What We Noticed: Philadelphia
April 29, 2026
Last race of the year on the east coast! Here’s What We Noticed in Philly.
- Crunch Time
2 races left now and still just 4 points separating the leaders; all talk is on the Roczen vs. Lawrence battle. Roczen gained 5 super valuable points on Hunter here, but this championship is still either of theirs to win. Should be an exciting final 2 races!
- Reliable Roczen
Mud, dry; doesn’t matter… Roczen is FAST. He continues to impress not only with his sheer speed but also with how reliably he’s delivering race results week after week. So many question marks as to Kenny’s ability to withstand the pressure and/or the long season but so far so good; he’s super confident right now. It’s been amazing to watch him.
- Lawrence Troubles
If you look at the points there’s definitely a bit of a downward trend since his Detroit crash. Other than his dominant Nashville win, Hunter has found himself dealing with some misfortunes: he had a nagging wrist problem in St. Louis that held him back, and crashed at both CLE and PHI. It’s not the same Hunter we saw halfway through this season where he seemed unbeatable. Luckily for him, Roczen was wayyy back in points, so Hunter remains firmly in this title fight.
- Frustrated Webb
I think it’s finally starting to set in for Webb that he’s out of this title fight. He has remained hopeful that he can stay healthily within striking distance given some bad luck from those other guys, but time is running out. He seemed very frustrated after the race: he took a dig at Kenny (mentioning late race fades), but ultimately mentioned how important that 6-point swing was for him if he could have won. Alas, he just couldn’t get it done; that’s been the theme of the year for him.
- Kiwi Kid
We need a proper nickname for Cole Davies! In only his 2nd year racing pro, Davies wins the championship in dominant fashion. He was super consistent and no one else in that class had anything for him. Kudos to him… now it’s just a matter of improving for outdoors and SMX. He’s close to having the full package… excited to see him on 450s in SX at some point!
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Mud
It rained A LOT. The sky was open and it was pouring nonstop right after qualifying sessions ended. Luckily, the track didn’t seem too bad? The top guys were still getting around with decent lap times, but it was such a big separator between them and the rest of the field. It could have been treacherous for the title guys, but luckily they somehow managed to all finish on the podium. I guess the cream rises to the top no matter what.
- Cheesesteaks
Get yourself out to Philly for some cheesesteaks! If you’ve had these before not in Philly it doesn’t count… the city manages to constantly awe me with these sandwiches.
