Words and images courtesy Toyota Redlands BarX Yamaha
The first 250SX Class East/West Showdown of the AMA Supercross Championship brought a return to action for Toyota Redlands BarX Yamaha for Round 10 of the 2026 SMX World Championship from Birmingham, Alabama’s Protective Stadium. The convergence of each regional championship featured the deepest field of riders to date, while an unpredictable racing surface posed a unique challenge for the lineup of Parker Ross, Dilan Schwartz, and Lux Turner. The trio did their best to grind it out and put forth their best efforts, which resulted in a mixed bag of results. Additionally, amateur rider Cole Timboe was also back in action in SMX Next.
#40 Parker Ross // 11th Place Heat Race & 6th Place LCQ
It was a night of heartbreak and frustration for the team’s lead rider, who found himself on the outside looking in following both the Heat Race and LCQ and missed out on the Main Event for just the second time in his young career. Ross searched for comfort throughout the day in qualifying and into the night show. Adding to his challenge were mid-pack starts that forced Ross to battle through a tight field on a track where it was both difficult to gain ground and make passes. The speed was there and Ross’ tenacity was as vibrant as ever, but time was not on his side and ultimately prevented him from gaining the necessary positions to secure a transfer spot. Despite the misfortune, Ross maintained his hold of ninth in the Western Divisional standings.
“I definitely struggled with my starts a bit and just couldn’t move forward like I normally would. I basically just need to be better in the beginning of the motos. I’ll definitely work on that the next couple weeks before St. Louis.”
#42 Dilan Schwartz // 14th Place
While the result wasn’t necessarily what he wanted, there were a lot of positives for Schwartz to take away from in his first race back from injury. It was a day of building momentum, starting with a top-16 time in qualifying, which led the team, followed by an eighth-place finish in the Heat Race to transfer directly into the Main Event. Schwartz started 15th to begin the last race of the night and worked his way as high as 12th before settling in for a solid finish in his first race in seven weeks. He showed improvement every time he took to the track in Birmingham and has reestablished his proven base to build on before the East/West Showdown returns in a couple weeks.
“Birmingham was fun. It felt great to be back behind the starting gate. I had good speed all day, but when the Main Event came around I rode tight. Not pleased with the end result but with more time on the bike I should be better in a couple weeks in St. Louis.”
#43 Lux Turner // 15th Place
As has been the case for much of the season, Turner’s result in Birmingham wasn’t indicative of the quality of riding and racecraft he displayed. After a bit of a slow start in Qualifying, he made a big turnaround for the Heat Race and took advantage of a top-5 start to easily secure a transfer spot into the Main Event. Unfortunately, adversity struck after the final gate drop as Turner completed the opening lap in 20th place and was forced to fight his way from the rear of the field. On a track where passing was at a premium, Turner impressed with a hard-fought and resilient climb up to 15th that brought him within reach of Schwartz by the time the checkered flag flew.
“My riding was good so I’m happy with that, but I really need to get a good start in the Main Event if I want better results, so I’ll work on that. My starts are always good so I’m not too worried about that. It was just a silly mistake on the line before the gate dropped. We’re going to keep improving and will be ready for St. Louis.”
“I’m not going to lie, it was a struggle of a weekend for the team. Dilan and Lux showed good speed in practice, while Parker struggled all day long and then into the night. Neither Dilan nor Lux got good starts in the Main Event and that cost them a better result. We’ll learn from it, get back to work over the next couple weeks, and will look to come out better because of it for the next showdown in St. Louis.” – Bradley Taft, Team Manager
The third SMX Next race of the year for Timboe continued the impressive progression the young prospect has shown throughout the 2026 thus far. Not only has his overall speed, technique, and confidence been on an upward trajectory, he’s rewarded the hard work by bettering his result each time. A 10th place finish in Anaheim was followed by an eighth in Houston, which was bettered in Birmingham with a personal-best seventh place finish. Timboe’s road to that result was even more impressive considering he narrowly avoided involvement in a first-turn incident and was forced to fight his way forward from a 16th-place. What lies ahead is a potential run at the SMX Next Supercross National Championship in Philadelphia on April 25th.
“Birmingham was sick. I definitely had an up and down day but I was happy to finally put it all together in the Main Event. I got a little tangled up on the start and then again in the first rhythm, so I’m happy to come out with a seventh. I feel like my SMX Next performances have been getting better each round, which I’m happy about. At the first two I had the speed at the practice track but didn’t ride the same at the race. I’m happy I was able to put some more pieces together.”
“Cole rode awesome. He just got put into some situations that cost him time and track position at the beginning of the race. He got caught up in the fallout of the first-turn pileup, but his riding was awesome and he was the hard charger of the race coming from 16th to 7th.” – Bradley Taft, Team Manager
