Image: Octopi Media.

Reigning Supercross champion Ken Roczen provided further insight into his future at the SMX playoff opener, admitting that while he has considered walking away at the conclusion of the post-season, his current form is influencing a decision to potentially continue into 2027.

At 32, Roczen claimed an emphatic career-first Monster Energy Supercross title in 450SX after a hard-fought season against Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive), before returning to action at Columbus this past weekend and delivering a 2-2 scorecard for second overall.

Roczen’s current results suggest that he is in some of the best form of his career, and although he is yet to officially sign a contract extension beyond the single-year deal he agreed with Pipes Motorsports Group (PMG) last October, it’s widely expected that he will defend next year.

“I’ve thought about walking away the entire last few months since Salt Lake,” Roczen explained. “Having said that, I just need to start racing again, get back into the groove, and then before you know it, that’s what you want to do… I still love riding my dirt bikes.

“Right now, the scale is [leaning] very heavy on one side if I actually do keep racing. I was just telling my wife a couple of days ago, [that] I feel like I may just be a little too good right now to hang up the boots. So, I don’t know what’s right or what’s wrong.”

With long-time rival Eli Tomac (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the 2026 season, Roczen said that he was left with a ‘heavy heart’ as a key rider of his generation calls time on a decorated career.

“It’s even a bit of a heavy heart for me, you know?” he mentioned. “I’m getting towards that decision as well, and man it’s tough. We’ve been around each other for a long, long time, and to finally hear [his retirement], it kind of changes some things in you a little bit.

“We’ve already pushed the age limit further and further back, but yeah, there is nothing but respect and a massive congratulations on a career like that – it’s impressive.”

Roczen climbed to fourth in the 450SMX standings following his Columbus podium, sitting eight points behind new series leader Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) heading into this weekend’s double-points round in Los Angeles.

“The conditions in the second moto I felt were trickier than the first race – I tried to take calculated risks [throughout the day], figure out the track, and didn’t want to rush into it, as it can bite you so quickly,” Roczen commented. “But I haven’t raced [much], and so I was content with where I was at.

“[Finishing] 2-2, I couldn’t have asked for any more, I’m super-happy. I’ve done it in the past where I didn’t race much and just sort of showed up, but it is usually that it takes a race to adjust and whatnot. But I feel like across the summer, I’ve done just enough to stay connected to it, to the point where I felt like I was fine.”