The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship left California for the first time in 2026, with Round 4 of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship bringing the action to Texas and inside the domed NRG Stadium.
Race Report and Images by Feld Motorsports
The Western Divisional 250SMX Class was much more straightforward as Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan was the class of the field in each race. The reigning champion made a statement in Race 1 after he grabbed the holeshot and ran away with a wire-to-wire win by a margin of 2.0 seconds over Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen and his teammate Cameron McAdoo. In Race 2 Deegan secured another top three start and methodically worked his way forward. He made clean passes around McAdoo, who earned the holeshot, and Kitchen, who led most of the race, to bring home his second win of the night by 3.9 seconds. The third and final race was Deegan’s most challenging, as he and Kitchen engaged in a cat-and-mouse fight for third place early on. The Kawasaki rider made an aggressive dive under Deegan, but the Yamaha rider fought back and gave Kitchen a nudge as he reclaimed the spot. Deegan then tracked down his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Max Anstie for second and was patient before he made the pass on ClubMX Yamaha’s Max Vohland, who captured the holeshot, for the race lead. Once out front, Deegan never looked back and completed the hat trick by 1.3 seconds over Anstie. Kitchen and McAdoo followed in third and fourth.
The Triple Crown sweep proved to be a statement in Deegan’s title defense as he’s now in the midst of a three-race win streak and continues to add to his lead in the championship standings. After a difficult start to the season that produced 6th, 4th, and 21st-place finishes, Kitchen broke through for his first podium result with a runner-up finish with 7 points on 2-2-3 finishes. McAdoo landed on the podium for the second time in three races and the 25th time in his career following 3-3-4 finishes for 10 points. Deegan’s lead in the Western Divisional standings over his Star Yamaha teammates now sits at 19 points over Anstie, who finished sixth in Houston following 10-6-2 finishes, and 20 points over Michael Mosiman, who endured through his toughest race of the season in an eighth-place effort following 4-14-8 finishes.
Haiden Deegan – 1st Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class
“It’s racing. I’m just trying to get into the lead and win races, so I’m down with cat and mouse [with Kitchen]. Aggressive is pretty much my middle name at this point. [It was] a good race and it was nice to hear some cheers out there [from the fans]. I appreciate that. I tried to make it entertaining for them and hope they enjoyed it.”
Levi Kitchen – 2nd Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class
“It’s been a rough start to the season, so I need to give a lot of thanks to my team and everyone for sticking behind me. I’m pretty happy with tonight, to just get a couple good starts and kind of feel that pace [up front]. Haiden is riding phenomenal and I’m just trying to go out there and do my best.”
Cameron McAdoo – 3rd Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class
“It was frustrating last weekend to lose the podium the way I did towards the end. I love these Triple Crowns. I love the pressure of three [races] and was able to execute every time. It was a fun night and awesome to put a couple Pro Circuit bikes on the podium.”
The Monster Energy SMX World Championship and Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship will continue next Saturday for the fifth race of the season from Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium.
Results
Standings
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