Live updates from Round 3 of the 2026 SMX Playoffs and Final at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri. Results and commentary land at the top as the day unfolds.
That’s it folks! A wrap on the 2026 season. Been a pleasure going to the races and making content. Already excited about next year.
Big congrats to the champs Prado and Kitchen!
And a goodbye to Tomac and Ferrandis. Both amazing riders and will be missed. Lots of changes for next year… it’s gonna look different.
Hunter Lawrence is taking some well deserved time off!
Deegan pretty humble in defeat. He checked off most of his goals in his rookie SMX season. The only one outstanding: winning the championship. Maybe next year?
Gordon mentioned it all about the starts. This class is so deep: it’s hard to ride through the pack for the majority of them.
Davies is confident regardless of the errors throughout SMX. He’s the guy to beat and he knows it.
Big weight of Kitchen’s shoulder pulling through and getting the championship finally. He thinks it’ll mean a lot for his confidence and momentum in 2027.
Prado is very stoked! Mentioned how meaningful it is for him to rebound from last year and prove that he can win. Kudos. Job well done.
Press conference done. 2026 racing done.
Onto the press conference for us!
Btw Roczen and Tomas showing good sportsmanship: stopping and congratulating Prado. A lot of guys rode by.
Fireworks galore! End of 2026 SMX season. End of Tomac's and Ferrandis' career. Two champs crowned. Lots to celebrate!
Epic race between Deegan and Prado. Great ride for Prado. Clutch performance.
Adieu Eli Tomac. #legend
JORGE PRADO IS THE 2026 SMX CHAMP!!
Can Deegan win it?! Can Roczen and Hunter? Can Prado rebound after a poor Moto 1?
Almost go-time! Last moto of the night. Last race of the year! It's time to crown the 450SMX champ!
“Track [is] sketchy” according to Davies. Rain was falling that whole moto but it seems to be done now.
Not much moving forward / passes that race. Most guys seemed pretty content where they were. Shimoda and Beaumer were the only late race movers.
Great race for Gordon! Podium overall! And big bump in points.
Kitchen did what he needed to. Clutch rides (in particular starts). DiFrancesco bad start in that moto and it was over right away. He tried to come through the pack but it was too late; eventually faded backwards.
Davies dominant today. He’s showing to the field that he’s the guy to beat next year.
Levi Kitchen is your champ! Pro Circuit is a championship team once again!!
250 Moto 2! Time to crown the 250SMX champ! Kitchen or DiFrancesco?! Winner takes all! (Beaumer and Davies with a possibility of winning if both Kitchen and DiFrancesco have a bad moto here).
There's a bit of rain right now. Not enough to impact the track, but enough to slightly annoy the riders.
Sight lap time for 250s. Gate drop soon!
KTM Juniors / intermission. 250 Moto 2 gatedrop in about 20 minutes.
WMX race was epic. Good rides for both Turner and Cannon. Cannon off track whilst leading lap 1, caught all the way back up to Turner on the last lap only to make a mistake in the rhythm. Tough luck.
Not sure what happened to Ferrandis. He pulled off quite early. Tomac was dead last to start and had a good ride through the pack. Overall, not great for the two retirees.
Lappers were awful! Definitely held up Roczen and Lawrence a lot.
Prado not great... his 5th opens up the title to Deegan, Roczen, and Lawrence. Gonna be very exciting in Moto 2.
Deegan was dominant. That's exactly what he needed!
Not the start Prado needed nor what he's used to getting... a couple quick passes, but all his title contenders are in front of him...
450 Moto 1 time! Can Lawrence, Deegan, and Roczen put some positions between themselves and Prado? Can Prado win and make it a bit easier for himself come Moto 2? Let's go racing!
Sneaky good ride for Gordon. He was making it tough to pass for a lot of people.
Thrasher crashing was a big help for DiFrancesco too. Thrasher was riding very well... not sure if DiFrancesco could have caught and passed him.
Beaumer's title chances a lot slimmer after that one. Gonna be hard to make up 16 points on both Kitchen and DiFrancesco.
Still winner-takes-all between Kitchen and DiFrancesco in Moto 2.
Kitchen was doing everything he needed to do... except then he got passed by Davies. That extra point cushion between him and DiFrancesco might be important (at the very least would have been nice).
After a bad start, Ryder D did what he needed to keep his title chances under his control.
Gonna be fun to watch!
Davies with the pass! That could be very important come overall position between Kitchen and DiFrancesco.
A couple crashes for Jo... not good! The #1 plate has been heavy...
It's go time! 250 Moto 1. All eyes on Kitchen vs. DiFrancesco vs. Beaumer. 3x points... anything can happen! Would be epic to see those guys finish in the top 3 this moto.
Opening ceremonies time!
The turnout here is awesome. It’s packed. Last race of the year!
We’re less than an hour out. Rain has stopped (it barely rained), sun is coming out, and track is looking mint. Almost go-time!
It has rained a bit. Not much. Stopping soon too.
Track seems like it could be hard-ish to pass on? Not much to separate guys. But we thought the same last weekend and it ended up great.
Qualifying all done! A couple hour break and then it’s race time!
Classic Friese hole shot. That’s been so clutch for him in these wildcard races.
McElrath says the track is difficult to setup for. Is it the track? Is it the Beta? It's a new bike for him.
Sucks for Guillod. He was looking good all day.
Damn Bloss ending the season the same way he started it: on the ground. Luckily he seems to be okay though.. 2 crashes in that Wildcard race for him.
Hard to pass? Brown was looking good but couldn't move through the pack really.
Anstie looking more like himself today.
Wildcard time! This race for 250s is strictly for gate pick... all the riders will make it in. That's too bad... would be cool to see more 250 guys. A few guys hurt from the past couple of weekends makes it tough though.
It's official from the AMA. Beaumer will fill-in for Hymas on Team USA at MXoN.
Good time for Guillod! He hasn't qualified for any of these yet this year. Can he get it done in the Final?
Top 4 title contenders top 4 in this session... epic.
The crowd is super into it. Big cheers when Deegan pops up on the board in 1st at the end of that session.
Title contenders Kitchen, DiFrancesco, and Beaumer all with 0.07 seconds that session. Gonna be good tonight!
Most of the guys actually did end up improving their time in Q2. Except Beaumer... his Q1 time will remain fastest.
Track is slower… at least for now. A bit slick it seems.
Second qualifying sessions underway now. Let's see if this track gets faster... track crew put some water down in between sessions but other than remains relatively unchanged.
Fan turnout here is pretty amazing already. It’s gonna be packed come night show!
McElrath a bit off the pace all weekend so far… not sure what’s up. Expect him to be near the top of this group.
KTM off to a great start! Currently holding pole position in both classes.
Jorge looking great. He's in title mode!
We’re about to get started here in Thunder Ridge Nature Arena! Looks like it’s going to be a good day: rain should hold off. Let’s crown some champs!