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2026 Round 12 E/W Showdown 250 Main
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00:00East-West showdown here in St. Louis. It's on!
00:06Hamacher and Deegan. Handlebar to handlebar. Deegan does not get the whole shot. He's boxed in there.
00:11Davies gets a good start.
00:12Yeah, he's got to play it cool, remember? This is more of some chaos.
00:16They make it through. Oh! Hamacher hits the top block, but he saves it.
00:21How about the start from Nick Romano? He's in second. What an awesome, awesome beginning to this main.
00:28Oh, man, what a start for Cole Davies, and I just have a feeling it's going to be a little
00:34bit different than what we saw at Birmingham.
00:36There ain't no way this dude is going to let anyone pass him.
00:42Well, he told JT after his heat victory, I am just focused on the championship.
00:47I've been dreaming about it and working and aiming for it for so long.
00:51But if he could defeat Hayden Deegan in an East-West showdown, that would be something else.
00:55Oh, it would be huge.
00:57Again, he talked about it, championship first, but you just have to think that he wants to come out here
01:04and dominate his teammate in the rest of the field.
01:08Great job for Seth Hamacher as well.
01:10You talked about it, Romano. Great to see him out here, see what he can do with a good start.
01:15There's that triple section. Look at Hayden.
01:18Is he able to go triple-triple? Yes, he does.
01:22He goes by his teammate, Nate Thrasher. Nate's trying to come back on the inside.
01:26Great to see Nate back, by the way, after that heavy fall last weekend.
01:30Yeah, brutal crash in the whoops there.
01:32Fink just came and pummeled him.
01:35So there's two Kawasaki's to dispense of ahead of Hayden Deegan before JT gets to his teammate.
01:44Now, Deegan's on the charge here, as we can see.
01:46And you just wonder, I was listening to you guys talk about Davies.
01:49That's his teammate, right?
01:50He's been around Hayden Deegan.
01:51He knows what makes Hayden tick.
01:54And you just wonder, him kind of avoiding that question I posed after the heat race.
01:59You don't want to give Hayden any ammunition.
02:01You don't want to give him something to feed off of for that main event.
02:04So I think it was probably the wise move, whether he wants to go at Hayden or not.
02:09Just kind of avoid it.
02:10So I'm worried about the championship.
02:11Nick Romano had an awkward moment there, and that's opened up the gate.
02:14Deegan just blasts his way through.
02:16Yeah, two-for-one special right there.
02:18And there goes Hayden going triple-triple-triple.
02:20Lee, I told you this, there's so much chatter in how good Cole Davies is.
02:26And I'm like, man, it wouldn't surprise me if this guy right here, Hayden Deegan,
02:30tries to make a pass by Cole, if he's able to catch him and pass him in the whoops
02:35and be like, what now?
02:37I hear all you guys talking about how fast Cole is through the whoops.
02:40Could you imagine if he was able to do that?
02:42All right, three seconds is the margin.
02:443.2, to be precise, between the teammates.
02:47Game on.
02:48Rub your hands together.
02:49Here we go.
02:50Oh, this is so good.
02:52This is what I wanted to see.
02:55Oh, man, championship perspective, though.
02:58Hayden is looking incredible.
03:00Max is buried into the pack.
03:02He's on 10th place right now.
03:04There's the gap.
03:06JT talked on that track report.
03:09This triple-triple section right here is going to be key,
03:12not only in the 250, but the 450 as well.
03:16Will, what you got?
03:17Well, we saw where Max Anstey was, and we know what that means for Hayden Deegan
03:21and wrapping this championship up early and getting to speak, Ricky,
03:25to Brian Deegan, his dad earlier, and asking about the importance of that.
03:28He said, yeah, it's important because of accolades and things he'll look back on.
03:32But he said it's also important because if we wrap this up early, he's like, we get extra time on
03:38the 450 to prepare for the motocross season.
03:41He said if we don't, we basically lose half of that.
03:43So it's kind of the equivalent of losing two weeks out of the four in the break there.
03:47So that's what they've got their eyes set on, and that's one of the motivation factors here for getting this
03:52done tonight.
03:53And 1.2 seconds has been eroded from Cole Davies' lead.
03:58Here comes Deegan.
03:59Make it 1.4 seconds now.
04:02Yeah, here you go.
04:03Triple.
04:04Triple.
04:05Good job for Cole.
04:07Deegan's able to grease it as well.
04:10And, man, he has made up a ton of time.
04:13He was three-tenths of a lap faster.
04:15That last lap, he coming around this time, lap times, 56.1 for Cole Davies, 55.2 for Hayden Deegan.
04:26JT, what you got?
04:28Well, I'm watching Hayden Deegan reel him in.
04:31And I asked Davies on Friday, hey, what do you want to work on?
04:34You're on this winning streak.
04:35Things are going really well in the life of Cole Davies, but what do you need to do to be
04:39better?
04:40And he said section just like this, where you see him kind of boasting in the corner.
04:44He needs to find more intensity.
04:46And when you watch Hayden Deegan, that's where he's excelling.
04:50Hayden Deegan finds time where other people simply can't, and he may make the pass right here.
04:55Wow.
04:55He made a mistake in the rhythm lane here, and you just wonder, is Hayden going to be able to
05:00get close enough?
05:01Make the move.
05:02Oh, he misses the triple section.
05:04Cole does.
05:06They are together.
05:07The teammates are right there.
05:09Oh, boy.
05:09Here we go.
05:10The whoops.
05:11Now, listen, Hayden's going all the way to the right side.
05:13Cole is going to the left.
05:15Take a look right here.
05:17Hayden's going to turn down early.
05:19Gets a good run.
05:20Cole comes up short.
05:21Watch this.
05:22This is where Davies has been so blisteringly fast and does get through there faster than Deegan that lap.
05:28Good run right here.
05:29But I just wonder right here, what's the play for Hayden?
05:33Does he make a move instantly, or does he hang Cole out to try and put the pressure on and
05:39see what Cole can do?
05:41I think he makes the move and clears out.
05:43Deegan to the lead.
05:44Just like that.
05:46All right, Cole, what you got?
05:49Well, he keeps messing this up rhythm lane up right here.
05:55And just by the crowd's reaction, he could tell he knew that Deegan was getting closer and closer.
06:02Well, this is the opportunity where Cole could really latch on to his teammate, see where Hayden is faster.
06:10I feel like Cole has the ability to make those in-race changes.
06:14Chad Reed was so good at that pulling audibles.
06:18Here's a different line.
06:20Hayden riding really well through the whoops as well.
06:23Wow, man.
06:25This guy's just rolling, dude.
06:27Look at the gap that he's put on Cole Davies.
06:30It's just, if he continues this momentum for another four laps, it is game over and another statement win.
06:38This has been a blue crew year for sure.
06:41Look at that graphic just to show you the domination by Monster Energy star Yamaha riders.
06:48Crazy.
06:48Yeah, and this race team, they have built something special.
06:54They have it at the goat farm there.
06:57They have all the assets that they need, JT.
06:59It's like a big league franchise over there.
07:03Yeah, and they put him in such a great spot to succeed.
07:06And for Hayden, Ricky, you know, Ricky, you've been in this spot where everything is coming easy on the smaller
07:12bike.
07:13And these performances are just screaming that he is now ready.
07:17And he told me right after the heat race, this is why I stayed down, to find this level, to
07:21make sure that beyond the shadow of a doubt, I was ready to move to the 450 class.
07:26And I'm thinking about this summer, Ricky, of what that is going to look like when he is up against
07:31the likes of Jet and Hunter and Sexton and everyone else.
07:35Yeah, I mean, it's time.
07:37You're exactly right, JT.
07:38His time has expired.
07:41There's nothing left for him to give in the 250 class.
07:45He's outgrown it, and he's done a heck of a job.
07:49He's answered the call pretty much his whole 250 career when he went into this class, and it's been a
07:57lot of fun to watch.
07:58We're over the halfway mark.
08:00Just a quick reminder to stock up on Monster Energy drinks and on the run.
08:05Did you see the pit board from Brent Duffy?
08:086.1 seconds.
08:09Breathe.
08:10Yeah.
08:11He said breathe.
08:11Don't take it easy, but you know that you've got this under control.
08:17We spent some time with Hayden yesterday, and you asked him, hey, is it a big deal to get this
08:22championship out of the way tomorrow?
08:24And Hayden's response was pretty funny and pretty quick.
08:28He said, yeah, dude, that way I can party in Nashville next weekend.
08:32That's right.
08:32He has a great time for sure.
08:35And don't let him fool you when he says that.
08:38He wants to set his sights on that 450 Pro Motocross championship, and he also said he won't have to
08:45ride this 250 anymore except for the time that he needs to race it.
08:50Oh, it comes up a little short.
08:51This is what we talked about.
08:53This track is becoming very difficult.
08:55A lot of ruts are not getting the pop off the jumps like they were early on in this race.
09:00But, yeah, now he can solely focus on the 450 performance, JT.
09:05Yeah, and Lee, you were talking about that pit board there.
09:08Well, for Hayden and Ricky, you've been in this spot.
09:11It seems like I say that a lot.
09:12But it's so nice when you're coming along these parallel straightaways, and Hayden can look over and see Cole Davies
09:18going further and further back because he knows that is telling him that Cole Davies has now basically given up
09:25on the race win, and he has relented to second place.
09:27And Hayden's now able to lower the intensity and ride off into the sunset.
09:31Yeah, he's cruising.
09:32Now it's just staying engaged, JT, and picking your way through the lappers.
09:38Whoa!
09:39Kitchen almost goes down.
09:40That was a save.
09:42That was fourth place gone.
09:44Nate Thrasher moves up into the top four.
09:47Yeah, great heads up riding by Nate Thrasher.
09:50I have a feeling he saw that coming, so he slowed up a little bit to avoid any collision.
09:57That could have happened.
09:59This is Max Voland ahead of Ryder DeFrancisco, and they are both ahead of Max Anstey.
10:05So you saw the graphic just a moment ago.
10:07No championship update with Deegan out in front, in command.
10:11He is going to win back-to-back 250 West Division championships.
10:16He stays where he is, and Max Anstey stays where he is.
10:20Ryder D on the inside of Max Voland.
10:23Good scrum, good move.
10:25Yeah, and he breaks a little bit harder there on that right-hander before the finish line
10:29to block Max to cut back underneath the inside.
10:37Great pass by Ryder D.
10:39For 34 there on the Rockstar Husky team, and he's done a great job this year.
10:44Man, and I feel like he's come a long way in his strength training.
10:48Just looks like he can ride the bike now.
10:50Bike not riding him.
10:52He can muscle it around.
10:53Great seat.
10:56There's the one.
10:56There's the one.
10:57There's the 141 of Nick Romano.
10:59He's coming off his best result this year of the two races, which were seven.
11:04He's about to be overtaken by Ryder D.
11:07He was in a potentially a career-high best of sixth.
11:12So he's going to fight hard for that over the closing three and three-quarter minutes
11:16plus a lap.
11:17Yeah, and I feel like Romano is doing a great job here.
11:20I mean, coming back, fill-in ride, making all the laps, only his third race on the bike.
11:27And if you're Mitch Payton, you've got to be pretty stoked.
11:29And if you're Nick yourself, you've got to, you know, have realistic goals.
11:33And I think he's done a fantastic job.
11:35It's great to see how many he had a...
11:37Very successful amateur career.
11:39He is one of the hot stars for sure.
11:40And just had some injuries there when he's on that Monster Energy Star race at Yamaha.
11:47Just could never really get his feet underneath them.
11:49And then having this opportunity maybe is a second chance.
11:52There's that inside line I was telling you guys about.
11:54Lovely execution there.
11:56We saw the last chance qualifier in the 450s started working those inside.
12:00Ryder D just made that happen.
12:02Good job.
12:03It has been a very productive year for Ryder DeFrancisco.
12:07He came into this East-West showdown.
12:09And Max Anstey is down.
12:11That really opens up the championship points even more.
12:15That makes Hayden Deegan's quest for this championship even easier.
12:20Well, and then what it's going to do also is it's going to move Kitchen into second in the championship
12:26as it runs right now with Deegan as a 56-point lead versus Anstey at third place with 60 points
12:33back.
12:35So, we've only got two and a half minutes plus a lap to go.
12:38So, let's hear from the man out in front.
12:40We'll call him the champion elect about what racking up huge career numbers means to him.
12:47Yeah, for sure.
12:48I mean, little things like that 100%.
12:50Especially now in my career, I feel like I've kind of done a lot.
12:53I've accomplished a lot of goals.
12:55I mean, I've accomplished every goal I've had as a little kid.
12:57So, now it's just adding.
12:58And I feel like those are little things I can chase, you know.
13:01Pit my name in the record books, you know.
13:04Adding my names to the list.
13:05So, that's the goal.
13:07Well, with this win, if he gets it, it's going to be his 13th career 250 win.
13:14That's going to put him in a tie for third with Jeremy McGrath, Austin Faulkner, Jet Lawrence.
13:21Yeah, he's in rarefied air.
13:26Certainly.
13:27And he has earned it.
13:28And JT, I think about it.
13:30He wasn't even supposed to move up as early as he did.
13:34And they, that Monster Energy Star Yamaha team put him in there.
13:39And, man, did he step up.
13:41Well, Ricky, think about that year that he moved up.
13:44He did not have a good performance in Anaheim II when it was called Futures now as SMX Next.
13:50I think he was fifth on the night.
13:51It was not very impressive.
13:53And then they move him up and he immediately goes to fourth place in the East Coast in Houston.
13:57So, to your point, yes, this has been remarkable.
14:01And JT and Ricky, you know, he was chasing at that point, JT.
14:05He was chasing, sort of getting better, right, and going for the wins.
14:08And then after a couple of goes and not getting it, getting that supercross title on a 250.
14:13And, Ricky, you were talking about all the accolades and everything that they've now wrapped up.
14:17That is what I've been told has been his motivation.
14:21Obviously, when he's doing as well as he is and he's the class of the field, that motivation,
14:25and he's spoken openly about it, starts to wane a little bit.
14:28So, all those goals, his dad told me that I need them.
14:31That's what keeps him going every week.
14:36There is dad, Brian.
14:39There's his sister, Haley.
14:41I saw I was in the paddock a little bit earlier.
14:45A lot of his family is here.
14:47Got some friends as well.
14:49Huge moment.
14:50Oh, boy.
14:51Here's Levi Kitchen.
14:52Look at that inside line again.
14:53And look at that.
14:55Oh.
14:55Right at D.
14:56Right at D.
14:57There is no stopping him.
14:59He's on a mission.
15:00Oh, yeah.
15:01He's rolling right now.
15:02Levi was nice to him.
15:05He could have charged that corner a little bit harder to defend the position, but he did it.
15:11Oh.
15:13Two Rockstar Energy Factory House.
15:14Barna Wright is there running in fifth and seventh.
15:18So, Daxton Benick had to go by the last chance qualifier, but still a good right.
15:22He's got a shot at getting by Kitchen for sixth.
15:33You have to wonder, Levi probably not 100% still.
15:37Man, this track is getting brutal.
15:39You can see Levi kind of sitting up a little bit, coming into the corners, probably feeling it.
15:48Oh, there you go.
15:49Yeah, we're good.
15:50Nice to come back for Benick.
15:53One more lap to go.
15:55Quick look over his shoulder to double check that it was the white flag.
15:58Yes, it is indeed, Hayden.
16:01One more to go.
16:02And you're going to back up your West Division Championship of a year ago, just like Dylan
16:07Ferrandez did in 2019 and 2020, just like Cooper Webb did in 2015, 2016.
16:16What a magical time for this super talented 20-year-old who has his eyes on moving up to
16:23the Premier Class to the 450s.
16:25He's been riding the 450 a lot.
16:27He told us yesterday he loves it.
16:30Oh, absolutely, and he wants to race the best in the business, guys that he has looked up
16:35to, and it is going to be a lot of fun to watch this summer and the SMX playoffs when
16:41we get there, and he has earned it.
16:44Like it or not, you've got to respect the talent, and he put a straight beat down.
16:49Just have a look at the clock.
16:5115 seconds, 16 seconds over his teammate.
16:54Danger Boy has done it again.
16:57Hayden Degen is a champion.
16:59Hayden Degen for the second year in a row.
17:02The 250 West Division champ, back-to-back years.
17:11Monster Energy star Yamaha's number one man aboard the 250, has done it again.
17:21What a solid performance, Lee.
17:23I mean, straight-up domination.
17:25The way you want to do it, you come through the pack, make a few moves, pass Cole.
17:32A lot of people saying that Cole is better.
17:34He can beat him.
17:35He's faster in the whoops, and the dude just absolutely came through, look at get the fans
17:40going, and wins a championship.
17:46We've spoken about some rarefied air and special numbers.
17:51Look at this.
17:51Just the third rider to clinch.
17:55250 Supercross titles with two rounds to go.
17:58He says, let's go.
18:00You did, Hayden.
18:23A colossal, comprehensive victory that sees Hayden Degen crown.
18:30The 250 West Division champ again.
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