Skip to content
We Went Fast
SHOP RAG

2026 Cleveland Supercross Research

By Brett Smith

Cleveland Rocks!

The only Ohio city to ever host a Supercross, Cleveland, whose oldest nickname is “The Forest City”, was added to the 1995 schedule, the same year the NFL’s Browns were relocated to Baltimore.

On April 18, 2026, the Rock and Roll Capital of the World finally returns to the SX scene.

  • May 20, 1995: In Cleveland Stadium (opened in 1931) Jeremy McGrath won the inaugural (and only) Cleveland Supercross
  • It was the same night he wrapped up his 3rd championship and tied Rick Johnson for the top spot on the all-time wins list (28)
  • Mike Brown, now a coordinator/trainer with Triumph Factory Racing, won the 125SX East main event in 1995.
  • This weekend’s event in Huntington Bank Field (opened in 1999) is a Triple Crown!

450 Rider Facts

  • Hunter Lawrence now has 12 career 450SX podiums, the same number as Jett Lawrence!
  • Hunter Lawrence has finished top 4 in 12 of 13 rounds this season – CONSISTENT!
  • 4 wins for Hunter Lawrence. Here are the riders who have exactly 4 wins: Jimmy Weinert (1976 champ), Donnie Hansen (1982 champ), Darrell Shultz and Doug Henry.
  • Ken Roczen has 9 Triple Crown individual race wins. 6 of those are in TC Race 1! He has one TC O/A win (Glendale 2020).
  • Roczen won TC1 at both Houston and Indianapolis 2026.
  • Ken Roczen has led 136 laps this season, 57 MORE than Hunter Lawrence.
  • Justin Hill’s one lap led in Nashville was the first of his 450SX career (his 91st start). He’s the 9th different rider to lead a lap in 2026.
  • 10 different riders led laps in 2025

250 Rider Facts

  • Cole Davies has lined up for 3 Triple Crown events. He’s won 6 of the 9 individual Races (1 o/a win)
  • 6 career wins for Cole Davies. Chad Reed, Chase Sexton, Nate Thrasher (and several others) also have 6 wins.
  • Davies has led 68 laps, 14 more laps than the rest of the riders COMBINED (6 other riders have led laps)
  • Career bests: 3rd for Devin Simonson and 11th for Landon Hartz at Nashville.
  • Simonson is the first ClubMX rider to get a podium finish in 2026. Nobody saw that one coming.
  • 2026 is Simonson’s 6th season racing SX but he only has 20 250SX starts. This is his first season with more than 5 250SX starts.

Hunter Lawrence Returns to the Top Step

With 4 rounds remaining and 100 points left to earn, Hunter Lawrence has taken a big step toward winning a premier class Supercross title.

Statistically speaking, podiums are the best indicator of winning a championship and Hunter has the advantage.

He’s also doing what’s expected of a Supercross champion…

  • It takes 3.1 years for riders to win their first premier class Supercross title.
  • 11 past champions (46% of the 24) won their first race in the same year they won their first title.
  • Of the 47 450SX main events run since the start of 2024 (Hunter’s rookie season), he’s lined up for 32 of them.
  • Headed into his 3rd season, Hunter had 19 450SX starts (he missed 15 races, 2 in 2024 and 13 in 2025)
Won First Title in 3rd Season, Start Count

While Hunter Lawrence is on pace to win in his 3rd year, he’s doing so with fewer starts, comparatively. For the 9 riders (of 24 champions) that won the title in their 3rd year, Hunter Lawrence will have the second least number of starts (19).

  • David Bailey had 16 starts headed into 1983 (missed 11 races in 1981-82)
  • Jeff Stanton had 20 starts headed into 1989 (missed 4 races in 1987-1988)
  • Mike Bell had 21 starts headed into 1980 (missed 3 in 1978 and 1 in 1979)
  • James Stewart had 22 starts headed into 2007 (missed 10 races in 2005)
  • Jean Michel Bayle had 23 starts headed into 1991 (missed 8 in 1989 and 2 in 1990)
  • Cooper Webb had 25 starts headed into 2019 (missed 9 races in 2017-2018)
  • Ryan Villopoto had 27 starts headed into 2011 (missed 7 races in 2009-2010)
  • Chase Sexton had 27 starts headed into 2023 (missed 7 races in 2021-2022)
  • Ricky Carmichael had 28 starts headed into 2001 (missed 4 races in 1999)
Podium perfect SX Seasons
  • 2004: Chad Reed
  • 2001, 2005: Ricky Carmichael
  • 1996: Jeremy McGrath
  • 1975: Jimmy Ellis

While Hunter Lawrence isn’t having a podium perfect season, he’s very close to having done so. He’s podiumed in 10 of 13 rounds. The other 3 races…

  • 4th at A1
  • 4th in Seattle
  • 18th in Detroit

Hunter Lawrence, minus one mistake in Detroit, has been remarkably consistent and that’s why he’s got a 10 point lead with just 4 rounds remaining.

A Rarity – 2 or More Outside Top 10 AND Champion

Much has been discussed about the ‘mis-season’ slump of Eli Tomac. We’re not going to weigh in on that topic here, but we will weigh in on the likelihood of him winning the title based on the fact that he’s now finished outside the top 10 at two rounds.

  • Only 3x has the champion finished outside the top 10 twice or more and won the title.

450SX Champs with 2 Finishes outside top 10

Eli Tomac has now finished 12th twice – Glendale and Nashville. Maybe most concerning is the trend. He’s averaging a 6.5 place finish over the last 4 rounds.

The three champions to finish outside the top 10 twice in a season all had unique circumstances:

In 1979, Bob Hannah clinched the championship on June 2 at the New Orleans SX, round 10 of 12.

  • The 11th round happened 6 weeks later in Los Angeles and Hannah finished 21st. “I feel like I’m on drugs, the way I’m riding!” he told Cycle News.
  • The final round (Anaheim) was FOUR months later and Hannah didn’t race. He spectated though!

In 1998, Jeremy McGrath had back-to-back rounds where he finished outside the top 10.

  • DNF at Round 13 (Pontiac). Finished 20th after crashing and breaking his handlebar mounts.
  • 14th at Round 14 (Charlotte) Flat tire.

In 2012, Ryan Villopoto didn’t finish the season but wrapped up the title so early (round 14/17!), it didn’t matter

  • At round 15 in Seattle, he finished 19th. He tore is left ACL, knocking him out of that race.
  • Did not start Rounds 16 and 17.

Davies’ Domination

Cole Davies now has a +19 point lead over Seth Hammaker with 3 rounds remaining (75 points available – Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City) in the 250 East division.

2026 Season Stats

Maybe more interesting is that Cole Davies is writing himself into the history books just 16 races into his professional career.

  • Based on wins and podiums thru 16 rounds, he’s ranked 4th best.
  • Based on average finish, he’s 2nd best (RV 3.0 vs. Davies 3.27 vs. Stewarts 3.31)

Notable teenagers who won first titles in their sophomore Supercross seasons:

  • Kevin Windham (1996)
  • Ricky Carmichael (1998)
  • Travis Pastrana (2001)
  • James Stewart (2003)
  • Ryan Villopoto (2007)
  • Eli Tomac (2012)
  • Justin Barcia (2012)
  • Cooper Webb (2015)

Jeremy McGrath, Jett Lawrence, and Haiden Deegan all won their first supercross titles in their third season.

All-Time 250SX Riders (after 16 races)

Sorted by wins

250SX Most Wins by OEM Season

Yamaha is having an incredible season now having won 12 of 13 250SX division races, primarily on the generational riding of Haiden Deegan and Cole Davies.

2026 Yamaha 250SX Winners
Top 10 Most Wins by OEM in a 250SX Year

They need to win 3 of the last 4 to take the outright crown.

The 23rd Triple Crown

This will be the 23rd Triple Crown race held since 2018. First ever in Cleveland.

  • The list of winners, both overall and race, are what you’d expect in a traditional main event.
  • 2026 Triple Crown winners: Cooper Webb (4-2-3) @ Houston and Hunter Lawrence (2-4-1) @ Indianapolis
  • 8 different overall winners and 10 different race winners in the history of Triple Crowns.
Triple Crown 450SX Winners History

Triple Crown Notes

  • Cooper Webb has raced 21 Triple Crown rounds, most of all riders.
  • Webb has 63 ind. TC Race starts.
  • Eli Tomac has the most podium finishes in individual TC races (38 in 60 starts)
  • 9 = the most Olympic points scored with a win. Cooper Webb went 2-2-5 for the overall at A2 in 2024 AND 4-2-3 to win in Houston 2026
  • 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)
  • Triple Crown winners who didn’t win a single race: Eli Tomac (Arlington 2022), Cooper Webb (A2 2024, Houston 2026), and Chase Sexton (Glendale 2025)

250SX Triple Crown Notes

  • Seth Hammaker has 3 Triple Crown starts (9th at Indy 2024, 4th at Birmingham 2025 and 3rd at Indianapolis 2026
  • Cole Davies swept the 2026 Indianapolis Triple Crown (1-1-1)
  • Nate Thrasher has won two Triple Crowns, both without winning a single race: (Arlington 2023: 2-2-3 and Birmingham 2025: 3-3-2)
    • Thrasher has one career TC Race win.

Milestones

450 Achieved Last Week
  • Ken Roczen (8,116 points) tied Chad Reed for 8th all-time combined SX+MX premier class points.
450s
  • Eli Tomac…
  • Eli Tomac (113) needs 1 more win to tie James Stewart (114) for the 2nd most wins all-time (all classes, SX+MX).
  • Eli Tomac (379) is just 2 combined SX+MX premier class starts from tying Kevin Windham (381) for 5th all-time.
  • Cooper Webb (32) wins SX+MX needs one more to tie Jett Lawrence (33)
  • Ken Roczen (26) wins needs one more to tie Bob Hannah (27) for 10th all-time.

250 Achieved Last Week

  • Cole Davies (6) is tied with multiple riders for 41st all-time including Chase Sexton, Aaron Plessinger, Dylan Ferrandis, Nate Thrasher, RJ Hampshire and more…
250s
  • Kyle Peters (80) needs 1 more start to tie Nate Ramsey (81) for 6th all-time 250SX starts.

Trivia

  • Who was the 2025 Supercross champion? Cooper Webb.
  • Who was the 2025 250 West Supercross champion? Haiden Deegan.
  • Who was the 2025 250 East Supercross champion? Tom Vialle.
  • Who won the main event last week in Nashville? Hunter Lawrence.
  • Who won the first (and only) Supercross held in Cleveland in 1995? Jeremy McGrath.
  • How many Supercross wins does Eli Tomac (2nd all-time) have? 57.
  • How many consecutive years has Eli Tomac won a premier class Supercross race? 12.
  • How many years has Ken Roczen won a premier class Supercross race? 11.
  • 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 last week in Nashville? Eli Tomac.
  • How many premier class Supercross titles has Cooper Webb won? 3.
  • Who won the last 250 East/West Showdown main event in St Louis? Haiden Deegan
  • Was Max Anstie the oldest rider to ever win a main event at Anaheim 1? Yes.