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PREVIEW

2026 Anaheim 1 Preview

By Fowlers Facts

We’ve got your weekly key stories ready for you. Note that you can always get the latest on a venue’s history via the 2025 SMX Race Center. As always, don’t hesitate to ask questions!

Welcome to Anaheim!

Jeremy McGrath won his 1st and 72nd (final) supercross in Anaheim – hence Angel Stadium is often referred to as Jeremy’s house, but it’s Chad Reed who owns the place stats-wise. Chad Reed has 47 starts (most), 8 wins (tied most), 27 podiums (most), and 813 points (most).

What makes this place special is the number of times it’s hosted the opening round of Supercross: 34 times (most of all cities)

The number of races held in Angel Stadium (85) is the most of all venues.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

The 2026 season will kick-off with A LOT of changes in the 450 class. We’ve got riders switching bikes and manufacturers releasing new models. This makes the off-season preparations critical to early season success and the pressure is real. The 2025 Supercross championship was decided by 2 points, which means 1 position in 1 of the 17 races could have meant a different outcome.

You don’t want to spend the first few rounds figuring out new bike setup and potentially sacrificing championship points.

New Team
  • Chase Sexton moves to Kawasaki, replacing Jason Anderson as Team Green’s #1 rider. They also have a rookie Garrett Marchbanks who’s graduated from the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. Key Fact: The last time a Kawasaki KX450 won a race…
    • 2024 triple crown race 2 (Jason Anderson).
    • 2022 Salt Lake City SX (Jason Anderson) was the last main event win – that’s over 3 years ago!
    • Their absolute last win was 2022 Pro Motocross round 10 Budds Creek (Jason Anderson)
    • The last time Kawasaki went more than 3 years without a Supercross win – you have to go all the way back to 1979 Round 5 Daytona thru 1984 Round 2 Seattle.
  • Eli Tomac moves to KTM. It’ll be Eli Tomac’s 4th OEM in his now 16 year career (2011-13 in the 250’s). He’ll join teammate Aaron Plessinger who’s entering his 5th season with KTM.
    • If Eli wins a Supercross main event on KTM, he’d join Chad Reed as 1 of 2 rides to win on 4 OEMs

  • Eli Tomac could be the 8th rider to win a Supercross main event on a KTM.
KTM Supercross Winners (premier class)
  • Jason Anderson moves to Suzuki. Somewhat quietly, the Pipes Motorsport Group has built an elite team. They already had 2x Pro Motocross champion Ken Roczen and 2018 Supercross Champion Jason Anderson joins this season.
    • Suzuki’s last premier class supercross win was Ken Roczen in Daytona!
    • Suzuki’s last premier class Supercross championship was Ryan Dungey (rookie) in 2010 – 15 years ago.
  • Jorge Prado moves back to KTM. After a very challenging ‘rookie’ season in the United States, the 2x MXGP champion returns to KTM.

In Supercross, the realistic goal is simple: race every round, get experience on the East Coast tracks, and improve starts.

–Jorge Prado
New Models/Bike Debuts
  • Reigning 2025 and 3x Supercross Champion Cooper Webb along with teammate Justin Cooper are still with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, but they’ve spent the off-season working with an all-new Yamaha YZ450F. Webb shared “I don’t enjoy testing… it’s frustrating when eight hours achieve nothing, but it’s necessary.” He also shared that “Not having Eli puts more on me… everything goes through me… you don’t know until you race.”
  • Triumph will debut their brand new TF 450-X with Austin Forkner at Anaheim 1. Austin Forkner is tied for 2nd all-time in 125/250 Supercross wins, but has been plagued by injuries since the 2021 season (more below).
  • Ducati will race their first Supercross with their Desmo450 MX with veterans Justin Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis.

Same Old, Same

Oh what could’ve been for Jett Lawrence; he would’ve been 1 of 5 riders with a stable program and just another reason to think he was the pre-season title favorite. With his pre-season injury likely to keep him out until April, that leaves 4 riders with continuity entering Anaheim 1. These riders deserve an extra look through the early rounds.

Dads Welcome!

We highlighted this last year and we do so again this year cause it’s even more profound. Looking back at the 2025 Top 20 standings, the riders are now…

  • 1 rider under 25 years old – Jett Lawrence (22, I know, I know, he won’t be at A1).
  • 5 riders aged 25-29 – Chase Sexton (26), Justin Cooper (28), Aaron Plessinger (29 – turns 30 on 1/25), Benny Bloss (28), Mitchell Harrison (27 – turns 28 on 1/27).
  • 14 riders 30+!!!

70% (14 of 20) of the Top 20 2025 Supercross riders will be 30+ years old at Anaheim 1 in 2026.

Choose your theory: better training, advancements in healthcare, better choices, etc. has led to an older lineup. Even if you remove Ryan Dungey and Eli Tomac from the above chart, the age with the most wins from 2010-2019 is STILL 24 and the 2020-present is STILL 28. Simply, success is coming at a later age, on average, in Supercross.

Winner Age by Decade
  • In the 1970s, most wins came from riders aged 21 years old.
  • This rose to 22 years old in the 1980s.
  • In the 1990s and 2000s it was 21 year olds again (McGrath, Stewart)
  • But in the 2010s it rose to 24 and 25 year olds.
  • And, so far, in the 2020s it has risen to 29 year olds!
  • With the exception of Jett Lawrence, it’s not geting younger…
Age of 2025 Premier Class SX Winners
  • Sexton won 7x in 2025 at the age of 25. He’s 26 entering the 2026 season.
  • Webb won 6x in 2025 at the age of 29. He’s 30 entering the 2026 season.
  • Aaron Plessinger was 29 years old when he won in Foxborough. He turns 30 in January.
  • Ken Roczen was 30 years old when he won Daytona.
  • Eli Tomac and Malcolm Stewart won at 32 years old last season.

Maybe Jett Lawrence along with his emerging rival Haiden Deegan change this trend in 2027, but for now, we’re going to see ‘older’ winners in 2026.

Star Racing’s Decade Long Dominance

From 2006-15, Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit Kawasaki dominated the 250 class. But since 2016, it’s been a sea of Star Racing Yamaha blue upfront winning the titles while the Pro Circuit crew seems to be cursed by injuries.

2006-15 250 Championships
  • Kawasaki (all Pro Circuit) won 40% (12 of 30) of the championships from 2006-2015.
  • Honda won 30% (9 – Factory Connection accounted for 8).
  • Yamaha won 13% (4 – Star Racing accounted for 3)
  • KTM (4) and Suzuki (2) represented the other 17%.

Notable that Kawasaki/Pro Circuit and Honda/Factory Connection had the same number of Supercross titles but Kawasaki/Pro Circuit dominated with 5 of the 10 Pro Motocross titles.

2016-25 250 Championships
  • Yamaha (all Star Racing) has won 45% (15 of 33) of the championships from 2016-25.
  • Honda has won 30% (9/10 were GEICO).
  • Kawasaki (all Pro Circuit) has won 6% (2).
  • KTM (2) and Husqvarna (4) accounts for the remaining 19%.

Similar to the previous decade but insert Star Racing for Pro Circuit. Yamaha (all Star Racing) and Honda won nearly the same SX titles (Star 8, Honda 6), but in Pro Motocross, Star Racing has dominated with 5 of the 10 titles.

Don’t forget about Honda HRC racing… they’ve won 30% of the titles in each of the last two decades. They won 9 titles from 2006-15 and they’ve won 10 titles the last decade.

Looking Ahead…

Will Star Racing continue it’s dominance? Haiden Deegan likely has an opinion…

250 West

Entering 2026, Star Racing has superstar Haiden Deegan on the West along with teammates Max Anstie and Michael Mosiman. Tough to bet against the ‘boys in blue’ to start the 2026 season with another title.

Haiden Deegan is a 2x 250 SuperMotocross champion, back-to-back 250 Pro Motocross champion, and won the 2025 250 West Division title. Max Anstie is coming off an off-season WSX title. Along with Levi Kitchen aboard his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki, they are likely his toughest competitors.

250 East

Star will likely field Cole Davies, Nate Thrasher, and Pierce Brown in the East division. Pro Circuit will likely field Seth Hammaker and Cameron McAdoo against them.

  • Cole Davies finished 3rd in the West in 2025 with 2 wins and 4 podiums in his rookie season as an 18 year old.
  • Seth Hammaker finished 2nd in the East in 2025 with 2 wins and 3 podiums. The 25 year old was 1 position short of winning his first career title in Salt Lake City last year.

450 Rider Facts

2025 Top 10

Cooper Webb. The 2025 and 3x Supercross Champion joins an elite group of riders – he’s 1 of 7 who’ve won 3x Supercross titles (McGrath, Carmichael, Villopoto, Dungey, Stanton, and Hannah). No question he’s a Supercross title favorite in 2026. The career story unfolding is a great Supercross talent with limited success in Pro Motocross (1 win, 6 podiums, and a best of 4th in 2021 series).

Chase Sexton. The Fast Power Index (FPI) puts him #1 in the preseason rankings and with good reason, he’s regularly on the podium, has elite level speed, and is a really good starter. Since moving up to the premier class for 2020 Pro Motocross, he’s ranked #1 in SX+MX…

Chase Sexton 450 Career

Justin Cooper. He has the most consecutive starts (60 SX+MX+SMX) in the premier class. In 2025, Justin tied Chase Sexton for the most top 5 finishes (SX+MX). Most interesting is he finished 3rd to 6th in 77% (24 of 31) of rounds raced in 2025! So now the question is… can he translate qualifying speed into main event speed and contend for wins!?

Really good at qualifying… precise with where I put the bike… tough to translate to race pace because the track changes and you have to take risks to win.

–Justin Cooper.

Malcolm Stewart. Tampa win! He’s 1 of 2 riders to race every SX+MX round in 2025 (J Cooper). 2025 Supercross was on par with his previous best season (2022 – 3rd, 5x Fast Q, 3 podiums, 13 Top 5’s). As one of the few riders with no changes to his program entering 2026 and a big off-season win in Paris, he should come in strong at round 1.

Ken Roczen. Another rider with no changes to his program entering 2026, we expect he’ll be a contender at round 1. If you don’t believe in continuity, then maybe the fact that he’s won Anaheim 1 4x will change your mind. The question for Roczen will be can he finish the season – he’s not finished a full season since 2023.

Aaron Plessinger. 2025 didn’t start nor end well, but it was still a career year for the fan favorite. He started the 2025 Supercross season 9-22-22-9 and was 11th in the standings after 7 rounds, but in the last 10 rounds he had 1 win, 5 podiums, and finished 6th in the standings (nearly tying his career best 5th from 2021). The big question is his health – he missed the last 4 rounds of Pro Motocross and all of the Playoffs.

Dylan Ferrandis. Tied a career best 7th (2021) in Supercross last year with season best 5th in both Seattle and East Rutherford. He’s moving from the privateer Phoenix Racing Honda squad to the brand new Ducati Troy Lee Designs Red Bull factory team. While he doesn’t expect the bike to be at peak performance in the early rounds, he’s excited by the team around him (a lot of the old Factory Connection team personnel). He also took much of last summer off to get healthy and rejuvenated.

Justin Hill. Tied a career best 8th (2023) in Supercross last year on the Team Tedder Racing privateer outfit. While he didn’t podium like he did in 2023 (3rd – Salt Lake City), he did finish 5th in Arlington… where he was also the fastest qualifier!

Shane McElrath. 50 Consecutive Supercross starts (2nd longest active streak) and a top 5 finish in each of the last 3 seasons including a career best 2nd in the mud at Foxborough. He’s been good, but also plagued by speed – he’s the only rider to finish in the top 10 standings last year with an average fastest lap rank (11.2) outside the top 10 and that led to losing positions in 13 of the 17 rounds (most) in 2025.

Justin Barcia. A season best 4th in Indianapolis was 1 of 2 Top 5s in a season where he did not finish on the podium in a Supercross season for the first time since 2017 – 8 years ago. While his 2025 Supercross season wasn’t his best, the veteran has a few milestones on the horizon.

  • He needs to score 377 points this season to tie Ricky Carmichael (6,536 SX+MX) for 5th all-time. He scored 381 points in 2025!
  • 2 more starts to tie Larry Ward (297 SX+MX) for 6th all-time and with 5 more he’ll join 4 other riders with 300+.

Other Key Riders

Hunter Lawrence. Only 4 starts in 2025 Supercross (shoulder injury at Tampa), but 1 of 3 riders with an overall win in Pro Motocross. What stands out most for Hunter is his starts – arguably the most important skill in the sport. He had 8 holeshots in 2025 (SX+MX) and the best 1st lap position (3.3) of anyone by nearly 2 positions. He’ll be looking to add his 1st career premier class win this season.

Eli Tomac. All-Time Eli (See also Milestones below). Unfortunately Eli only had 5 SX starts in 2025 – the first time he’s missed more than 1 start in a decade (since his rookie 2014 season with 9 starts)! That didn’t stop him for a definitive win in San Diego where he beat Jett Lawrence straight up. The big question for Eli Tomac will be can he win on the KTM – possibly joining Chad Reed to win on 4 OEMs.

Jason Anderson. The under-rated veteran (and 2018 Supercross champion) has finished in the top 5 of Supercross 6x including 2nd to Tomac in 2022 when he won 7 races. He also finished 3rd in Pro Motocross in 2022 when he got his only 2 pro motocross wins. But he’s not won since then. A change to a new team has delivered an off-season championship. He started 2025 with 3 podiums in the first 5 rounds and I’d expect the same momentum this season.

Joey Savatgy. Joey missed 3 rounds of 2025 Supercross after a hard crash in Indianapolis left him with a punctured lung and some broken ribs. Upon return to action at Philadelphia he finished a season best 5th (also got 5th at Salt Lake City) – something he’d not done since his 2019 rookie season. His season ultimately mimicked his career – he finished 5th thru 10th in 57% of the time (8 of 14 starts). This mirrors his career results where he’s finished 5th thru 10th in 62% of his starts (34 of 55 starts).

Benny Bloss. A season best 7th in the mud of Foxborough was part of 4 Top 10s in 2025. He tied a career best 15th in the Supercross standings. He enters the 2026 season with 2 years of comfort with the LiquiMoly Beta factory team.

Rookies

RJ Hampshire. He finished 5th in his rookie Pro Motocross season last summer including a season best 2nd overall at Ironman. Momentum is on his side – he finished Top 5 in 1 of 10 motos to start the season but finished the season with 10 of 12 motos Top 5 including setting the fastest lap of the season finale moto at Budds Creek. Unfortunately an off-season crash and injury will slow his progress at the start of the season.

I don’t expect too much in the first few rounds… give me till round five or six to be up there.

–RJ Hampshire

Garrett Marchbanks. It’s no surprise to see him land the 2nd seat at Monster Energy Kawasaki. He quietly scored the 3rd most points (SX+MX) in the 250s last season behind Haiden Deegan and Jo Shimoda. He finished 5th in the 250 West division and 3rd in 250 Pro Motocross. His summer was plagued by bad starts. He averaged 15th on lap 1 and gained +197 positions across 22 motos! The 450 should help his case.

Austin Forkner. Austin will debut the Triumph TF 450-X at Anaheim 1. Crazy to think he was battling (and beating) Chase Sexton back in the 2019-20 250 division. Chase has gone on to become an elite rider while Austin has been plagued by injuries. That doesn’t take anything away from Austin’s 13 250 Supercross wins (tied 2nd all-time) and his potential.

250 Rider Facts

2025 250 West Top 10

Haiden Deegan. He’s now won 5 of his last 7 championships dating back to 2023 Pro Motocross (finished 2nd in 2024 East SX and 5th in 2025 SMX) and he’s on the cusp of writing one of the more dominant 250 careers. His small bike career is already incredible, but there’s two points that would make it all-time worthy.

  • If he wins the 2026 West division Supercross title, he’d join James Stewart, Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto, and Jett Lawrence with 4 small bike titles.
  • 6 more wins…
    • He currently sits 8th in all-time SX+MX wins (21). 3 more wins and he ties Tomac (24) for 7th all-time and 6 more wins and he’d tie Jett Lawrence (27) for 4th all-time. The top 3 are Stewart (44), Carmichael (37) and Villopoto (30).
    • He currently sits tied for 28th in all-time SX wins (7). 6 more would tie him for 2nd all-time with McGrath, Forkner, J. Lawrence, and Ramsey.
Haiden Deegan’s 250 Career

SUPERCROSS

PRO MOTOCROSS

SX + MX

Max Anstie. His 2025 East division series was cut short by a broken left fibula at the Birmingham round. He held the red plate for 3 rounds and enter Birmingham 2nd in the championship with 1 win and 2 podiums in 4 starts. Since returning to the 250 class in 2023 (in his 14th year racing professionally), he’s had 3 wins and 8 podiums in 23 starts. He’s become a threat to win ever since turning 30 years old – he got his 1st career win 3 days before his 30th (Won April 22, 2023 and turned 30 on April 25, 2023). He’s just won an offseason series and will come in with momentum.

Michael Mosiman. His first season on Star Racing may not seem spectacular, but 2 podiums (3rd Dallas triple crown and 3rd at RedBud) helped him build confidence.

One Supercross podium, multiple outdoor podiums… important because it proved I’m back, capable, and improving. Confidence comes from tangible results, not hope.

–Michael Mosiman

In 2022, he had 1 win and 5 podiums and finished 3rd in the 250 West division title. He seemed poised to contend for titles but injuries derailed that momentum. Looking at 2026, he “wants to win, not get third”. The question is whether he’s got the starts and speed to do so – in 2025 West division he averaged 9th on the starts and main event fast lap averaged 8th. Those will not translate to wins.

Levi Kitchen. Before crashing in Daytona (broken collarbone, upper back fractures), Levi looked to be a title favorite. He had a so-so start to the season at Tampa (9th), but in Detroit he was great – fastest qualifier and won the main event after starting 2nd and setting the 2nd fastest lap. While he returned for the Pro Motocross season and finished 4th, he didn’t have the blistering speed (and no moto or overall wins) we saw in Detroit and Daytona.

But Levi enters his 5th season as a threat to win week in, week out. And has to be a title favorite.

Levi Kitchen 250SX (2023-2025)

Drew Adams only raced 3 rounds of Supercross in his rookie season and finished 8-8-10. There were no incredible starts (averaged 9th) or flashes of unstoppable speed (averaged 9.3) like fellow rookie Cole Davies – a surprise considering Adams had 3 SMX Next wins in 5 starts in 2024. He was a force in SMX Next in 2024. He did finish the the 2025 Pro Motocross season 11th including a season best 5th at round 9 Ironman. The sophomore season will be a critical test of potential.

Chance Hymas. 2026 is a contract year and he’s made a lot of changes to his program to best deliver. After several years in Florida, he’s decided to train closer to home – “It’s just me doing my own thing… the peace and quiet is great.” He’s still working with Joe Cancellieri but he’s managing the rest of the program himself. He won his first supercross in 2025 in the mud of Foxboro. He’s got 2 Pro Motocross wins. It’s now about putting together a full series.

Ryder Difrancesco. His 2025 Supercross season started out strong – a 4th at A1 after starting 8th. Maybe most important at A1 was the speed he showed after qualifying 3rd fastest. That was the first time breaking into the top 5 in qualifying (either SX or MX) in his 3 year career. He backed it up with 5th fastest in qualifying and 5th in the main the next weekend in San Diego. Unfortunately his year was cut short by a practice crash the following week – he had 3 inches of his intestine removed, his appendix removed, and fractured his radial bone (arm) and a broke rib.

Max Vohland. Last year was Maximus’ first complete season and he finished 7th in the 250 East Division and 8th in Pro Motocross. He also got his first career podium – 3rd in Pittsburgh. In his career, he’s finished 5th or 6th 9x in 23 starts. Entering 2026 the question will be if he can make the next step. To do so he’ll need to improve his starts – he averaged 11th in 2025 (17th best) in the East division.

Hunter Yoder. 2025 was his best Supercross season finishing 9th in the West division with two 10th place finishes (SD and A2). He now moves to arguably the best team he’s been on with ClubMX and looks to gain another level in his 5th season.

Expected West Coast Teams
  • AEO Powersports KTM (Avery Long, Carson Mumford, and Kyle Wise)
  • Team Solitaire Heartbeat Hot Sauce Yamaha (Robbie Wageman, Cole Thompson, Dominique Thury)

Trivia

  • Who was the 2025 Supercross champion? Cooper Webb.
  • Who was the 2025 250 West Supercross champion? Haiden Deegan.
  • Who was the 2024 250 East Supercross champion? Tom Vialle.
  • Who has the most Anaheim 1 victories (6)? Jeremy McGrath.
  • What active rider has the most Anaheim 1 victories (4)? Ken Roczen.
  • Including tonight, how many races have been held here at Angel Stadium? 86.
  • How many Supercross wins does Eli Tomac (2nd all-time) have? 53.
  • What rider has the most starts, points, podiums, and tied for most wins at Angel Stadium? Chad Reed.
  • How many starts does Chad Reed have at Angel Stadium? 47.
  • With 124 Supercross and Pro Motocross premier class wins, what rider has the most all-time wins? Ricky Carmichael.
  • Can you name the 3 rookies that have won the premier class Supercross title? Jeremy McGrath, Ryan Dungey, and Jett Lawrence.
  • Who qualified fastest 9x in the premier 450 class last year? Chase Sexton.
  • How many consecutive years has Eli Tomac won a premier class Supercross race? 11 (most all-time)
  • How many premier class Supercross titles has Cooper Webb won? 3.

Milestones

450s
  • Eli Tomac…
  • With a win, Hunter Lawrence or Justin Cooper would be the 69th to win a Supercross main event (24th 1x winner).
  • With 295 SX+MX starts, Justin Barcia is 5 starts shy of 300. He’s ranked 6th all-time now. +2 starts and he ties Larry Ward (297) for 5th and +5 starts and he joins 4 other riders to start 300 in the history of the sport.
  • Ken Roczen needs 1 start to reach 250 SX+MX starts. He’s currently tied for 14th all-time with Jason Thomas (249).
  • 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 and/or Chase Sexton would be the 10th rider to win on 3 OEMs.
  • Jason Anderson (53) needs 1 more podium to tie Jeff Stanton (54) for 13th all-time.
  • Consecutive SX starts

250s
  • TBD once we get final east/west region entry lists.