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2026 Houston Supercross Research

By Brett Smith

Welcome to Houston!

The fourth largest city in the United States, Houston is one of the original Supercross cities, its history going back to March 15, 1974 and round 2 of the Yamaha Super Series of Motocross. Even with its current on/off status on the schedule, “H-Town” has hosted the fourth most Supercross rounds ever, trailing only Anaheim, Daytona and Detroit/Pontiac.

  • 2023: last time the series visited Houston
  • This will be the 56th running of the Houston Supercross.
  • 5 wins: Jeremy McGrath, Mark Barnett and Bob Hannah are the all-time win leaders of the Houston Supercross.
  • Active winners: Eli Tomac (2), Cooper Webb (2), Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia

450 Rider Facts

  • Cooper Webb has no podiums after 3 rounds; only 3 (actively racing) champs have ever done that. The most recent was Ricky Carmichael in 2002!
No Podiums After 3 Rounds, Defending Champs

Note: Bob Hannah 1980, Donnie Hansen 1983, and Ricky Carmichael 2004 were injured and weren’t able to defend their titles. Ryan Villopoto 2015 and Ryan Dungey 2018 retired.

  • Cooper Webb has 2 podiums (both wins) in 6 starts in Houston – he won the 2019 triple crown and Houston 3 in 2021.
  • At A2, Jason Anderson led laps for first time since Daytona 2025.
  • Eli Tomac starts season with 3 podiums for the first time in his career. This is the 3rd time he’s led the points after 3 rounds (2022-2023). Notably he’s the only rider to stand on the podium all 3 rounds this season.
  • 70 points for Tomac is the most he’s ever scored after 3 rounds, even without adjusting for the higher points scale (2018-2023)
  • Eli Tomac is the only rider to lead more than 1 main event this season – A1 and San Diego.
  • Eli Tomac has the most triple crown overall wins with 8. His last was St Louis 2024.
  • 3 different riders have set the fastest lap in the main event this season – Ken Roczen (A1), Eli Tomac (SD), and Chase Sexton (A2).
  • Chase Sexton won 2 of 3 triple crown overalls in 2025 including Glendale, where he didn’t win a single race.
  • Chase Sexton has tied Chad Reed with 33 fastest qualifiers.
  • Ken Roczen has 1 career triple crown overall win – a perfect 1-1-1 at Glendale in 2020.
  • Hunter Lawrence now has three 2nd place finishes. The most premier class 2nd place finishes without ever winning a main event is Guy Cooper (6).
Most 2nd Place Finishes, No Wins
  • Jorge Prado (3) now has more heat race wins than Hunter Lawrence (2) and Justin Cooper (2)
  • The last time two Suzukis led laps in a season was over 10 years ago in 2015 – Ken Roczen (49) and Blake Baggett (1). Both Ken Roczen (7) and Jason Anderson (6) have led laps this season.
  • Jason Anderson won in Houston in his championship 2018 season.
  • Justin Cooper is averaging 14th (!) on the 1st lap this season – best is 12th at A1.
  • Dylan Ferrandis has a career best 2nd in Houston back in 2021.

250 Rider Facts

  • Haiden Deegan (9 wins) tied for 23rd all-time with Jake Weimer and Shane McElrath.
  • A 10th win for Haiden Deegan would tie him with Ivan Tedesco and Mickael Pichon for 21st all-time.
  • Haiden Deegan (SD and A2) and Max Anstie (A1 and SD) are the only two riders to lead laps in more than one main event.
  • Cameron McAdoo is averaging a series leading 2.3 on the 1st lap. That’s a full position better than Chance Hymas (3.5) and Michael Mosiman (4.0) who have the next best 1st lap position. Teammate Levi Kitchen is averaging 18th on lap 1.
  • Max Vohland (46 points) is off to the best season since his rookie year in 2021 where he also scored 46 points.
  • Parker Ross tied his career best from Glendale 2025 – 9th.
  • Yamaha has led 43 of 49 laps. Ryder DiFrancesco (6) is the only non-Yamaha rider to lead laps this season.
  • Lorenzo Camporese has a career best heat finish of 7th in Houston back in 2021.
  • No active 250 West rider has won in Houston. We’ll have a new venue winner this weekend.

SMX Next Facts

  • Kayden Minear wins his first SMX Next indoor race after leading all 9 laps.
  • Caden Dudney was the fastest SMX Next rider – he was fastest in both qualifying sessions and set the fastest lap of the main event.
  • Caden Dudney finished 2nd last weekend. He finished 13th in his one other SMX Next indoor start in Glendale 2025.
  • Landen Gordon and Landon Gibson each have 8 career SMX Next starts indoors.
  • Landen Gordon has 2 SMX Next indoor wins – Glendale and Daytona. He’s also has 5 podiums including 3 straight (A2 2026, Pittsburgh 2025, and Foxborough 2025)
  • Landon Gibson’s career best finish is 2nd in St Louis 2024.
  • Three current SMX Next riders have wins – Landen Gordon (2), Kade Johnson (1 – Foxborough), and Kayden Minear (1).
  • Most All-Time SMX Next indoor Wins:
    • 4 – Ryder DiFrancesco (Notably podiumed in 7 of 7 SMX Next indoor starts)
    • 3 – Drew Adams and Chance Hymas
    • 2 – Cole Davies, Landen Gordon, Julien Beaumer, and Daxton Bennick

Chase Sexton Back on Top

With his 17th career win, Chase Sexton ties with Jeff Stanton and Mark Barnett for 15th on the all-time 450SX wins list. Among active riders, only Eli Tomac (55 – 2nd all-time), Cooper Webb (30 8th all-time), and Ken Roczen (23 – 11th all-time) have more wins. It’s conceivable for Chase to overtake Ken Roczen this season. The point being, Chase is quickly approaching the top 10 all-time and he’s in just his 6th season.

  • Next step: Kevin Windham (18 wins – 14th all-time)
  • Chase Sexton is the 11th rider to win on 3 different brands.
Winning on 3+ Different OEM’s
Kawasaki Stats
  • First Kawasaki win since 2022 (J. Anderson, SLC). That’s almost 3.75 years ago! It’s the second longest gap between wins for Kawasaki.
  • Notable: Kawasaki had at least 1 win for 18 straight years (2005-22) before this latest drought!
  • Kawasaki averaged 6 wins per season in the 2010s. Entering 2026 they are averaging 3 wins per season in the 2020s.
  • Sexton is the 19th Kawasaki rider to win a premier class SX.
  • 6 other Kawasaki riders have one win.
  • Ryan Villopoto (41), Eli Tomac (34) and James Stewart (25) have the most premier class SX wins for Kawasaki.
  • Kawasaki (177) has the 3rd most premier class Supercross wins, over 100 more than Suzuki in 4th but 60 less than Honda (237) who has the most.
Kawasaki 450SX Metrics – Last Decade
  • 6 unique names earned the stats from 2016-26: Eli Tomac, Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton, Adam Cianciarulo, Josh Grant and Joey Savatgy.
  • Since 2016: 3 different Kawasaki riders (Tomac – 34, Anderson – 7, Sexton – 1) have earned wins, 5 different earned podiums and 5 different won Fastest Qualifier.

David vs. Goliath: Joey Savatgy & Quadlock Honda Battling for Top 5s

The Quadlock Honda team is the epitome of privateer outfit. Their budget is a tenth that of a factory team, but this year rider Joey Savatgy sits 8th in the standings ahead of 8 other factory riders.

The season started a bit rough with a 13th at A1 – the result of a poor start and rounding lap 1 in 20th position. Since then he’s simply been consistently battling the factory teams for Top 5s!

Savatgy’s 2026 Season (after 3 rounds)

1st Lap Position – Key to the Podium

The importance of a good start can’t be understated. We’ve empirically always understood the importance of a holeshot. This offseason we validated that, statistically, 1st lap position is one of the most important factors in winning titles, races and podiums.

Not just to the first turn. Not just to the white line. But all the way to crossing the Finish line the first time. It’s a complex formula of man, machine, and team. The teams have to optimize the ECU for optimal performance on the actual start. The rider has to navigate the crowded start and first lap with thoughtful precision.

Avg 1st Lap Position for Podiums (by Class)
  • This year we’ve had 18 total podium spots (3 rounds, 3 riders per podium, 2 classes) and the absolute worst position someone has crossed the Finish line for the first time is 6th (Mosiman in SD and DiFrancesco at A2).
  • The worst for a 450 podium rider is 5th – Eli Tomac at A2.
  • The worst for a 250 podiums rider rider is – 6th Ryder DiFrancesco at A2 and Michael Mosiman at SD.
250 Example: Haiden Deegan
  • The one race Haiden Deegan didn’t finish on the podium he was outside the top 10 on lap one. Even with great speed, he wasn’t able to overcome a poor start at A1.
450 Example: Chase Sexton
  • The only race Chase Sexton has finished on the podium was when he started in podium position. At A1, he made mistake after mistake fighting through the field. At SD, he was arguably the fastest rider but simply couldn’t overcome hitting the gate.

To be clear, 1st lap position is not the only important stat, but it’s one of a few that is significantly impactful. Maybe most important and interesting is how much it requires an entire team to execute.

The 21st Triple Crown

This will be the 21st Triple Crown race held since 2018. For Houston, specifically, it’s the 2nd.

  • Cooper Webb won the 2019 Houston TC.
  • 7 different overall winners and 9 different race winners in the history of Triple Crowns.
  • The list of winners, both overall and race, are what you’d expect in a traditional main event.
Triple Crown Winners

Triple Crown Notes

  • Cooper Webb and Justin Barcia have each raced 19 Triple Crown rounds, most of all riders.
  • Webb and Barcia also both have 57 ind. TC Race starts.
  • Eli Tomac has the most podium finishes in individual TC races (33 in 54 starts)
  • 9 = the most Olympic points scored with a win. Cooper Webb went 2-2-5 for the overall at A2 in 2024.
  • 1-1-6 and 6-1-1 = The worst finish in a single race and still won the overall. Eli Tomac did the former in Detroit 2019 and Cooper Webb did the latter in Arlington 2025.
  • Consistency is key; No overall winner has finished outside the top 3 in more than one race.
  • 3 riders have swept a Triple Crown: Ken Roczen (Glendale 2020), Jett Lawrence (Indianapolis 2024), Eli Tomac (St Louis 2024)
  • 3 riders have won a Triple Crown without winning a single race: Eli Tomac (Arlington 2022), Cooper Webb (A2 2024), and Chase Sexton (Glendale 2025)
  • Haiden Deegan has two overall wins in Triple Crowns and averages a 3.5 finish in his 4 TC event starts.

Milestones

Achieved
  • Ken Roczen (3,002 pts, 6th all-time) became just the 6th rider in the history of the sport to score over 3K points in the premier class.
450s
  • Eli Tomac…
  • With a win, Hunter Lawrence or Justin Cooper would be the 70th to win a Supercross main event (25th 1x winner).
  • With 296 SX+MX starts, Justin Barcia is 4 starts shy of 300. He’s ranked 6th all-time now. +1 start and he ties Larry Ward (297) for 5th and +4 starts and he joins 4 other riders to start 300 in the history of the sport.
  • Ken Roczen needs 1 more win to tie Jeff Ward (45) for 10th all-time SX+MX premier class wins.
  • With a win, Jason Anderson would be the 12th rider to win on 3 OEMs.
  • Jason Anderson (53) needs 1 more podium to tie Jeff Stanton (54) for 13th all-time.