SMX Next Houston 2026: Building Toward Daytona

Round 4 at Houston was our second SMX Next race of 2026, and we had Trinnytie Batchelor (#48) and Chace Lawton (#50) back in the main event. This was a bounce-back weekend for Chace and a learning experience for Trinnytie as we continue building toward Daytona.

Houston was Round 4 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, held at NRG Stadium—the first Triple Crown format of the season. The track featured big rhythm lanes and technical sections that challenged the riders. The indoor stadium provided consistent conditions, but the layout demanded precision through the rhythm sections and whoops. For race-day coverage and context, Racer X’s live written updates and results from Houston cover qualifying through the main event.

Trinnytie Batchelor

Trinnytie struggled a bit with the track this weekend. He was having difficulty pushing through the bigger rhythm lanes—we’re going to need to do some suspension testing in the weeks leading up to Daytona. He was pretty decent in the whoops, but needed more in the big rhythm sections.

Trinn qualified into the main and started near the back and din’t put himself in a good postion to capitalize on mistakes by other riders. On Lap 7, Cole Forbes went down and Trinn ran into his bike and also fell. That kind of ended his main event—he finished 17th with a best lap of 0:55.951. It’s frustrating when something like that happens, but that’s racing. We’ll use this as data for suspension work and get him more comfortable in those rhythm sections before Daytona.

Chace Lawton

Chace felt much stronger this week—a welcome bounce-back from Anaheim 2. He was 4th fastest on Sector 1 and 8th fastest in the whoops, showing his speed is there. He struggled a bit learning the track and had an outside gate pick, but still managed to get an 11th place start.

What impressed me most was his consistency and progression throughout the race. Chace actually dropped his lap time every lap except one, and he was 2 seconds faster per lap on the last 3 laps than the first 3. He finished 11th with a best lap of 0:54.692 We need to work on early race intensity for Daytona, but overall this was a much-needed bounce-back performance.

Performance Data

Chace’s sector data shows his strengths—4th fastest in Sector 1 and 8th fastest in the whoops. His ability to find speed as the race progressed is evident in the data. Trinnytie’s sector performance highlights where we need to focus—the big rhythm lanes. The data confirms what we saw on track, and it gives us clear direction for suspension testing and setup work.

Hunter Racing Results

Pos	Rider	Start	Best Lap	Net Passes
11th	Chace Lawton	11th	0:54.692	0
17th	Trinnytie Batchelor	18th	0:55.951	+1

Caden Dudney won the SMX Next main, coming from 6th to take the lead and win wire-to-wire over the final 8 laps. Full lap data and the complete field are available on MotoPivot.

Practice & Qualifying

Photo Credit: Align Media

Closing

We’re pleased that we’re healthy and on track for Daytona. Chace’s bounce-back performance shows he’s back to form, and Trinnytie’s struggles give us clear direction for suspension work. Both guys are learning and improving each weekend.

Thanks to our sponsors for their continued support—we wouldn’t be able to do this without them.

Next up is Daytona (Round 8), and we’ll see Will Canaguier back in action—his first time on a real supercross track. We’re looking forward to having all three riders together again.