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2026 Supercross Round 10 Birmingham East West Showdown 250 East Qualifier 1
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00:00Thank you, Haley, and thank you, Lurch.
00:02There's a number 37 to Cole Davies as we get qualifying underway.
00:06AC, top storylines here on the East.
00:08And we've seen it.
00:08Cole Davies has been on a mission, got his first win in Indianapolis,
00:12and you've noticed a little bit of a different attitude.
00:15We've talked about this a little bit on Race Day Live,
00:17but you could tell after those first couple races, him not getting a win,
00:21it really bothered him, and talking to him just a little bit,
00:24he thought maybe he wanted it too bad.
00:27So now that he has a win, I think it's going to free him up a lot.
00:31He's on a mission, and you know, he's thinking about the championship,
00:34but you know he wants to be the best guy in Supercross on a 250.
00:38So there's going to be a little bit of ego there at the top this evening.
00:42I'm looking forward to seeing that.
00:44And Nick Romano getting the fill-in ride with Pro Circuit Kawasaki,
00:48super promising amateur career, was with the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha program,
00:53had some injuries, some illnesses.
00:55It didn't work out, but he's getting a shot.
00:57With Mitch Payton, I'm interested to see what he can make of it.
01:01This could really be, this could resurrect his career in a way.
01:05So a great opportunity for Nick Romano.
01:08And finally, Devin Simonson.
01:10I don't know about you, JB, but I did not see this coming from him.
01:14Career best, sixth place in Indianapolis,
01:17and he really looks like he belongs up front in the top five.
01:21So now that he's got a little bit of confidence,
01:23let's see if he can kind of make that push to the podium.
01:25It's been a great year so far for Devin Simonson.
01:27Devin Simonson on that Club MX Yamaha team.
01:30They got all four of their riders here today, two on the east, two on the west.
01:34We're going to start off with the east, then we'll get to the west,
01:37and we'll get to 450 qualifying after that.
01:39We're fueled by Amazon as we get qualifying underway.
01:42Track conditions here in Birmingham.
01:44I mentioned off the top, we've got a sunny 80-degree day.
01:46It's beautiful, but it's going to be difficult for the tracker to keep some water in it.
01:51As you already see some ruts forming, they let a lot of water down,
01:53but it's going to dry out here throughout the day.
01:55It's absolutely going to dry out.
01:57And just looking at the lap times, I'm a bit surprised.
01:59Yesterday, JB, we were watching press riding.
02:02After press riding was over, I had you do a little challenge where we took our stopwatches out,
02:08and we imagined somebody riding around the track.
02:10We wanted to see how close we could get.
02:12I think you had a 48.0, I had a 47.1, but you can tell just right there,
02:18a lot of ruts and stuff already in the corners, in the rhythm lane.
02:21So over a 50-second lap time so far, pretty surprising.
02:25Absolutely.
02:26How about the number 10 on that Monster Energy Pro Circuit, Kawasaki,
02:30in this championship fight once again here in 2026,
02:33narrowly lost out in 2025 in Salt Lake City at that final round.
02:37But Seth Hamaker, very strong here last season.
02:40It was a triple crown in 2025.
02:42He crashes in the first one, then goes 1-1.
02:45So he's got some good vibes here in Protective Stadium.
02:48Oh, he does.
02:48And Seth Hamaker, I love how gritty he is.
02:53On days where he's not feeling the best, he's not connecting the track, not flowing,
02:58you know that he's going to find a way to limit the damage and get everything out of it.
03:03Such a gritty rider when it's not going his way,
03:06he has that kind of calm, even-keeled personality, presses forward.
03:11Same could be said for Joe Shimoda.
03:13It's been an unbelievable start to the year, considering five days on the bike.
03:17But you and I were talking.
03:18You and I were talking this week as he makes a little mistake right there.
03:21He's got to be a little bit better.
03:24He's got to be a little bit better setting up passes and making passes.
03:28That's been an area where he's lost a little bit through the first couple races so far.
03:34So Joe, just a tick off in the pass category, but great season so far for the third.
03:40There you see Hayden Deegan, the 1W, paying attention to his competition
03:43once we drop the gates later on tonight, live on Peacock.
03:46We'll have to wait to face these Eastern Division guys in the main event.
03:50But how about Joe Shimoda?
03:51It's really surprising to me.
03:52Our man Brett Smith handed me a stat.
03:54Never been fast qualifier in Joe Shimoda's career.
03:57I'm really surprised by that with the speed he has.
03:59You're kidding me.
04:00Zero fast qualifiers.
04:02And I think that, and I've trained with Joe during my career,
04:05and that's always been a point of emphasis for him,
04:09is kind of getting that top-end sprint pace.
04:12You can tell.
04:12You can watch the guy ride.
04:13It looks like almost he's going fast,
04:16but it looks almost in slow motion because he's so efficient on the motorcycle.
04:21But he does sometimes lack a little bit of aggression,
04:24a little bit of intensity,
04:26and if he can find a way to do that,
04:29just up the sprint pace a little bit,
04:31he's going to have a much better chance of winning this championship
04:35because these guys at the front right now are ripping.
04:38How about the guy at the front?
04:39Hammerker, 51.9, nearly a second faster than everybody on track.
04:44The 163, Pierce Brown in second.
04:46There's a red plate holder.
04:47Championship points leader by one point,
04:49fresh off a sweep of the Triple Crown in Indianapolis.
04:54We talk about his loop speed all the time.
04:56We talk about his technique.
04:57This man has got it all right here, 37 of Cole Davies.
05:00And he's been impressive so far to start the year,
05:03but I think after the first couple races,
05:05him not getting a win,
05:07just because he made such a splash last year,
05:10I think a lot of people were a bit disappointed,
05:13but came out 1-1-1 in Indy, dominated the Triple Crown.
05:18He clearly has an advantage in the whoops,
05:21but I think the rest of the track,
05:23I think Seth Hammerker and Joe Shimoda
05:26may just have a little more pace than him so far this season,
05:29but because he's been so good in the whoops,
05:32that allows him, kind of frees him up around the rest of the track.
05:35Well, to your point, you nailed it right there, AC Cole Davies.
05:38That was a pretty good lap. I didn't see many mistakes at all.
05:40That was only a 52.7 Hammerker in the 51s.
05:44Like I said, nearly a second faster than everyone on track.
05:47And you see, it's kind of interesting dirt here in Birmingham.
05:50You see this section, this split lane, it's a little bit drier,
05:53and you see those berms getting a little loose.
05:55And then you go to the other part of the track
05:57where you have three, four ruts in every bowl corner,
06:00right like you just saw on your screen from Seth Hammerker.
06:03So a couple different conditions to start the day.
06:06All right, let's take a ride with the Monster Energy Pro Circuit,
06:09Kawasaki Rider, the number 10.
06:11You mentioned Cole being faster in the whoops,
06:13but what do you see so far from Seth that makes him so strong everywhere else?
06:17Seth does all the little things really well.
06:20The way he connects the track, point A to point B,
06:23you see how much he pushes the rhythm lanes.
06:26He really doesn't do anything that stands out,
06:29and you're like, wow, that's unbelievable.
06:31But he does everything really well.
06:33I think he's come a long way in the whoops
06:36since the first couple years of his career.
06:39He's turned that area into a strength.
06:42I really think it comes down to what we always talk about,
06:46jump for show, corner for dough.
06:48He's so good in the middle of his turns,
06:50doesn't get on the brakes too hard,
06:51coming into the corner, lets the bike roll through.
06:54You see it on lean angle, dirt flying all over the place.
06:58The 10 has it going on.
06:59Well, that was a faster time than his 51.9 that he had earlier.
07:03Now he's a 51.5, and he made a couple little mistakes even in his corners.
07:07His whoop, that was a really good whoop pass.
07:10But there's something to be said about when you watch a guy like Seth ride
07:14that nothing sticks out, but he brings speed.
07:16He drops his lap times lap after lap.
07:19That's the spot you want to be in as a rider.
07:21And when he makes mistakes, like all these guys trying to win these races,
07:25you're pushing so hard that mistakes are going to happen.
07:28And I noticed with Seth, during the race, when he does make some mistakes,
07:32he rebounds really well.
07:35You can tell it doesn't get to him.
07:37He's got such a gritty mindset.
07:39He's able to push through those mistakes as we take a look at the 163.
07:44Round one winner just a few weeks ago, and what a win it was.
07:48You talk about his last 12 months.
07:50You think about going back to Tampa 2025.
07:52He was unbelievable, leading the main event, crashes in the whoops, gets hurt,
07:55then comes back for a race in motocross, kind of struggles,
07:58and then comes back and wins round one here in the Eastern Division.
08:02Pierce Brown, a great guy off the track, a very, very talented rider for a long time,
08:07second fastest here today in Birmingham.
08:08And I don't think a lot of people were surprised to see Pierce Brown on the podium with that win
08:13at the opener in Arlington,
08:15because like I mentioned a couple weeks ago, everyone in the industry has known how talented Pierce is on the
08:23bike,
08:23how fast he is on the bike.
08:25That's well known.
08:27But it takes a lot more than that, of course.
08:29It takes being healthy, staying healthy, being there so you can get better, progress.
08:34And I love to see him having a consistent season so far.
08:37I do believe he's got a couple more wins in the tank this season.
08:41You know what's interesting for you and I, Adam?
08:43A lot of times we kind of try to put ourselves underneath the helmet, what we would be thinking on
08:47the track.
08:47And what I would be thinking right now is the difficulty.
08:49You see one side of the track a little bit soft, kind of skatey, very dry.
08:54Or sorry, one side of the track very soft, like watch this turn right here.
08:58A lot of ruts right there.
08:59The turn after the finish line, a lot of ruts.
09:01Then the other side of the track, it's pretty slippery, kind of loose.
09:04So it's a tale of two different style of tracks all wrapped up in just a 51 or 52 second
09:09lap time.
09:09And you really, it takes a second when you're learning a new track to figure out exactly how to ride
09:15it.
09:15And when there is clearly two different conditions, like you talked about, JB,
09:20it just takes a little bit more mental effort for these guys to be able to connect the track.
09:24You don't ride the bike the same way in the dry sections as you do the soft sections.
09:30So another challenge for these guys today.
09:32I mean, look at that turn after the finish line.
09:33They're already almost on the flat part of the turn.
09:36This turn as well, before the whoop section gets shipped up.
09:39Second to third to fourth gear into these whoops.
09:42Try to get on top like Seth does right there.
09:44Solid whoop pass.
09:45And you know a guy like Seth Hamburger, he goes back home as he goes triple right there, double.
09:49We've mainly only seen double, triple.
09:51That's kind of interesting.
09:52Probably going to be kind of 50-50 there, whichever way you want to go.
09:55But Seth, every time we've got our cameraman on him, he's been on a fast lap.
09:59The guy looks unreal.
10:00And Seth has always been a guy in practice that does.
10:03He's fast in practice, but he also does a lot of laps.
10:06And so I like how that transfers, typically transfers to your kind of comfort level in the night show.
10:12See Pierce Brown goes outside.
10:14I like that outside because it allows you to get back to the left going into this right-hand turn.
10:19Let's see what Pierce can throw down.
10:20His best so far is a 52.4.
10:22Does he better that time?
10:24That was a 52.5.
10:26So his backup time really good, only a tenth of a second off.
10:28And we did see yesterday, watching press, we saw Hayden Deegan go over this table in the section that you're
10:33watching,
10:34on your screen, out of the corner, over the table, and then table over two.
10:38I'm going to call that a quad, JB, but expect to see that done, I believe, probably in this next
10:43250 West division practice.
10:45Look at that corner right there.
10:46All kinds of ruts.
10:47Guy's going to cut down, get lower and lower, then they'll go back up to the top,
10:50potentially do that line you were talking about that Hayden did yesterday.
10:54Joe Shimoda on your screen, seventh in qualifying so far.
10:58And I always find it interesting, certain riders like a Joe Shimoda.
11:00He's got so much confidence.
11:02Look, when the lights get turned on here in Birmingham tonight, he's going to come alive.
11:06He may be the fastest guy here.
11:07But in qualifying practice, not a lot of emphasis on it here today.
11:10Yeah, no doubt, no doubt about it.
11:12He's a guy who can qualify 10th, 12th, and you'll be like, what's this guy doing?
11:17And then he goes out in the main event and puts it all together.
11:20Some guys are just built like that.
11:21JB, I think you were a little bit that way too.
11:24Myself, I wanted to go out there and see my name on the top of the board.
11:27Absolutely.
11:28There's a 58.
11:29Rockstar Energy Husqvarna factory racing team, Daxton Bennett came out with a podium to start his year's triple.
11:37Let's see what he does to this rhythm lane.
11:38And I think guys will start going wide there as well.
11:40There's a few different options.
11:41And talking about how soft it is in the turns, it's also a little bit soft in between these transitions
11:46and the rhythm lane.
11:46I am very surprised to see it as ruddy as it is, JB.
11:50I saw the track crew.
11:51They put a lot of water on it this morning.
11:53So anytime you go out there for your first session, you're trying to learn the track, and it's already ruddy.
11:59It can make you feel pretty uncomfortable.
12:01But so far, these guys are doing a good job of putting it together.
12:04Taxton Bennett, eighth right now, the 53.3 as he takes the checkered flag.
12:09I'm hearing he had a big getoff.
12:11I think we have it for you.
12:12We've got a replay.
12:12Let's see what happens to the 58 here.
12:16This kind of goes to scrub that final jump right there to go to the outside and just loses the
12:20front.
12:20Yeah, just a little bit slick right there.
12:22Probably a lot of loose dirt from everyone landing on the backside of that jump.
12:26That's what happens in qualifying.
12:28You're going for it.
12:29You're pushing it, and sometimes mistakes happen.
12:31But it looks like he's totally fine and a decent session for him.
12:35A great session for the number 10 of Seth Hamricker, the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
12:4051.5 to Pierce Brown's 52.4.
12:44And how about Jaleek Swole?
12:45He's been on form as of late, getting his typical good starts a couple weeks ago in Indianapolis.
12:50Running up front, he's a 52.7.
12:52Cole Davies and Colon Park, Phoenix Haunted, Colon Park on pace today with a 52.
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