Stalled

ROCZEN WINS CLEVELAND TRIPLE CROWN, CUTS LAWRENCE'S CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD TO SINGLE POINT

Paige turner

Written about 4 hours ago

Hey everyone, it’s Paige Turner coming at you LIVE from the muddy madness of Cleveland! 🏁

And wow. Just wow. I’ve covered a lot of races, but this one? This one was a championship-altering survival fight in freezing rain and swirling wind. The Triple Crown format already makes everything unpredictable, but throw in a soaked track and a one-point margin afterward? I can barely feel my fingers and I am PUMPED.

Ken Roczen walked into that stadium, stayed cool when everyone else was spinning out, and delivered a 2-2-1 masterclass. That’s his fourth win of 2026 and the 27th of his career — tying him for 10th on the all-time supercross wins list! He grabbed the holeshot in the final race and just rode away. 8.7 seconds. In the mud. Are you kidding me?

“I had no idea I was one point back,” Roczen said afterward. “I am so blown away with the gamble we took with the weather. It kept raining and I just stuck with roll-offs to be safe.”

Meanwhile, Hunter Lawrence had a night he’ll want to forget immediately. Race one? Flawless — holeshot, win, looked untouchable. Then the track bit back. Race two he finished fifth. And race three? Starts eighth, crashes in the whoops, crashes AGAIN trying to recover, and to make everything worse — a loose vent hose from his gas cap came off and started splashing fuel onto his body over every jump. In the rain. On his chest. He limped home 14th in that final race.

“I had a bad start and just made it tough on myself,” Lawrence said. “It was a bit of a sh** night at the office. We’ll come back next weekend in Philly.”

Sixth overall. 1-5-14. That ten-point lead he carried into Cleveland? Gone. It is now ONE POINT. One!

Here’s where the standings sit after that chaos:

XC1 450SX Championship Standings (After Round 14 of 17)

1. Hunter Lawrence – 286 points

2. Ken Roczen – 285 points

3. Cooper Webb – 264 points

4. Eli Tomac – 255 points

Cooper Webb capitalized on the mess and grabbed second on the night, moving into third place in the championship. Eli Tomac didn’t even make the gate — hip injury from a qualifying crash dropped him to fourth, 31 points back. Chase Sexton is still mathematically alive, but with three rounds left, this is now a two-man war.

Ken Roczen started the season with mechanical issues and inconsistent results. He was 23 points down at one stage. Now? He’s won two of the last four rounds and he’s breathing straight down Lawrence’s neck.

Lawrence still has the red plate. Barely. But he’s limping into Philadelphia next weekend and guess what the forecast is calling for? More rain.

Three rounds left. One point apart. A muddy track in Philly on deck. This is the tightest 450 title fight since 2018 and I am absolutely here for every second of it.

That’s a wrap on the Cleveland chaos — a brutal, beautiful, championship-shaking night of supercross! The series rolls on to Philly next weekend, and you know I’ll be right there catching every gate drop and every story no one else sees.

Until then… keep that throttle pinned and the roost flying high!

Paige Turner 🏁