The opening round of the 2026 Triple Crown Series kicked off with a bang at Wild Rose MX Park. The riders battled a challenging track and at times, some adverse weather conditions. Just as the gate was about to drop on the first 250 moto, Mother Nature unleashed a wall of cold rain and high winds, which quickly turned the track into a slippery mess. However, despite the poor weather, the fans were treated to some incredible racing in the early motos. Then, just as fast as the wet weather moved in, the skies began to clear and the remaining motos of the day saw some of the best track conditions we’ve ever witnessed at Wild Rose MX Park. In the end, it was Jordan Jarvis taking the overall win in the WMX Class, defending champion Preston Kilroy seizing the win in the 250 Pro/Am class, and Dylan Wright continued his 450 class win streak in Calgary with a dominating victory. Here are this week’s Takeaways from the opening round.
250 Pro/AM class:
If the results from Sunday is any gauge moving forward, the battle for this title could be a two-man race all summer long as Preston Kilroy and Dylan Rempel look to be a little ahead of everyone when it comes to speed and intensity. During both motos in Calgary, there was only a few seconds between Kilroy and Rempel, and I expect it to be like that this weekend in Manitoba. The only other rider who showed the speed to win motos was young Vincent Wey, who in the final few laps of moto one, was slowly catching the leaders. Unfortunately, Wey would go down early in the second moto and then had to stop in the mechanics area to get his shifter straighten, so we didn’t get to see his speed on a dryer track. Two other riders that also showed some great speed were Kade Johnson and Ryder Malinoski. Johnson used a consistent 4-4 moto score to grab the final spot on the podium, and Malinoski went 9-3 for 5th OA. It’s no surprise that the trio of Wey, Johnson, and Malinoski have been competing in the SMX Next program in the Monster Energy Supercross Series, so they come into this series race-ready. Josh Boaz of the AVL Husqvarna team showed a good pace in his first race. Ontario rider Tanner Scott had a 5-5 day going until he suffered a massive get-off halfway through the second moto where he was unable to finish the race. On Tuesday morning, Tanner was still sore and said that he felt like a truck had ran him over, and backed up and ran him over again. Hopefully, Tanner feels better by the weekend as he showed some good speed and fitness in Calgary. Another young rider who looked great at the opening round was Tegan Kortenbach, who went 10-7 for an impressive 8th OA. It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend as the track and conditions at the Prairie Hill MX track will be vastly different than what the riders had to deal with at the opening round. With that said though, I’m still picking Preston Kilroy for the win.
450 Class:
Right from the drop of the gate in the opening moto in Calgary, Dylan Wright and Jess Pettis quickly renewed their rivalry by starting first and second. From there, Pettis led for most of the moto, while Wright appeared to be uncharacteristically patient riding in second. Lap after lap, the two riders yo-yo’d back and forth depending on who was able to better deal with lapped riders. Then with a few laps to go, Pettis chose a poor line in a corner, made a mistake, and that was all it took for Wright to make his way by. Pettis did fight hard in those final laps, and as the white flag came out, he was right on the rear tire of Wright and looking to possibly set up a pass in the technical Shaw Valley section of the Wild Rose MX track. For the entire moto, Pettis appeared faster in that section, while Wright was a little quicker on the front section. Unfortunately for Pettis, while entering the Shaw Valley section he got held up by a lapped rider and that was all Wright needed to race home for the opening moto victory. In moto two, Wright got off to an early lead, but this time Pettis would crash on the opening lap. That crash led to some bike issues, and sadly those bikes issues caused Pettis to not be able to continue. Wright would go on to an uncontested win, while Pettis was forced to make a long and lonely walk back to the paddock. This however opened the door for us to get our first glance at the speed and endurance of Harry Kullas. For 35 minutes, Kullas rode the wheels off his factory KTM and kept Wright within striking distance until the race ended. Kullas was impressive on the challenging Wild Rose MX track, so look for him to be a title contender all summer long. Wright looks more comfortable than ever on his newly renovated GDR Honda CRF450R, Pettis is also going fast, but now obviously has some points to make up. As mentioned, Kullas is the real deal, and rookie 450 rider Sebastien Racine, who went from dead last to 4th in the second moto, was also impressive. Finally, Ryder McNabb finished third overall in Calgary, so that is promising moving forward in the 450 series. Daniel Elmore was a solid 5th OA, followed by Quinn Amyotte and Tanner Ward. The 450 class is going to be fun to watch this summer as their are a number of riders who can challenge for podiums every weekend.
WMX Class:
Fresh off her 4th place finish at the opening round of the USA WMX Series on Saturday, Jordan Jarvis arrived in Calgary a little weary from her all night flight from California. But, this fatigue didn’t stop Jarvis from claiming victory at the opening Triple Crown Series WMX round with a solid 3-1 moto score. Behind Jarvis, was Kaylie Kayer who rode brilliantly on Sunday to win the opening moto, and then secure a third in moto two, followed by Isla Phillips in third, Jamie Astudillo in fourth, and young Ontario rider Kiana Kurtz in fifth. Unfortunately, the defending WMX West Coast Champion Katrine Ferguson had an off day in Calgary and finished 9th overall. There were some entertaining battles in both motos that had the fans cheering loudly. Again, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top this weekend at Round 2, where the track conditions will be completely different.
It was a great day of racing at Wild Rose MX Park, and several riders commented at the end of the day that this was the most challenging track they’ve raced on in some time. Now, the 2026 Triple Crown Series moves east to Pilot Mound, Manitoba for Round 2 this coming weekend.
