Round two of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship Playoffs heads to sunny southern California and the home of the LA Galaxy. I was at this venue in July and while it may not be SoFi Stadium, it should offer a nice upgrade from round one. The weather is ready to cooperate and SoCal fans will be out in full force with no stadium action since January. The series needs a bounceback round and I think we are about to get it. 

The track in Carson is going to be fairly basic on a technical level. There are rhythm sections, sure, but they aren’t as challenging as a normal SX and there are a lot of fast, open areas. The noticeable add is three sand sections that are going to be tricky. With two of them being on straightaways, riders will be forced to put doubles together in the sand and carry speed through them. Sand sections on straightaways are far more difficult than simply putting sand in a corner. 

The start is a bit shorter than last week and bends into a long, 180 left. These are usually the safest, least complicated first turn variations. There is room to move around and the speeds are lower. 

The first section is a roller coming out of the first turn and then a basic double into a netted 180 bowl berm. Exiting that bowl berm, there is another roller and then a bigger double (they’ve replaced a lot of triples with these in 2026) and then a 3-5-3 triple into another bowl berm. These 3-5-3 triples are usually easy but riders can sometimes push too hard into them and put themselves into an endo situation. Just something to be mindful of. 

A triple–or double for some–greets the exit of the preceding bowl berm and immediately leads to the sand. Carrying speed into the sand will be key as accelerating once in the depths of it will be challenging. Ideally you carry speed in, stay light on the inputs, and float through it without any sudden movement. The less you have to do in a section like this, the better. 

The sand continues into a left hand 90 degree corner and then fires across the mechanics' area. The zig zag back and forth across the start has an inside/outside option in the first of the two corners. This type of section is very reminiscent of what we often see in Denver. 

The second sand section comes next and has two lanes to choose from. I would expect a barrier down the middle to force a choice here and create passing opportunities. I personally like the inside in the first lane because it’s inside going in and inside entering the next corner. The track crew can offset this edge by making the inside lane more difficult. Time will tell if this is a thing. 

The finish line jump comes after a long sandy 180 and fires into a quick 180 left hand bowl berm. Exiting the bowl berm, the longest rhythm section is up next. 

There are a few ways to execute this next section so the build angles will be critical to that convo. If the backsides of the tabletops are mellow, I like jumping to the downside of each tabletop and then tripling into the corner. If there are steep downsides, look for riders to go on-off–or even quad–out of the corner and then tabletop over at least one single and possibly two. There are opportunities to go big here but it really comes down to how the jumps are built and what’s realistic accordingly. The steeper the jump faces and landings, the less likely you’ll see triples and quads. 

Riders will want to land on the inside of the next 90 degree left in most cases but there is a chance of going outside and tripling up and over the taller third jump. Build will again be critical here and dictate the approach. Going inside and rolling over the first one–standing up is important to absorb this jump with your legs–and then doubling to the backside is likely the move and then simply doubling into the next left hand 90. 

That 90 leads back to the exit of the first corner and what was a “roller” on the start now becomes the landing of a big double over the first turn. That leads into lap two and on we go. 

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Levi Kitchen bounced back in a big way at Columbus and took the SMX Championship lead. 

Cole Davies may have suffered a mechanical failure but the riding is red hot. He’s still the favorite to win this thing. 

Daxton Bennick is good in the mud. Regardless of the reasons for the podium, these types of rides are critical for him at this stage. Well done!

Cameron McAdoo came through the LCQ and put in a solid day! He’s been out of SMX racing for a long while so this was a solid day. 

Ryder DiFrancesco keeps racking up podiums both indoors and out. 

Haiden Deegan finally got his first 450 win. Many, including myself, thought this would come much sooner but we might be onto something here. He looked really, really good.

Ken Roczen sat out the entire summer and immediately was right back to doing Kenny things. He could win one of these.

Jorge Prado put in a solid afternoon and has now taken the points lead. What an unbelievable turnaround from this time last year. 

Cooper Webb is lurking, folks. He’s going to need to win some stuff to be a real threat but he is dangerous being this close. 

Joey Savatgy used the mud to his advantage and put in an unlikely result. He’s not healthy or prepared just yet but he made the most of it. 

Jo Shimoda’s welcome back to racing didn’t go all that well. Every time I looked up, he was trying to pick his bike up in the mud. He will be better.

Chance Hymas had a tough day but it was really more based on expectation. I thought the mud would work for him but he struggled a bit. 

Julien Beaumer isn’t what I would consider a “mudder” so a less-than-stellar result doesn’t shock me. He is going to be in the fight to win LA. 

Hunter Lawrence had arguably his worst day ever on a 450. The mud was not his friend, but I am still a little unsure of how bad his newly injured left wrist is. 

RJ Hampshire had a day he’d rather forget. He will be much better on a dry track. 

Dean Wilson wasn’t able to get out of the Wild Card race and then suffered a shoulder injury this week to add to the misery. He will be out for the foreseeable future. 

After Deegs’ first win, he has Jake Paul and Travis Scott walk with him into opening ceremonies. 

Following the trend, I petition to have Steve Matthes removed from the press box for his unprofessionalism and negative tone toward me, personally.

Bob Woodward launches an investigation into what Chase Sexton is doing for 2027.