It’s back! The 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series gets underway on Saturday. As is traditional, the battle begins at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. That also means RMFantasySX is back, and it’s our favorite fantasy supercross game because it’s simple and free. You pick the top five riders in order, plus a Wild Card position that changes every week. The first week of Supercross is always a crap shoot, but that’s never slowed me down before!

1. 2026 Monster Energy Supercross title favorite Jett Lawrence is out. If you haven’t been paying attention during the off-season, you might have missed that Jett had a preseason mishap that resulted in fractures to the right talus and navicular bones. We may see him before the end of the Supercross season, though there’s a possibility that he won’t race until the Pro Motocross season begins in May. With no Jett, the title battle could be a titanic tussle.

2. Several riders who had top-five finishes last year have switched bikes for 2026, and how that will work out is a big question mark. Chase Sexton moved from KTM to Kawasaki. Eli Tomac left Yamaha for KTM. Justin Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis will be riding the new Ducati Desmo450 MX. Jason Anderson is on a Suzuki after a long Kawasaki stint. Everyone else is on the same bike as last year.

3. The Big 3 should be consistent podium visitors. Look for defending and three-time 450SX Champion Cooper Webb, two-time champ Eli Tomac, and 2023 winner Chase Sexton. These three riders have won all the premier-class championships since 2019, except for Jett in 2024, and Jett’s not riding. Webb stands out because he’s the only rider of the three riding the same bike he rode last year, and he took his Yamaha to the title.

4. It’s hard to image any other riders winning the 2026 Supercross Championship. The Big 3 won 13 of 17 rounds, and that’s with Tomac injured at the end of the season. Malcolm Stewart, Ken Roczen, Aaron Plessinger, and Jett Lawrence each had a single win. The only other rider in the field to have a 450SX title is Jason Anderson. That was eight years ago, though Anderson did have three podiums in 2025. Other riders to podium last year include Justin Cooper (4x), Dylan Ferrandis (2x), Justin Barcia (2x), Joey Savatgy (2x), Justin Hill (1x), and Shane McElrath (1x).

5. Two riders who had no podiums in 2025 are also of interest. While Hunter Lawrence had no podiums in his rookie season, he scored three top-fives in four rounds before injury forced an early end to his maiden Supercross campaign. A complete unknown is Jorge Prado, who had a dismal 2025 on the Kawasaki but returns to the KTM that he rode to two MXGP championships. Many people count Prado out because of the messy end to his association with Kawasaki; that could be a mistake.

6. There are three interesting new faces in the 450 class for 2026. We will be getting our first looks at 2024 250SX West Region champion RJ Hampshire, Garrett Marchbanks on a Kawasaki, and Austin Forkner, who will debut the Triumph TF 450-X in Supercross. When you add up all these names, it’s a stacked field, so avoiding the LCQ is not going to be easy for everyone.

7. No one has more going for him than Cooper Webb at A1. Webb is the defending champion, and his two primary competitors will be on new rides. Webb had five wins in 17 tries last year, so he’s far from a lock. However, no one else has earned a pick ahead of him.

8. It’s hard to argue against Chase Sexton’s raw speed, though it takes more than that to win. Sexton had more wins than any other 450SX rider last year, though that was on a KTM. He’s an unknown on the Kawasaki, a brand that hasn’t had a title since Anderson’s 2019 run. Given the new bike, it’s Sexton in the first runner-up spot.

9. Eli Tomac is more of a mystery than we think. Tomac struggled in 2025, going 5-1-7-4-17 before his season-ending injury. The big question is whether the move from Yamaha to KTM will be a plus, a minus, or a non-issue. We might have an idea after A1. In the meantime, Tomac’s career and determination are enough to put him on the A1 podium.

   

10. Filling out the top five is difficult, as there are four strong contenders for those two spots. It’s hard to ignore Ken Roczen (11 top-fives last year), Justin Cooper (nine top-fives), Aaron Plessinger (eight top-fives) Malcolm Stewart (seven top-fives). All four riders are on the same bike as last year, so that’s not an issue.

11. Of the four, Ken Roczen looks the best. Not only did Roczen have the most top-fives of the four riders, but he’s the only one with a win, and he had the most podiums. Roczen can even make an argument that he’s a longshot for the Supercross crown, so P4 is entirely reasonable.

    

12. Justin Cooper, Aaron Plessinger, and Malcolm Stewart are the last choices for P5. Cooper’s four podiums and nine top-fives match right up with Plessinger’s one win, five podiums, and eight top-fives. Malcolm Stewart’s one win, three podiums, and seven top-fives are also impressive, as he went 5-4-2 to close out 2025 in a fantastic fight for the season podium, which Cooper took by four points. I’m going to give the edge to Cooper because he’s younger, making improvement more likely, and Cooper was P3 in each of the last three rounds. This isn’t easy!

13. After all that teeth-grinding decision-making, we still have to think about the P9 Wild Card. I’ve already named seven riders, so I have to think about who the next two will be. Jason Anderson and Justin Barcia have traditionally started off strong. I’m going to go with either of them, even though both are on new bikes. Barcia is returning to the Troy Lee Designs stable, so he’ll have that familiarity, even though he’ll be riding a Ducati instead of a GasGas. Anderson will be riding the same Suzuki that Roczen has sorted out over the last few years. I’m not making it any easier on myself. My gut says Barcia over Anderson barely, so Anderson is the P9 Wild Card pick for A1.

    

14. Don’t miss a gate drop! Be sure to bookmark our 2026 Supercross Television Schedule. Spoiler alert: Everything’s on Peacock, and most races start a 7 p.m. ET, though not all of them. If you want to keep track of the riders, don’t miss our rundown of Supercross rider numbers for 2026. This is also the opening round of the 2026 SuperMotocross World Championship series.

2026 Anaheim 1 Supercross Fantasy Picks

1. Cooper Webb
2. Chase Sexton
3. Eli Tomac
4. Ken Roczen
5. Justin Cooper

Wild Card P9: Jason Anderson

Photography by Don Williams, Tyler Maillet, Align Media, Octopi Media et al

2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Final Standings

1. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 365 points (5 Wins, 13 Podiums, 16 Top 5s)
2. Chase Sexton, KTM, 363 (7W, 12P, 15 T5)
3. Justin Cooper, Yamaha, 281 (4P, 9 T5)
4. Malcolm Stewart, Husqvarna, 277 (1W, 3P, 7 T5)
5. Ken Roczen, Suzuki, 271 (1W, 7P, 11 T5)
6. Aaron Plessinger, KTM, 255 (1W, 5P, 8 T5)
7. Dylan Ferrandis, Honda, 194 (2 T5)
8. Justin Hill, KTM, 194 (1 T5)
9. Shane McElrath, Honda, 192 (1P, 1 T5)
10. Justin Barcia, GasGas, 185 (2 T5)
11. Joey Savatgy, Honda, 153 (2 T5)
12. Jason Anderson, Kawasaki, 151 (3P, 3 T5)
13. Mitchell Oldenburg, Beta, 134
14. Colt Nichols, Suzuki, 130
15. Benny Bloss, Beta, 113
16. Eli Tomac, Yamaha, 80 (1W, 1P, 3 T5)
17. Kyle Chisholm, Suzuki, 78
18. Jett Lawrence, Honda, 71 (1W, 2P, 2 T5)
19. Christian Craig, Yamaha, 69
20. Mitchell Harrison, Kawasaki, 65
21. Hunter Lawrence, Honda, 62 (3 T5)
22. Dean Wilson, Honda, 57
23. Freddie Norén, Kawasaki, 43
24. Kevin Moranz, KTM, 42
25. Jerry Robin, Yamaha, 39
26. Justin Starling, GasGas, 22
27. Grant Harlan, Yamaha, 22
28. Tristan Lane, KTM, 19
29. Jeremy Hand, Honda,19
30. Jorge Prado, Kawasaki, 18
31. Anthony Rodriguez, KTM, 18
32. Cade Clason, Kawasaki, 15
33. Vince Friese, Honda, 14
34. Logan Leitzel, Yamaha, 13
35. Coty Schock, Yamaha, 8
36. Bubba Pauli, Kawasaki, 6
37. Ryan Breece, Honda, 3