Calgary Awaits: A New Season Begins As The 2026 Triple Crown Series Heads To Wild Rose MX Park One Final Time
As the gates prepare to drop next weekend in Calgary, the 2026 Canadian Triple Crown Series opens with more than just a new season; it opens a new chapter. Round One at Wild Rose MX Park carries a different kind of weight this year. For the first time in years, the championship begins without a defending champion. Phil Nicoletti has officially stepped away from professional competition, leaving behind more than just results. Nicoletti brought experience and credibility to every gate he lined up on. Fans measured performances against him. Riders earned respect by beating him. His absence doesn’t just open the door; it changes the entire landscape of the 2026 season.
When Wild Rose MX Park hosted its first Canadian Pro National in 2000, there wasn’t a lot known about this unique track and facility. At the time, all of the chatter surrounded the tracks close proximity to downtown Calgary, as well as the facilities undulating landscape. However, for all the pre-race conjecture back in 2000, nothing prepared the riders and teams for just how cool and amazing the Wild Rose MX Park was. It was certainly something that had to be seen to be believed. Since its inception, this track has hosted multiple rounds of our national series, including the opening round on several occasions. We have witnessed a plethora of legendary riders race up and down the hills, and we have also had to deal with the power and unpredictability of Mother Nature in the Calgary area on numerous occasions. In fact, during that inaugural national in 2000, we had sun and mild temperatures in the morning, rain and wind after lunch, light snow and hail in the afternoon, and then back to sun for the final laps of the second 250 moto. The old saying in Calgary that if you don’t like the weather, all you have to do is wait five minutes could definitely be applied to more than one day of racing over the years at Wild Rose MX Park.
From 2000 to 2005, Jean Sébastien Roy and Blair Morgan, under the powerhouse Blackfoot Honda Racing banner, controlled the track and defined a generation. That torch eventually passed to Dusty Klatt, and then emphatically to Colton Facciotti, whose four-year run from 2008 to 2011 marked the rise of modern consistency and dominance. Even through this stretch featuring winners like Brett Metcalfe, Mike Alessi, and Davi Millsaps, Calgary never lost its place as a track where champions rise. Multiple winners, all with a different style and a different approach to finding success on the ever-changing Wild Rose MX track. But there were some constants if you look closely. Since success in Calgary doesn’t come by accident, every rider who has won here over the years has been fit, determined, and able to handle the lap-by-lap adversity that comes with racing on a challenging track at 3500 feet above sea level. At that altitude, heart rates are higher, breathing is more challenging, the stress of racing is harder to manage, everything is more difficult, and only the strongest and most determined riders have come out on top. Considering that Alberta has been built on hard work and resilience, the Calgary National has always been a perfect representation of the incredible people of this great Province.
Fast forward to 2026, and all eyes are on GDR Honda rider Dylan Wright, considered by many to be the King of Calgary. Once viewed as the understudy to Facciotti, Wright has transformed Wild Rose into his proving ground. With five wins since 2020, including one during his perfect season in 2022, he hasn’t just won there, he’s built one of the most dominant Calgary résumés the sport has ever seen. And in doing so, he has entered the G.O.A.T conversation. Wright now stands shoulder to shoulder with the greats, equal in Calgary wins to Facciotti, but with an edge in modern depth and outright dominance. In today’s increasingly competitive field, sustained success carries even more weight.
But this year, like every year, success will not come easily for Wright as there will be several top 450 riders gunning for him. Jess Pettis, of the MX101 Yamaha Team, has both the speed and belief to challenge for wins. That speed has been evident in the past two years as Pettis has multiple moto wins, as well as an overall win in 2024. This year, Pettis is coming into the Triple Crown Series with a new and improved 2026 YZ450F, as well as perhaps some extra drive, given the adversity he went through last summer. If history is any guide, Pettis is Dylan Wright’s biggest competition heading into the opening round, and it’s going to be entertaining to watch this head-to-head battle unfold.
Tanner Ward, representing Priority MX Thor GASGAS Team, is another experienced rider capable of finding success at the opening round. Tanner enters 2026 carrying momentum from a breakthrough 450 series last season and was only one mistake away from a national title at Walton. Tanner has been working hard both on the bike as well as off the bike, and he’s the only 450 rider who made a big commitment to race more in the early part of the year. Since January, Tanner has lined up in Florida, the UK, and Southern Ontario. He is probably more prepared than any other rider lining up next weekend at Wild Rose MX Park, so we’ll see if that translates into the results Tanner is looking for.
Then there’s Harri Kullas, the international veteran capable of changing the outcome of races the moment the gate drops. Experienced, unpredictable, and dangerous on any surface, Kullas will no doubt add another layer of uncertainty to an already loaded field as he attempts to put his factory KTM Canada Racing machine on the top step of the 450 class podium. They all arrive with the same objective: to stop Dylan Wright, or at very least make him feel uncomfortable heading into the long summer.
This isn’t just round one of the 2026 Triple Crown Series; it’s the reset of a new season. Maybe a power shift. A defining moment for the 2026 championship and possibly the final chapter of one of Canadian motocross’s most iconic national tracks. Since this is most likely the final pro national at this iconic facility, the opening round next weekend will no doubt be a bittersweet affair. So many memories, so many incredible moments, it will be impossible to replace or recreate what the Wild Rose MX Park has brought to not only the Triple Crown Series, but also to the riders and residents of Alberta. Whether it’s watching the riders throw big whips during practice, or watching them race through the Shaw Valley section of the track, or simply taking a break from the action on the track and glancing north to the Calgary city line, or West to the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, there will never be another Wild Rose MX Park! To all of the people who have helped make this facility one of the most iconic tracks on the planet, thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, let’s drop the gate on the 2026 Triple Crown Series and create one more glorious day of Canadian Motocross memories. See you in Calgary!
