happened upon John Short and Freddie Noren. They were discussing the qualifying format, and Short asked me if I knew why it goes, 250C, 250B, 250A, 450A, 450B, then 450C. Being the know-it-all that I am, I quickly and confidently replied that it was so that fans could watch both A groups go back-to-back. But then I realized I actually had no idea, and that conclusion was simply an assumption. So, being curious, I reached out to AMA director of racing Mike Pelletier. It turns out part of the reasoning is for production value, but that's not everything. Below is what Pelletier had to say. If you were ever wondering why qualifying is run the way it is, now you know!

Mt Rushmore Of Photographers (Keefer)

A good thread happens every once in a while over there on the Vital MX forums, and one of them that I thought was pretty interesting was, "Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of photographers?" This had me going way back into my archives as I have worked with so many over the years, like Karel Kramer, Dave Bush, Garth Milan, Fran Kuhn, Mark "Kato" Kariya, Adam Campbell, Kinney Jones, and Joe Bonnello, among others. In our industry of media MX testing, you're only as good as the photography that is shot. I can paint the picture with words, but without great photos, the story/test is nothing. I recently had a photoshoot with Simon Cudby and asked him this question, as he was on MANY of the fans' lists of Mt. Rushmore photographers, and he said his were Fran Kuhn, Mike Emery, Garth Milan, and Ray Archer (MXGP Photographer).

If I had to pick myself, I think mine would be Simon Cudby, Garth Milan, Paul Buckley, and a toss-up between Joe Bonnello or Karel Kramer. These are photographers that I have worked with who have inspired me over my 25 years with their photos and the way they made them come to life.

There have been a ton of really talented photographers over the years who have given us fans images that spread across our minds as well as our homes/shops. I think I have over 15 blown-up shots of most of the photographers that I have mentioned in my house or garage somewhere that I look at daily.

FOTO GODS (Matthes)

Thinking of Kris Keefer's question about photographers and DC would be way better to weigh in here, he's got an eye for that stuff whilst I do not really except over the years, I've always been able to spot a Cudby image over others. Simon's def in the Mt. Rushmore of photo hounds, his stuff is awesome and stands out. I've been lucky to have access to Chris Hultner's stuff, and he's got some amazing photos also of the ‘90s era and he always seemed to get great lifestyle stuff of riders hanging out in box vans, etc. Those moments captured always take me to a place of fond memories. Never met him but Jack Burnicle stands out for GP stuff over the years. Lot of great and talented guys in our sport!

This Week's Win Ads (DC)

With SX and GNCC Racing 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 ccyclenews.com

Hey, Watch It!

Haiden Deegan now holds the record for most Monster Energy Supercross wins on a 250F four-stroke:

Cooper Webb's race went sideways in Denver

Dean Wilson got back to supercross and back into the top ten in Denver:

RC and RV on the Jorge Prado/Cooper Webb tango in Denver:

The Fox Racing/Deegan collab is off to a strong start:

SMX Insider – Season 4 – Episode 18 – Salt Lake City Preview Show

Our weekend preview, hosted by Sarah Whitmore:

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week 

"Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Delivers Speed, Starts, and Determination in Denver"—Ducati PR

"Rinsing your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher actually makes them less clean"—Best Views

"Frederick Douglass bridge protester climbs down after five days in the sky"—Washington Examiner

"Seagull imitators compete for best screech at sixth European championship"—Yahoo

"Yoko says oh no to 'John Lemon' beer"—Yahoo

"A slew of new Bigfoot sightings, on-screen and off-Broadway"—NPR

"Man uses his penis to pull police car down the street — to ‘raise awareness’ for prostate cancer"—New York Post
That one needs to be seen to be believed...

Random Notes

Congratulations to privateer favorite Cade Clason, who announced his retirement from professional racing, effective after tomorrow night’s Salt Lake City finale.

Kickstart Kenny on the cover of the German "Cross" magazin.