Round 13 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship went off this weekend inside of Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. This weekend also marked the second of three 250SX East/West Showdowns. The week was filled with debate on what direction the 250SX East title fight would go after things tightened up in last weekend’s Foxborough mud bog. Forgotten in the championship headlines was that Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rookie Cole Davies was coming into the weekend on the heels of his first career win in Seattle.
Unfortunately, the showdown main event was red flagged after a couple laps for a downed Daxton Bennick. But when the gate dropped for the second time (a full restart) it was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire who took advantage of the red flag restart and turned his first turn crash into a holeshot. Davies came around lap one in fifth and methodically picked his way through Coty Schock and Haiden Deegan and then got by both Seth Hammaker and Hampshire on lap six to take the lead. Despite a late charge by his teammate Deegan, Davies ran off with the win relatively unchallenged. By the end of the night Davies reminded us again of just how special he is. The Kiwi came through some of the biggest names the 250 field has to offer and claimed back-to-back wins. The first time a rookie has won back-to-back Supercross races since Trey Canard in 2008.
In the post-race press conference Davies’ admitted that the red flag fired him up for the restart.
“I was in a good spot before the red flag, so I was a bit pissed off to be honest,” Davies said. “When I lined up, I was a bit pissed on the gate. I knew I had to reset and get another good start. I didn’t get a great start. We were pretty much just battling it out, and I got to the lead, and I tried to put some good laps in early and just rode it home from there.”
Davies talked about how he just rode his own race and tried not to focus on who was on which coast or about championship points.
“I don’t really try to think about the riders, I try to think about myself,” he said. “There are some big names out on the track, but I just try to focus on myself and doing what I can and just executing.”
Watch some highlights from the post-race press conference below.
Davies’ improvement his 2023 and even 2024 SMX Next performances is astonishing to say the least. When he was asked about adapting to supercross at the pro level so quickly he simply credited the people around him.
“If someone tells me something, I just think it in my mind,” he explained. “I break it down and make sure I execute it. That’s what I try to do, I try to execute to my potential and do the best I can do. I don’t want to let go of all my secrets, but we have been working out at the farm. Training with Swanny [Gareth Swanepoel], it has been good. Training with the boys, cycling, gym, stuff like that. For the most part we have just been working hard and stoked to get the results out of it.”
Former 250 East Division supercross champion Ben Townley worked with Davies back in their native New Zealand back in their younger days and posted an interesting video of teaching Davies to handle whoops from just a few years ago. Now, Davies might already be the best 250 rider in the whoops.
Fortunately, the SMX Track Crew did an incredible job this weekend and we had a great track in Philadelphia. However, there was a serious threat of another mudder, and the Star Yamaha team took the necessary measures to ensure their guys were ready for whatever mother nature may bring. During the week, the team prepped for mud by over watering the track. Davies explained the unique way of preparation after the race.
“How did we do it? We were riding around the test track, and they were watering the track while we were riding,” he joked. “We thought it was going to be super muddy again, so we were getting some mud testing in. Trying to dial the bikes in, trying some different stuff in the mud. Just trying some mud stuff.”
Seeing rookies win supercross races is not exactly unprecedented, but it is rare. In 2008, Trey Canard won three in a row to start his career on his way to beating heavy pre-season favorite Ryan Villopoto for the title. Ryan Dungey, Adam Cianciarulo, and James Stewart are some of the few rookies who have won multiple races. Davies’ win in Philly moved him into second in points, 17 behind his teammate Deegan. With two races to go (one showdown) the title is a stretch, but regardless his rookie season has put him in extremely rare company. He will go for the three-peat when the series resumes in three weeks in Denver, Colorado.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Haiden Deegan | Temecula, CA  | 221 |
| 2 |  Julien Beaumer | Lake Havasu City, AZ | 189 |
| 3 |  Cole Davies | Waitoki, New Zealand  | 171 |
| 4 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 163 |
| 5 |  Garrett Marchbanks | Coalville, UT | 145 |
