The first half of the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship drew to a close in dramatic fashion in the “Crossroads of the West” as the 17th and final race of a historic Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship concluded in front of a capacity crowd inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. A single point separated Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, from Germany, and Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence, from Australia, in one of the closest title fights of all-time and set the stage for a winner-take-all 450SMX Class Main Event. After fighting for the lead early, it was Roczen who emerged with his maiden premier class title at 32 years of age to become the oldest champion in Supercross history, in his 13th season at the highest level.
The final and most significant 20 Minute + 1 Lap Main Event of the season began as expected, with Lawrence and Roczen side-by-side. While Lawrence earned the holeshot, it was Roczen who made an early move to seize the lead over Lawrence as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chase Sexton battled for third. The title combatants quickly settled in and mirrored one another’s pace, each tactfully biding their time.
As the race surpassed its opening five minutes the race turned into a three-rider affair as Prado closed in from third. The pressure from behind forced Lawrence to increase his pace, which carried him onto Roczen’s rear fender. A brief off-track excursion cost Lawrence time to Roczen and then led to a costly miscue that sent the Australian to the ground. As Roczen carried on, Lawrence remounted in seventh place, which effectively ended his title hopes. Prado assumed control of second, while Sexton moved up into third.
Roczen held a three-second lead into the second half of the race but took advantage of his track positioning to slow his pace. That created an opportunity for Sexton to make a charge to the front of the field. The Kawasaki rider took his time to get by Prado for second, but once he did, he quickly erased the deficit to Roczen and moved into the lead with mere minutes to go. Roczen continued to drop in the running order, as Prado moved into second, followed by the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing duo of Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb, the defending Supercross champion. Roczen settled into fifth on the final lap, two positions ahead of Lawrence.
Sexton carried on to take his second win of the season and his fourth straight in Salt Lake City by a margin of just over two seconds. Cooper made a last lap pass on Prado to equal the best result of his career in second, while the Spaniard captured his second career podium in third. Roczen did enough to clinch the championship in fifth, ahead of Lawrence in seventh.
A mere three points separated Roczen and Lawrence at season’s end, as both finished with five wins and 12 podiums, where two positions decided the outcome. Webb completed the championship podium in third, the fourth consecutive season he’s finished in the top three.
“I was an emotional wreck today. It was not an easy task by any means. I’ve been exhausted, physically and mentally, over these past few weeks, but I’ve dreamed of this since I was a little kid. This is just a testament of you never give up. Anybody, at any age, whenever you’re competing and you feel anxiety, you feel strange emotions that rob your energy, you’re not alone. I feel those too, but I don’t give up. I work on it daily and [the championship] is how it pays off. You can do it too.” – Ken Roczen
