Published On: 12 april 2026
Share this article:

MDemonstrator Energy AMA Supercross returned to Nashville for round 13 of the championship. A packed Nissan Stadium witnessed the most thrilling title battle ever in the 450SMX class. Ultimately, Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive) seized power with a convincing victory.

At the start of the 20-minute + 1-lap final, Quad Lock Honda's Shane McElrath took the holeshot, but he was quickly caught by several riders. Ultimately, Team Tedder Racing KTM's Justin Hill took the lead, ahead of Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki's Ken Roczen and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Jorge Prado.


Lawrence moved into the top five, while Roczen went on the attack and took the early lead. Further down the field, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Eli Tomac, co-leader in the championship, was stuck outside the top ten.

While Roczen set the pace, Lawrence stormed into second place as the fastest man on the track. Midway through the race, the pace at the front stabilized, with a gap fluctuating between one and two seconds as the top two pulled away from the rest.

With just over eight minutes on the clock, Roczen lost traction for a triple, allowing Lawrence to jump past and take the lead. Roczen tried to fight back, but Lawrence completed the overtaking maneuver and sprinted away to a gap of nearly two seconds. Shortly afterward, Roczen crashed and dropped back to fourth place, behind Hill and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Cooper Webb.

In the final five minutes, Lawrence rode well over fifteen seconds ahead of the field, while behind him the battle for the podium raged fiercely. Webb attempted to pass Hill for second position but was initially held off. Moments later, the overtake was successful. Roczen then moved up to third place, with Monster Energy Kawasaki's Chase Sexton hot on his heels in fourth position.

At the front, Lawrence made no mistakes and drove to his fourth victory of the season with a margin of 7,1 seconds over Webb, who, as the reigning champion, took his first podium in four races. Roczen grabbed his fourth consecutive podium finish in P3. Tomac — fastest in qualifying and winner of his Heat Race — played no role at any point in the main race. He drove at his best in eighth place, but a late crash relegated him to twelfth, his worst result of the season.

Despite a one-place penalty for cutting the course, Dylan Ferrandis delivered Ducati h

With four races to go, Lawrence has a ten-point lead in the championship over Roczen, who moved up from third to second place. Tomac dropped to third position and is now facing a fifteen-point deficit, after having arrived in Nashville as joint leader.

450SX – Finale Nashville:

1. Hunter Lawrence (HON), 24 rounds, 2. Cooper Webb (YAM), +7.171, 3. Ken Roczen (SUZ), +11.380, 4. Chase Sexton (KAW), +13.109, 5. Justin Hill (KTM), +20.919, 6. Dylan Ferrandis (DUC), +16.16*. 7. Justin Cooper (YAM), +25.444, 8. Garrett Marchbanks (KAW), +35.496, 9. Colt Nichols (SUZ), +38.036, 10. Shane McElrath (HON), +42.351, 11. Dean Wilson (HON), +45.61, Tomac (KTM), Eli +51.194, 13. Jorge Prado (KTM), +54.586, 14. Christian Craig (HON), +1 round, 15. Vince Friese (KAW), +1 round, 16. Joey Savatgy (HON), +1 round, 17. Kevin Moranz (KTM), +18. Malcolm (HUS), +1 round round, 19. Tristan Lane (YAM), +2 rounds, 20. Zack Williams (HON), +2 rounds, 21. Freddie Noren (YAM), +2 rounds, 22. Jordon Smith (TRI), +2 rounds

Dylan Ferrandis (Ducati) was moved back one position

450SX – Championship standings after Nashville:

1. Hunter Lawrence (HON) 270pts, 2. Ken Roczen (SUZ) 260pts, 3. Eli Tomac (KTM) 255pts, 4. Cooper Webb (YAM) 242pts, 5. Justin Cooper (YAM) 213pts, 6. Chase Sexton (KAW) 162pts, 7. Joey Savatgy (HON) 159pts, 8. Malcolm Stewart (HUS) 145pts, 9. Jorge Prado (KTM) 140pts, 10. Justin Hill (KTM) 134pts

Photos: Supercrosslive.com