LAS VEGAS, Nev. — October 3, 2026 — Jonny Walker took the overall win at the opening round of the 2026 AMA EnduroCross Championship at the Orleans Arena, but he had to get past Ryder LeBlond late in the final moto to do it.
Walker opened the night with a win before finishing fourth in Moto 2. LeBlond’s third and first put him one point ahead heading into the deciding race, with Trystan Hart tied with Walker and Cooper Abbott still in contention for the overall podium.
LeBlond led with two laps to go, but Walker closed through the logs as the leaders worked through traffic. The two came alongside each other, and Walker moved ahead at the tire-covered finish jump as the white flag came out. He held on for the win, giving him a 1-4-1 finish and the overall on the final-moto tiebreaker.
LeBlond’s 3-1-2 results left him tied with Walker on six points and second overall. Abbott rounded out the podium with a 5-2-3 finish after leading the early laps of both the second and third motos.
Hart crossed the line eighth in the finale after working his way back from opening-lap trouble. He later received a disqualification for on-track assistance prohibited under AMA rules, placing him 16th in Moto 3 and seventh overall with 2-3-16 results.
The opener marked EnduroCross’s return to the Orleans Arena for the first time in nine years.
Cooper Abbott (12), Jonny Walker (1), Trystan Hart (84) and Cody Webb (2) lead a pack of EX Pro riders through the opening turn in Las Vegas.
Photo: Jack Jaxson
EX Pro Moto 1
Abbott was first through the opening turn, but Walker got ahead as the field entered the rocks. From there, Walker held the lead for the rest of the 10-lap race.
Hart followed Abbott through the early laps before getting around him in the logs. He was in second by Lap 3 and began closing on Walker, bringing the gap down to 3.715 seconds with two laps remaining. Walker pulled away again over the closing laps to take the win by 5.798 seconds.
Behind them, LeBlond worked his way forward from fifth. He moved into fourth on Lap 3 and took over third on the next lap. Webb briefly slipped to fifth before getting back past Abbott for fourth on Lap 6.
Jonny Walker finished first, Trystan Hart second, Ryder LeBlond third, Cody Webb fourth and Cooper Abbott fifth.
Ryder LeBlond (513) tackles the logs on his way to second overall in EX Pro.
Photo: Jack Jaxson
EX Pro Moto 2
Blake Neville came out of the first turn ahead in Moto 2, with Nick Thompson also near the front through the opening obstacles. Abbott soon moved into the lead and had Thompson behind him at the end of the first lap.
LeBlond was in fourth early on, but moved past Thompson into second by Lap 3 and started closing on Abbott. By the end of the fourth lap, he was less than a second behind. LeBlond took the lead on Lap 5 and held it to the checkered flag, winning the eight-lap race by 4.630 seconds.
Hart was in eighth after the opening lap and worked his way through the field to reach third on Lap 5. Abbott held onto second, finishing 1.787 seconds ahead of Hart.
Walker had to come from farther back. He was in 10th at the end of the first lap and was still ninth after three laps. He made up ground in the second half of the race, reaching fifth with one lap to go before moving into fourth on the final lap. Thompson finished less than a second behind him.
The win gave LeBlond a one-point advantage over Walker and Hart going into the final moto. Abbott was another two points back.
Ryder LeBlond finished first, Cooper Abbott second, Trystan Hart third, Jonny Walker fourth and Nick Thompson fifth.
EX Pro Moto 3
Abbott jumped out front again in the final moto, followed by LeBlond, Webb and Haaker. Walker was in fifth through the first two laps and had work to do to reach the leaders.
Hart ran into trouble in the crowded opening sequence around the rocks and dropped to the back of the field. He was still in 16th after two laps before beginning his ride back through the pack.
Walker moved into fourth on Lap 3 and third a lap later. Ahead of him, LeBlond was closing on Abbott and was right on his rear wheel by the end of Lap 5. On the next lap, LeBlond took over the lead and Walker moved into second, leaving Abbott third.
LeBlond stayed in front through Lap 8, but Walker kept him within reach. With other riders around them in the log straight, Walker closed the gap and drew alongside. He moved ahead over the tire-covered finish jump just as the white flag waved.
Only 0.316 seconds separated them going into the final lap. Walker stretched that to 1.546 seconds at the checkers, taking his second moto win of the night and the overall. Abbott held third to secure the final spot on the overall podium, followed by Webb and Haaker.
Hart recovered to cross the finish line eighth, but his disqualification for on-track assistance placed him 16th in the third moto. His 2-3-16 finish gave him 21 points and seventh overall. Riders who finished behind him moved up one position in the final moto results.
Jonny Walker finished first, Ryder LeBlond second, Cooper Abbott third, Cody Webb fourth and Colton Haaker fifth.
EX Pro Overall Results
Walker and LeBlond each finished with six points, with Walker’s win in the final moto deciding the overall. Abbott was third with 10 points.
Webb, Haaker and Thompson tied on 20 points. Their finishes in the final moto put them fourth, fifth and sixth overall, respectively.
|
Position |
Rider |
Moto finishes |
Three-moto total |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Jonny Walker |
1-4-1 |
6 |
|
2 |
Ryder LeBlond |
3-1-2 |
6 |
|
3 |
Cooper Abbott |
5-2-3 |
10 |
|
4 |
Cody Webb |
4-12-4 |
20 |
|
5 |
Colton Haaker |
8-7-5 |
20 |
|
6 |
Nick Thompson |
9-5-6 |
20 |
|
7 |
Trystan Hart |
2-3-16 (DSQ) |
21 |
|
8 |
Branden Petrie |
10-8-7 |
25 |
|
9 |
Tim Apolle |
6-11-8 |
25 |
|
10 |
Braxton Hintze |
7-10-9 |
26 |
EX Expert
Niko Piazza made his move on the final lap to win the Expert class. Nick Thompson had led the first six laps, with Piazza following in second throughout the race.
Piazza was just over a second behind as they started the seventh and final lap. He got ahead before the finish and took the win by 3.648 seconds. Thompson finished second, followed by James Flynn, Riley Bender and Kamakana Waiwaiole.
EX Pro Women
Shelby Turner led from start to finish in the six-lap Pro Women final, though Rachel Gutish kept the pressure on and closed to within 2.596 seconds heading into the last lap.
Turner answered with her fastest lap of the race, a 59.870, and took the win by 12.655 seconds. Gutish finished second, with Chantelle Bykerk third, Katie Hall-Leah fourth and Nikki Russell fifth.
EX Intermediate
Cole Clarkson led all six laps of the Intermediate final to take the win over Kael Widdicombe by 10.516 seconds.
Widdicombe, Makanna Barger and Cayden Hatcher held second through fourth throughout the race. Talon Thatcher came from eighth on the opening lap to round out the top five.
EX Novice
The lead changed hands twice in the opening three laps of the Novice final. Landon Johnson led the first lap before Damon Ellis moved ahead on Lap 2. Johnny Hagan worked his way from third into second, then took the lead on Lap 3.
Hagan stayed out front to the finish of the five-lap race, winning by 9.155 seconds over Ellis. Johnson finished third, followed by Zachery Griswold and Colton Combs.
EX Junior
Kael Widdicombe took the Junior overall with 1-2 results, ahead of Cole Clarkson’s 3-1 finish.
Widdicombe led the first three laps of the final moto, but Clarkson stayed close and was just 0.140 seconds behind at the end of Lap 3. Clarkson took over on the next lap and pulled away to win by 9.378 seconds.
Makanna Barger finished third overall with 2-3 results. Ethan Surry and Cayden Hatcher rounded out the top five.
EX Veteran
Bobby Prochnau passed Eric Rhoten for the lead on Lap 2 of the Veteran final and stayed out front for the rest of the six-lap race. He took the win by 21.208 seconds.
Rhoten held second, with Ray Amos third, TJ Scrupps fourth and Nathan Vandervliet fifth.
EX Club
Ray Amos took the Club win to go with his third-place finish in Veteran. Tegan Warnick was second, followed by Augustus Thompson, Zachery Griswold and Juan Rojas.
Next Round
The 2026 AMA EnduroCross Championship heads to the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, on October 17 for the second round of the six-round series.