SuperMotocross DataLab | 2026 Arlington

The most compelling narratives are often found in the numbers, milestones and fine margins. The seventh round of the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season in Arlington delivered plenty, and they are unpacked below.

- Hunter Lawrence is the 70th different athlete to win a 450SX main event. '96' is the sixth new victor to arise in the 2020s; Zach Osborne (2020), Chase Sexton (2022), Jett Lawrence, Aaron Plessinger (both 2024) and Malcolm Stewart (2025) sit in that category.

- Honda has not had to wait until the seventh round of a Monster Energy AMA Supercross season for a 450SX victory since 2019 (a year where they were winless in the premier division). In the six years since, the Honda HRC Progressive team had won by the fourth round at the latest.

- 392 days had passed since Honda HRC Progressive last won a 450SX main event (Jett Lawrence at the third round of last year). The last supercross drought that the manufacturer overcame was from March 10 of 2018 (Justin Brayton's Daytona win) to January 11 of 2020 (Ken Roczen's St. Louis win). It was 672 days.

- Lawrence has led 28 laps across his 450SX career: he added nine to that total in AT&T Stadium. That's the most laps that he has led in 2026, but he actually led two more in Denver in 2024. Those were the first eleven laps of the main event: he eventually slipped to second behind his brother, Jett.

- Lawrence remains the only rider to finish in the top five at every round this year. With seven finishes in the top five, he has matched his previous career total. '96' had seven top five finishes in nineteen starts prior to the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season.

- Helpful for Lawrence are his incredibly consistent starts – he has finished lap one outside of the top three in just two of the nine races thus far (counting each individual race at Houston's Triple Crown). Eli Tomac has been outside of the top three five times and Cooper Webb seven times.

- Five different manufacturers have won a 450SX main in 2026, tying the all-time record. Five manufacturers previously won in 2025, 2020 and 1977. Can Husqvarna win before the end of the season to push the total to six for the first time?

- Tomac has amassed five podiums across seven starts with KTM. It took him eight starts to do that with Yamaha, 22 with Kawasaki and 21 with Honda (with those four guest appearances in the middle of his final 250SX season included). Arlington marked his 191st start in 450SX.

- Despite some mishaps, Tomac's average finish across seven rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross sits at three. That's in line with his average score in his two championship-winning seasons (2020 and 2022). It is of note that he had that mean in both 2017 and 2019 as well.

- Chase Sexton started 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross with the highest career podium percentage in the 450SX class. However, after seven rounds, he has dropped from 58% to 54% and therefore been passed by Tomac (56%) and Webb (55%).

- Perhaps indicative of how tricky it was to be consistent on Arlington's circuit, six different riders had periods where they were the best on track. Lawrence was the quickest on nine of the laps, Tomac five, Roczen four, Joey Savatgy three, Webb three and Sexton two.

- Savatgy used said speed to record his 40th top ten in his 66th 450SX start (73% success rate). Impressive consistency for a man who has battled injuries and an uncertain future on more than one occasion. '17' has starred in 107 main events across both classes.

- 21st for '21' marked a poignant Arlington for Jason Anderson – it was his 200th start in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series (168th in the premier class). It was, unfortunately, his worst score since the thirteenth round of the 2023 series.

The Section

Webb did very well to encapsulate the 450SX main event in a single sentence: "We all knew that whoever passed Ken [Roczen] first could break away." This proved to be accurate as Lawrence's times fell dramatically once he took first position – he immediately established a buffer that allowed him space to breathe for the first time.

The barrier between 49-second and 50-second lap times provided a useful 'hint' for fans as to who was on pace and who needed more. The leaders, when on form, lived in the 49-second bracket (dropping below that was possible up until lap seven). Roczen – racing with a nasty sickness and attempting to salvage as much as possible – hadn't dropped into the 49s since lap twelve, and so he set the pace in the 50-second range whilst out front.

This was true from laps thirteen to seventeen, as there were just four instances where the three behind him could carve a 49-second lap whilst dealing with the traffic. Lawrence, once in clean air, slashed his times by more than a half a second. A comparison across the top three riders can be found below (Lawrence was credited with the lead on lap eighteen).

There are additional examples of how Lawrence made use of clean air: he was six tenths better than anyone else in the whoops and set a personal best in sector five on that eighteenth lap (he did the same in the eighth sector three laps later). That is not to say that Roczen completely rolled over, as he too set a personal best in the second sector on lap eighteen. Perhaps Lawrence opened his eyes to some lines?

The Quote

In lieu of Sexton post-race discussions, the following quote from Monster Energy Kawasaki must suffice. There is little doubt that this was a positive step from both Glendale and Seattle – the aforementioned fact that he was the quickest on track multiple times speaks to the fact that there is potential.

"I felt more comfortable going into this weekend, and the bike was working great with the adjustments the team has made. My start in the main event made things tough, but I focused on making smart passes and being consistent. I have still got a way to go to prove myself, but the team and I are heading in the right direction." – Chase Sexton

The starts are a problem. Sexton, on average, has ended lap one in ninth thus far. Naturally, where he has crossed the holeshot line is worse than that – that average is thirteenth and massively helped by Anaheim 2. Remove that from the equation and he has crossed the white line in fifteenth on average.

The Fact 

Despite a horrid illness, Roczen's whoop speed was unaffected: he was the best of the top four in that sector on 13 of the 26 laps in the 450SX main event. Lawrence was the fastest on seven laps, Webb four (all coming after the halfway mark) and Tomac just twice.

That's the data amongst the top four, but there was another player in the whoops. Malcolm Stewart was the fastest of anyone there on nine laps across the main event.