Rider Reflections: 2026 Detroit Supercross
Catch the latest reactions from top riders after an action-packed AMA Supercross weekend in Detroit.
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Ken Roczen: “I don’t know what to say, but this is exactly what I was talking about [people overlooking my ability to win]. This was a tough Main Event. I was definitely not the fastest in the beginning. I was playing a little bit with the track. I knew they were gaining on me, so I switched up my rhythms slightly. It was tough, because I wasn’t necessarily lighting the world on fire [with my speed], but the track was so tough. The whoops were a 50-50 chance you were going to make it through or end up on your back. I am so excited, you have no idea. We closed up some points, but we still have a lot of racing to go.”
Chase Sexton: “Those weeks at home watching the races, there were some dark times. Obviously, I didn’t want to get injured and didn’t want to sit on the couch, but I wanted to come back when I was ready. I felt pretty good tonight, but I also felt that couch about 10 minutes into the Main Event. I felt good in the beginning and got a little tight and a little winded. We’ll go back to work, but it's definitely a great start to the comeback. It’s been a long year for the team and me, but we want to go up from here.”
Malcolm Stewart: “It’s been tough [this season]. I had an unfortunate situation in Anaheim [getting injured at the first race]. I kind of just felt like I didn’t know if I’d get on the podium [this season]. That’s partly just not believing in yourself, and I realised I need to pull myself out of that. I want to give it up to my team, they’ve been in my ear all season telling me I can do this. I told them we’d pop some champagne before the end of the season, so huge shoutout to them.”
Eli Tomac: “Of course, I saw Hunter’s [Lawrence] crash and knew I was going to take advantage of that once I saw him a lap down, but overall, a bit of a frustrating day here. I’ve actually struggled here my past couple rides. I don’t know what it is. I haven’t had the best success at Detroit lately. Maybe I’ve been in kind of a midseason slump. We’ll do what we can to get better, improve, and get back to winning some races and be up at the front.”
Cooper Webb: “It was an okay day. I qualified seventh overall and then had a decent heat race. In the main event, that was just a really dumb move on my end. I thought I saw an opening and obviously didn't and took myself and Prado both down, which was a bummer. I went and apologised to him. So, I’m really bummed about it because I rode so well in that main event. I felt like I had the speed to win tonight. We'll keep plugging away. It's been a tough year, but it is what it is, and you’ve got to move on.”
Jorge Prado: “Detroit Supercross was a bit of a rough day! The heat race was actually not too bad. At the end of it, I found a good rhythm and was feeling good. In the Main Event, I had a super-good start – I got the holeshot, which was my main goal – and then I wanted to stay up front for as long as possible. Kenny [Roczen] passed me on, I think Lap 3, and then once he passed me, I really tried to stick with him, but another rider ended up taking me out and we both crashed. That impacted my rhythm from there, so we have some work to do – as always – but I am putting in maximum effort with my training and racing, so hopefully it'll pay off soon. We're taking a lot of this year's Supercross championship as experience for next year, so it's good that these things happen now so when we're fighting up front in the coming years, we can be prepared and ready. It's part of the process – we'll learn and continue to get faster."
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Cole Davies: “When I don’t perform, I’m pretty hard on myself. Me, my family, and all the people around me put in so much hard work, so when I don’t perform like I know I can, I’m pretty hard on myself. But I’m stoked with that Main Event. I know that’s how I can ride. I just put everything together well. I didn’t have a good start, but I made it happen, so I’m stoked with that.”
Seth Hammaker: “That was a tough race. I got myself off to a pretty good start and was riding okay in the beginning. I knew Cole [Davies] was in the back of the pack, but man, he was riding good. Gotta give it up to him. A solid second on the night. I’ve learned from the past not to throw the races away that aren’t there for me. I want to win more than anybody, but you’ve got to know when to pull back, and second is what we had tonight.”
Jo Shimoda: “Honestly, I was just so bad all day. I just couldn’t figure it out. I just have to do better. Nothing was really good for me today, so I’m sorry to my team. We tested all week, and I think we’re stepping in the right direction, so we’ve got to keep chasing. We’ll see next weekend.”
Image: Husqvarna
