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2026 Detroit Supercross Research

By Brett Smith

Welcome to the Motor City!

Detroit/Pontiac is #2 for most races held in a market in Supercross history (this weekend will be the 59th). Motown has a rich legacy in the sport going back to 1976 when Supercross first visited the Pontiac Silverdome.

  • 46 rounds at the Pontiac Silverdome (1976-2005)
  • 12 rounds at Ford Field (2006-2025)

450 Rider Facts

  • Hunter Lawrence didn’t win any of his first 25 450SX mains. He’s now won 3 of the last 4.
  • Hunter Lawrence joins Larry Ward and Marty Smith as the only riders with precisely 3 wins.
  • Eli Tomac (110) is one podium away from tying Jeremy McGrath (more info below)
  • Eli Tomac is now one of two riders in premier class (SX+MX) history to score over 8,000 points.
  • 5th = season best for Malcolm Stewart.
  • 8th = season best for Colt Nichols
  • 9th = career best for Jordon Smith (Triumph’s first top 10)
  • 15th = season high for Mitchell Harrison. His career best is 14th.
  • Cooper Webb is on a 6 race win drought . The last time he went this long without a win: 2023, 7 rounds between rounds 8-14.
  • Rumble in Detroit: Honda and Yamaha both have 21 450SX wins in Detroit/Pontiac.

250 Rider Facts

  • 4 career wins for Cole Davies. A 5th would give him the same # of wins as Levi Kitchen, Joey Savatgy, Jordon Smith and others.
  • In 2026, Cole Davies averages 4.8 in qualifying but 2.3 in overall finishes.
  • Davies also leads the class in position changes (+26). Daxton Bennick is +24 in position changes.
  • Cole Davies has posted the single fastest segment time in the whoops in all 6 gate drops this season.
  • In Birmingham, 9 of Davies’ 19 passes through the whoops ranked him top 4 among all the single fastest times in that segment.
  • Caden Dudney has yet to break into the top 10 but he’s qualified 4-4-6-15 in his first 4 races.
  • Seth Hammaker has scored a total of 6 points in his two Detroit Supercross appearances (2024: 21st, 1 pt.; 2025: 17th, 5 pts.)
  • Daxton Bennick (3-5-4-6) is, by far, off to his best season start: ****(2-DNR-7-11 in 2025 and 3-10-10-7 in 2024)
  • Happy 21st birthday (3/28) to 250SX West rider, Ryder Difrancesco.

Musical Chairs in Motown

Detroit/Pontiac’s history is filled with multi-time winners (27 unique names have the 58 wins) but the last four 450 mains have been won by four different riders. And 6 different riders have won the 9 rounds held here since the venue returned in 2014.

There was no Detroit Supercross from 2009-2013 (or 2020-2021). Since its return, Eli Tomac is the only rider to win here more than once.

Ford Field Winners: 2014-2025

The last time 5 different riders won 5 successive races in the Motor City was 1988-1990:

  • Rick Johnson (1988, Pontiac 2)
  • Ron Lechien (1989, Pontiac 1)
  • Jeff Ward (1989, Pontiac 2)
  • Damon Bradshaw (1990, Pontiac 1)
  • Jean-Michel Bayle (1990, Pontiac 2)
All-Time Pontiac/Detroit Winners

Notable: Ricky Carmichael ‘only’ got one win here: 2001

2.6 = Really, Really Good

Last week we compared Hunter Lawrence’s incredibly low average L.1 position to that of Eli Tomac’s. This week we’ll look at the recent historical significance of that number (which dropped again after Birmingham)

  • Lawrence ended lap 1 in Birmingham in 1st position.
  • It was ‘only’ the 4th time this season that has happened (in the 14 gate drops, including Triple Crown Race starts)
  • Lawrence’s 2.6 avg. L1 position comes on the strength of pure consistency. His absolute worst position at the end of a first lap is 6th (Seattle)
  • After 10 rounds, Hunter Lawrence’s 2.6 avg. L1 position is the lowest since 2016 (Dungey, 3.0)
2013-2026 Lowest Avg. L1 Position (after 10 rounds)

450SX All-Time podiums

  • Eli Tomac (110) is one away from tying the king of Supercross Jeremy McGrath
  • Ken Roczen (82) moved into 5th all-time and is now 5 behind Ricky Carmichael.
450SX All-Time Podium Count

We’d Like to Point Out… Eli Tomac

Eli Tomac is now the all-time points scorer in regular season races (SX+MX, all classes combined).

Last summer we told Eli he would likely pass Mike LaRocco about halfway into the 2026 SX season; he laughed and said, “You call it the geezers club”!

Most Points All-Time: SX+MX, All Classes (reg. season)

The 300 Club

Eli Tomac has 299 premier class SX+MX starts. If he qualifies for the Detroit main event, he’ll become just the 5th rider in premier class history to break the 300 start barrier.

Most Premier Class (SX+MX) Starts.

Yamaha: One Win Away From Best. Season. Ever

Your marquee rider is penalized for a track violation and gets his win taken away?

No problem, because the guy in second place also rides a Yamaha. Such is life for blu cru. Even when it goes wrong, they can’t go wrong.

Most 250SX Yamaha Wins, Single Season

Milestones

450 Achieved Last Week
  • Ken Roczen pulled head of Cooper Webb and Mike LaRocco to own  6th all-time SX podiums (82) SX podiums (81)
450s
  • Eli Tomac…
  • Ken Roczen (6,531 pts) needs just +5 points to tie Ricky Carmichael (6,536 pts) for 5th all-time SX+MX.
  • Ken Roczen (45) is tied with Jeff Ward for 10th most premier class wins (SX+MX).
  • Cooper Webb (32) wins SX+MX needs one more to tie Jett Lawrence (33)

250 Achieved Last Week

  • Haiden Deegan (23) tied for 8th all-time most 250SX podiums with Jeremy McGrath, Zach Osborne and Christian Craig.
250s
  • Yamaha has 149 250SX wins.
  • Jo Shimoda (964 points) is tied for 13th most 250SX points all-time (Michael Mosiman). Only 11 riders in class history have scored over 1,000 points.