2026 Supercross Birmingham - 450 Qualifying 2

2026, building off his big improvements last year, and he's going to be tough to beat tonight. Talk about calm, cool, collected. That guy may be the best we've seen in a long, long time, the 96 of Hunter Lawrence. He is as calm as they come. There's no roller coaster ride with the 96. Whether he wins, loses, nothing. Not too high, not too low. And something we haven't talked about with Hunter, and Jet does the same thing, but if you look at his levers, his clutch lever, his brake lever on his motorcycle, they're pushed to the inside, closer to his bar pad, so his finger sits on kind of the far left side of the clutch and the far right side of the brake, and that allows him to have a little bit more control of the clutch, which is just another reason why he's probably, if not, he's one of the best starters in the class. Absolutely. He's been automatic this season. We took a look earlier here on Race Day Live at his average first lap position. It's much, much better than everybody else. Luke is just over two. Luke is 2.4. Eli Tomac over six, so that could be the difference there. Also, look how close Hunter Lawrence is to the actual gate. Some guys will get up right close to the gate. Some guys will back way up, so different strategies there from different folks. I always like being a little bit further back because I felt like the more great I could use, the better, the faster I'm going to launch, but whatever Hunter's doing, he's been doing a great job of it. It's so important to get elbows on the guys next to you right away, so I think that's probably the thinking with being a little bit closer to the gate. And it looks like guys are going to be around the box, maybe even towards the inside. Let's see how Hunter Lawrence comes out here as Cooper Webb gets a huge launch from the inside right there. Left hand, 180-degree turn, and then we also pay attention to the next turn, and that goes left as well as we're fueled by Amazon. We get 450 Group A Qualifier number two underway. And I think for the most part, say 90% of the Supercross races, there is so much traction in front of the gate. It's very difficult to keep the front end down on a 250, but especially on a 450, and so these guys are used to being as far forward as they can, and right now, you can see the start straight is very dry, so I think watching Hunter Lawrence's start right there, he got caught off a little bit by the lack of traction on the other side of the gate. It almost feels a little counterintuitive when you have to stay further back longer when these guys are so used to being as far forward as they can. Second half of the season, down 25 points. Don't you just feel like the number one of Cooper Webb is just, he's here, he means business here today in Birmingham. He really needs one race where he wins and stuff gets very chaotic behind him. If he can have one of these races in the next two or three events that gives him, say, a seven-point, ten-point chunk, if he smells blood in the water going into, say, the last three or four races, it's game on for the number one, but as of late, hasn't had the pace he needed to battle for the win, so it's a lot of added intensity for him. We've seen it since he's been on the track. He's been, it seems like, lap after lap, very aggressive, intense. He's riding with, my favorite word, he's riding with some conviction. Absolutely, he goes outside right there. That's that split section, then he's going to go inside. If you go outside right there, you can go triple out of the turn. You go inside, you have to go double, single. He launches out right there, and you mentioned this earlier, this is the line. We really haven't seen many variations in this rhythm lane. No, they jump, they're able to jump over that first five-footer, little double into the corner. Sometimes when you triple into the turn, you have a little bit too much pace, especially when you're going so low in that next turn, so guys sticking with that one. You see him going inside, jumps a little bit too far to the inside, doesn't get both tires in that little rut. And really difficult to get that angle right. His angle with the rut wasn't correct either, so guys kind of playing around with that. Seth Hamrick is still the only one that we've seen on air to get that properly, but clearly faster to go triple, double to the inside. This man's been fast all day long. Second in qualifier number one, the 51.5. Always impresses the 94. I love watching these guys steer with the back tire. You saw Ken carry so much speed through the whoops, broke the rear loose. It's a good lap for him, and I love that right side of the whoops. We saw Cole Davies there skimming, gets up the inside of Vince Freese. He is not happy. He got into it. I just saw a video when we were in break. He got into it with Mitchell Harrison in the first practice. A couple words exchanged with Vince Freese right there, so I actually like it for Ken. I like him a little fired up. He goes the whoop second, goes that second run, clicks up to third gear right there. Just look at the footwork right there. Watch this. Oh, just steers with the back, aligns himself perfectly in that rut on exit. That's the way to do it. 94, some of the best technique we've ever seen, and good to see Red Bull KTM's the number 26, Jorge Prado, back out on track after that big crash in Q1 earlier today. Eli Tomac. Got to give a shout out to Justin Hill on the top of the board right now. 52.3. We've seen a couple sessions in the last few weeks from Justin Hill showing that speed. This guy's been on the podium in the premier class in Supercross Salt Lake City 2023. He knows how to get it done. Great day for Justin Hill so far. Eli Tomac fastest overall from Q1 earlier today was a 50.9. That inside just isn't happening right now. It's tough, right? It's really not. You going two, three outside all day? Every single day of the week. Or you go single like that, slow the speed down a little bit, I think double it into that corner and trying to get into that little rut, asking a little bit too much of the tires. This is where Hunter Lawrence, these types of track conditions right here as he goes to the top 52.1, and we go to Cooper Webb once again on a fast lap. Seems like every time we show the one on screen, he is aggressive here today in Birmingham. There's no doubt about that. In point A to point B this season for Cooper, all the little things in between the jumps, in between the last jump, in the start of the corner, all that stuff. He's pushing these lanes harder than he ever has before in his life. He's always been so good in the corners. Let's see if anybody's going to make this work. It's Cooper Webb and gets hung up a little bit, but I still think that's better than drifting outside of the rut. Let's see what this time is for the defending champ. 52.1 nearly matches Hunter Lawrence's. Hunter's a 52.1 as well. You like Justin Cooper here today. I love Justin Cooper here today. This is a corner track right here. That's where you're going to make the time up. He goes to the top 51.9. Would not surprise me at all. I've just had this feeling. I've just had this feeling for the last few days that this is going to be a spectacular night for Justin Cooper. I've been wrong before. I'll be wrong again, but I think this track suits his style because he is so good in turns, a smaller whoop section, kind of eliminating a lot of his weakness. He's a great starter when he gets hot off the gate as well. Here's what's interesting, and I don't want to relate Justin Cooper to me at all. He's an incredible rider, but my first win was a triple crown in Atlanta. The very next weekend, I win Daytona. Could this be something that Justin Cooper does as well? Wins a triple crown, gets that extra confidence that I needed then, maybe that's just what he needed, gets his first career 450 victory. This man could get it done as well. Look, injury just a few weeks ago in Seattle, missed a race, came back in Indianapolis, was solid sixth place there, which was very impressive, but when you think about starts, whoops, technique, how about that right there? Wow, standing up all the way through that turn, so difficult to stay balanced on the bike. When you're making that much of a turn, you have the bike that far leaned over. Saw how he kept his head perfectly over the handlebars, dead center. That is very difficult to do, as you know, JP, but I'm kind of interested. There was a little bit, just a little bit of controversy between Hunter Lawrence and Jorge at Indianapolis. Hunter felt like Jorge kind of let Eli by and then jumped in front of him a little bit, and there was a couple comments back and So for Hunter, you know that Jorge, this guy, he's probably the only one that holds the candle to Hunter out of the gate consistently. You know Jorge's going to be up front, so I'm interested to see how much will Jorge try to get in between his teammate Eli Tomac and Hunter Lawrence. I don't think he'll do anything too crazy, but something to keep an eye on. Absolutely, comments back and forth on social media as well. Let's see if he can get this inside right there. He does not, but he hits it pretty good there, misses the rut, but still able to get some front end grip on that ripple. KTM stands all the way around, love his technique. Jorge Prado, let's see what he does here. 52.1 is his fastest. That last lap around 53.2, so a little bit off. How about Eli Tomac at the top of the board right now? Only one in the 50 second range. 50.9 as we watch Cooper Webb. He just finished up a fast lap. 52.3, that last lap around. Now, a lot of these times on the left side of your screen are from Q1. Other than Hunter Lawrence, 51.3, that came from this session here today. 50.9 from that man, Eli Tomac, that came from session one earlier here today. Hunter Lawrence on another fast lap, and like I mentioned, these track conditions, these are very similar, what main event style conditions late in the race, and he's a closer. You talked about it earlier. Hunter Lawrence loves this type of track. And you can kind of tell watching him ride, it's like there's more energy in his riding style when the track gets late, when the track gets broken down like this late in the day. So good. Sets his bike up for the end of the race really well. As I mentioned earlier, drifts just a little wide in that turn. Still at 51.7. That's his second best compared to his 51.3, but is Tomac going to go on one here? He looks like he's pretty aggressive. Goes to that low rut right there onto the table, on, off, triple to the inside. Let's see what he does here in the split lane. Does he go outside or does he go inside? He's going outside in, but you got to watch the top of these turns there. It's not very round, so you got to keep your head looking up to see which part of the turn has blown out so you know where to make most of your turn in those outside berms right there. But pretty good lap for Eli so far. A couple little mistakes, but it's going to be very difficult to be perfect around this racetrack in its current condition. Good in the whoops right there. Comes out triple, triple, then he goes quad. Let's see if he can nail this inside. Does he get the rut? He's a little short and he got it. We saw it. Drifts a little wide though. He's going to go low in this turn. Can he beat his best time? He is aggressive as we've seen him. Tomek, that last lap was a 51.6, so still a little bit off of Q1, but I think that's just track conditions. But then I say that with the Hunter Lawrence, faster in this session here. And I love is a great example of why Justin Cooper is so good in the turns and that left-hand inside option. He's so smooth when he gets on the gas. He doesn't upset the balance of the bike. It doesn't get low in the back. He's able to finish his turn completely. He's just so patient in the middle of his corners where he needs to be. And on a track like this, it's going to pay off in a big way. He likes to go double-double single to that inside. He's not messing with the triple-double to the inside. Doesn't want to make another mistake. He kind of elects to lay up towards the end of that lap. Must not have been his best as he's going to go on a fast one. The 94 is on a fast one right now. You can always know when Kenny, a lot of body English, a lot of movement trying to get the power to the ground. Remember, this is a track. It's a game of inches here, a game of tenths. So clean. You cannot hit that rhythm lane any better. And we've talked about it today. You have to do all those little things well. Just timing. If you're just a little bit off, if you're clipping, overshooting, it could add up in a big way. You see, gets into that inside, gets hung up just a little bit. That's potential to be a good lap here. His best so far is a 51.5. Can he better that? 52.2. He shook his head, I guarantee you, because he made that mistake in that left-hand turn before the mechanics area. He felt like he had a good lap going and then just let it get away at the end. Frustrating. Loved watching Eli Tomac through a lot of these turns. He leads with his head. He looks really far ahead. Oh, makes a mistake right there. Comes up way short on that triple, but just got his back tire stepped out of the rut a little bit there. And he knew as soon as he left the face that he was going to come up short, but lands in the correct body position. A lot of times when you case a jump like that, you kind of land on the brakes and the clutch at the same time to try to keep the bike from kicking you over. No harm, no foul for Eli. Cooper Webb, double, double, single. Looked like he wanted to get out of that turn early, but there's a rider there on the inside. He's on a fast one, though. He's fourth right now, 51.5. Let's see if he can better that time. And these guys did not better the time, 52.0 that time around, but these guys are sending it right now, JB. I did not think they would be able to go this fast late in the session. They're absolutely going for it. Hunter Lawrence, fastest in this session so far as he goes inside out, able to get that triple. 51.3 is his best. Going down the right side of that, then he's going to open up this next left-hand turn right here. Does he go high or does he go low? He goes, elects to go low. Jumps over the starter whoop there. Love that line. Gets a little out of control towards the end. He's going to back it down. Still, what a session for the 96th Honda HRC Progressive Ride. Fastest in this session. Cooper Webb, second in this session and fourth overall. Hunter Lawrence is going to be second overall. And Eli Tomek from that Red Bull KTM. I mentioned earlier that he has had 99 session wins and 48 fast qualifiers overall. Let's make that 49 in his career. 49 fastest qualifiers for Eli Tomek's career. What a career he has had and keeps breaking records weekend after weekend. It's crazy he has more wins than fastest qualifiers. Was he on 57, 58 wins now? Unbelievable. Yeah, and more to come. Haley's down with Eli Tomek. Back to back in qualifying for today. Once again, Eli Tomek fast again in Birmingham. Eli, to the average eye, that looked like calculated aggression out there. Was it that or was it patience or something else? I really wanted that last lap back, but just spun a little bit or got a little cross on it or maybe hit a rock on that rhythm section because I think the start of that lap was good. But not surprised that the first session was faster. It just got a little more dried out, a little more beat up, and the reps were pretty tough down the rhythm there. So we'll take it. Take this first place gate pick and roll into that night show. He is going to bring it. I've got a feeling we've seen it all day from him. That's Eli Tomek. I know we say it week after week, but it is so awesome to see Eli Tomek, this version of Eli, happy to be there. Wants that last lap back. He wanted to go faster than his 50.9. This guy just blows me away each and every week, and this is really the best. This is the best Eli Tomek has ever been. Think about that, how many things he's accomplished in his career, and he's at his best right now. As fans, we are blessed to watch it. Absolutely. Let's talk about that east-west showdown a little bit. Both Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders fastest on the west is Levi Kitchen. On the east is Seth Hammacher. It comes down to the start. You could have all the speed in the world in these showdowns, and if you don't make it happen in the first few laps, even if you're back there fourth or fifth off the start, if you're not going forwards in the showdowns, you're going back. So for those guys, they have to execute the beginning of the race. There's a lot of different guys that can win tonight in both classes, so I'm excited, Jimmy. And that 450 class, wow. I mean, you think about how impressive Eli Tomek is, but those track conditions and what Hunter Lawrence was doing out there in Q2, that's impressive. And don't count Cooper Webb out either. That was one of the keys going into practice, and this guy, he wasn't fastest, but just the way he looks on the bike, super aggressive. It's going to be a ruddy technical track tonight. I love what he's doing right now, so all four of those top guys, Ken Rocks and Eli Tomek, Hunter Lawrence, Cooper Webb, it's anybody's game. Haley, I can't wait for the race here tonight. We have a showdown. That 450 class is going to be great. Yeah, I need to just take a second to really gather my thoughts on those 250s because we witnessed a lot today, and tonight will be the first time that the coasts collide. But I really like what you guys have been bringing with this 450 class. I think it could cater to someone who is both aggressive, technically sound. I know this track is going to continue to be challenging throughout the night. I can't wait. East-West showdown. Awesome. Thank you so much, Haley. A lot to look forward to here tonight in Birmingham. It's round 10, the SMX World Championship. We go to Detroit next weekend, and then we go right back to another showdown in St. Louis. Adam, you know I love that dirt in St. Louis. That's some of the best we're going to see all season long. Nashville, that's one of my favorite stops on the circuit. Cleveland. Now, Cleveland, I'm looking forward to that one big time. Cleveland's going to be great. We've got a triple crown. We've got SMX next in Philly with Denver, and then the last one for Supercross, the 17th round of a 31 SMX World Championship series. That's going to be an East-West showdown. We're going to crown some champions there in Salt Lake City, but we're going to crown some winners here tonight. A showdown winner later on, 7 o'clock Eastern time. You are not going to want to miss that. That's live on Peacock and that SMX video past. Heat races, main events. We've got SMX next main event. We've got an East-West showdown. There's so much to look forward to, and also tomorrow, encore presentation at noon on NBC tomorrow, so tune in if you're not able to catch it live tonight.