2026 AMA Supercross Championship

Round Ten – Birmingham, Alabama

Australia’s Hunter Lawrence tightened his grip on the 2026 AMA Supercross Championship with a controlled 450SX win at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, while the night’s 250SX East/West Showdown turned on a post-race penalty that elevated young Kiwi Cole Davies to victory after Haiden Deegan had taken the chequered flag first.

450

Jorge Prado grabbed the holeshot for KTM, but Lawrence went straight to work and moved to the front, where he was able to build the sort of buffer that allowed him to manage the race from there.

German veteran Ken Roczen sliced forward from well outside the leading group to finish second for Suzuki, while Eli Tomac completed the podium for KTM after one of the more eventful nights of his season.

Malcolm Stewart continued his solid upward trend with fifth for Husqvarna, Cooper Webb came home sixth, and Prado faded to seventh after that early holeshot.

Tomac’s podium was a notable salvage job. The rider from Cortez, Colorado, had started the day as the fastest qualifier with a 50.962s lap, but an incident in his heat race dropped him to 15th and sent him to the LCQ. Tomac responded exactly as expected, winning the LCQ comfortably before fighting his way back onto the main event podium in third, 35.787s down on Lawrence but still limiting the damage on a night that could easily have gone far worse.

Garrett Marchbanks and Canadian Cole Thompson were each docked one position for cutting track sector three, leaving Marchbanks 10th and Thompson 19th in the official classification.

For Lawrence, the bigger picture is now looking increasingly healthy. He heads to Detroit next weekend with 221 points, nine clear of Tomac on 212, while Roczen’s runner-up finish lifts him to third on 190, three ahead of Webb. Justin Cooper sits fifth on 158.

450 Main Results

Quotes

Hunter Lawrence – P1

“It feels good [to win for the third time in four races]. I’m just taking it one race at a time. It’s easy to think about the end result, which is the title, but I’m just trying to stay focused in the moment. Anything can happen, as we’ve seen tonight, so I’m just happy to be up here.”

Ken Roczen – P2

“I’m ecstatic, honestly. I think I rode really well, but you can’t start 15th and expect to win a race. Inconsistency on the start [is something] I’m not happy with. I rode so good tonight. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, but with racing like that I’m totally fine with it.”

Eli Tomac – P3

“I just wasn’t as good tonight as the front two. That’s it. Of course, the LCQ was very stressful and a high-pressure moment, but I got myself out there to a good start [in the Main Event] on the outside gate and just got beat tonight. Just a little bit off. It’s tough, one of those nights, but we’ll try to regroup next week and see if we can get back up front.”

Malcolm Stewart – P5

“The crowd is always awesome in Birmingham. It was a big turnout, and last year here I finished second in the Triple Crown, so I always look forward to this race. Tonight, it was a pretty gnarly fifth place! I feel like the track broke down a lot with seven or eight minutes to go in the Main Event, but the Heat Race was really good – I’m just starting to get back into my flow and felt good all day. Setting the tone early is important, and I felt good from the beginning, which was nice, but with the whole team we are making some really good progress. A top-five result is awesome, so we’ll keep building momentum into Detroit.”

Jorge Prado – P7

“I wrapped up Birmingham with P7. The round started with a big crash in practice, which I think affected the rest of my day. Obviously, the confidence goes down, and you start thinking about things a little more. Luckily, I walked away from that in one piece – I did hit my stomach very bad – but not bad enough to not be racing. P2 in the Heat Race was solid, and then I holeshotted the Main Event and got passed in the second corner. I stayed in P2 for a couple laps, but was missing a bit of my flow tonight, so it was a bit of a struggle. We battled for P5 most of the race, but all-in-all, it was just an okay ride. Not terrible, just medium, and I’m happy to be healthy with another week of training ahead.”

Aaron Plessinger – P21

“I was planning on Birmingham being a good day. Practice went decent and the track was wild – dry and wet at the same time, if you can imagine that! It was just a wild track altogether, but I qualified ninth and then had a really good Heat Race in battling with Jorge and felt good. I got a good start in the Main Event, rode a little tight at first, and then started to loosen up as the race went on. Then I hit a rock on the face of a jump, and I felt the rear-end start to rise, which is when I knew I wasn’t going to make the triple. I tried to ditch the bike, but it was too late, and the bars hit my knees. After that it was a bit of a blur – I think I did a flip or two and, when I landed, I heard something really crunch so that was the end of my night. I went to the Medical Unit, they checked me out, and I am in one piece, but I am just sore and bummed out. I felt like we made a lot of good progress in the break, but I just have to keep grinding to get to where we need to be.”

450 Championship Points

250 Main
East/West Showdown

The 250SX East/West Showdown was no less dramatic. Waitoki’s Cole Davies, the young New Zealander leading the East division, was right in the thick of it from the drop of the gate after Levi Kitchen grabbed the holeshot.

Davies and Kitchen traded the lead early, Jo Shimoda joined the fight, and then Western points leader Haiden Deegan came charging through from outside the early lead group to first reach the flag.

Officially, though, Deegan was later demoted one place for cutting the track in sector three, handing the win to Davies and with Seth Hammaker on the final podium step behind the penalised Yamaha rider.

Shimoda was classified fourth, Kitchen fifth, and Daxton Bennick sixth.

That penalty mattered in the points as much as in the result sheet. Davies now leads the 250SX East standings on 89 points from Hammaker on 83 and Shimoda on 80, with Bennick fourth on 71.

Deegan still has a comfortable grip on the 250SX West title fight with 165 points, but his margin is now 42 over Max Anstie on 123, with Kitchen third on 118.

There was also no 250 main event for Sydney’s Luke Clout. The Australian missed a direct transfer in the East heat and then finished 17th in the LCQ, ending his Birmingham night before the showdown gate dropped.

250 Main Results

Quotes

Cole Davies – P1*
*Quote recorded prior to enforcement of penalty.

“Looking at the positives, I [gained] points tonight, but I’m not exactly happy with that. I rode terrible, to be honest. I was just overriding. We still made [gains] in points so I’m happy with that, but I’m not happy with my riding. It is what it is and we’re on to the next round.”

Haiden Deegan  – P2*
*Quote recorded prior to enforcement of penalty.

“I heard a lot of things coming in here making it seem like the battle for the win would be close. I came out here to whoop everyone’s butt for these Alabama fans. That was a good time [coming from 10th to first]. I sent it for sure.”

Seth Hammaker – P3

“I’m a little disappointed [with my result]. You always want to come out and win at the showdowns, but I didn’t have it tonight. Those other guys were riding good. Early on and midway through the race I didn’t really have the pace. I felt better at the end but that’s not when you need it. It’s good to know I have the endurance, but I need to be better at the beginning. Other than that, solid night.”

Daxton Bennick – P6

“Birmingham was good. We entered with a new shock that we tried last week and I was really happy with it – it made the whoops a lot better for me. I was stoked on that and then I kind of got rolling in that second qualifier before struggling a bit in the Heat Race. I then put my head down in the Main Event after getting chopped a bit at the start, but we put in a strong charge, and I’m happy with my riding and fitness. Now, we’ll go into next weekend and try to put it on the box.”

Ryder DiFrancesco – P19

“The day started well. I qualified P2 in our class and felt really good all day. The Heat Race was so-so, we charged to fourth and then in the Main Event, I was making some good passes in the beginning, and then around lap two or three we ran into a rear brake problem. I ended up pulling into the pits and the team fixed it, before I went back out and salvaged what I could. You never give up with these Showdowns and we tried to get as many points as we could.”

250 West Championship Points

250 East Championship Points

AMA Supercross Results
2026 Round Ten

250 West Heat Results

250 East Heat Results

250 LCQ Results

250 Qualifying Results

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two Results

450 LCQ Results

450 Qualifying Results

SMX Next

In SMX Next, Vincent Wey took the win for Kawasaki, while Perth teenager Kayden Minear ended up 19th after being caught up in the opening-lap trouble that also eliminated Landen Gordon from contention.

SMX Next Main Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Interval
1	V. Wey	Kaw	9m00.885
2	K. Johnson	Kaw	+5.035
3	R. Malinoski	Yam	+7.635
4	J. Fappani	KTM	+12.507
5	D. Denno	Tri	+13.615
6	L. Gibson	Hus	+16.939
7	C. Timboe	Yam	+19.265
8	G. Betts	Kaw	+22.723
9	A. Keefer	Kaw	+24.956
10	M. Fitch	Yam	+27.975
11	G. Andrigo	Yam	+28.615
12	A. Hillan	Hon	+32.147
13	D. Thomas	Hus	+33.295
14	S. Dennis	Yam	+36.055
15	C. Lawton	Kaw	+38.409
16	A. Carminati	Yam	+38.817
17	C. Haynes	Kaw	+44.074
18	W. Canaguier III	Kaw	+53.793
19	K. Minear	Yam	+57.007
20	K. Bollasina	Yam	1 Lap
21	J. Turner Jr	Yam	10 Laps
22	L. Gordon	Yam	10 Laps

SMX Next Qualifying Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time
1	L. Gordon	Yam	52.980
2	J. Turner Jr	Yam	54.364
3	K. Minear	Yam	54.378
4	V. Wey	Kaw	54.448
5	D. Denno	Tri	54.779
6	K. Johnson	Kaw	54.947
7	L. Gibson	Hus	54.957
8	W. Thurman	KTM	55.434
9	J. Fappani	KTM	55.572
10	R. Malinoski	Yam	55.653
11	M. Fitch	Yam	55.870
12	C. Timboe	Yam	55.895
13	K. Bollasina	Yam	55.928
14	G. Andrigo	Yam	56.022
15	D. Thomas	Hus	56.376
16	A. Keefer	Kaw	56.472
17	C. Lawton	Kaw	56.947
18	A. Hillan	Hon	56.953
19	W. Canaguier III	Kaw	57.137
20	S. Dennis	Yam	57.142
21	A. Carminati	Yam	57.568
22	G. Betts	Kaw	57.641
23	C. Haynes	Kaw	58.617
24	H. Lee	Tri	59.503
25	D. Roos	KTM	—
26	O. Covell	Yam	—

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