The 250 class heads to Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, for the second round of the 2026 SuperMotocross World Championship playoffs, with the championship picture tightening after a wild opening round in Columbus. Levi Kitchen enters Los Angeles with the red plate and 47 points after using consistent 2-2 finishes to take the overall victory in Columbus. Ryder DiFrancesco sits second with 40 points following a 3-4 performance, while Cole Davies is third with 37 after a difficult opening moto left him 22nd before he rebounded to win moto two and salvage 10th overall. Daxton Bennick sits just behind Davies with 34 points after winning the opening moto and finishing second overall, while Chance Hymas rounds out the top five with 33. With double points available at Playoff 2 and only the Ridgedale finale remaining afterward, Los Angeles gives the 250 contenders a major opportunity to reshape the championship before the final round.

2026 LOS ANGELES SMX NATIONAL // FULL COVERAGE

250 SEEDED QUALIFYING RESULTS OVERALL

Joe Shimoda wants to show why he’s the reigning champ.

Qualifying at a race that you already qualified into by accumulating points throughout the season seems odd. This racers are out there throwing down hot laps to get the almighty number on gate pick.  Julien Beaumer showed he was the most consistent guy on track. He laid down hot laps within one tenth of a second while holding the top spot on the podium. Ryder Difrancesco has been a great qualifier all season, and today was no different.  Jo Shimoda had the entire summer off and wants to be the two-time reigning champ of SMX. The 250 class is set and ready to go racing.

Kitchen explained that his win in Columbus was lackluster, he said he wants to earn the win.  Davies is forced to be reckoned with in Supercross, but with no whoops, will another contender show up?

250 SEEDED & UNSEEDED QUALIFYING RESULTS SESSION ONE

Julien Beaumer is looking to post a better result this weekend after struggling in Columbus.

With the first riders to hit the track, the 250 unseeded riders will see the best track of the day. All 10 riders in this qualifying session are separated by only two seconds. The Star Racing Yamaha boys topped the board early, as expected. Perice Brown, Parker Ross, Avery Long, and Devin Simonson are looking good to get into the show. Davies, Beaumer and Difrancesco would battle for pole postion most of qauilfying. The Honda boys of Hymas and Shimoda would push Davies off the podium late in the session.  The bowl corners are now developing good ruts for riders to hold momentum, but in true motocross fashion, the sand corners are being pushed out, forcing riders to slow down and choose an alternate line.

Daxton Bennick returns after a second-place overall finish in Columbus.

Chance Hymas also had his fair share of struggles but returns motivated.