Aussie points leader edges Tomac at Lucas Oil Stadium to keep the red plate after a wild three-race showdown
Just a week on from racing at one of motorsport’s most iconic venues, the Monster Energy SMX World Championship rolled into the racing heartland of Indianapolis, where a packed Lucas Oil Stadium hosted round nine of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
The second Triple Crown of the 2026 season delivered the goods, with 450SMX points leader Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive) claiming his second victory of the year — and doing it the hard way, via a tiebreaker over fellow title contender Eli Tomac. A huge crowd turned out for Supercross’ annual stop in Indy, setting the scene for a dramatic three-moto format night.
The opening 12 Minute + 1 Lap final belonged to Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki), who surged to the front early and controlled the race to win by 5.4 seconds.
Behind him, the podium fight was frantic. Lawrence brought it home second, while Tomac (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) charged through after starting outside the top 10 to take third. Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) was fourth after spending much of the race in second, with Justin Cooper completing the top five.
The tempo ramped up in the second final — and it unravelled Roczen’s overall chances. An opening-lap mistake in a rhythm section saw him land on Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), eliminating Plessinger and sending Roczen to the back of the pack.
Up front, Tomac looked set to capitalise after moving into the lead around early pacesetter Justin Cooper. But Cooper regrouped, found his flow, reeled Tomac back in, then made the decisive pass to take the win by 3.5 seconds. Webb rode a quiet race to third, while Lawrence lost ground after trouble with lapped riders, slipping from third to fourth.
The final race saw Lawrence and Tomac establish themselves at the front early as the track broke down and clean air became everything. Lawrence grabbed the holeshot and quickly built a small buffer over Tomac, then gradually extended it as lapped traffic came into play.
Roczen settled into third, while Webb and Justin Cooper went at it over fourth. Out front, Lawrence was untouchable when it counted, leading every lap to win by 5.5 seconds from Tomac. Roczen rebounded for third, and Webb held off Cooper for fourth.
Lawrence’s late-night charge proved decisive for the overall. He and Tomac finished level on points (seven each), but Lawrence’s 2-4-1 card beat Tomac’s 3-2-2 on the Race 3 tiebreak. Webb and Justin Cooper also tied for third overall on 11 points, with Webb’s 4-3-4 giving him the nod over Cooper’s 5-1-5.
The Indy result is Lawrence’s biggest of the season so far, stretching his championship advantage to four points over Tomac heading into the lone off-weekend of the 17-round series. Webb remains third, 25 points back from the lead.
Hunter Lawrence – 1st Place
“This win means a lot. This is my fifth day riding in-a-row this week testing with the team. Those guys will never give up, nor will I. This is the ultimate thank you for going through the ringer this week, riding five days in-a-row, and coming out and performing [tonight]. This is cool. It’s a Triple Crown, so it’s a tough one.”
Eli Tomac – 2nd Place
“I made one mistake [in the final race] and Hunter [Lawrence] pulled out a second or two. I just wasn’t able to bring that back. I had a sketchy moment in the whoops and feel like I lost the race there. I started jumping but got a little squirrely and then started skimming again at the end and it was better. I don’t know, I’m glad to get out of here [with a good finish]. It’s just a tough night of racing here with the Triple Crown and this soil.”
Cooper Webb – 3rd Place
“Overall, it was kind of a plateau night for me across the board. I’m bummed because I felt great yesterday and today, so I’m pretty bummed with those results, if I’m being honest. I felt like I could come in and compete tonight, but those two ahead of me were on another level. We’ve got work to do and will try to get better. We’ll keep our head down. There’s a lot of racing left and anything can happen.”
ROUND 9 INDIANAPOLIS TRIPLE CROWN RACE RESULTS
Race 1
- Ken Roczen (Suz)
- Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
- Eli Tomac (Ktm)
- Cooper Webb (Yam)
- Justin Cooper (Yam)
- Jorge Prado (Ktm)
- Joey Savatgy (Hon)
- Aaron Plessinger (Ktm)
- Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
- Christian Craig (Hon)
- Jordon Smith (Tri)
- Shane McElrath (Hon)
- Justin Hill (Ktm)
- Grant Harlan (Ktm)
- Vince Friese (Kaw)
- Cole Thompson (Yam)
- Kevin Moranz (Ktm)
- Mitchell Harrison (Kaw)
- Colt Nichols (Suz)
- Garrett Marchbanks (Kaw)
Race 2
- Justin Cooper (Yam)
- Eli Tomac (Ktm)
- Cooper Webb (Yam)
- Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
- Joey Savatgy (Hon)
- Jorge Prado (Ktm)
- Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
- Christian Craig (Hon)
- Garrett Marchbanks (Kaw)
- Ken Roczen (Suz)
- Shane McElrath (Hon)
- Colt Nichols (Suz)
- Justin Hill (Ktm)
- Jordon Smith (Tri)
- Vince Friese (Kaw)
- Mitchell Harrison (Kaw)
- Kevin Moranz (Ktm)
- Freddie Noren (Yam)
- Grant Harlan (Ktm)
- Tristan Lane (Yam)
Race 3
- Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
- Eli Tomac (Ktm)
- Ken Roczen (Suz)
- Cooper Webb (Yam)
- Justin Cooper (Yam)
- Jorge Prado (Ktm)
- Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
- Jordon Smith (Tri)
- Shane McElrath (Hon)
- Christian Craig (Hon)
- Justin Hill (Ktm)
- Vince Friese (Kaw)
- Garrett Marchbanks (Kaw)
- Freddie Noren (Yam)
- Grant Harlan (Ktm)
- Mitchell Harrison (Kaw)
- Tristan Lane (Yam)
- Kevin Moranz (Ktm)
- Joey Savatgy (Hon)
- Colt Nichols (Suz)
AMA SUPERCROSS 450SX STANDINGS
- Hunter Lawrence — 196 pts
- Eli Tomac — 192 pts
- Cooper Webb — 171 pts
- Ken Roczen — 168 pts
- Justin Cooper — 140 pts
- Joey Savatgy — 125 pts
- Chase Sexton — 122 pts
- Aaron Plessinger — 98 pts
- Malcolm Stewart — 90 pts
- Jorge Prado — 89 pts
- Dylan Ferrandis — 87 pts
- Jason Anderson — 84 pts
- Justin Hill — 84 pts
- Christian Craig — 81 pts
- Shane McElrath — 67 pts
