The fourth race of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship held its first stop of the 2026 season outside the state of California as Round 4 of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship traveled to the Lone Star State and the domed confines of NRG Stadium. The first Triple Crown race of the stadium campaign produced the most unpredictable action of the young season as three different riders took race wins during the trio of 450SMX Class sprint races. However, none of those racers sat atop the overall podium at night’s end as reigning 450SMX Class Champion Cooper Webb parlayed a consistent night into his first win of the season, providing a much-needed boost to what has been a frustrating start to the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider’s title defense.
Race 1 was dominated by Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, as the German grabbed the holeshot and rode to an uneventful wire-to-wire win where he never faced a serious challenge for the lead. Roczen took the first checkered flag of the night by 1.9 seconds over Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chase Sexton, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Eli Tomac in third. Webb began the night with a fourth-place result, while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado rounded out the top five. Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence saw a podium finish slip away when a late miscue and tip over relegated him to seventh.
The second race of the evening got underway with Prado out front for the holeshot, followed closely by Lawrence and Twisted Tea Suzuki Presented by Progressive Insurance’s Jason Anderson. Webb started fourth, with Roczen a few positions back in eighth. Both Tomac and Sexton were mired outside the top 10, with Tomac 11th and Sexton 17th. Prado impressed out front and led more than half of the race before Lawrence made the move in the closing stages and carried on to take the win. Webb battled his way into the top three and slipped by Prado as well to finish second, 2.1 seconds behind Lawrence. Prado held on for third, followed by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper in fourth and Roczen in fifth. Sexton did well to claw his way up to ninth, while the biggest moment of the race came when Tomac crashed while running sixth. The championship leader remounted and soldiered home to a 13th-place finish. After two races, Webb and Roczen sat tied for the lead, while Lawrence and Prado were tied for second.
The third and deciding race provided a captivating end to the night and began with Tomac out front for the holeshot, followed by Anderson and Lawrence. Webb started seventh, while Roczen (11th) and Prado (14th) were forced to battle back from outside the top 10. As riders jockeyed for position early, Webb made a costly error off the finish line jump that took him off track and back to eighth, behind each of his contending foes. Out front, Anderson charged by Tomac into the lead, as Lawrence followed through into second. The KTM rider settled back in and mounted an attack, which saw him get back by Lawrence for second and reclaim the lead from Anderson. Roczen, meanwhile, had fought his way up to fourth, just behind the leaders, in position for the overall. Lawrence then got by Anderson for second, which positioned the Honda rider for the overall. Behind them, Webb had overcome his early misfortune and was on the cusp of the top five. As he looked to pass his teammate for third, Roczen mistimed a rhythm section, which allowed Sexton and Webb to drop the Suzuki rider to sixth. Sexton then moved by Anderson for third but also mistimed a rhythm, which allowed Anderson, Webb, and Roczen to get by. Webb then went on the attack and made what became the winning move with a pass for third. Out front, Tomac bounced back from the adversity in the second race and cruised to the Race 3 win by 4.3 seconds over Lawrence. Webb successfully kept a hard-charging Roczen at bay for third, in what became the battle for the overall victory.
Webb’s 4-2-3 finishes and nine total points sealed the 31st win of his decorated career and his sixth Triple Crown triumph. Lawrence came up a single point shy of a maiden victory with 10 points on 7-1-2 finishes but netted a third consecutive runner-up result. Roczen rounded out the overall podium after 1-5-4 finishes tied him with Lawrence but placed him in third via Lawrence’s better Race 3 result. Tomac’s victory in the final race was significant in the overall standings as he finished fourth with 17 points on 3-13-1 finishes. Sexton rounded out the top five (2-9-6), one week after he claimed victory at Anaheim 2.
By missing the podium for the first time in 2026, Tomac’s lead in the 450SMX Class standings dropped to just four points over Lawrence, while Roczen moved to within 12 points of the lead. Sexton sits fourth (-14), while the win vaulted Webb up to fifth (-17).
Cooper Webb – 1st Place – 450SMX Class
“This feels amazing. I can’t even put it into words. Honestly, it’s weird not to win a [race], but I’ll take any skin I can get right now. It’s been a really tough month mentally, physically, emotionally. Even yesterday was a rough day. Just to come in here today and make this happen means so much. It’s never over. I thought last week might be the nail in the coffin [in the title defense], but that’s a Cooper Webb move to come back a week later, put myself in a good position, and win. I’m proud of myself. We’ve still got plenty of work to do. We need to be better, but it’s a breath of fresh air and a boost of confidence. It’s just good to be back on top.”
Hunter Lawrence – 2nd Place – 450SMX Class
“The first [race] is where it all went bad for me. Just a silly little mistake. I’m happy with how the night went from that point on, honestly. I rode really well and this format is one of the tougher ones for me. Short duration sprints don’t come easy to me. I’m pretty happy with how it went after the first [race] and what could have been. We did good damage control and pulled four points back on the lead. We live to fight another day.”
Ken Roczen – 3rd Place – 450SMX Class
“I’ve got a little bit mixed emotions. This could have been my night. I got a little bit held up by my teammate [Anderson] and that forced me into a couple mistakes where I lost the rhythm and two positions. Here we are, back in third place. It’s the difference between catching Cooper [Webb] and winning and doing what I did. But I don’t want to be too bummed. We’re going to keep chugging along on the podium. My time will come.”
The Western Divisional 250SMX Class was much more straightforward as Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan was the class of the field in each race. The reigning champion made a statement in Race 1 after he grabbed the holeshot and ran away with a wire-to-wire win by a margin of 2.0 seconds over Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen and his teammate Cameron McAdoo. In Race 2 Deegan secured another top three start and methodically worked his way forward. He made clean passes around McAdoo, who earned the holeshot, and Kitchen, who led most of the race, to bring home his second win of the night by 3.9 seconds. The third and final race was Deegan’s most challenging, as he and Kitchen engaged in a cat-and-mouse fight for third place early on. The Kawasaki rider made an aggressive dive under Deegan, but the Yamaha rider fought back and gave Kitchen a nudge as he reclaimed the spot. Deegan then tracked down his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Max Anstie for second and was patient before he made the pass on ClubMX Yamaha’s Max Vohland, who captured the holeshot, for the race lead. Once out front, Deegan never looked back and completed the hat trick by 1.3 seconds over Anstie. Kitchen and McAdoo followed in third and fourth.
The Triple Crown sweep proved to be a statement in Deegan’s title defense as he’s now in the midst of a three-race win streak and continues to add to his lead in the championship standings. After a difficult start to the season that produced 6th, 4th, and 21st-place finishes, Kitchen broke through for his first podium result with a runner-up finish with 7 points on 2-2-3 finishes. McAdoo landed on the podium for the second time in three races and the 25th time in his career following 3-3-4 finishes for 10 points. Deegan’s lead in the Western Divisional standings over his Star Yamaha teammates now sits at 19 points over Anstie, who finished sixth in Houston following 10-6-2 finishes, and 20 points over Michael Mosiman, who endured through his toughest race of the season in an eighth-place effort following 4-14-8 finishes.
Haiden Deegan – 1st Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class
“It’s racing. I’m just trying to get into the lead and win races, so I’m down with cat and mouse [with Kitchen]. Aggressive is pretty much my middle name at this point. [It was] a good race and it was nice to hear some cheers out there [from the fans]. I appreciate that. I tried to make it entertaining for them and hope they enjoyed it.”
Levi Kitchen – 2nd Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class
“It’s been a rough start to the season, so I need to give a lot of thanks to my team and everyone for sticking behind me. I’m pretty happy with tonight, to just get a couple good starts and kind of feel that pace [up front]. Haiden is riding phenomenal and I’m just trying to go out there and do my best.”
Cameron McAdoo – 3rd Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class
“It was frustrating last weekend to lose the podium the way I did towards the end. I love these Triple Crowns. I love the pressure of three [races] and was able to execute every time. It was a fun night and awesome to put a couple Pro Circuit bikes on the podium.”
