The first Triple Crown race of 2026 was incredible! The 450SX class produced three different winners, but was won by Cooper Webb, who didn’t win a single race. In the 250SX west division, Haiden Deegan swept all three races. We had plenty of questions afterward, which we fired off to former pro and NB on-track analyst, Jason Thomas.
The triple in after the whoops wasn’t a combo a lot of guys were able to do lap after lap. What made that so tricky?
It was really just the ruts in the corner more than the jumps themselves. Many of the corners had deep ruts that required precision given the necessary seat bounce on exit. If a rider doesn’t hit the turn well and then tries to overcompensate by sitting into the face more aggressively, it can result in hanging in the air at best, or a big endo at worst.
It seemed like guys were having a hard time hitting the rhythm lanes consistently every lap. What was it about the track in Houston that was presenting such a challenge to the best supercross riders in the world?
This is the same dynamic as the first question. The rhythm before the finish was tricky because of the steep downside on the initial tabletop but the other sections were challenging because of the corner conditions. On a groomed track, like in the first 250 race, they were hitting everything easily and very, very fast.