What Really Happened in Indianapolis 2026?
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As a 17-year-old rookie, Cole Davies was one of the fastest riders in the whoops. This year? Untouchable. We saw it in Arlington where he set the fastest whoops time of any 250 or 450 rider. In Indianapolis, he continued that dominance.
But just how fast is Davies in the whoops? The Triple Crown in Indy gave us three chances to find out. The evidence was obvious on TV, but the data is even more mind blowing.
Cole Davies: Whoops Time per Lap
Across 42 laps (live timing missed one in Race 1), Davies set the fastest whoops time 37 times. That is 88%. In other words, he was the fastest rider on the track through the whoops 9 out of 10 laps. That pace only fell off in the final laps of Race 3, when jumped them on his way to the 1-1-1 sweep; he lost time to Jo Shimoda and Seth Hammaker.
You cannot perfectly compare 250 and 450 times since the 450 class faces a rougher track. Even so, only Ken Roczen recorded a faster single time than Davies all night. Roczen hit a 4.01 in Race 1. Davies’ best was a 4.09, also Race 1. After that, Davies was faster than every 450 rider through the whoops in both Race 2 and Race 3.
But the real cost was to Shimoda, who lost each race because of whoops performance.
Davies vs. Shimoda Total Time in Whoops
That’s right. Shimoda lost on average 5 seconds per race in the whoops alone. Yet, he lost Race 1 by just 2 seconds, Race 2 by 2.2 seconds and Race 3 by 3 seconds where a last lap mistake, in the whoops no less, gave Shimoda 3rd.
Around the rest of the track, Shimoda had the edge. Then they hit the whoops and that advantage disappeared.
Shimoda was open about it after each race. He said multiple times that Davies was simply faster in the whoops. And that matters because the whoops are a core part of Supercross. In the East Coast rounds, where the dirt is softer, Davies’ advantage will continue to show up.
Shimoda also has another problem. Davies was not the only rider beating him in the whoops. Pierce Brown was the 2nd fastest rider through the section. Shimoda ranked 3rd in all three races. But even 3rd fastest came with a price. About 5 seconds per race.