450 Class
Jorge Prado
After a clutch second moto victory, Jorge Prado’s 5-1 scores and second overall were more than enough to win the 450 SuperMotocross World Championship. Prado is the first Spanish champion in AMA SX/MX/SMX. The second moto was his first career playoff moto win and it came when it mattered the most. He is the seventh different rider in the 450 class to win a moto in the playoffs.
Something clicked at Unadilla for Prado and he hasn’t looked back since, finishing on the podium at every race since then including two overall wins and now the SMX World Championship. His only finish worse than second in that span was a third in Columbus.
Prado’s second moto in Ridgedale was a clinic in racecraft. He got the holeshot and managed the race from the front. He was top three fastest on track for every lap except one and his lap time consistency rating was third best of the moto. On the final two laps when he needed to the most, he set the fastest lap times of both of those laps.
Haiden Deegan
Haiden Deegan went 1-2 for the overall victory in Ridgedale and became the winningest rider in SMX Playoff history when combining both classes. This was his sixth overall win in the playoffs, tied with Jett Lawrence for the most. This was his ninth overall podium in the playoffs which is now a record most for any rider. In fact, he leads every major leaderboard in SMX Playoff history: Overall Wins (6), Overall Podiums (9), Moto Wins (11), Laps Led (136), and Moto Podiums (19). He is the only rider with over 100 laps led.
Although he came up just short of the championship, Deegan still led this year’s playoffs in moto wins (3) and moto podiums (6). He won half the motos and finished on the podium in all six motos this playoffs. It is only the second time a rider has finished on the podium in all six motos of a playoffs in the 450 class.
Hunter Lawrence
Finishing third overall on the day with 3-3 moto scores and third overall in the championship was Hunter Lawrence. Hunter had a unique day in Ridgedale, he started both motos in third and finished both in third, never making a pass or getting passed after the green flag in either moto. This was his sixth career 450 SMX Playoff overall podium which moves him into sole possession of second most all time. He is now up to 12 moto podiums on a 450 and that also moves him into second most all time.
Not counting the mud in Columbus, this was the first time since Red Bud where Hunter did not round lap one in second or better in at least one moto. Hunter was smooth and steady in both motos on the night. Third best average lap time in both and had the seventh most and fifth most consistent lap times in each moto respectively.
Ken Roczen
Ken Roczen ended his SMX Playoff campaign with a fourth overall in Ridgedale. His 2-5 moto scores earned him that position and a rare bad start in moto two held him back early. Roczen had started every moto in these playoffs inside the top five until the second moto. He rounded lap one in ninth but was marked at 17th across the holeshot line.
Roczen’s 128 points are the second most he has scored in an SMX Playoff series and most since 2023 where he finished second overall and scored 146. His second in the first moto brought him up to eleven career SMX Playoff moto podiums which moves him up to third most all time in the class. He is one of four riders to be in the double digits. Only Jett Lawrence (15) and Hunter Lawrence (12) have more.
Cooper Webb
Cooper Webb finished just off the podium in both motos and finished fifth overall with 4-4 moto scores. Webb would also finish the series in fifth place. It is not a career best placement, he finished fourth in the first playoffs in 2023, but his 123 points earned are the most he has had in a playoff series.
This was the first playoff series where Webb finished in the top five overall at all three rounds and his average overall finish was 4.67, besting his previous low of 6.00 set in 2023. Webb showed consistency and speed in both motos in Ridgedale. In moto one, he had the third best lap time consistency rating and in moto two, he had the third best lap time of the race.
R.J. Hampshire
R.J. Hampshire made it back to back sixth place finishes in the playoffs with 6-6 moto scores in Ridgedale. He finished seventh overall in the series for the second year in a row. He had a solid pair of starts in the motos as he rounded lap one in fifth in both of them. It is the first time he has started in the top five in both motos in MX or SMX since Unadilla in 2025.
This was Hampshire’s final ride aboard a Husqvarna as the team is folding at the conclusion of the season. With Husqvarna, he became a West Coast Lites Champion, earned at least one overall podium in every motocross season he raced with them, won three overalls, and six main event victories in the Lites class.
250 Class
Levi Kitchen
Levi Kitchen got the job done, going 2-2 for second overall and clinching his first ever championship, the SuperMotocross World Championship title. It is Kawasaki’s first title of any kind in the United States since 2020 and first in the 250 class since 2019. Kitchen had finished in the top three in the points standings five times in his career across all three disciplines before earning this title. That is the second most top three points finishes before winning a title ever.
Kitchen’s starts were extremely clutch in Ridgedale and throughout the playoffs to help him earn the title with out much fuss. He got just his third holeshot of the calendar year in moto one and rounded moto two in second. Throughout the playoffs, he rounded lap one in the top five in all six motos. Out of all 21 motos he started in motocross, he started in the top five in seven of them.
Kitchen was fast and consistent in both motos. In moto one, he had the best consistency rating of the moto and was fastest on average in three of the eight segments. In moto two, he had the third best consistency rating with the second fastest raw laptime and average laptime.
Cole Davies
Cole Davies bounced back in a big way after a rough opening two playoff races. He dominated the night, going 1-1 for his first career SMX Playoff victory. It catapulted him from seventh to third in the standings which resulted him earning an extra $132,000 in winnings. Davies was on fire in the motos, setting the fastest laptime and fastest average laptime in both. He had the fastest segment time through five of the eight segments in both motos.
Not only was this Davies’ first SMX Playoff overall victory, it was his first overall podium. He is the fifteenth different rider to podium in the class and the seventh different overall winner. He is now up to 42 laps led in the playoffs which is third most all time. By winning both motos, that puts his playoff moto win total at three which is already the second most in class history. Haiden Deegan is the only one with more and he has eight.
Landen Gordon
Landen Gordon capped off a strong end to his rookie season by getting on the box in Ridgedale with 6-3 moto scores for third overall. Gordon earned a podium finish in Supercross, Motocross, and now SMX. In the four years of the SMX Playoff era, Gordon is the first rider to do that in his first calendar of professional racing. He entered the playoffs seeded in the 20th and final spot by three points. He took full advantage and leapt all the way to fifth overall in the final standings. He moved up six spots from eleventh after his podium in Ridgedale. His payout in eleventh would have been $14,000, in fifth it is $50,000.
Gordon started both motos strong, rounding lap one in third in both of them. He was really good in segment four, the second part of the sand section, as he had the second fastest average time through there in both motos. Gordon ended up being one of four riders in the class in this year’s playoffs joining Levi Kitchen, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Cameron McAdoo.
Nate Thrasher
Nate Thrasher put a nice cap on his Star Racing Yamaha career with a fourth place finish in Ridgedale by way of 7-4 moto scores. It is his best result this year since his Triple Crown victory in Cleveland. He matched his finale result from last season and has made a habit of finishing the playoffs strong. Thrasher was tenth in the points coming into the race and got himself up into sixth, earning an extra $10,000.
Thrasher started both motos inside the top five after having just three top five starts in all of pro motocross and the first two rounds of the playoffs. In moto two, he started fifth and found his way into fourth with two laps to go. He was the most consistent rider on track that moto with a consistency rating of 99.305%.
Pierce Brown
As an unseeded rider entering the playoffs, Pierce Brown bettered his result at each round and ended up eighth overall in the points standings. In Ridgedale, he went 5-7 for fifth overall, his best playoff finish since he won the finale in 2024. In fact, it is his second ever top five in the playoffs, his win being the only other one.
In moto one, Brown charged from tenth across the holeshot line to fifth. He kept his charge going until the very end, finishing just behind Julien Beaumer for fourth. Brown set the fastest lap time on the final lap in that effort. He did the same in moto two, setting the second best lap of the third to last lap and then the fastest on the final two laps. Showing endurance and speed down to the last laps of the season.
Julien Beaumer
Julien Beaumer had an eventful day in Ridgedale. He had a chance at the title coming in but subpar starts in both motos kept him from truly challenging for the title on the day. He would end up going 4-9 for sixth overall. He still managed to secure $100,000 by finishing fourth overall in the series. Before the racing began, he was selected to represent the United States at the Motocross of Nations as Chance Hymas had to withdraw due to injury. He will make the jump to the 450 to race it.
Beaumer started the day by earning the pole position in qualifying, his second in a row. He is only the second rider in the class to earn multiple pole positions in a playoff series. Haiden Deegan was the first to do so in 2024. Beaumer’s moto two start saw him go down and cross the holeshot line in last place. He made up a lot of ground to get to ninth and did so with three laps to go.
Ryder DiFrancesco
Ryder DiFrancesco entered the race essentially in a winner take all scenario with Levi Kitchen but his starts hurt his chances greatly in both motos. He would end up going 3-10 for seventh overall but it was still just enough for him to retain second place in the series and earn $250,000. Second place is by far his best championship finish in any discipline. He did earn a fourth in Supercross this season and a fifth in Motocross but coming into 2026, his previous best championship finish in any discipline was tenth.
DiFrancesco mounted a strong charge in moto one to keep himself in it. He started seventh to Levi Kitchen’s first but managed to climb to third, one spot behind Kitchen, to keep the winner take all scenario alive going into the second moto. Unfortunately in moto two, DiFrancesco ran into trouble in the first turn and the opening lap. He rounded lap one in eighteenth place while Kitchen was in second. It was a disappointing end to the playoffs for DiFrancesco but 2026 was wildly successful for him earning career bests nearly every week in SX, MX, and SMX.