Greetings! Welcome to this late September edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column, which is once again brought to you by the incredible people at Yamaha Motor Canada. And speaking of Yamaha Motor Canada, this past weekend the Blu Cru held their annual Appreciation Ride Day at SDL. Once again, it was a massive turnout and thankfully this year, Mother Nature presented everyone with sunny skies and mild fall temperatures. With over 150 riders on Saturday, everyone enjoyed a day of riding and hanging out with their fellow Blu Cru friends. Yamaha also had several new 2027 models that riders could take out for a spin, so that was also popular with over 120 individual sign-ups. Finally, this coming weekend at Motopark, Yamaha will be hosting their final Demo Day where riders will have the opportunity to test ride some new models. Even though our 2026 riding season is slowing down, the Blu Cru is already planning for 2027.
Well, after Saturday evening in Ridgedale, MO, the 2026 SMX Playoffs have now concluded for another season. After a shaky start to this three-round playoff series in Columbus, it certainly picked up the steam it needed heading into the third and final round this past weekend. With the big story being the Webb/Deegan post-race fight last weekend, all eyes were on this final race to see if there would be anymore fireworks on the track, or in the Star Racing Yamaha paddock. Apparently, their beef was squashed during the week at the team’s training facility in Georgia, so most assumed that if we wanted more drama, we had to look somewhere else. Of course, there were several other storylines on Saturday including the impending retirements of Eli Tomac and Dylan Ferrandis. Both multi-time AMA Champions were racing in their final professional event, and during multiple interviews with both riders during the broadcast, you could tell that they were completely at ease with their decision. For Tomac, he leaves behind a career that I think most parents would want for their MX offspring. Not only did he win a plethora of titles in both MX and SX, but he also represented the USA with class at several MXON events, including the last time Team USA won at Red Bud (and it might be a long time before Team USA wins again). But, off the track Tomac just appeared to do things the right way as a human being and professional athlete. Throughout his career, he was super tight with his family. In fact, I’m not sure if his Dad John ever missed a race. Tomac proved that regardless of how good you are, to be an elite athlete you have to always surround yourself with a small collection of good people, even if one of those trusted people is your Dad. During his long and successful career and right up until the final checkered flag on Saturday, Tomac was pure class and he’s definitely going to be missed.
I think once the dust settles from this past weekend, and we perhaps dive deeper into Tomac’s final season, it could make us feel a little sad. You see, a lot of athletes that are nearing the end of their career’s sometimes hang on a little too long, and those final years aren’t even close to what they were in their prime. However, for Tomac, he came out swinging in 2026 and for almost three months he was the best rider on the planet. After signing with KTM during the off-season, Tomac and his new team went to work. They tested, they raced some WSX rounds, and they tested some more. When the gate dropped at Anaheim One, Tomac was ready and as I said, during the first-half of the Monster Energy Supercross Series, he was riding as good as he ever was. In late February, after winning the Daytona SX for the 8th time (yes I said 8) most thought Tomac was well on his way to yet another SX Championship. Unfortunately, after a crash in Detroit and then a even harder get-off in Cleveland, it became clear that Tomac wasn’t just competing against the likes of Ken Roczen and Hunter Lawrence, he was competing against Father time, and as history has shown us, that is a race you just cannot win. After taking a few weeks off to heal, Tomac entered his final Pro Motocross Championship Series with optimism knowing that he would be racing against an injured Jett Lawrence, as well as a rookie in Haiden Deegan. Tomac has always been great in the summer grind that is outdoor MX, so entering the opening race, he was considered a title favourite. Unfortunately, a hard and awkward crash on the opening lap of moto one is the moment that I believe flipped the internal switch and instead of Tomac’s mindset being that of I can still do this at 32 years old, it changed to I don’t want to do this anymore at 32 years old. When you watch a replay of that crash and also hear the injuries it caused, it looks and sounds like one of those crashes where a rider simply gets away with one. A younger and more hungry Eli Tomac would have moved on from that crash and would be motivated to come back stronger. But, a 32 year old Tomac with a beautiful family, millions in the bank, and hopefully a long life still ahead of him, recovered physically from that crash, but sadly not mentally. Fast forward to Tomac’s final night of racing this past weekend, and as sad as it was to see him compete in his final professional race, it was incredible to see just how accepting he was of his decision. During a post-race interview he was naturally asked what might be next for the great ET3. His response was absolute perfection and really summed up where his head is at. Tomac paused for a brief moment and then said “I don’t know exactly what is next, but I know I’m excited for it.” After an amazing career that included the coining of the phrase “Tomac is engaging beast mode” I think we’re all excited to see what is next for Eli Tomac and his family.
So, as I mentioned above, with drama from last weekend still fresh in everyone’s mind, the gate dropped on the final race of 2026. In the 250 class, it was great to see Levi Kitchen win the SMX Championship after riding well in both main events on Saturday. Kitchen collected 500K for his effort, and should take some good momentum into the MXON this coming weekend. However, the best race of the night was the final 450 main event where Jorge Prado and Haiden Deegan went toe-to-toe for all of the marbles. I believe points wise when it came to the overall SMX Championship and the million dollars that went with it, Prado could’ve let Deegan go and a second place finish would’ve been okay. But, it was clear that Prado wanted to win, and in the end he succeeded in doing what few riders have been able to do over the past several years, and that is hold Deegs at bay. It was a great race to watch and once again, if you go on YouTube and watch the Buttery Films edit from Saturday, you can watch this final exciting race from pretty much track side. This video not only shows you how challenging the track was during the final race of the evening, but you also get to see just how much on the limit Prado and Deegan were for 20 minutes plus a lap. It was a very impressive performance by both riders, as well as an exciting conclusion to the 2026 SMX Series!
As I write this column, Team Canada has arrived in France for the 2026 MXON. After some sightseeing in Paris and then traveling to the Ernee area, the team will get their bikes. Thursday they will do some riding at a local track, Friday, our team of Dylan Wright, Tanner Ward, and Dylan Rempel will head to the Ernee track for starting practice, the draw for gate pick, and then opening ceremonies. This week will no doubt move fast for Team Canada and before they know it, the gates will be dropping on Saturday. Our Blu Cru Super Finale kids are also heading to France, so watch for them this weekend. Our kids enjoyed a lot of success last year at Ironman Raceway, so hopefully they can find their way back onto the podium this weekend! You can watch all of the action by going to: Watch the most exciting MXGP race action LIVE and on Demand.
Well, that it is for me this week. I hope everyone has a great final few days of September. This really is one of the best times of the year in Canada. The leaves are changing, the temperatures are nice, and most of our tracks are in good shape for riding. Today is also my son’s 19th birthday so Happy Birthday to him. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please email me ateditor@mxpmag.com.
