- 4 hours ago
2026 Round 12 450 Main
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00:004.50 main here in St. Louis. It's on. Great start Hunter Lawrence on the inside. He got the whole
00:08shot in his heat. Gets the whole shot in the main. Roxen's there. Prado's right there with him. Here comes
00:14Kenny.
00:14See what he did right there. He ran Prado wide. He did not want Prado to get in front of
00:20him. Now he has clean air. But like you said, Kenny is there. Hunter Lawrence is able to clear them
00:27for now. Roxen on the inside. He's setting Prado up for a move already.
00:31Oh, look at Kenny. It's going to be crucial for Kenny to get by Prado early. Oh, look at Prado's
00:37on the inside. He's taking it to Hunter Lawrence and takes the lead with authority. Here comes Roxen on the
00:44inside and Hunter responds.
00:48Yeah, these guys fighting hard. It's championship time. To the lead! That shows you how much Ken Roxen wants this.
00:56Kenny is locked in. Rarely do you see Kenny make moves like that. This guy wants it. He's saying and
01:02doing all the right things. In 13 years in the premier class, maybe this is the year.
01:11Oh! This is... This is... I'm not sure if this is vintage Roxen. Maybe this is special Roxen. Maybe he's
01:18never ridden like this.
01:20Well, you heard him in the... After the heat race, he just... You know, the highs and lows. He's not
01:25trying to get too high. Not trying to get too low. Just take it one weekend at a time and
01:30not get ahead of himself. He gave us a little glimpse of what he is trying to do. And I
01:35agree with him. That's what you have to do. You can't look too far.
01:38You can't look too far into the future. And it's hard to do it, but I think he's ready for
01:42it, finally.
01:43Good battle going on. Bottom box. A little further back.
01:49Malcolm Stewart in eighth. Chase Sexton ahead of him. Then Eli Tomac in sixth. Meanwhile, Prado and Hunter Lawrence are
01:56going at it for second.
02:00Look at Roxen. Not only did he get that lead, he has skipped away.
02:03Yeah, this dude's checked out. And right now, this is absolutely killing any chance that Hunter Lawrence has of reeling
02:10Clint Roxen in.
02:12If he continues to let Prado stay in front of him, Prado's riding really well.
02:18Look at the updated points as they run.
02:20We go from the top three being blanketed by 14 to the top three being covered by six.
02:26Keep your eye back here on the bottom box and where Eli Tomac is.
02:32Man, if Eli Tomac struggles to keep these guys behind him, he's going to lose some serious points.
02:39It's going to be interesting to see what can happen these next couple laps.
02:42If Eli can unlock beast mode.
02:49That's Justin Cooper immediately ahead, running in fourth place.
02:54And there's Sexton, certainly within touch.
02:57Meanwhile, Roxen's opened up a three-second advantage out in front.
03:03Here he is.
03:07What do you make of this, JT?
03:09Pretty special stuff.
03:10It is.
03:11And you guys are kind of wondering, like, where does this fit into the lexicon of Ken Roxen's career?
03:16I think maybe this is the Kenny that would have been seen had he not gotten hurt in 2017.
03:22The guy that could take advantage of any start, any race, and be the dominant force.
03:27And I just look at the form he's on.
03:30I have not seen this guy.
03:31And I know we're almost 10 years removed from that pivotal night.
03:35But this feels like that guy, finally back on form, he's running away with this thing, guys.
03:41Yeah, there ain't no one in his zip code right now.
03:44Dude is strolling, and it doesn't even look like he's trying.
03:47Now, listen, this track is going to get beat up as they continue to go.
03:51And Prado doing a great job of keeping Hunter Lawrence behind him.
03:55And that just allows Kenny to continue to build that gap.
03:58And Kenny is one of the best guys that I've seen in this field to be able to maintain a
04:05gap.
04:05He's so good at that, always has been.
04:08Oh, look at this.
04:09Hunter Lawrence and Justin Cooper.
04:11Prado's been able to skip away from Hunter a little bit.
04:13And Cooper is putting the move on for third.
04:17Nice inside move there.
04:20Justin Cooper, second fastest on the track right now to 56.0.
04:26Kenny had a 55.7.
04:31Hunter is doing his best to try and fight back.
04:33Oh, look at that.
04:34Good drive for Justin Cooper through the whoops.
04:37And listen, man, if Hunter isn't feeling comfortable, he's still doing a great job from a championship perspective.
04:44There's those inside lines working out well.
04:47Will?
04:48You talked about a lack of comfort potentially there, Ricky.
04:51Well, I spoke to the team here just before we got going for main event time.
04:55And they said it's just he's taking it on himself.
04:57He hasn't asked for anything from the bike since earlier on today.
05:01They said he's just kind of struggling, just getting the flow as they described it and just piecing the track
05:06together a little bit.
05:07And sometimes these tracks, right, sometimes they're just not your friend.
05:10And I think tonight, from what the team said for Hunter Lawrence, it's just not his setup.
05:16Hey, guys, I have a question for Ricky because you've been in this spot.
05:19Uh-huh.
05:19You watched the races from Eli Tomac the last few weeks.
05:23I know he was under the weather in Birmingham, but now you're kind of watching this ride from Hunter.
05:26Is there any form of championship pressure that you think could be, like, settling in with these guys?
05:33I think so.
05:34I mean, they all know what's at stake.
05:36And, you know, JT, as you were asking me that question, I was thinking about Eli Tomac right now.
05:40And he could see what's going on in front of him.
05:42And I don't think that there is any better opportunity right now to save this championship.
05:48Now that you see Hunter coming back to you, now is the time where you have to do everything you
05:54can to reel him in and stop the bleeding right now.
05:58As you see Justin Cooper working on Prado, Justin Cooper looking very good right now.
06:02But, yeah, this is an opportunity where I think that Eli has got to get going right here.
06:08These two guys have one podium on the season each, one for Prado.
06:12So he started the year at A1 with his return to Red Bull KTM.
06:18Said it felt like going home.
06:20And he went straight to the podium at A1.
06:23It was a great way to start this season.
06:25Of course, missed two races, threw injury, came back.
06:28He's been absolutely stunning with his starts and hole shots.
06:33And here he is running in a fine second.
06:35We'll start to feel the pressure more from Justin Cooper here in a moment.
06:38Yeah, and it's going to be frustrating for Jakub sitting here behind Prado.
06:44Prado is just fast enough.
06:48Creates a little heartburn for you to get by him.
06:51Oh, man.
06:53Meanwhile, talk about checking out.
06:56Roxen is more than six seconds out in front now.
06:59Malcolm Stewart runs in seven.
07:01That's Joey Savace immediately behind.
07:04And Cooper Webb up ahead.
07:10Man, this track is so gnarly right now.
07:14Those ruts in between those jumps.
07:18Dragging their foot pegs up the face.
07:21And we aren't even halfway yet.
07:24You can see all these riders.
07:26See how many lines there are coming out of these corners right here.
07:38So, where is the championship leader?
07:42Eli Tomac.
07:43Here he is running fifth.
07:45But it is a distant fifth.
07:47He is more than 11 seconds behind the race leader.
07:50Yeah, he's holding on by a thread.
07:51And he's kind of been off in this particular rhythm lane right there.
07:57All night long.
08:00I mean, obviously, it's not a superb ride.
08:03But from a points situation, I mean, he's still the points leader as it runs right now.
08:10Three points in the lead.
08:13No harm, no foul.
08:14But not ideal, JT.
08:17And Ricky, you know, we've been talking about this for a few weeks.
08:19And we really don't have any answers yet.
08:22It's all speculation at this point.
08:23But the same things that we've been seeing are still true.
08:27There's simply just a lack of intensity in Eli's riding.
08:30Like, mid-corner, seems like he's not able to pick up the throttle.
08:33You see a little mistake there.
08:35Yeah.
08:35I don't know if you see another mistake.
08:37Something is just off.
08:38I don't know if it's him.
08:38I don't know if it's a motorcycle, if it's a combination of both.
08:40But something is still there.
08:42Here's the teammates.
08:44Chase Sexton, Garrett Marchbanks.
08:46And Chase just whipped on by.
08:48I wonder if Chase went down.
08:50Yeah, because he went backwards.
08:51Yeah, he went backwards because he started 10th.
08:53And there's no way that he just got into 8th now.
08:56And I remember him.
08:57I thought I saw him in 7th at one time.
08:59Yeah, he was up ahead of Malcolm's.
09:00Yeah, he's laid it down at some stage.
09:07Yeah, he went down before the finish line.
09:09So we're getting reports of.
09:11So, yeah, it didn't.
09:13Oh, that was a hard impact.
09:17Oh, that was nasty.
09:20He came up so short.
09:25Oh.
09:26That was like hitting a concrete wall.
09:28It was.
09:32That was brutal.
09:34This is going to hurt to watch a second time.
09:37Okay.
09:37It crosses up right there.
09:39It's crossed up.
09:40Then he goes for the triple and just not even close.
09:44It's almost like he got confused about where he was in the rhythm.
09:49JT.
09:49Ricky, he did get confused where he was because that would have been a quad.
09:54He went over the tabletop to the next single, which nobody has done all weekend.
09:58So that's 100% right.
10:00He forgot which part of the rhythm section he was in.
10:02Oh, that was brutal.
10:05What a ride by this guy.
10:07I mean, he just on cruise control.
10:10Yeah, so what JT was talking about.
10:12Check it out right here.
10:13He goes double, gets crossed up right there.
10:16And then he's going to go from this single.
10:18No one has went from that all the way over that I've seen, like JT said he saw.
10:23And I think he just, again, he got confused of where he was.
10:27Now, it happens.
10:28Doesn't happen often.
10:30But when you do, man, that was a tough one.
10:39So the race lead up, Ken Rockson, aboard this Progressive Insurance Suzuki.
10:47Is 5.7, it fluctuates, it's been over 6, it's been down to 5.5.
10:52He is out in front and in control.
10:55Last time he had back-to-back wins.
10:57He's got to go back some five years during the residency at Indianapolis.
11:03It's been a long time coming, Will.
11:05He hasn't got it yet, but it's certainly looking good.
11:08Oh, and Lee, it is just building.
11:10I got to speak to him after the win on the podium, obviously, last weekend.
11:13And then I got to speak to him this morning after the heat win.
11:16And it's palpable, the confidence that is coming off him.
11:20And he attributes it all to just being incredibly happy and at peace with his whole program.
11:26The word he used for me is he's stress-free.
11:29Now, incredible that you can stay stress-free when you're chasing down a 450 championship.
11:34He's found the key to it.
11:35And right now, guys, it is working brilliantly for him.
11:39Look at that bottom box right here.
11:41Hunter Lawrence still in a really good spot.
11:44He's got two guys in front of him, Prado and Justin Cooper.
11:47He's reeled him back in.
11:48Look at Coop going for the transfer.
11:51Got it.
11:52No, not yet.
11:53So close.
11:54He's got to charge.
11:56That's some resilient riding from Prado, too.
11:59It is, but I think if you're Justin Cooper, man, you've got to hang it out a little bit and
12:03just make the move.
12:05Getting by Justin.
12:06Jordan Smith aboard the Factory Triumph.
12:11Meanwhile, I can tell you that Chase Sexton has left the circuit.
12:14He's gone back up the tunnel.
12:16Here comes Hunter Lawrence.
12:17This is now going to be a three-way fight.
12:21Prado, Cooper, Lawrence.
12:25Oh.
12:27Yeah, it's so difficult to get by these guys right here,
12:31but this could be huge for the championship points if you're Hunter.
12:36It's critical.
12:37Yeah, well, it's critical because he would gain.
12:41Big move from Jay Cook.
12:43This is so frustrating if you're a guy like Justin Cooper for an even Hunter.
12:48But what's so difficult is it's so ruddy they can't get out of the way.
12:51This is where he needs to go.
12:53Gotcha.
12:54Nicely done.
12:55So Cooper, the second.
12:57Go back.
12:57Sorry.
12:59Go back to Indianapolis with Hunter and Prado.
13:04They were going back and forth.
13:05Let's see what happens here.
13:07A quick reminder to stock up on Monster Energy Drinks and on the run.
13:15And on the run, on the run is race leader Roxen.
13:19Ken Roxen's out to a 13-second lead while this is the fight for the final spot on the podium.
13:27I love the varied lines.
13:30They're searching.
13:31They're looking.
13:31What's working better?
13:36It's a determined ride by the man aboard the 96.
13:40Look how gnarly that rhythm lane is.
13:42I mean, there are ruts all over.
13:43Here you go.
13:44Here's Hunter Lawrence.
13:45Yeah.
13:47He's had enough right there.
13:49Now, if he's able to keep Prado behind him, yeah, Prado's over it.
13:53He's done.
13:53Guess what?
13:54That just got him.
13:55A share of the lead of the championship again.
13:58And he's earned it.
13:59He has absolutely earned it.
14:00That was a gnarly crash that he took.
14:03And again, like I told you guys at the top, oh, man, I told you at the top of the
14:07show
14:08that when I talked to him, he's like, he's stoked with his riding.
14:11Yeah.
14:11He's okay.
14:12Just a little sore.
14:13His wrist was a little sore.
14:14So, and it shows he's good.
14:16I hate that for Chase, man.
14:18Got a feel for Chase Sexton.
14:19That was, that was a hard, hard hit.
14:23All right.
14:24No response.
14:25No response from Prado.
14:27So Hunter Lawrence has checked out on him with five and a half minutes.
14:30Plus a lap to go.
14:35I'll tell you what, man.
14:36On a track like this, it's so difficult.
14:39We talk about arm pumps sometimes with all these ruts.
14:42And JT, you know how it is.
14:44It's almost like you're trapped.
14:46You can't move around.
14:47You can't do anything.
14:48It makes it so much more difficult.
14:51Look at right there.
14:52These are the best guys in the world just having extreme difficulty.
14:58Ricky, you heard Seth Hamaker on the podium.
15:01He said that's the most difficult racetrack he's ever ridden.
15:04Right.
15:04And it's due to the conditions.
15:06You know, it is just one of those races.
15:08And I hate to be that guy.
15:10You know, we walked uphill to school both ways.
15:13But we had a lot of racetracks in our day that were like this.
15:16And it is just full court press holding on to the motorcycle to get around us.
15:20Right.
15:21It makes it difficult, too, for the lappers to get out of the way when the tracks are like this.
15:25See, you don't talk about it a whole lot in your role as an ambassador for this sport and as
15:32a broadcast or whatever.
15:33But this guy rode for you in your team.
15:36What does this mean to you to see him riding?
15:39It's like a renaissance of Ken Robson.
15:43Well, I'm happy for him because when I watch Kenny and I think about what it was like when he
15:48rode for Kerry and I when we had RCH
15:50and I mean, we had some great years and we never got the Supercross championship that we want.
15:55But, you know, that was over 10 years ago.
15:58And when I watched Kenny Diff, I think that this is a guy that has taken so much knowledge from
16:05all the teams that he's raced for
16:07and all the people that he's had giving him advice, whether it's on bike, whether it's on training.
16:12And he's taken what I think he believes is the best of all those versions and has combined those.
16:20And it was a collaborative effort and it's all coming to fruition right now.
16:25And big life things, right?
16:27He and Courtney have two children.
16:29They have a terrific family life.
16:31He became a naturalized American citizen.
16:34Like big lifetime, you know, bucket list check items.
16:39And just things are flowing beautifully.
16:42He's in a happy spot.
16:43Well, he is.
16:44And if you guys listen to him really, really closely, what he'll talk about is, you know, controlling those highs
16:50and lows.
16:51And Kenny knows that.
16:53Like, and what I mean by that and what I think he is trying to say, too, is that, you
17:00know, if things aren't great, that's all right.
17:02Don't let the low get too low.
17:03If the bike isn't perfect or he's struggling, that's okay.
17:07Just go out there and do the best that you can.
17:09Don't let it ruin your night.
17:12And that's what he's doing.
17:13And when he's riding extremely well, like, don't get overconfident.
17:18Be confident to a certain extent, but just, yeah, keep it even keel.
17:23And he saw his pit board.
17:24He knows the margin.
17:26He knows he's got plenty of breathing room.
17:28Two and a half minutes to go.
17:29He's got a 12-second lead plus a lap after that.
17:32Now, as far as Eli Tomac, he has drifted back to sixth place.
17:38Cooper Webb is up into the top five.
17:41And with Hunter Lawrence gaining a position, that's why this championship is tied at the top.
17:47Let's take you back a few moments ago to show you how Cooper Webb got by his old teammate and
17:52rival.
17:53Yeah, he's hanging on by a thread right here.
17:55Eli is.
17:57And it's just crazy to see that.
17:59I hate it for him.
18:01Right up the inside.
18:02No contest.
18:04Maybe he's pumped up a little bit as well, but I don't know, JT.
18:10What you got?
18:11It's the same as last week for me, Ricky.
18:13The most concerning part is he's unable to fight back.
18:16You know, earlier in the season, if Webb tries to make that move, he's immediately thinking,
18:21how can I strike back in the next corner?
18:22You can just see he's basically, you know, in a situation where the bike is riding him.
18:27He is not riding the motorcycle anymore.
18:31How about Hunter Lawrence?
18:34Sits in third.
18:36There you go.
18:37The three-time winner this year.
18:38He's got his eyes on Justin Cooper.
18:41Justin is just under four seconds up the track.
18:44And remember, late in the race is prime time for Hunter Lawrence.
18:48Well, I believe right now, Lee, that Hunter is going big picture right here.
18:53I think in the grand scheme of things, this is a good finish, especially considering what
18:59happened last week and where Eli Tomac is.
19:03I think that, you know, he should be happy.
19:07He knows where Ken is good.
19:08He knows where Eli is good.
19:10And I think from the championship perspective, he's in a good spot.
19:15It'll be his ninth podium of the year.
19:20The most of anybody in this field.
19:22It'll be really fun to watch this play out in the last five races.
19:27And what it's like, JT, for these guys to race when we talked about it on our calls this week.
19:33Like, for Kenny, if you get into that points lead and you have everything to lose,
19:38does that change your mindset rather than racing with nothing to lose?
19:42Yeah, it is going to be interesting, Ricky.
19:45And I'm just watching kind of Hunter's body language here and watching him off camera.
19:49He was still chasing Justin Cooper.
19:50And that might be the end of it.
19:52He kept looking over, trying to find Jacob.
19:54Can he close the gap in the last couple laps?
19:56That big mistake there was probably the nail.
19:58Yeah, I think you ride it into the sunset right here.
20:01And, you know, your championships are won on your bad nights.
20:05And I think this is one of those nights that you have to accept a third place.
20:08And you go on to next week in Nashville.
20:12And this is still a great ride on a very, very difficult racetrack.
20:16Very good comeback after last week, after that fall at the end of the whoops.
20:19So to rebound from that, from your worst result to your ninth podium of the year,
20:24is just the way to do it.
20:26We talk about consistency with Hunter Lawrence.
20:29That's going to be the key.
20:30That's going to be the storyline.
20:32The other two storylines of the year is the mystery that continues with Eli Tomei.
20:37The big story of recent races is this, the form of this man here.
20:43The 31-year-old German-American Ken Rockson aboard the Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear X-Star Suzuki.
20:50It's just phenomenal.
20:52It's just phenomenal.
20:54This will be his third win this year and two in a row.
20:58What an absolute ride.
21:00Only five points back of the championship lead.
21:06We started this show tonight, Ricky, talking about this man turning this championship upside down with that win last weekend.
21:15Now he's rocking this championship.
21:17Five points out of the lead with five rounds to go.
21:21Do you want to talk about starts?
21:23He is so consistent on the starts.
21:25You asked when he rode for us at RCH.
21:27We would do stuff.
21:28Oh, no.
21:31What happened?
21:32Huh?
21:32What happened here?
21:33Yeah.
21:34Like you had to slip up.
21:35Meanwhile, final lap and a whopping lead to Ken Rockson.
21:42It's been the joke for a while about kickstart, Kenny.
21:45Forget that.
21:46It's comeback, Kenny.
21:48Rockson does it again.
21:52This place has special memories for Kenny and that theme continues for Justin Cooper.
21:59It's an equal career best second.
22:02Nicely done.
22:03A heat win and a runner-up.
22:05And it's a rebound and a return to the podium for Hunter Lawrence to be in a tie for the
22:12lead of this championship.
22:14Yeah, what an incredible ride.
22:16I mean, Ken just absolutely looking like he's feeling it.
22:21The other man in the lead, in the tie for the lead of the title of championship, is Eli Tomac.
22:27He comes across in sixth.
22:31Kenny has done it again.
22:33I'm stoked for Kenny.
22:35His teammate Colt Nichols just pulls up there.
22:37Look at how much this means.
22:40This was the venue where he broke a three-year drought.
22:43After that serious injury in 2017, he came back to win in 2020.
22:48Could this be the place where he gets a pivotal win in the landscape, the complexion of this year's championship?
23:00This was a dude like a year ago when he would win that he didn't expect.
23:05Like, it's like, I wasn't even expecting to win.
23:07It's like, sometimes I can't even believe I still do it.
23:09Think of that.
23:10I want to take you back to A1 at the beginning of this year where he said, I'm happy with
23:15second.
23:16That was a great result.
23:17That led us into the mindset of Ken Rocks in 2026.
23:22Think of that.
23:25Happy for what you get when you get it.
23:49The words were, I can't believe it.
23:52We've done it again.
23:54Ken Rockson, yes, you have.
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