450 Class
Haiden Deegan
Haiden Deegan dominated Columbus and emerged with his first 450 victory by going 1-1 and leading 26 out of 27 laps in the mud. Deegan is the first American rider since Chase Sexton at the very first SMX Playoff round in 2023 to win a 450 overall in the playoffs. He is the first American to be on the top step of the 450 class since Sexton at Salt Lake City in Supercross. He also broke the streak of Honda’s SMX Playoff success. He put Yamaha on top after Honda had won all nine 450 SMX Playoff overalls.
This was Deegan’s third straight overall win at an SMX Playoff opener and he has now won at least one moto at all four SMX Playoff openers, he is the only rider in playoff history to accomplish those streaks. His 10 SMX Playoff moto wins between both classes are the most all time in the playoffs. His five SMX Playoff overall wins are second most, now just one behind Jett Lawrence’s record of six.
Ken Roczen
Ken Roczen is the unofficial king of Ohio after winning in the mud in Cleveland during Supercross and now finishing second with 2-2 moto scores in a muddy Columbus. This was Roczen’s fourth overall podium in the SMX Playoffs and his first since 2023 where he finished second overall at all three races. His four overall podiums are tied for the fourth in the class with Hunter Lawrence.
Roczen was very strong in both motos, setting the second best average lap time in both and having the fastest lap time in moto two by 0.483 seconds. Roczen had the sand section dialed in moto two as he had the best average segment time through there. After not participating in motocross, Roczen was the tenth seed coming into the playoffs but with his second place, he jumped all the way up to fourth in the standings, eight points off the lead.
Jorge Prado
Jorge Prado continued his podium streak from outdoors by going 3-4 in the motos, securing third overall. Prado’s four race podium streak is the longest active streak in the 450 class. This was Prado’s first SMX appearance and his consistent moto scores were enough to earn the red plate. He took over the points lead and is up two on Haiden Deegan. It’s the first time he will hold the red plate in the United States.
Prado was the smoothest rider out there in moto two, despite the muddy conditions, he had the most consistent lap time ranking and had the fastest average segment time through segments 1 and 6. Prado’s holeshot in moto one marks his second holeshot in as many races as he also earned a holeshot at Ironman.
Cooper Webb
Cooper Webb ended his day in Columbus strong with a third in moto two. His 9-3 moto scores were enough to earn him fourth overall. It is his best overall finish in the SMX Playoffs since the finale at the LA Coliseum in 2023 where he finished third. Webb was strong at the mud races this year in Supercross, to pair with his second moto in Columbus, he finished second in the mud in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
Webb was one of the hardest chargers in moto two, he set the fastest lap time in three of the last five laps. Webb came in as the three seed and remained in third. He sits just four points behind the points leader Jorge Prado. The closest he has been to the lead in the playoffs after round one.
Joey Savatgy
Joey Savatgy joined Ken Roczen as one of the two riders to finish in the top five who did not participate in the pro motocross series. Savatgy made a strong return to racing by finishing fifth overall with 8-5 moto scores. His finish could have been even better but while running fourth late in moto one, he had a few falls and his bike was beginning to smoke.
This was Savatgy’s best finish in the SMX Playoffs. His only prior experience in the playoffs was in 2025 where he finished ninth twice and eighth once, his previous best. His fifth in moto two was his best playoff moto finish, beating his previous best of seventh set in moto two at St. Louis last year.
Dylan Ferrandis
The fifth seed entering the playoffs, Dylan Ferrandis performed well in Columbus as he finished sixth overall with 4-9 moto scores. This was his best finish in the SMX Playoffs since he finished fifth at Chicagoland in 2023 and it kept him in fifth place in the standings. After a top five start in moto one, Ferrandis crossed the holeshot line in last in moto two, 22nd place, before mounting his charge to ninth. His 13 positions gained were the most by a 450 rider in a moto in Columbus and second most when including the 250 class.
250 Class
Levi Kitchen
Levi Kitchen bounced back in a big way in Columbus, earning his first SMX Playoff overall victory with consistent 2-2 moto scores. He is the fifth different rider to win an SMX Playoff overall in the 250 class in the ten playoff races in history. Kitchen got it done with a last lap pass on Daxton Bennick in moto two which gave him the second moto tiebreaker. In that moto, Kitchen set a top three fastest lap time in each of the last six laps, including the fastest in two of the last three laps.
After struggling with starts throughout motocross, Kitchen dialed them in for SMX. He rounded lap one in third in moto one and fifth in moto two. He had just one round during this year’s motocross season where he finished lap one inside the top five in both motos. This win earned him the points lead after entering as the second seed. He sits atop the standings by seven points over Ryder DiFrancesco.
Daxton Bennick
Daxton Bennick was one lap away from his first career overall win in SX/MX/SMX but ultimately settled for second place with 1-3 moto scores. His first moto victory was his first professional victory in any discipline and it was Husqvarna’s first SMX Playoff moto victory. With that moto one win, he became the ninth different rider to win an SMX Playoff moto in the 250 class in the first 18 motos of it’s existence.
This fantastic result shattered his previous best SMX Playoff victory of eighth set in 2025 in St. Louis. Bennick has now proven himself as a strong mud rider on multiple occasions this season as he tied a career best second place in the main event in Philadelphia and he finished ninth overall at Budds Creek, his second best finish of this motocross season. Bennick had the second fastest lap time in both motos in Columbus. Of the 24 full laps between both motos, Bennick had a top two fastest laptime of the lap in 15 of them.
Ryder DiFrancesco
Ryder DiFrancesco joined his Rockstar Husqvarna teammate, Daxton Bennick, on the podium with 3-4 moto scores. Also like his teammate, this was a career best SMX Playoff overall finish. His previous best was a fourth at the first ever playoff race in 2023 at zMAX Dragway. This was a huge improvement over his playoff results in 2024-2025 where he finished inside the top ten overall just once.
2026 has been a season of drastic improvement for DiFrancesco across all three disciplines now. He had the biggest jump in average overall finish in Supercross and the third biggest in the class in motocross. His average result in Supercross this season was 5.90, 5.68 positions better than his career average entering the season. DiFrancesco’s moto one performance in Columbus was a hard charge as he rounded lap one in thirteenth and made it all the way to third.
Max Vohland
Max Vohland returned to action in Columbus after an injury knocked him out of pro motocross at High Point. Vohland excelled in his return by finishing fourth overall with 4-6 moto scores. This tied his best result of the season which he set early in 2026 at the Triple Crown in Houston. This was his best SMX Playoff overall finish as he bested a fifth he earned at Chicagoland in 2023. His fourth in moto one was his best career moto result in SMX.
Vohland kept it steady in both motos as he methodically moved his way forward in both, starting ninth and eleventh in the two motos. In moto one, he had the third best lap time consistency rating and the fourth best in moto two. Vohland was the lead man aboard a Yamaha in the class.
Cameron McAdoo
After not racing in pro motocross, Cameron McAdoo showed up to Columbus and marked his place with a strong fifth overall by way of 6-7 moto scores. He made his way into the show by finishing fourth in the Wildcard race. He was the only rider from the Wildcard in either class to finish in the top five. After coming in unseeded, McAdoo jumped all the way up to fourteenth in the standings with seventeen points.
McAdoo only had three SMX Playoff appearances in his career entering this race, all coming in 2024. His fifth was a career best overall finish at one as his finishes in 2024 were 8-8-12. An interesting stat for McAdoo, he has been unseeded in all four of his playoff appearances and qualified through the Wildcard in all top four positions, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Caden Dudney
Caden Dudney was the lead man for Star Racing Yamaha in Columbus with his 5-8 moto scores getting him sixth overall. Dudney was the best placing SMX Playoff debutant in the class. Dudney started off the motocross season hot with a second overall at Fox Raceway but this sixth ties his best result since that race. It is his best finish in a Supercross style venue, beating his previous stadium best finish of thirteenth place, set twice at AT&T stadium and Protective Stadium.
This finish catapults Dudney up the SMX points standings. He entered the race as the fifteenth seed but this finish sees him climb eight spots up the standings into seventh.
Cole Davies
It was a day of what could have been for Cole Davies in Columbus as he lead 22 of 26 laps and started first in both motos. He dominated both but a bike failure in moto one relegated him to 22nd place. He wasted no time responding in moto two as he led wire to wire. His 22-1 moto scores still got him in the top ten with a tenth overall.
Davies set the fastest lap time in both motos and was on another level in moto two. In that moto, his best time was 5.144 second faster than the rider with the second fastest lap time in the moto. By far the largest difference in SMX Playoff history in either class. His second moto win saw him become the tenth different moto winner in the playoffs in just 19 motos of the playoffs.