It’s been an up, down and all around Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship season for first year Monster Energy Kawasaki racer Garrett Marchbanks.
Drafted onto the team to flank Chase Sexton in 2026, the rider out of Coalville, Utah. Despite 28 previous starts in the 450SX classification with e Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha team, Marchbanks did not make the show at Anaheim 1 and then was absent at the San Diego round due to a harsh mid-week crash.
Marchbanks was well outside the top 10 at Anaheim 2, Houston, Glendale, Seattle and Arlington before scoring a seventh-place finish at Daytona. Fourteenth at Indianapolis and tenth at Birmingham, Marchbanks will next go to the starting gate with the Kawasaki KX450SR this Saturday evening at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
“I just finished riding a little bit ago and just got home about an hour ago and just finished up a bike ride,” said Marchbanks from Canyon Lake, California on Thursday. “it’s been a pretty interesting season, I’d say. I’ve had quite a few ups and downs, but it seems like we’re starting to get a little bit of consistency in now. The bike is starting to feel really good. Last week, I had never been to Birmingham. Same with Detroit. I’m pretty excited to go there and see what the track is like. Thinfs are starting to turn in a good direction and I’m starting to feel really good.”
Positively, Marchbanks has scored top-10 finishes at Daytona, and at last Saturday’s round in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I’m super-pumped with the top 10,” said Marchbanks. “Sadly, I wish we had a couple more. Just due to some crashes we missed out. I’m feeling really good. I was super-pumped with last weekend. It seems like we’re taking the steps in the right direction. Now just to finish the supercross season off, I just want to be consistently in the top 10.”
Marchbanks is pleased to now have some positive momentum behind him after the somewhat rough start to the ’26 season.
“To me, with the start of the season I had, I felt like it was a little bit of bad luck. I didn’t expect it to start off like that. Anaheim 1 was rough, for sure, and then there was the practice crash where I got knocked out,” Marchbanks said. “Yeah, definitely the first quarter of the season was a rough start for me. I feel like for me, I’ve never raced the class when it’s this stacked. I feel like when I raced the outdoors, the field was kind of thinned out a little bit.
“This year I just feel like Supercross was always new to me on the 450. I never raced Supercross on a 450, besides at Daytona four years ago,” he added. “I think for me, it was just learning the bike and trying to get things dialed in. Also, it was just getting the hang of the pace of these guys. They’re all really quick this year. Yeah, I feel like there is a little bit of a struggle and a learning curve the first six rounds, but after that I feel like now I’m starting to get the hang of it pretty well.”
A relative newcomer to the 450SX division, Marchbanks has embraced the learning process.
“I feel like we’re always learning every weekend,” explained Marchbanks. “Some of the tracks I haven’t been to. I’m just getting a feel for the tracks and what the bike is going to do. It has definitely been learning. Especially with the team. Being with a new group of guys, we’ve been learning on what I like and what I don’t like on the chassis at each round.
“It has been a big learning curve, but it seems like now we’re starting to get the hang off it. As a team we’re learning what I like and don’t like on the bike on the weekend. It’s all helping out a lot.
“And the team is awesome,” continued Marchbanks. “There are a lot of great guys and everyone is super supportive. I’ve just had a lot of fun with it and with all the guys there, it seems like we are constantly testing and trying new things day-in and day-out and I feel like that’s been super helpful, especially with Broc Tickle testing all the time and finding new things to make the bike better. It has been great. We’ve been testing quite a bit and it is nice to know that everyone has been trying.”
And with team rider Chase Sexton out of action due to injury, Marchbanks has been holding it all down for the Monster Energy Kawasaki race team.
“I’ve been holding it down a little bit,” he said. “The last three rounds I have been solo. Yeah, it’s been good so far. It’s nice to have everyone there and everyone believe in me. It’s been really fun so far.”
With seven rounds remaining in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, Marchbanks has marks he wants to hit before it’s all over with.
“For me, it’s just to be consistently in the top 10 and to improve on the starts a little bit,” he pointed out. “That would go a long ways. Yeah, just to be up in the top ten and hopefully put myself in a good position. In these next few rounds that we got, I’d like to be in the top five, hopefully. It has been a lot of fun so far. I’m really enjoying all the races. I feel like it has been going pretty good the last month.”
All things considered, it has been an excellent for Marchbanks, who has talked about the Monster Energy Kawasaki being the realization of a dream come true.
“For this to all come around and be in place for me, it is definitely a dream come true,” Marchbanks said. “To put all the effort in and to finally get a factory 450 ride with these guys, I’m super-pumped with it. It’s been great. I’ve been really enjoying it. I love putting in the log days with the team and all the testing we’ve been doing. That’s definitely one thing that has been new here. It’s just the amount of testing we do to develop the bike and get it better.”
