The path from amateur prospect to professional racer is about to become a championship of its own.
The SMX League announced on November 3 that SMX Next, its development program for elite amateur riders, will expand significantly in 2027. The program grows to a unified 10-round regular season split evenly between Supercross and Pro Motocross, and it culminates in a new postseason championship: the SMX Next World All-Star Championship, held across the two SMX Playoff rounds.
Here is how the new system works, from a teenager's first qualifying result at an amateur major to a 22-rider postseason final on the sport's biggest stage.
What Is Changing for 2027?
SMX Next has existed as a series of prospect races attached to professional events: Supercross rounds in stadiums, plus the Scouting Moto Combine gatherings held alongside Pro Motocross. Riders such as Haiden Deegan and Cole Davies passed through the program on their way to the professional ranks, and MX Sports Pro Racing's Tim Cotter pointed to both as proof of what the pathway can produce.
For 2027, those separate pieces become one championship structure. The Supercross and motocross prospect races are unified under a single points system, with equal weight given to each discipline, and the season ends with a formal postseason rather than a standalone showcase.
Five Supercross Races, Five Motocross Races
Each of the 10 regular-season events will feature a field of 25 prospects. Five SMX Next races run alongside Monster Energy AMA Supercross rounds in stadiums, and five run alongside Pro Motocross Nationals outdoors, giving young riders experience in both disciplines before they turn professional.
That balance is deliberate. A prospect who is brilliant in a stadium but unproven outdoors, or the reverse, will now have both skill sets tested inside one points chase.
Points, Showdowns and Seeding
Riders earn points at every regular-season SMX Next race. Within each discipline, the first four events build toward the fifth and final race of that discipline, which serves as the SMX Next Showdown for Supercross and for Pro Motocross respectively.
The important number, though, is the combined total. Points from all 10 events, stadium and outdoor, are added together, and that combined tally determines which riders qualify for the postseason and how they are seeded when they get there.
How Amateurs Earn a Place in SMX Next
Before a prospect can score SMX Next points, he has to get into the program, and that road runs through six of American amateur motocross's biggest events, the American Motocross Majors: Spring A Ding Ding at Oak Hill Raceway in Texas, the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross at Daytona, Mammoth Motocross, the AMA Amateur National Championship at Loretta Lynn's, the Motoplayground Race at Ponca City, and the Mini O's at Gatorback Cycle Park.
The top three finishers in the 250A class at each Major earn SMX Next places, with one exception: at Loretta Lynn's, the top five qualify. A maximum of 20 riders qualify on finishing position, and a minimum of five more are selected by invitation to complete the prospect pool.
There is also a year's delay built into the system. Qualification results apply to the following season, so the fields for 2027's SMX Next races are being decided by results at the 2026 Majors.
SMX Next Goes International
The 2027 structure also includes the program's first regional expansion outside the United States. SMX Next Australia runs prospect races during the AUSX Supercross Championship, and up to three Australian-program riders can qualify for the World All-Star postseason based on their combined points.
It is a notable step: the development pathway now formally extends beyond American amateur racing, giving international prospects a defined route to the same postseason stage.
The World All-Star Postseason
At the end of the regular season, the top 15 riders in combined points qualify automatically for the SMX Next World All-Stars. Add up to three qualifiers from SMX Next Australia and four additional riders selected by invitation, and the postseason field is set at 22 athletes.
The World All-Star races take place at SMX Playoff 1 and SMX Playoff 2, on the same weekends as the SMX World Championship playoffs. For a teenage prospect, that means racing on the biggest stage in the sport, in front of the teams and manufacturers who will decide the next round of professional contracts.
The Complete 2027 SMX Next Schedule
Supercross rounds:
- January 22–23 — Angel Stadium, Anaheim, California
- February 5–6 — Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
- February 19–20 — Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
- March 5–6 — Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
- April 2–3 — Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts (Supercross Showdown)
Pro Motocross rounds:
- June 4–5 — Hangtown Classic, Sacramento, California
- June 11–12 — Thunder Valley National, Lakewood, Colorado
- July 2–3 — RedBud National, Buchanan, Michigan
- July 16–17 — Spring Creek National, Millville, Minnesota
- August 27–28 — Ironman National, Crawfordsville, Indiana (Motocross Showdown)
Postseason — SMX Next World All-Star Championship:
- September 10–11 — SMX Playoff 1, venue TBD
- September 17–18 — SMX Playoff 2, venue TBD
The full professional calendar is on our 2027 Supercross Schedule & Tickets page.
What It Means for Developing Riders
SMX Next is a development program, not a professional championship. It is distinct from the professional 250SX class, and earning an SMX Next starting position does not come with a professional contract. What it does provide is structured, high-level racing experience in both disciplines, in front of the professional industry, with a transparent route in: finish at the front of the 250A class at a Major, and the gate drops follow.
The timing adds to the stakes. From 2027, the minimum age for an AMA professional Supercross license rises to 18 under the new AMA rule changes, which makes a well-defined amateur pathway more important than ever. Riders like Carson Wood, who swept both of 2026's Scouting Moto Combine events at RedBud and Ironman, are exactly the prospects the expanded system is built to showcase.
Beginning in 2027, those prospects will not just be racing for one-off wins. They will be racing through a season, a points chase and a postseason, learning the championship craft before they ever line up as professionals.
Source: SMX League announcement, November 3, 2026. Photo: MX Sports Pro Racing — Carson Wood takes the checkered flag during 2026 SMX Next – Motocross racing at the RedBud Scouting Moto Combine.
