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Monster Energy/Yamaha Star Racing is back to its winning ways, with Cole Davies getting on the board at Saturday’s Triple Crown event in Indianapolis. The team, which is now 8-1 in 250SX main events, has proven nearly unstoppable as it leads both divisions after Davies’ first win of 2026—Haiden Deegan currently leads the 250SX West Division.
After admitting he’d been “too antsy” through the opening two rounds, Davies delivered a calm, controlled Triple Crown performance that finally matched the expectations surrounding him. And after the frustration of coming up short in recent weeks, this win was a “relief”.
“It’s a bit of a relief to get this win,” Davies said. “I’ve been kind of too antsy the first couple rounds. I’ve kind of settled in now and everything’s a bit calmer, just letting the race come to me.”
Showing superior speed in the whoops, Davies made it a clean sweep in Indy and now leads Seth Hammaker by one in the championship heading into the break.
He spoke with the media following the race.
You were on fire all day. I sensed from you this season that you were expecting yourself to win. You’re not happy if you’re not winning, and I think that speaks to the expectation and level that you’re at. Emotionally, can you give us any insight to the past few weeks? I’ve seen specifically last week in Daytona, you seemed a bit frustrated with not winning, but now that you’re here, take us back emotionally the last two weeks.
Cole Davies: Yeah, I’d say it’s a bit of a relief to get this win. I’ve been kind of, I would say too antsy first couple rounds. I’ve kind of settled in now and everything’s kind of a bit calmer and race, just letting the race come to me. So, that’s been better. But yeah, I’m just happy with my riding. So, yeah, it was a good weekend.
You had a one-one heading into the Glendale race last year and the third race you crashed. To get redemption on that, how does that feel? And then I guess was that like in the back of your head, like thinking about last year and just executing the start this time around?
Yeah. I would say I learned from last year from that. Last year, I would say almost like I got the first two wins and I was almost too overconfident going to the last race. So, I kind of just tried to stay a little grounded, a little humble going to the last race and just celebrate after. So, it’s not over till it’s over. So, yeah, learnt from last year and got at some redemption this year.
Going into this year, everyone knows the talent and speed that you possess, but what are some of the things that you really specifically worked on that has kind of clicked for you so far through three rounds? Going into the season, what were some of the things that you were hoping to clean up about yourself this year and have you already done those through three rounds?
I’d just say everything. Just confidence, experience, just learning from last year and putting it all into this year. So, yeah, I feel like I’m doing that.
Whoops tonight, we’re extremely nasty. That’s something over the first couple rounds. I mean, you’ve shown how much you’ve progressed in that area if you were already quite excellent in them last year. I walked them between the first and the second main, and not only they cupped out, but none of the cups go straight, basically. What do you do to get the bike to stay on top? All your competitors basically had to give up to jumping quickly. Can you give us a little bit of insight on, other than clicking it up a gear, what do you do in those situations?
You went between the first and second one?
Yeah. And it was, I imagine it was…
They got quite a bit worse.
I’ll say it had to be worse by the third.
I don’t know. I don’t want to give all my secrets away, but I just say it’s good technique and confidence. This leads to just being good at them.
You mentioned in the first two rounds that starts was kind of the main thing that was plaguing you. Much better starts tonight, allowed you to get up front. Anything you worked on? Any changes that kind of helped you be upfront early?
Not really. I’d just say it’s more executing. I feel like the first two starts of the season were a little weird, like the start straights, I mean. Very short. Daytona had big holes in it. The first round had like a double apex turn. It was kind of weird. First two round starts were just… I felt like the starts weren’t really very good. I felt like this was a bit of a more normal start other than the drop. But yeah, it was a good night.
You really looked fantastic in every section of the track tonight. Was there any section that gave you any difficulty?
The whoops. No, I’m playing. No, I would say not really. I wouldn’t say so. I had pretty good precision. I went ax-throwing last night, so I’d say that’s what led to this win. I just had good precision everywhere from the ax-throwing last night.
The first couple rounds, it seemed like you were real energetic and antsy to kind of make it happen and prove to everybody that you were the top dog. And at this round, it seemed like a completely different strategy. You were so patient in all three races. Was this something that you talked about with your team? Was this something you talked about with your dad? Or was this brought along with, “Hey, we need to come up with a whole new strategy for this weekend in the Triple Crown. It’s a different style of racing and we need to be on the top step.”
I would just say just executing my starts was the main focus and then just riding my race from there, letting it come to me. I’d just say first two rounds, I didn’t get a good start and then I went down just being too antsy, just wanting to go, wanting to get it done. So, I just kind of calmed down a bit and just let the race come to me and I felt like that was a lot better for me.
Photos: octopi.media
