Slaw
The first half of the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship drew to a close in dramatic fashion in the “Crossroads of the West” as the 17th and final race of a historic Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship concluded in front of a capacity crowd inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. A single point separated Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, from Germany, and Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence, from Australia, in one of the closest title fights of all-time and set the stage for a winner-take-all 450SMX Class Main Event. After fighting for the lead early, it was Roczen who emerged with his maiden premier class title at 32 years of age to become the oldest champion in Supercross history, in his 13th season at the highest level.
The final and most significant 20 Minute + 1 Lap Main Event of the season began as expected, with Lawrence and Roczen side-by-side. While Lawrence earned the holeshot, it was Roczen who made an early move to seize the lead over Lawrence as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chase Sexton battled for third. The title combatants quickly settled in and mirrored one another’s pace, each tactfully biding their time.
As the race surpassed its opening five minutes the race turned into a three-rider affair as Prado closed in from third. The pressure from behind forced Lawrence to increase his pace, which carried him onto Roczen’s rear fender. A brief off-track excursion cost Lawrence time to Roczen and then led to a costly miscue that sent the Australian to the ground. As Roczen carried on, Lawrence remounted in seventh place, which effectively ended his title hopes. Prado assumed control of second, while Sexton moved up into third.
Roczen held a three-second lead into the second half of the race but took advantage of his track positioning to slow his pace. That created an opportunity for Sexton to make a charge to the front of the field. The Kawasaki rider took his time to get by Prado for second, but once he did, he quickly erased the deficit to Roczen and moved into the lead with mere minutes to go. Roczen continued to drop in the running order, as Prado moved into second, followed by the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing duo of Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb, the defending Supercross champion. Roczen settled into fifth on the final lap, two positions ahead of Lawrence.
Sexton carried on to take his second win of the season and his fourth straight in Salt Lake City by a margin of just over two seconds. Cooper made a last lap pass on Prado to equal the best result of his career in second, while the Spaniard captured his second career podium in third. Roczen did enough to clinch the championship in fifth, ahead of Lawrence in seventh.
A mere three points separated Roczen and Lawrence at season’s end, as both finished with five wins and 12 podiums, where two positions decided the outcome. Webb completed the championship podium in third, the fourth consecutive season he’s finished in the top three.
Ken Roczen – 5th Place – 450SMX Class Champion
“I was an emotional wreck today. It was not an easy task by any means. I’ve been exhausted, physically and mentally, over these past few weeks, but I’ve dreamed of this since I was a little kid. This is just a testament of you never give up. Anybody, at any age, whenever you’re competing and you feel anxiety, you feel strange emotions that rob your energy, you’re not alone. I feel those too, but I don’t give up. I work on it daily and [the championship] is how it pays off. You can do it too.”
Chase Sexton – 1st Place – 450SMX Class
“I’ve known Kenny [Roczen] a long time. He was like a big brother to me growing up. It’s obviously a bit different now that we race each other, but I’m really proud of him. Hunter [Lawrence] was [also] great all year. Great competitors. I was watching their race from the back and didn’t know what to do, then stuff happened, I started riding better and got to the front. It means a lot for me, personally, to get a win. It’s been a really tough year, but this hopefully is a good omen for outdoors.”
Justin Cooper – 2nd Place – 450SMX Class
“I didn’t get off the gate great. I tried second gear and dropped the front. I need a little more gas, but it’s tough at elevation because we’re fighting between first or second gear. That didn’t pay off but I was able to work my way through. I had to trust my pace and wait for guys to wear down a little bit. Everything tightened up at the end, and it was a tough last couple minutes, but we got close [to the win] there.”
Jorge Prado – 3rd Place – 450SMX Class
“My main goal was to get a good start. I did that and was running third and at one point I was faster than the guys in front of me [Roczen and Lawrence]. I knew they were battling for the championship, so I didn’t want to interfere. I could have made a pass, but I wanted to stay there. Then Hunter [Lawrence] made a mistake, and I fell a little bit off rhythm. It was a great day of racing for me.”
For the third time this season, the best of 250SMX Class came together for a battle to determine who is the best in the smaller displacement in the prestigious Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown. The 15 Minute + 1 Lap Main Event was headlined by Eastern and Western Divisional Champions and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammates Cole Davies [East Champion] and Haiden Deegan [West Champion], who faced off for the first time as titleholders. As the field exited the first turn it was Deegan who led the way to the holeshot, ahead of a slew of fellow Star Yamaha racers, including Davies. As the field settled in it was Max Anstie who put his Yamaha out front over Deegan as Davies gave chase from third. Deegan bided his time and made the move around Anstie. Once in the lead, Deegan quickly put some distance over his teammates. Davies followed into second a lap later and faced a two-second deficit to Deegan.
What ensued was a head-to-head battle between the series champions, with Davies able to leverage his incredible speed in the whoops to give Deegan a fierce challenge. They traded positions briefly, but Deegan withstood the threat. Davies persisted and made an aggressive pass on Deegan with contact to grab the lead just past the halfway point of the race. Deegan regrouped and closed back in on Davies and attempted to return the favor but went down after initiating contact. Deegan remounted quickly but went down a short time later in the sand, remounting in fourth. That moved Anstie and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen into second and third, respectively. Not long after, Kitchen went on the attack and made the pass on Anstie.
Davies was never challenged the rest of the way and cruised to his sixth win of the season to put the finishing touch on a breakthrough campaign for the young New Zealander. Kitchen closed strong to finish 2.4 seconds back in the runner-up spot, while Anstie rounded out the podium. Deegan brought it home in fourth in the final 250SMX Class race of his decorated career.
Cole Davies – 1st Place – Dave Coombs Sr. 250SMX East/West Showdown
“That was a great race. I didn’t get off to a great start, but I made it happen. The pressure is off [with the championship] so I could come out here and ride full out. It was fun racing like that, going back and forth, cat and mouse. I enjoyed it.”
Levi Kitchen – 2nd Place – Dave Coombs Sr. 250SMX East/West Showdown
“I got another okay start, but I made moves early. I’m proud of that. I was really aggressive. I could see the leaders and felt like I could get up there, then both of my teammates went down. I had to nearly stop to avoid them and had to make it all back up. It was chaos, but I’m just so stoked to be up here battling with these guys.”
Max Anstie – 3rd Place – Dave Coombs Sr. 250SMX East/West Showdown
“It’s been a tough year. I had my appendix taken out and a lot of things in between the races, but the whole team has been amazing sticking behind me. Awesome season. Congrats to my two teammates [on their championships]. It was awesome to be a part of that this year. Hopefully we can be up here again next year and in the title hunt.”
Haiden Deegan – 4th Place – Dave Coombs Sr. 250SMX East/West Showdown
“What an amazing 250 career. I’ve got to give it up to Cole. That was a dog fight. We were giving the fans the best show possible. We were hitting each other, it was awesome. Even though I came out in fourth, that was one of the funnest races I’ve had. It’s a little sad we’re hanging it up, but ready to move on to the 450 Class.”
