Welcome to Racerhead, and Conspiracy Week. We are on the road to a wedding in Virginia, so I don't really have the years I would need to address every conspiracy I've heard about the series-ending Ironman National round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. What I can tell you is that the best rider of 2026—the one who barely lost the Monster Energy AMA Supercross title, and the one that won the most races, and the one that won the most motos this summer—won the 450 Pro Motocross Championship. Congratulations to Hunter Lawrence, that same man who won the Ironman National last year, both motos of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations here at Ironman Raceway last year, and more races than anyone else in 2026. And Jett Lawrence—the guy who missed all of SX, who won less races and less motos since he moved up to the 450 class because he has a very serious ankle injury—did not win. Shocker. And the second fastest all-round rider of 2026, Cole Davies, our new 250 Pro Motocross Champion, finished 13th in the second moto because, because... Because he finished 13th in the second moto after knowing he would clinch the title!

Motocross and Supercross racing is not easy. Even the best riders get injured. Anyone who was at the Budds Creek National saw Jett Lawrence struggle in the first moto, but the conspiracy began with him picking the second gate from the inside... The exact same gate that Haiden Deegan picked in the second moto, and the same gate—or even further inside—that Deegan has picked since 2023 at Budds Creek. Haiden has been known to use that inside starting spot to blast his way through the first turn (ask Tom Vialle, or Levi Kitchen), so maybe, just maybe, Jett was thinking defensively because, well, that ankle—the one both he and Haiden have talked about a time or two. Jett got a shitty start from the gate, pinched off by you-know-who, but that's racing. And when Haiden picked that same gate and got an even worse start in the second moto... Hey, the fix is in!

Of course I am kidding. Hunter Lawrence was the best rider in the summer of 2026. His brother Jett, even while hurt, was second best. Haiden Deegan, despite being new to the 450 class and having ridden a 250 until May of this year, was the third-fastest. And Jorge Prado finally got that first win in the U.S. in his best ride yet in America, but he was only fourth-best this summer. Ken Roczen, our Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion, sat out this summer, so he doesn't factor in, and both Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton were injured early. Cooper Webb is transitioning to SX-only (but thank God he was still interested—and affordable—to ride for Team USA here in the upcoming Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations) so he gets a pass too. And in the 250 class, with Deegan now in the 450 class, Cole Davies was the best overall rider in both SX and MX, and he has the #1 plates to show for it.

Ricky Carmichael said a couple of things that seem really appropriate in this moment: When asked about his rivalries, first with Chad Reed, and later with Reed and James Stewart, he answered both times with "Scoreboard." And when he sat out all of supercross in 2004 due to a knee injury, despite being back on the bike by early March, he said, "When you get a six-month injury, you take six months off." Hunter and Jett seem to have both taken heed. Hunter (who's Honda contract was finalized back in April) has celebrated and since moved on to SMX, where he must be the favorite; Jett is about to take some months off to fully recover, as he should. Honda has announced Jett will undergo (another) surgery on his ankle on September 9 as his goal is to get back to 100 percent full health to help the longevity of his career.

Hopefully he comes back as '23 Pro Motocross Jett or ’24 450SX Jett or even '25 Pro Motocross Jett, because he just wasn't the same this summer. If you didn't see that, you really weren't watching....

We're on to Columbus.

It's the last weekend off before the 2026 Monster Energy SMX Championship takes a bow. This week "feels" like it would have been one of rest and recovery for most of the racing world. That "feeling" would be wrong. Asking many of the riders at Ironman Raceway gave insight as to the testing that was scheduled. They needed to get back to supercross type settings and rhythm. The playoffs are viewed much more as supercross tracks than hybrid, for better or worse. The lack of whoops does offer some flexibility in how riders set the bikes up but overall, they go far stiffer than they have been. The transitions in between jumps is the main reason why, something that was a big talking point especially going back to the 2023 season. Riders struggled to find “comfort,” a word commonly adopted for an ideal setting, on the Charlotte and Chicago tracks as they got very rough but also had very steep jumps. The steep landings and rhythm sections require stiff forks and heavy damping, but the rough sections make this setup a punishing one. It's a compromise on all fronts and that's why riders were so desperate to get testing done this week. If they miss the setup in a big way at Columbus, it can make for a very challenging playoff opener. Think how far off their norm that the Lawrences were at Charlotte in 2023, both coming off dominating championships. Yes, some of that was due to burnout and a championship hangover, but there was also a lack of familiarity that led to guessing on setup. The guessing game is no longer a thing in 2026 so I would expect more certainty on all fronts in Columbus.

This weekend will be a bit more of a reprieve and next week will exemplify a typical race week routine. This past week, though, as badly as everyone wanted to shut down the engines for a few days was unfortunately the opposite. Someone once said that you either suffer during the week to have the weekend you desire, or you have the relaxing week you desire and then suffer on the weekend. For racing with millions on the line, the first option is the only choice that makes any sense.

For reals, look at what has gone down thus far in 2026: two close finales in 450SX in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and 450 Pro Motocross, with one point between the players going into that final round. This is the first year ever that both series have been that close heading into the last round. You had Ken Roczen’s incredible story to win supercross, you had Haiden Deegan’s much-hyped 450 full-time debut in Pro Motocross, you had the Coenen twins making a huge splash here in America, and also Jeffrey Herlings resurgence in MXGP. Just an incredible year, and it’s not even over yet! I just want to stop and smell the roses for a second. We might not have another season with this kind of drama…ever again?

Right on that list of big things that happened in 2026 is Eli Tomac’s year, which will now both stand as the year he got back to the top—winning the first two rounds of supercross and another Daytona—and also the year where he decided to retire. Wow, that’s a lot.

I put together multiple videos on Tomac this week on our YouTube channel, and also jumped on a podcast with Matthes and JT to discuss what (might have) led Eli to this decision, and to look at his legacy. Look, Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath have records that probably won’t be broken, and James Stewart set an all-time standard for speed (I will always so that no one ever dominated races the way James did in the 125 class).

Over in the GPs, Herlings certainly deserves his credit as well. I'm not sure if Eli is at the top of any one category, but I this this is a fair question: has anyone else ever combined speed and longevity better than Eli? Looking at the full body of work, Eli had some of the consistency and health of Ryan Dungey, and the staying power of Chad Reed, but also the shocking speed of someone like Stewart.

We used to wonder why Eli would have one or two “weirdo” rides per year where he would just get seventh place for no reason, but now that we see the whole body of work, we realize a sub-par finish was better than trying to win on a bad day and ending up in the hospital. Eli had both the high-end speed (see: Hangtown 2015) and the durability, maybe in a combo that no one else can match. I said this in a video this week: if you had to choose a career pathway for your own kid, wouldn’t Eli’s be the path you would actually pick? He stayed in the sport forever, but he never got too hurt, too burnt, too bitter, or too angry or negative about anything. He just won tons of races, made tons of fans and made tons of money without many downsides. That, it would seem, is a goal worth reaching.

It will be good for the fans to see Eli three more times in the playoffs. He’s always been a class act.

Well, we're here again, everyone. Yet another year that Team USA can't seem to send its three best riders to a non-USA based MXoN. Super stoked that Cooper Webb is yet again stepping up for the team, he dropped down to a 250F two years, he stepped up to a 450 last time we were at Ernée—the dude is a gamer and it's awesome to see. He's got every reason to say no thanks but here he is. We had Chance Hymas on the PulpMX Show last Monday night and he confirmed he's all in, 250, 450—if he had to pay, whatever. And hey, he is pretty hot right now with five straight OA podiums to end this Pro Motocross season and is going to ride the 450. And props to Levi Kitchen for going, Mitch Payton told me that he told both he and Seth Hammaker back around the High Point National in June that if either were selected, he would go with them.

Kawasaki was willing to go with Garrett Marchbanks and I thought they would be in from people I talked to but in the end, with the late ask from Team USA—they couldn't find the time to test for MXoN (fuel, sound), build two bikes and also squeeze in some SMX testing. Which all makes sense to me.

But what doesn't make sense to me though is why we're here. Haiden Deegan was pretty committed from what I hear for a while, someone from Team USA told me he was in a while ago, but then we heard he wanted some bonuses and show up money. I wish Brian and Haiden would be more truthful about the ins and outs of why they have never done this race. And despite never doing this before, all of a sudden Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing wanted USA to pay its $25K per bike fee that it usually charges for off-season races.

Like, why now?

Payton says Team USA came to him around High Point asking about Kitchen so one would assume they went to Star. No one knew Star wanted that fee back then, at least no one involved. If USA had known about the fee then--and knew they didn't have that money--could've gone to Kawasaki earlier and locked in Marchbanks and Kawasaki would be ready, right? I don't have an issue with Star wanting money to go, it's a ton of work and time from everyone after a long season, but it seems that those demands are whimsical.

It's just unfortunate that a MX power like USA seems to have circus music playing when it comes to getting riders each year. Who's in, who's out, who wants money, wait—now Star wants money? Things like that seem, to me anyways, like they could've been organized and figured out a long time ago. Team USA needs to be better, the riders and teams need to be better and then on top of that, I strongly believe that Infront Moto Racing, who is printing money from an MXoN, should help out as well.

I don't know all the ins and outs, but I talk to a lot of people with Team USA, with the teams and everyone just needs to do better. It's a lot of different "things" stopping Team USA from sending their best and while I can sympathize with some of the obstacles, can we just be better?

Thanks for coming out to my Ted Talk.

We saw the news about Jett Lawrence needing a surgery and sitting out SMX but that didn't exactly quell the tide of fans who firmly believe that he and/or the family set up Hunter to win the 450MX title last week. And truthfully, whether it's sports, politics or whatever these days, people are most dug into their beliefs than ever before. And whatever you believe, you can find something on social media to back up what you think. Some (most) of it is factually wrong even but that doesn't stop anyone.

And guess what? Neither side of the debate actually KNOW what happened. It's not black or white, so it's odd for me to see these people so dug into the conspiracy of it all. Because again, we don't KNOW for sure. I don't think this was a Lawrence "plan" from the start, financially it doesn't make sense with bonuses, not for insurance policies (they're basically uninsurable) it doesn't make sense in that Jett fought his brother tooth and nail in every other championship and also rode his nuts off at Budds Creek even. None of his actions speak towards throwing the title.

But as I said over and over on my different shows this week, those that look at what happened in the motos at Ironman, aren't nuts. I get it. But also, they don't KNOW.

And to take it a step further, IF Jett saw Hunter on the ground and thought that Deegan took him out or just saw him on the ground and thought, “Well that sucks for him, I'll let him by.” We've seen Marvin Musquin help Ryan Dungey out, Bob Hannah gave Broc Glover and David Bailey championships, we see teammates help each other in F1 and let's face it, even Stevie Wonder can see that Hunter has been the better rider this summer and fully deserved this title from that point of view. Jett knows this and maybe he made a split-second decision (without input from Darren Lawrence or Honda) and gave it to his big brother because again, he knew, like us, that Hunter deserved it. So, I ask, is that so wrong?

Not saying I'm there but in the end, the right guy won the title. You guys can go argue in the comments. I'll see you in Columbus.

Read Darren Lawrence’s comments on the situation here or listen to his segment from Monday night’s PulpMX Show.

What a difference a year makes for Jorge Prado...Last year at the '25 AMA Pro Motocross Championship finale, Jorge Prado barely got a spot in the motos. Amid his rough relationship with Kawasaki last summer, it appeared Prado tried to NOT qualify for the motos by putting in a horrible lap time (11 seconds slower than P1 Jett Lawrence). Prado qualified 43rd overall and had SEVEN privateer Kawasaki bikes ahead of him in overall qualifying. He was grandfathered a spot in the motos via the championship top-ten rule and got the very outside gate pick. He got a really good start in the first moto and finished 11-12 for tenth overall.

This year at the Pro Motocross finale (back to Ironman Raceway after the schedule adjustment for last fall's MXoN event bumped the Indiana venue to host the ninth round) and Prado is the fastest qualifier in BOTH sessions AND wins the first moto (first U.S. mot win of his career) before backing it up for his second moto win in the second moto to go 1-1 for the overall win!

For those thinking about last year's Ironman National, Prado finished 5-6 for fifth overall at the Ironman National last year. His 5-6 for fifth overall day tied his best day with the same exact results at The Wick 338 a few months prior. Now, Prado's Ironman National sweep is his new best race in the USA to date.

So, what does a year from now look like for the Spaniard?

Here is what was said about Prado in Racerhead #35 last year after his qualifying situation at the '25 Pro Motocross finale:

"At the other end of the spectrum, the end of 2025 MX could not come soon enough for a couple of multi-time world champions in Tom Vialle and Jorge Prado. Red Bull KTM's Vialle, who is almost certainly heading back to Europe to race the FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) for Honda, pulled out of Budds Creek before the second moto started due to what he described as an ongoing rear shock problem. As for Prado, his troubles in 2025 are well-documented, sometimes by Jorge himself on social media. His not qualifying directly (outside the top 36 on lap times) was hard to watch, and some of the criticism he's taken has been hard to read. They say all things end badly, and for Vialle and Prado, that pretty much sums up this past summer. Both should be back to start the SMX Playoffs, but actually sticking around until they end is not something I would want to bet on. It all reminded me of the end of Jean-Michel Bayle's U.S. career in 1992. He wanted to leave the sport to pursue road racing in MotoGP, but American Honda had him under contract to compete in SX and MX. He practically put it in reverse a couple of times, including his last SX at the Los Angeles Coliseum, as well as his last MX at Budds Creek. In both cases, he was trying to help his teammate Jeff Stanton lose the title! It was the one dark stain on what was an otherwise incredibly journey in America for JMB. Likewise, Vialle can be proud of his two 250SX titles, and could still pull a rabbit out of his hat in the SMX rounds. As for Prado, I hope he finds a way to either work with Kawasaki or find a new home, but I hope he stays here either way—we haven't seen anything close to his real potential in this lost season."

And in Racerhead #36 the following week, ahead of the SMX Playoffs:

"Not here is Jorge Prado, who may or may not still be part of the Monster Energy Kawasaki team. In the most recent PR disaster for the former four-time FIM World Motocross Champion, Kawasaki announced he will not be competing in the SMX Playoff rounds. This follows an awful end to his summer, where he did not make the top 36 in timed qualifying at Budds Creek and ended up being given the 41st pick on the gate under the AMA’s provisional start rule for riders. (The Budds Creek starting gate, like Loretta Lynn’s, High Point, Ironman, and more, I’m sure, actually has 42 gates, as it comes in sections of seven, but the far inside one was blocked off, and no one picked the outside gate, which is how Prado ended up out there.) The slow-motion dissolving of this whole season has been hard to watch. I often remind folks of that old saying, “All things end badly—that’s why they end,” but this one has been something of an unmitigated disaster. I have no idea where Prado will end up next, whether on the AMA circuit or the FIM, but I know he’s much better than the results he posted this summer, and so is that Kawasaki team."

The PR came out today announcing some Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing staff changes in that Marty Davalos is back (!!) with the team as co-manager of the 250 team with Jensen Hendler. The big news is Rich Simmons is leaving the team, effective immediately, and Wil Hahn will take his place as the 450 team manager. I also heard he will be training Haiden Deegan next year as well which he has a lot of experience in that area from his days as a trainer before he was manager (note: Hahn had a huge part in Davies’ growth the last several years).

Star Yamaha is a powerhouse for sure, but they've taken some staff hits here lately, and it'll be interesting to see who they bring in. Brent Duffe, Deegan's wrench, has announced he's leaving the industry for F1 after WSX in the UK. Simmons is out and rumored to be heading to Team Tedder to be crew chief there for Cooper Webb/Justin Hill (word is Tedder have Rocky Mountain ATV/MC as a title sponsor) and then Webb's long time Star wrench, Alex Campbell, is also taking his talents to Tedder with Coop. And on top of that, Austin Kent, who is Max Anstie's mechanic, is leaving Star also to go be Webb's practice bike mechanic, a job he used to do when Webb was on KTM. And there's another guy I hear is close to leaving Star so Brad Hoffman, the GM there, is going to be busy looking at resumes this off-season as well as getting all the riders going.

The 17th round of the 19-round FIM Motocross World Championship takes place this weekend in Turkey. After Lucas Coenen started to run away with the championship lead at the beginning of the season, he ran into trouble in Great Britain and has since scored ZERO championship points. 

Coenen's lead evaporated and then Jeffrey Herlings went on a run of his own. 

Take a look at the points from qualifying and the motos from rounds one through 11 and then rounds 12 through 16:

Rounds 1-11:

• Coenen was +68 on Herlings

Rounds 12-16:

• Herlings was +297 on Coenen

And since he has four straight rounds without points, Coenen has dropped to fourth in the standings entering this weekend's 17th round.

Herlings now sits up 143 points over Romain Febrve with only 180 points left on the table in the qualifying races and motos. If Herlings has 145 points or more ahead Febvre after race one on Sunday or 120 points by the end of the day, then the #84 will be crowned 2026 MXGP World Champion. If not, the title fight will remain to the penultimate round in China on September 13.

Here is the broadcast information to tune in this weekend.

• MXGP

  • September 5 - 5:05 AM

    

  • September 5 - 6:35 AM

    

  • September 5 - 7:10 AM

    

  • September 5 - 7:55 AM

    

  • September 5 - 8:40 AM

    

  • September 5 - 9:25 AM

    

  • MXGP Qualifying Race 

    Live

    September 5 - 10:15 AM

    

  • September 6 - 2:35 AM

    

  • September 6 - 4:35 AM

    

  • September 6 - 6:00 AM

    

  • September 6 - 7:00 AM

    

  • September 6 - 9:00 AM

    

  • September 6 - 10:00 AM

    

  • MX2 Race 2

    September 6 - 12:00 PM

    

  • MXGP Race 2

    September 6 - 1:30 PM

    

Pretty big news from the safety aspect was announced on Thursday: Infront Moto Racing (promoters of MXGP and MXoN) announced that functional airbag chest protector system will be mandatory for both MXGP season AND the MXoN starting in 2028 and beyond.

Unfortunately, we have all seen the downright ugly side of the sport when it comes to injuries. There are companies (such as Alpinestars) working on these airbag systems now and if you remember, Justin Barcia had on that A-Stars one during his brutal Anaheim 1 Supercross crash at the very beginning of the year. Barcia was banged up in that crash but escaped serious injury and actually came back to racing in SX just three months later. Barcia and Alpinestars did a collaboration Instagram post (see below) sharing some of the data from the crash, which was informative and WILD to see.

Look, all crashes are different but Barcia was lucky there is no doubt. The SuperMotocross League is constantly looking at different options to improve safety as well. The SMX Next class requires riders to wear chest protectors starting for the 2026 season and most recently the testing of more in-helmet live communication at the Ironman National.

The next time the MXoN races in the USA (again in 2028, location TBD), all riders will be required to wear one of these airbag chest protector systems. 

Brandon Croney was (again) getting up close and personal with the top professional riders at the Ironman National. Check out some of his best photos!

It has now been 14 straight rounds of Pro Motocross since an American rider won an overall in the 450 class—Chase Sexton at last year's Washougal National. This is the second season in history in which no American has won a 450 Class round of Pro Motocross: the last time was when Jett was a perfect 22-0/11-0 in 2023.

When Jorge Prado won at Ironman, Spain became the second new country with a Pro Motocross race win this season. The first was Belgium, courtesy of Sacha Coenen at the Southwick National.

Cole Davies is the first New Zealander to win an AMA Pro Motocross title.

And a few more from Mitch Kendra:

• Chance Hymas' longest podium streak continues at five straight podiums.
• Hampshire was second at the 2025 Ironman National (his first career 450 podium) and second at this year's Ironman National as well.
• The only bike to beat a Lawrence in 450 Pro Motocross for an overall is KTM (Sexton and now Prado)
• KTM swept the Ironman National with Beaumer (250) and Prado (450), which was the first time the brand swept a round of Pro Motocross since...the 2024 Ironman National finale! Tom Vialle (250) and Chase Sexton (450) won their respective classes in Indiana. Before that? KTM last won both classes on the same day at the...2014 Ironman National! Marvin Musquin (250) and Ken Roczen (450) won that day.

AND Honda has won all 9 450SMX Playoff races to date, with Jett winning all three championships. Now Jett is out, so we will crown a first-time 450SMX Champion. Will another brand get a win this go round?

If you’re into electric dirt bikes, you may have seen things popping up online this week about the, now available, 805 RX, a new machine from a new company named Bonnell. I learned about it last week in a press meeting with Bonnell and it’s pretty intriguing.

Bonnell’s CEO and founder, Matt Wauters, became a fan of lightweight electric motorcycles when he first started riding a Surron in 2018, but quickly realized the bikes weren’t powerful or durable enough for any type of heavy use. He started modifying his bikes, which led to the founding of EBMX, a company that develops and sells aftermarket tech for e-motos. That in turn led to Wauters eventually founding Bonnell and designing a new machine from the ground up.

Enter the 805 RX, which is intended to be the ultimate play bike, while maintaining high performance and durability. Designed with input from Josh Hill, the 805 RX is designed to occupy the space above existing lightweight electric dirt bikes, but below full-sized electric dirt bikes. It sports 56 horsepower (fully tunable, of course) and weighs just 218 lbs. Those numbers are pretty close to a modern 450 motocross bike, and the weight is 30-40 lbs. less than full size electric motocross bikes.

The cost is significantly less too—$8,250 vs. $12-$14K. It also has an interchangeable battery (Bonnell claims a battery swap can be done in 30 seconds), which seems like it’d be great to have for track days. I have yet to see one in person or actually ride one, but I’m definitely interested. If this bike is indeed what it’s being presented as, it could be really cool while helping to introduce a new segment of the population to dirt bikes.

Check out ridebonnell.com for more details.

It was a busy week of racing around the dirt bike world. Here's a shortcut to see the big winners, according to the win ads in cyclenews.com.

Shane McElrath: MY FIRST RIDE ON THE BETA 450 RX

Carson Mumford: Budds Creek & Injury Update....

The Best of "Beast Mode" | Eli Tomac

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"NBA strips Clippers of 5 first-round draft pics after investigation, fines Steve Ballmer $30 million and Kawhi Leonard $700K"--ABC News 

Some good shots from Ryder Yeckley of Levi's demise and the second moto start...