Welcome to the Race Day Feed, coming to you from Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. From practice reports to the blow-by-blow from this afternoon’s points-paying motos, you’ll find it all right here on the Racer X Race Day Feed. Updates are posted in chronological order, so be sure to scroll down for the latest info. For even more updates be sure to follow us on X: @Racerxonline.

In order to stay up to speed on what does happen today, stay tuned into this post, as well as our social media pages for more updates.

Good morning, race fans! Seventeen rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross rounds and 11 rounds of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship are done and dusted, and we are onto the Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs.

So, here we are at Historic Crew Stadium, the first ever stadium built specifically for soccer. However, no soccer will be played today as Historic Crew Stadium will have another chapter written into the venue’s history books as it hosts a round of the SMX Playoffs. “Playoffs!?” Yep! Let’s get into it.

With the combined points, we have Hunter Lawrence and Cole Davies leading their respective SMX standings after Pro Motocross titles. They will each have 25 points entering today’s race, leading Jorge Prado (450SMX) and Levi Kitchen (250SMX), who each have 22 points, and so on down to 20th place. Remember, the riders 21st through 30th in the SMX standings will have to go through the Wild Card (LCQ) race to qualify for the points-paying motos through not only the first round today but all three rounds of the playoffs.

Jett Lawrence is out for these SMX Playoffs, but we do have a #1 on the line today: Jo Shimoda! Yup, remember, Shimoda won the final two rounds of the SMX Playoffs and was crowned 2025 250SMX Champion. So Shimoda's CRF250R has a big ol' #1 plate with the purple backgrounds. Pretty cool to see!

Read: 2026 SMX Playoffs Standings Entering Round 1 in Ohio

We will likely see some rain today, with some thunderstorms anticipated to start around 10 a.m. Rain could easily shake things up today on this already tricky track. During Friday’s free practice session, the riders were getting used to the layout and the rhythms, but rain could change the lines and options. So, the question is how much rain will we get and how will the track hold up? The long rhythm section and the long sand section that immediately follows will surely be key sections of the track today—and that was even before the thought of rain. These sections will be key to watch as today unfolds.

Take a lap with Grant Harlan yesterday in his second unseeded free practice session:

Track walk is underway now, then bikes are on track at 8:50 a.m. local time (Eastern).

The race day live broadcast will start at 9 a.m. local time, then opening ceremonies at 2:30 p.m. with a 3 p.m. gate drop on the motos. Here we go!

• SuperMotocross

  • Race Day Live (Qualifying) 

    Live

    September 12 - 9:00 AM

    

  • Race Day Live (Qualifying) 

    Live

    September 12 - 9:00 AM

    

  • September 12 - 2:30 PM

    

  • September 12 - 2:30 PM

    

  • September 12 - 3:00 PM

    

  • September 12 - 3:00 PM

    

  • September 12 - 6:00 PM

    

  • September 12 - 6:00 PM

    

  • Encore Presentation

    September 13 - 3:00 PM

    

The following message came onto the jumbotron screen at the stadium near the end of track walk: "Please seek shelter in the concourse area."

So, we will have a 30-minute delay from when the message was posted. 

Rain has started and there is visible lightning from the press box. Remember, there will be a reset of the 30-minute delay every time there is a lightning strike. So, stay tuned for more updates.

The SMX League provided the following update:

"Lightning Hold Remains... additional cell 30 minutes out. Please remain sheltered."

The SMX League has posted a revised schedule for today: NO qualifying this morning. The action on the track will start with the two Wild Card (LCQ) races starting at 1:30 p.m. local time. Then, the one and only SMX Next qualifying session will take place (there are more than 22 riders so we will need this session to determine who makes the main event).

Opening ceremonies will be at bumped back 15 minutes from the scheduled time of 2:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. local time. 

At the time, the motos are still 20 minutes plus one lap.