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2026 Birmingham Supercross Research

By Brett Smith

Back to Birmingham!

  • Chase Sexton (450) and Nate Thrasher (250) were the 2025 winners (Triple Crown).
  • In 2024, Jett Lawrence (450) and Tom Vialle (250) won the inaugural Birmingham Supercross.
  • Birmingham is the 3rd most populous city in Alabama (the Yellowhammer State)
  • Protective Stadium is an open air football field; capacity 47,100.
  • Home to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers, the Birmingham Legion Football Club (soccer) and Birmingham Stallions (United Football League)
  • Opened October 2, 2021.

450 Rider Facts

  • Hunter Lawrence is now one of 46 riders with at least two premier class Supercross wins
  • Eli Tomac (109) is two podiums behind behind the King of Supercross, Jeremy McGrath (111)
  • Hunter Lawrence now has 9 career 450 SX podiums. He’s just 3 behind his brother, Jett Lawrence.
  • Eli Tomac now has 193 career 450SX starts. He owns sole possession of 4th all-time.
  • Justin Cooper led 13 laps in Indy. He’s the 8th different rider to lead laps in 2026.
  • Ken Roczen (80) is once again the 2026 laps led leader.
  • Points leader, Hunter Lawrence (42) has the 3rd most laps led this season.
  • Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen and Mike LaRocco all have 81 450SX podiums, tied for 6th most all-time.

250 Rider Facts

  • For the 3rd time in the past 6 seasons, four different Yamaha riders have won 250SX mains.
  • Devin Simonson scored his 3rd consecutive top 10; his 6th in Indy was a career best.
  • Cole Davies was the 10th different (both classes combined) winner this season.
  • Three different winners to start the East season. In 2025, six different riders won the first 6 East rounds.
  • One more win and Haiden Deegan (12) is tied for 3rd all-time most 250SX wins.
  • One more podium and Haiden Deegan (22) is tied for 8th all-time most 250SX podiums.
  • Deegan has 74 laps led in 2026. The rest of the west has led 54 laps (combined)
  • 10 different riders have taken holeshots this season (divisions combined)
  • Cole Davies is the first New Zealander to lead a Supercross championship since Ben Townley in 2007.
  • Townley won the 2007 250SX East championship by three points over Ryan Morais. Incredibly, Townley opened that season with a 22nd place

Hunter Lawrence vs. Eli Tomac: Start Position

Hunter Lawrence has a superior average Lap 1 position and his competition knows it, especially KTM and Eli Tomac.

At the Indianapolis airport on Sunday morning, KTM Team Manager, Ian Harrison, got a peek at our season stats sheets and the first thing he pointed to was the avg. Lap 1 position column: “Hunter is killing us on the starts”.

  • Tomac’s average lap 1 position of 6.6 is 145% higher than Lawrence’s 2.7.
  • Also noteworthy is Tomac’s +38 net position change to Lawrence’s +2.
  • Heading into Indianapolis, Lawrence’s net pos change was 0!
  • Tomac has finished lap 1 outside the top 10 three times this season.
  • Hunter Lawrence’s worst lap 1 position is 6th (Seattle)
Lawrence v. Tomac L1 Position

Take a Break. Then Win

  • 5 times since 2017, Eli Tomac has won the round coming out of a break.
  • Cooper Webb won twice in 2024 when the series had two weekends off.
2017-2025: Winners After Weekend Off

Ken Roczen Before / After Daytona

Revisiting this topic from 2025; Ken Roczen is simply better before Daytona.

The series was thankful to see Roczen escape a scary crash in Indianapolis and come away with a 5th place overall, which is slightly better than his historical post-Daytona finish of 5.5.

  • It was the 5th time in Roczen’s career that he won the opening Race of a Triple Crown and didn’t win the overall.
  • Roczen has more than double the # of podium finishes pre-Daytona than he does after
  • He has nearly two thirds fewer wins after Daytona than he does before.
  • Last time Roczen won a race after Daytona: 2023 (Indianapolis)
Ken Roczen Before / After Daytona

Yamaha’s 2026 250SX Domination

For the third time in last 6 seasons, 4 different Yamaha riders have won 250SX mains/overalls and for the 8th time since 1985, Yamaha has won at least 8 races.

  • With 7 races remaining in the Supercross season, Yamaha seems likely to surpass its high water mark of 10 wins (2021).
  • Yamaha’s Nate Thrasher (11-7-10 in 2026) was the 2025 Birmingham SX winner.
Yamaha Most 250SX Wins in a Season

Most Dominating 250 Supercross Seasons

Haiden Deegan (and the top 250SX West riders) return to action for the first time since Seattle.

  • Deegan is riding a 5 race win streak (after starting the season 4th at Anaheim)
  • Deegan has a +35 lead over Max Anstie. That’s a big lead for a divisional series after 6 rounds.
  • Notable big points leads after 6 rounds: Jett Lawrence, +26 in 2023, James Stewart, +31 lead in 2003 and +32 in 2004(!) and Ryan Villopoto, +34 in 2007.
  • Ricky Carmichael, however, had a +49 lead over Robbie Reynard in 1998. And at this point, that’s who Deegan is chasing, as RC won a record 250SX 8 consecutive 125SX East rounds en route to a championship.
  • It’s been 19 years since a 250SX rider won 6 consecutive races.
Most Consecutive 250SX Wins in a Season.

Devin Simonson Impressing

Terre Haute, Indiana’s Devin Simonson (24 y/o) is on a redemption tour after a Dec. 2024 wrist injury derailed his chance to impress his Club MX Yamaha team.

  • He only competed in three 250SX races in 2025 (9-9-18 at E. Rutherford, Pittsburgh, SLC)

Simonson has been given another shot with Club MX in 2026 and he’s already put up two career best finishes.

  • 8th at Arlington
  • 6th overall at the Indy Triple Crown. For several laps of Race 3, he was in position for 3rd overall.

While Simonson is 24 years old and has raced both classes in SX and MX (and even finished top 20 in a few World Motocross GPs in MX2) he doesn’t have many total starts in AMA pro racing. He’s yet to line up for more than 5 250SX races in a single season.

  • 31 total starts since 2021 (all classes)
  • 16 starts are from 250SX
  • 9th at the 2023 SLC 450SX!
  • A huge plus for Simonson in 2026 is his improved starts.
Devin Simonson 250SX career

250SX E/W Showdown

The first 250SX E/W Showdown of the season!

Showdown Fun Facts
  • This weekend’s event will be the 65th E/W Showdown since 1985, when the 125 class was integrated into the series.
  • First ever Showdown in Birmingham, AL
  • West: 36 wins
  • East: 28 wins
  • 2026 has three Showdown events: Birmingham, St. Louis, Salt Lake City.
  • 2025 Showdown winners: Seth Hammaker (Indianapolis); Cole Davies (Philadelphia) and Haiden Deegan (Salt Lake City)
Showdown Winners by Brand
  • The last rider to win two consecutive showdowns: Adam Cianciarulo (Las Vegas, 2018-Atlanta 2019)
  • Eight different riders have won the last nine Showdowns (Deegan has won SLC two years in a row)
Most 125/250SX E/W Showdown Starts

Milestones

450 Achieved Last Week
  • Cooper Webb tied Mike LaRocco and Ken Roczen for 6th all-time SX podiums (81)
450s
  • Eli Tomac…
  • Ken Roczen (6,509 pts) needs just +27 points to tie Ricky Carmichael (6,536 pts) for 5th all-time SX+MX.
  • Cooper Webb (32) wins SX+MX needs one more to tie Jett Lawrence (33)
250 Achieved Last Week
  • Kyle Peters tied Jordon Smith (76)and Josh Hansen (76) for 8th all-time in 250SX starts
250s
  • One more win and Haiden Deegan (12) ties for 3rd all-time most 250SX wins with Jett Lawrence, Jeremy McGrath and Austin Forkner
  • One more podium and Haiden Deegan (22) ties for 8th all-time most 250SX podiums with Jeremy McGrath, Zach Osborne and Christian Craig.
  • Jo Shimoda (946 points) needs 14 points to tie Brock Sellards for 14th all-time.