The opening half of the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross Championship is now complete, with the series set to recommence this weekend inside Birmingham’s Protective Stadium for round 10 of the 17. Across the 450SX and the 250SX divisions, a range of storylines are unfolding, with this Top 10 feature tracking the key topics to follow at this point of the season.

Image: Octopi Media.

1. Lawrence and Tomac inching away in 450SX title fight:
We’ve been in a place where riders are jostling for position in the 450SX standings, with the range of contenders dwindling as the weeks and rounds progress. Now at the halfway mark, it’s beginning to seem that Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence and Eli Tomac (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) are separating themselves from the rest of the field. Four points is the difference between the pair, while defending champion Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) is 25 markers back of Lawrence in third. Tomac had his hands full during last year’s Pro Motocross Championship with both Lawrence brothers, and now it’s not Jett, but instead Hunter giving him grief indoors. It shows how good the Lawrences’ program is to have each rider up front, but at the same time, Tomac’s switch to KTM has been incredible so far. It’s been an interesting season to watch, with each of these riders establishing themselves as title contenders.

2. Response needed for Webb and Roczen:
Both Webb and Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen have been the last to hold the line of both Lawrence and Tomac up front. They’ve done all they can to hang in there, but the reality is that the leading duo appear that little bit better in both the speed and consistency departments so far in 2026. Roczen has had big moments – including victory at Glendale – while Webb has been his steady self, although the approach hasn’t been quite the antidote for the repeatable performance of the leaders at the front. So, both Webb and Roczen will need to respond, and pretty soon at that, if they are to keep this 450SX championship alive throughout the back stretch of the season.

3. Deegan on track to defend in 250SX West:
It’s been a seriously dominant season of Monster Energy Supercross so far for defending 250SX West champion Haiden Deegan, with the polarizing 20-year-old having won five of the six rounds contested in 2026 and as a result leads the series by a substantive 35 points over teammate Max Anstie. He’s in fine form and evidently went to work during the pre-season in remedying some of the weaker points in his Supercross game, with his starts and whoop speed much improved. The final hurdle are the East/West Showdowns, which, in reality, Deegs shouldn’t place too much emphasis on, given his impending transfer to the 450 division for Pro Motocross. We know how Deegs operates, though, and think there’s nothing more he’d appreciate than putting a beatdown on the entire 250SX class, just to place an exclamation mark on his time in the category.

Image: Octopi Media.

4. Showdowns to play a role in 250SX:
It’s exciting that we have three 250SX East/West Showdowns coming up, with the first taking place at the Birmingham Supercross round this Saturday. The next is in St. Louis, and then the Salt Lake City finale, where the likes of Deegan, Cole Davies, Jo Shimoda, Max Anstie, Levi Kitchen, among many more, will take to the race track together. The 250SX West category has been a Deegan white wash, so in a way, it’ll be nice to see him up against a new field of racers, including his ultra-fast teammate in Davies, who likely has some residual memories from his encounters with Deegan last year. Add in the remaining competitors, and we’re in for a highly entertaining few rounds of 250SX racing, with these events having the ability to impact the overall championship result.

5. Turnaround required in 450SX for Plessinger:
The 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship season hasn’t gone to plan for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger, in pretty much all ways. We do have a growing collection of top 10s now from the 30-year-old – including a season-high P6 at Daytona – although it doesn’t appear that ‘The Cowboy’ is satisfied with that. He’s currently ranked P8 in the 450SX standings, and is one rider who’ll be searching for added performance and a climb up the results sheet over the next eight rounds of racing.

6. 250SX East series remains wide open:
The 250SX East series has been an entertaining watch so far, with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing pairing Pierce Brown and Cole Davies holding one victory apiece, while Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker earned the top spot in Daytona. Consequently, only two points separate the top four, with Davies taking the red plate into Birmingham. It’s hard to pick a clear favorite out of the trio, as well as Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC Progressive) in P4, with each rider more than deserving of this year’s title. Add in the three East/West Showdowns, and that is exactly what we have here – a showdown for the biggest trophy of all in the category. The class is wide-open at the moment and you can bet that each rider would love to add a Supercross number one plate to their trophy cabinet, because again, they’re almost equally deserving of earning the title.

7. Red Bull KTM’s wildcard in Prado:
There was some back-and-forth in Indianapolis between Lawrence and Jorge Prado, with the former unappreciative of the latter’s actions on track in contrast to the Spaniard’s treatment of teammate Tomac. It’s a tense time of year where emotions run high, but Hunter’s comments nevertheless caught the attention of Prado, with his rebuttal leaving it open as to whether the sister factory KTM of Tomac could play a role in how this 450SX championship unfolds. Lawrence is without a Honda HRC Progressive wingman as brother and teammate Jett remains on the sidelines, and with Jorge’s major uptick in form this year – coupled with his trademark solid starts – we could see the number 26 and 96 meet each other on track over the remaining races. We’ll have to wait and see, but it could be said that Prado is at least a wildcard to be considered in the current landscape.

Image: Octopi Media.

8. Monster Energy Kawasaki targets a better second half:
Put simply, things haven’t gone well for Monster Energy Kawasaki so far in 2026, with blockbuster signing Chase Sexton having delivered a single win at Anaheim 2 before withdrawing from the championship due to injury. As can be the case with Sexton, the kitchen sink appears to have been thrown at his KX450, as the pairing hustles to find comfort for the former 450SX champion. The Sexton woes haven’t been ideal – with no current timetable on his return – while Garrett Marchbanks is making steady progress, but is currently ranked a lowly 17th in the standings. It’s a challenging time for the manufacturer, as the team continues to work tirelessly to return to the front of the field.

9. Kitchen searches for first win of 2026:
We did see the signs of life out of Kitchen that were expected entering the year in Seattle, which was promising given the talent and potential of the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider. It’s almost like the Monster Energy Kawasaki premier class effort wants the Washington native to make his 250SX career work, so they can promote him to the 450 ranks in the future. After contending for the 250SX West title in 2024 and then winning the Detroit Supercross last year, we’re yet to see a race-winning performance from the number 47 this year, and he has four more opportunities to do so in 2026.

10. Savatgy and Cooper quietly performing:
Both Justin Cooper and Joey Savatgy have flown under the radar in this year’s Supercross series to date, with Cooper listed P5 overall, while Savatgy is one position behind in sixth. For how stacked and competitive the 450SX field is, these results are no joke and deserve recognition. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper even put a convincing pass on Tomac to win the second Triple Crown race in Indianapolis, while Savatgy experienced a tougher time as an awkward landing resulted in a broken foot. Nevertheless, both riders are delivering solid results through the first half of the Supercross series and will continue to be riders to watch as the season develops.