Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s 250 program features a revamped roster entering the 2026 SMX season, with the former GASGAS pairing of Ryder DiFrancesco and Casey Cochran joined by Daxton Bennick this year. In this Input feature, each rider commented on the shift prior to the new season commencing.

Image: Supplied.

Ryder DiFrancesco:
I feel like last year, compared to this year, I’m just more consistent on the bike. I don’t even know how many motos I’ve done this year already. But just knowing that I can put 60 good laps down in a day is a pretty good stress reliever. So, where I was coming into A1 last year, I feel like I started the off-season there this year – I’m already steps ahead. You’ve seen a little bit of it last week, and how hard Davi [Millsaps] is on me as well. But it’s good. I just got to take it with a grain of salt. He’s the guy who got me to where I was at the first two rounds last year. And there were only a couple of things that needed to be fixed for me to be where I wanted to be, and that was a podium spot. So I feel like I’m leaps and bounds ahead of where I was going into A1 last year, and yeah, I have pretty high hopes for myself. It’s [effectively] the same team – a different color – but at the same time, the bike is different. We got a new crew chief, and I’m obviously working more with Nate now, and it just feels more of a factory team in a way. I’m getting things that I didn’t really get before, and they’re coming at me without me really having to ask. I feel like that is something I didn’t get in the last few years, which, a little progress in our sport is huge. So the bike is in a good spot. I haven’t really touched it in like four or five weeks. I’ve just been putting in laps, and the team dynamic is young, but it’s also very good. A realistic goal for me at Anaheim would be to get some good points and finish with a top-five, but then, a realistic goal would also be a podium or a win. Like, if I can get a good start and get out there and throw laps down, then yeah, I can podium. But a good top five and or top three to just collect some points to get out of here would be good.

Image: Supplied.

Daxton Bennick:
It’s cool making a switch to Rockstar Energy Husqvarna – it has been awesome. Being back with Nate [Ramsey] is also really cool. I worked with him throughout my whole amateur career, so it kind of feels a bit like home. I’m excited to be back on this brand, and the plans are looking good for 2026 – it’s been going pretty smoothly so far. But just being back here, obviously spending a little more time in California is going to be good too, there are two really good practice tracks here for us to ride. So I think I have to use those as much as I can. Using Aldon [Baker’s] place is unreal, too, just to get the east coast vibe. Then you come out here, you ride a little more hard pack. So I want to try and use everything as much as I can to be maybe a little bit better on the hard pack surface. Then with the bike, I would say it’s definitely a lot different. It’s not really anything from what I remembered, really. In a good way, though – I think it fits my riding style well, and just the vibe here with the team is really good. It seems like the ceiling here is pretty high. It’s obviously a lot smaller team, and they can kind of hone in on me or my teammates. So I think that’s good, you can get maybe more out of it. A lot of guys were on my previous team, and a lot was going on. Here, I can really focus on myself and worry about what I need to be doing to be where I should be. I feel like being with [Star Racing], you kind of get caught up with other people around you, and here it feels like you can really dial in on yourself. This season, I’d like to get a win – to check off the box would be awesome. And then I would say really just work on my consistency. You know, be three to five every round, that’s what I want to be in that range. I think if you do that, you probably have a good chance of winning the championship at the end.

Image: Supplied.

Casey Cochran:
We’ve been down at Bakers Factory for a couple of weeks now, just, yeah, getting laps, getting time in, getting a lot of seat time under my belt. I missed a lot of supercross last year, so, yeah, just building, keeping it up, and getting a lot of time on track. I know I have the speed, just having injuries, coming off of injuries, trying to rebuild my base that I had as an amateur, just fitness-wise and riding-wise. So now I feel like I’m at a really good point with supercross, probably better than I ever have. So yeah, I’m feeling super confident coming into 2026. Teammate-wise, it’s been good. I mean, Daxton is down at Aldon’s with me now, and we have me, him, and Landon Gibson. We’re all in the same room training together, hanging out. So we’re all just tripping each other, you know, giving each other crap every day about whether it’s riding, you know, girls, or this or that. So, yeah, we’re always having fun keeping it light. I think a huge part for me this year is just building my confidence back up in supercross. I had probably…I did two weeks of supercross riding last year before I got injured. So, yeah, basically missed all of supercross training last year. So kind of just rebuilding and getting that confidence back and that speed to get back to where I want to be mentally and physically on a supercross track. So, yeah, we’re rebuilding and getting to a spot where I’m super comfortable. Just logging laps.