Jorge Prado crashed on Lap 11 of the second moto of SMX Playoffs Round 2 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, while battling Hunter Lawrence for the race lead and dropped him to fourth. With all the major contenders for the 2026 SuperMotocross World Championship title lined up in the top four positions, the math entering the finale was going to be complicated.
“When I crashed, I was like, ‘Well, now if I thought I was in a good spot, now I’m not in a good spot. Now I got really got to fight,’ ” Prado said after the race. “And I already thought I was fighting, but now I really need to dig and get to the guys in front of me. I’m not really good at when I crash to get back in the fight quick, but for some reason today I was quick. I was quick.”
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Prado underscored his speed with the repetition.
“I was again in the fight and I caught the guys up front and I was doing great lap times,” Prado continued. “Physically, I was feeling perfect. So why not hammer down and let’s try to get the win? I knew Hunter was too far, but my goal on those laps was just to get to second. And I knew I didn’t have to make too difficult of calculations to know that I was going to be the overall winner. My goal was to get to second after the crash and that’s exactly what I did. It was tough. It was tough.”
Jorge Prado overcame a crash in Moto 2 at Dignity Sports Park before finishing second in the race and first overall. Feld Entertainment / Align Media
Prado reached down deep, passed Ken Roczen for third on Lap 14 and Haiden Deegan for second on Lap 20 when the rookie crashed in the sand. At the time of the pass, there was a four-way tie in scoring for the round. Deegan would have been scored second overall and would have had a two-point cushion over Prado.
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Prado finished second in both motos and was scored the overall winner. With the victory, he left Carson with a 16-point advantage over Deegan and Hunter Lawrence. Roczen is two points further back in fourth.
A podium finish this week will give Prado his first American title and he will pocket the $1 million bonus that goes to the SMX Championship winner.
“I came to the States with trying to accomplish my goals,” Prado said. “I don’t need to try and show anyone that I’m better than other guys. I just do it for myself. I just came here to the States because my dream was to get World Championship back in MXGP, and I did that. And my next dream is to be Supercross Champion and Outdoor Champion here, and hopefully next week, SMX champion.”
That will not be an easy task with how well Lawrence, Roczen, and Deegan have ridden in the first two round of the 2026 SMX Playoffs.
Jorge Prado and Ken Roczen engaged in one of the best battles of SMX Round 2 in the first moto at Dignity Health Sports Park. Feld Entertainment / Align Media
The tight, technical corners required to fit a race track inside an NFL or MLB park creates a unique set of circumstances. Learning the skills needed to race in the stadium series took longer than Prado believed it would. The soccer stadiums in Carson and in the opening round in Columbus, Ohio, intensified that trait.
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This week the series travels to Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri, to race on a substantially longer track that should have a more motocross-like feel. Prado won his first Pro Motocross race three weeks ago in the series finale at Ironman Raceway.
He was not part of the championship fight in the final race; that came down to a brother versus brother battle between Hunter and Jett Lawrence.
But Prado has campaigned for, and won, titles in Europe.
“First of all, I’ve been in this position before, so I feel like I’m capable of dealing with the pressure,” Prado said. “For some reason, every time I get the red plate, it doesn’t matter if it’s here in the States like now or back in Europe, I just feel better. I feel more confident and my riding just gets better for some reason. It looks like the red plate suits me a lot.”
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Prado’s journey to America began in 2015 as a 14-year-old. Fresh off the EMX 125 European Championship, which he won, Prado tested in Corona and Elsinore, California, and attended Supercross races in Anaheim.
Roczen won the first two Anaheim rounds that year.
“I was actually expecting myself to get in the States earlier, but then things happened and I stayed more time racing MXGP and I just found myself in the States last year,” Prado said. “It’s not easy. I don’t remember any modern 450 World Champion from MXGP getting to the States and having a red plate and winning indoors and outdoors.
“I think what I’m doing, it’s not easy, especially because I’ve been riding outdoors for so many years and getting used to these kind of tracks, I thought it was going to be easier, but it really takes time. And for some reason I’m really good at it. So yeah, I’m super happy. I’m enjoying riding Supercross and now SMX and the Outdoors here. I think that [14-year-old] kid would be happy to see the future Jorge here on stage.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
