Greetings! Welcome to this first official Monday Gate Drop Column of the 2026 Spring season. Yes, this past weekend we welcomed in Spring, even though it might not have felt ‘spring-like’ where you live, some nice weather is forthcoming. It has to be, we’re not too far from April and the opening outdoor racing events of the year. At least a few tracks have opened up and people are beginning to fire up their bikes and ride. Also, in some very cool Yamaha news. Earlier today, the MX101 Yamaha Team announced that they have signed Ryder Malinoski for the 2026 Triple Crown Series. Ryder will compete in the 250 Pro/Am Class this summer and should be a podium contender in every moto.
This past weekend my son, Ryan Mott and I decided to make the 4.5 hour trek up to Birmingham from where we are staying at GPF. It’s been several years since I have attended a round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series (the last time was the 2024 Charlotte SMX Playoff event), and since it was the opening 250SX East/West Showdown race of the season, as well as an SMX Next event, we thought it was worth the drive. I’m glad we went as the drive was easy, the weather was perfect, and downtown Birmingham is a pretty nice spot. The actual race took place in Protective Stadium, but the paddock and Fan Fest is across the street in the Convention Centre. It’s a lot of walking during the day as you go back and forth from the pits to the stadium, but a little exercise never hurt SX fans. During practice and qualifying I thought the track was a little boring as most of the riders were doing the same combinations in all of the sections. Of course, there was a quad jump section in the lane beside the finish line jump, that only Haiden Deegan, Ken Roczen, and Jorge Prado were jumping in the afternoon. Prado actually had a very big crash in this section when he came up short and went over the bars. The bike landed on him so I’m not sure how he was able to not only get up, but also race in the night show. However, once the heat races began the track seemed to flow better and it was actually good for racing. Both main events were entertaining and after watching the previous rounds this year on television, nothing beats watching this sport live. As well as the series does with their television package, the SMX Series is such an incredible live event. Even for a long time fan and former racer like myself, I still get chills when the gate drops on the 450SX main event. The sound of those bikes blasting off the starting gate has to be the best sound in sport!
After watching the 250SX East/West Showdown main event I had mixed feelings about what I saw. On one hand, I thought Deegan’s charge to the lead was most likely one of his best rides of his pro career thus far. His aggression, his race craft, and his relentless pursuit of the leaders was truly amazing. This was certainly a race that you wanted to watch live as you could see, feel, and hear his speed. I think Stevie Wonder would know where Deegan was on the track just by the sound of his bike and how he rides it. However, as awesome as it was to watch Deegan ride the wheels of his Star Racing Yamaha YZ250F, it was equally disappointing to watch several of the other top riders on the track let Deegan pass them and then pull away. Don’t get me wrong, Deegan was going a little faster than everyone, but he did start about 11th, and with Levi Kitchen and Cole Davies out front, I thought there was zero chance that Deegan would be able to get to the front before the checkered flag flew. Deegan had to go through DiFrancesco, Hammaker, Shimoda, Kitchen, Anstie, and Davies to take the lead, and none of them put up too much of a fight. I mean, you can hear Deegs coming so you know when he’s close. Everyone has seen him race, so they know what his tactics are and how he likes to set up passes, but no one appeared to want to play any sort of defence. Even when he did make a pass, not one rider got real aggressive and attempted a quick pass back. I don’t know, it was fun to watch Deegan make those passes as the crowd was loving every minute of it, but he really shouldn’t have won that race. Anyone of those riders I mentioned should’ve taken full advantage of the situation. With Deegan floundering around in 10th for three laps I thought Cole Davies in particular would’ve been long gone out front and uncatchable, even for the 1W. Deegan has these kids beat in so many ways, it’s really alarming to be honest.
In the 450SX class, Hunter Lawrence put on a riding clinic when it mattered the most in the 450SX main event. Hunter took the early lead and never looked back. Eli Tomac started in third, and I think if he could’ve gotten around his teammate Jorge Prado right away and witnessed what Hunter was doing up front, he might of had a chance to challenge for the lead. But, for whatever reason, Prado raced Tomac hard for five laps and by the time Tomac got into second, Lawrence was long gone. I honestly don’t understand why there wasn’t some KTM Team orders and why a pit sign wasn’t given to Prado to move over and let Tomac by on lap two. I know Prado wants to do well, but he’s missed so many rounds and is so far out of the 450SX points standings, he shouldn’t be holding his teammate up when Tomac is battling for his life in this 450SX championship. After Tomac got around Prado, he just wasn’t riding like the Tomac we’re used to seeing so far in 2026. The Birmingham track was hard packed and slippery and demanded perfect throttle control, something that Tomac has never been good at. However, one rider who is good in those conditions is Ken Roczen, and after a tenth place start, KR94 was able to reel in Tomac and make the pass for second. After making his way to second, Roczen did make some time on Lawrence at the mid-way point of the main event. But, that only lasted a few laps before Hunter found even more speed and pulled away again. Hunter’s final five laps were probably the best I’ve seen him ride in 2026. After Hunter’s win and Tomac’s third place finish, there is now nine points separating them as they head into Round 11 this weekend in Detroit. It’s almost to the point where if Tomac wants to win this title he’s going to have to get aggressive and make things happen. He’s always ridden well inside Ford Field, so perhaps this could be the weekend he can turn things around.
Well, it’s getting late here in Tallahassee so I’m going to head to bed. This is our last week of training at GPF, and judging by the weather forecast, it’s going to be a hot week. I hope everyone has a great first week of Spring and I hope you’re able to get out and ride soon. Finally, my pick (once again) for the Motovan Canada Rider of the Week is Cole Thompson. In my opinion, Cole doesn’t get enough credit for not only the career he’s had, but also how he’s been able to keep racing and keep making money racing his dirt bike. As he’s done the past few weeks, Cole qualified for the 450SX main event directly from his heat race and ended up finishing 18th…and he’s doing all of this while working out of his small van with his wife as his mechanic. Cole just loves to race and he told me on Saturday that he’s having a lot of fun this season. If you’re headed to Detroit this weekend, make sure you cheer for CT66, as this is pretty much his hometown race. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
