Prado Leads KTM Charge with Glendale Top Five

Jorge Prado tops qualifying, wins his heat and finishes fifth at the Glendale round of the AMA Supercross Championship, while Eli Tomac recovers to 12th and Aaron Plessinger secures eighth for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

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Round five of the AMA Supercross Championship inside State Farm Stadium delivered one of those classic Supercross nights, blazing speed in the afternoon, elbows-out intensity after dark, and just enough first-turn drama to flip the script for half the field. Through it all, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing left Arizona with clear momentum, led by another step forward from Jorge Prado.

Prado looked locked in from the moment practice began. He ripped around the high-speed, technical layout to set the fastest qualifying time of the day with a 56.451s lap, then backed it up by taking control of his heat race from the start and never giving anyone a sniff. The confidence showed. The bike looked planted, the lines were clean, and everything felt calculated rather than rushed.

When the gate dropped for the Main Event, he launched well but got squeezed entering the first corner, forcing him to check up and settle into the pack. Instead of overpushing, the 25-year-old rode smart. He picked riders off methodically, managed the chaos around him, and brought the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition home in fifth. It wasn’t flashy, but it was mature, the kind of ride that quietly builds championships. With the result, Prado climbs to seventh in the standings and continues a clear upward trend as he grows more comfortable in full-time Supercross competition.

On the other side of the truck, Eli Tomac had the speed to win but the luck of a coin toss. He entered Glendale with the red plate and immediately showed why, qualifying second and storming to the holeshot in his heat before disappearing for a dominant victory. Everything pointed to a podium charge.

Then came the first turn of the Main. A multi-rider tangle unfolded in front of him, and Tomac got caught in the mess before the race had even settled. Suddenly he was last, remounting and trying to regroup while the leaders checked out. From there it became a damage-limitation ride. He dug deep, found his rhythm again, and clawed his way back to 12th, salvaging valuable points that could matter big time come the final rounds. He now sits third in the championship, still only eight points from the lead, which keeps the title fight very much alive.

Aaron Plessinger quietly put together one of his steadiest performances of the season. After qualifying ninth and transferring straight from his heat, “The Cowboy” spent the Main Event battling inside the top ten and keeping things tidy. He crossed the line eighth, a solid, confidence-building finish that gives him something to build on heading into the middle stretch of the calendar.

At the front of the field, Ken Roczen took the win ahead of Hunter Lawrence and Cooper Webb, tightening an already close championship picture. Still, KTM’s takeaway from Glendale is clear: the raw speed is there. Prado topped the timesheets, Tomac dominated his heat, and all three riders showed they can run up front.

Seattle is next, and if this trajectory continues, it feels less like a question of if an orange bike lands on the box and more like when.