RIDGEDALE, Mo. — In front of a raucous capacity crowd, from one of the most dynamic venues to ever host an off-road motorcycle race, the 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship drew to a historic conclusion inside Thunder Ridge Nature Arena as the sport crowned two first-time world champions.
Triple points were on the line at the SMX World Championship Final, which meant the title fight for both the 450SMX Class and 250SMX Class came down to the final checkered flag. In the premier class, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado became the first Spanish born champion in SMX history, capping off an incredible story arc for the multi-time MXGP titleholder.
In the 250SMX Class, the long wait for Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen came to an end as he broke through for his first professional championship.
The first of the final two 20 Minute + 1 Lap 450SMX Class motos of the season kicked off with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Yamaha’s Haiden Deegan out front with the holeshot ahead of Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen and Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence. Prado started his journey in 10th.
Deegan took full advantage of his track position to quickly assert his hold of the top spot, as both Roczen and Lawrence settled in. Behind them, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb ran fourth, while Prado made a charge up to fifth. Inside the final three minutes, a bobble by Deegan allowed Roczen to close within just over a second of the Yamaha rider, but lapped riders allowed Deegan to reestablish his advantage.
Deegan completed a wire-to-wire performance to take the moto win by 3.1 seconds over Roczen, with Lawrence in third. Webb followed in fourth, with Prado fifth.
The final moto of the 2026 season got underway with Prado out front for the holeshot ahead of Deegan and Lawrence. Webb started fourth, with Roczen several spots back in eighth. Prado looked to take advantage of the clear track and inched out to a lead of just over a second over Deegan, with the championship in the balance. Lawrence asserted his hold of third.
The top three settled in for the first 15 minutes of the moto until Deegan started to push the pace and run the fastest laps of the moto. He chipped away at Prado’s advantage and moved within striking distance with three and a half minutes to go.
The lead duo separated themselves from Lawrence and sat within a second of one another as lapped riders factored in. Both riders overcame bobbles on the final lap as Prado held off Deegan by 1.7 seconds to take the checkered flag and clinch his first championship on U.S. soil.
Deegan’s 1-2 performance gave the rookie two wins in three postseason races as well as a runner-up finish in the championship standings. However, Prado’s comeback ride in the second moto placed him second overall with 5-1 finishes to clinch the Spaniard’s maiden title in just his second season of racing in America and during his postseason debut after missing the Playoffs and Final one year ago. Lawrence rounded out the overall podium with a consistent 3-3 performance.
Prado finished off his championship run by a margin of seven points over Deegan, who nearly became the first rider in the sport to win the world championship in both classes. Lawrence capped off a breakthrough season with the final spot on the championship podium, 22 points behind Prado.
The first of two 20 Minute + 1 Lap 250SMX Class motos got underway with Kitchen leading the field to the holeshot ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Nate Thrasher. The other title contenders, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco started in sixth and seventh, respectively.
The clear track played heavily into Kitchen’s favor as he moved out to a lead of more than two seconds in the opening laps, while the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing trio of Thrasher, Landen Gordon, and Cole Davies were locked into a fight for a spot in the top three. Behind them, Beaumer and DiFrancesco looked to close in. As the moto reached its halfway point Thrasher crashed out of second, which moved Davies behind Kitchen and a hard-charging DiFrancesco up to third. Beaumer, meanwhile, moved up to fourth.
Davies started to close in on Kitchen and moved within striking distance in the late stages of the moto. He made a quick and decisive move to grab the lead with just over one minute left on the race clock and quickly pulled away. The New Zealander carried on to take the moto win by 2.1 seconds over Kitchen, well ahead of DiFrancesco in third, Beaumer in fourth, and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Pierce Brown in fifth.
The championship deciding moto started as rain began to fall at Thunder Ridge with Davies at the head of the pack for the holeshot with Kitchen and Gordon in tow. DiFrancesco and Beaumer, meanwhile, both started deep in the field outside the top 10. Davies quickly opened a multi-second lead over Kitchen, who controlled his own destiny and settled into a consistent rhythm.
Davies continued to add to his lead and managed a margin of around 10 seconds over the second half of the moto to easily complete the 1-1 sweep by 6.4 seconds. Kitchen maintained his hold of second throughout to eliminate any threat to his title hopes, while Gordon ran third from start to finish.
While Davies enjoyed the spoils of victory, it was Kitchen who walked away with the night’s biggest prize. After coming up short in several championship battles, including this summer’s Pro Motocross Championship, the Washington native prevailed with his first professional title and the first for the decorated Pro Circuit race team since the 2019 Pro Motocross campaign. A solid night for Gordon landed him on the overall podium for the first time in the postseason, finishing third after 6-3 finishes.
Kitchen finished off his championship campaign with a 24-point margin over DiFrancesco, who battled his way into the top 10 in the final moto and finished seventh overall after 3-10 finishes. Davies’ triumphant effort moved him into the final spot on the championship podium, 25 points behind Kitchen.
