COOPER WEBB: Retains the red plate with a dominating win in Indy, the 47th SMX League victory of his career (13th all-time) and 28th 450SX Class victory (tying Rick Johnson for 8th all-time). He becomes the 10th athlete in 450SX Class history with 70 podiums and 14th with 120 top-10 finishes. Webb has never scored eight podiums with three victories through the first 10 rounds of a season and could do so with a podium in the Birmingham Triple Crown.

JUSTIN COOPER: Tied his career best 450SX Class result with a runner-up finish, the other coming in the 2024 Salt Lake City finale. He was making his 145th SMX League start, capturing his 59th podium and 90th top-5. Cooper finished sixth in the points last season and is on pace to break that personal best sitting fourth going into Birmingham.

CHASE SEXTON: Earned his 38th career 450SX Class podium, tying him with Jean-Michel Bayle for a spot in the top-20 all-time. It was his 95th SMX League podium which also puts him into a tie for 20th with Bob Hannah. He also secured his 70th career 450SX Class start. More accolades include his 135th top-5 and 170th top-10 in his SMX League career. Sexton has never gone six straight 450SX Class rounds without a top-2 finish since the first six 450SX Class starts of his career in 2021. He is at five straight without a top-2 going into Birmingham.

NOTES: Justin Barcia (4th) Secured his first top-5 finish of the season with a fourth becoming the 15th athlete with 75 Premier Class top-5 finishes. Aaron Plessinger (5th) Back-to-back top-5 finishes after not securing one in the first seven rounds. It was his 20th 450SX Class top-5 finish, moving him into the top-50 all-time. It was his 95th SMX League top-5. Dylan Ferrandis (8th) Made his 50th 450SX Class start (164 SMX League start) and scored his 35th 450SX Class top-10. Kyle Chisholm (15th) Became the eighth athlete in 450SX Class history with 175 starts. He has 341 SMX League starts.

HISTORY LESSON: Alabama hosted four rounds of AMA competition before last season’s Birmingham Supercross round, including in the first ever Pro Motocross season (1972). Talladega Speedway hosted the 450 Class finale and eighth round of the 500 Class that season with Gary Bailey winning 450 Class overall and Brad Lackey in the 500 Class. The series returned to Talladega in 1973 Gary Jones winning the 450 Class overall and Pierre Karsmakers winning the 500 Class.

MORE ALABAMA RACIN’: In 1984 (pre 250SX Class) Talladega hosted Alabama’s first Supercross round with Jeff Ward scoring the victory. In 2004 the Women’s Motocross Championship made a stop for round four at Montgomery’s Monster Mountain. Tarah Geiger scored 1-2 results for the win over eventual series Champion Jessica Patterson (3-1).

RETURN TO ALABAMA: Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama opened in October 2021 and became the 64th different 450SX Class venue and 58th different 250SX Class venue when they hosted Round 9 of the 2024 Supercross season. College Football’s University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers have used the stadium since it opened in 2021. Garth Brooks’ concert in 2022 set the Stadium’s attendance record at 50,000.

CHAMPIONSHIP %: Including all AMA competition, there have been eight rounds of racing in Alabama (2 450 Pro Motocross, 2 500 Pro Motocross, 1 WMX, 2 450SX, and 1 250SX). 5/8 winners also won their respective Championships (63%), including Jett Lawrence (450SX) and S

SETH HAMMAKER: Scored his first win of the season and second of his career, and first since 2021 (Arlington 1). He sits only 11 points off the red plate. Mitch Payton’s Pro-Circuit Kawasaki squad now has 300 points-paying SMX League victories.

TOM VIALLE: Steals the red-plate with his second in-a-row runner-up. He now has 20 SMX League podiums in 51 starts and 9 in the 250SX Class in 23 starts. The Eastern Divisional grabbed the first two spots on the podium and three of the top-5.

RJ HAMPSHIRE: Stays in the title hunt with his 41st 250SX Class top-5 finish, tying him with Jeremy Martin for third all-time. His 70th 250SX Class start ties him with Josh Hansen for 11th on the all-time list. His top-5 finish was good for the 90th of his SMX League career (58th in 250SX Class).

NOTES: Max Anstie (7th)Fourth highest finishing Eastern Divisional athlete but loses his red-plate to Vialle. Looking for his 40th 250SX Class start in Birmingham Max Vohland (10th)Rounds out the five Eastern Divisional athletes to score a top-10 finish in the Showdown. He now has 14 top-10s in 17 250SX Class starts.

PRE-TRIPLE CROWN TRIPLE CROWNS: Before the first official Triple Crown in 2018, there were five instances of the Triple Crown format being used to score a Supercross round. The first ever Premier Supercross round in Daytona 1974 used a Triple Crown format, which Pierre Karsmakers (Yamaha) famously won with a 2-1-1 overall. The next two seasons, 1975-1976, saw Triple Crown action in Daytona and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Jimmy Ellis (Can-am) won both in 1975 and the L.A. Coliseum in 1976, while Tony DiStefano (Suzuki) won Daytona in 1976. In these five rounds there were no sweeps.

FIRST OFFICIAL TRIPLE CROWN: On January 20, 2018, Supercross embarked on a new journey in which three rounds of the Supercross season would be Triple Crown formats. Angel Stadium’s Anaheim 2, which was Round 3 of the season, hosted the first official Triple Crown, and first with the three-race format since 1976. It was the first with a three-race format in 250SX Class history. Cole Seely (Honda, 450SX) and Joey Savatgy (Kawasaki, 250SX) won the first Triple Crown races. Savatgy would end with the overall victory, but Seely faltered with a seventh in the third race to concede the victory to Eli Tomac (Kawasaki), the first of many Triple Crown race wins and Overall victories for Tomac.

SEASONS AND VENUES: The series hosted three Triple Crowns in 2018 and 2019 but fell one shy due to the covid-altered 2020 season. The covid-altered 2021 season did not include any Triple Crown rounds but has steadily hosted three in the following seasons of 2022-2024. Birmingham will be the third and final Triple Crown of the 2025 season and Protective Stadium is the 10th different venue to host a Triple Crown. Angel Stadium (Anaheim), State Farm Stadium (Glendale), and AT&T Stadium (Arlington) have hosted four Triple Crowns a piece, while the Dome at America’s Center (St. Louis) has hosted twice. Indy, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Detroit, and Houston have a single Triple Crown appearance. 2025 Birmingham will be the 20th Triple Crown since the series officially implemented the model in 2018.

CHAMPIONSHIP %: In all six of the seasons where Triple Crown racing has occurred since 2018, the eventual Premier Class Champion has won at least one Triple Crown overall. This season seems to be heading in that direction, as the two Triple Crown victors sit 1-2 in the points (Webb & Sexton). In 250SX racing, only half of the seasons did one of the two Divisional Champs score a Triple Crown overall. The Western Divisional points leader, Haiden Deegan, scored a Triple Crown victory in Arlington while Birmingham will be the only Eastern Divisional Triple Crown.