VOLUME 63 ISSUE 19 MAY 12, 2026 P73
the season with a big win. The Mon-
ster Energy Kawasaki rider opened the
night with a
heat-race win and found
himself closing in on Roczen late in the
main event. Knowing the championship
implications, Sexton made a safe pass
for the lead with just three laps to go
and held on through to the checkers.
This marks only his second victory of the
year, but his fourth consecutive victory
at the Salt Lake City venue. It's been an
up-and-down year for the number-four.
He finished sixth in the overall points, but
ending on a high note shows the strong
progress the Team Green group has
made over the 2026 season.
"I was watching their race [Roczen/
Lawrence] from the back and didn't know
what to do," Sexton said. "Then stuff hap
-
pened, [and] I started riding better and
got to
the front. It means a lot for me,
personally, to get a win. It's been a really
tough year, but this hopefully is a good
omen for the outdoors."
Justin Cooper matched his season-best
finish at the finale with another second-
place result, his fourth podium of the year.
Cooper also benefitted from Roczen's
slower pace in the second half of the
race as he worked his way through in the
closing laps. He made a last-lap pass on
Jorge Prado to take the runner-up spot
and ultimately finished two seconds back
from Sexton at the line. Cooper finished
the season fifth in points, just two back
from Eli Tomac in fourth.
"I didn't get off the gate great," Cooper
said. "That didn't pay off, but I was able
to work my way through. I had to trust
my pace and wait for guys to wear down
a little bit. Everything tightened up at the
end, and it was a tough last couple min
-
utes, but we got close there."
Jorge Prado
might've been the biggest
spoiler of the night with a third-place finish
to take his second podium of the season.
The Red Bull KTM rider found himself in
injuries. "Bummed to finish off my
Supercross season the way it did,
but I'm happy that nothing major
came from it, other than being
very beat up," McAdoo said. "I'm
definitely bummed to end the night
like this," Hammaker added. "The
speed was there in qualifying and
the heat race, but sometimes that's
just racing."
PENALTY REPORT
Jorge Prado was penalized one
license point and a fine for an
"obscene gesture" toward Cooper
Webb after the finish line. Race
Direction said this move violated
the rider code of conduct. No other
penalties were given to other riders.
SALT LAKE CITY NOTES
Ken Roczen made his 325th career
start in SMX competition and
earned his fourth championship
(one 250SX, one 450SX, and two
450MX). This marks Suzuki's fifth
450SX-class title, 16 years since
Ryan Dungey in 2010…Chase Sex-
ton earned his 18th 450SX victory
tying him with Kevin Windham for
14th on the all-time 450SX class
wins list…Cole Davies has 13 podi-
ums in his first 19 250SX starts and
is in a position to gain the all-time
250SX wins record next season…
Levi Kitchen grabbed his 17th ca-
reer 250SX podium in his 34th start
making it a 50 percent podium rate.
Briefly...
