Canadian Trystan Hart won the fourth round of the 2026 AMA EnduroCross Championship in Salt Lake City, tightening the title fight to a single point with two races remaining. Hart scored 1-2-1 finishes in the three EX Pro motos at the Maverik Center on Nov. 7, giving him his third consecutive overall victory.
Jonny Walker finished second overall with a 2-4-5 scorecard, while Ryder LeBlond placed third after going 3-1-8. Walker remains the championship leader with 91 points, but Hart is now directly behind on 90. LeBlond sits third on 82.
The championship will be decided in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where rounds five and six are scheduled on consecutive nights, Nov. 13 and 14. That doubleheader leaves little recovery time and makes every moto important.
Hart controls the opening race
Hart led the first moto from the opening lap and stayed in front for all 12 laps. Walker moved into second on lap two and reduced the gap to less than half a second after lap six, but Hart rebuilt his margin over the second half of the race.
The Canadian finished 2.353 seconds ahead of Walker. LeBlond held third from the second lap onward, while Cody Webb recovered from ninth early in the moto to finish fourth.
The result gave Hart the best possible start under the Olympic scoring system used to determine the overall. In that format, finishing positions are added across the three races and the lowest total wins. A first-place result counts as one point, so consistency is as important as a single moto victory.
A recovery ride in moto two
The second moto required a different kind of performance. Max Eppelmann led the opening three laps, and LeBlond moved from fifth on lap one to the lead by lap four. He then pulled away to win the 11-lap race by 8.704 seconds.
Hart was 12th after the opening lap. He worked forward to third by lap seven, then passed Braxton Hintze for second on lap nine. That recovery limited the damage from the poor start and left Hart tied with LeBlond on three Olympic points entering the final moto.
Walker also had to recover. He was eighth after the first lap and dropped to 14th on lap two before climbing to fourth at the finish. His comeback kept him in the overall fight, but the fourth-place result increased the pressure on the last race.
The final moto decides the overall
Hart took control immediately in moto three and led every lap. Behind him, Cooper Abbott, Walker, LeBlond and Webb fought for the remaining positions. Abbott held second for much of the race, briefly lost it to Walker and then reclaimed the place on lap 10.
LeBlond was involved in the same battle and had recovered to third before a hard crash across the finish line late in the moto. He finished eighth, but his earlier results were enough to preserve third overall.
Hart won by 17.090 seconds over Abbott. Webb moved into third late, Hintze took fourth and Walker finished fifth. Hart’s win produced an overall total of four Olympic points, compared with 11 for Walker and 12 for LeBlond.
Three straight wins change the championship
Hart’s season looked very different after the Las Vegas opener, where he finished fourth overall. Victories in Nampa and Everett moved him back into contention, and the Salt Lake result has reduced Walker’s advantage to the minimum possible margin.
The sequence matters because Hart is not relying on one exceptional night. Three consecutive overall wins show repeated speed across changing track layouts and race situations. In Salt Lake, he won from the front twice and recovered from 12th to second in the moto he did not win.
Walker’s lead still matters. A one-point advantage means Hart cannot treat the finale as if the standings are already level. LeBlond also remains a factor, only nine points behind the leader, and individual moto results can quickly change the Olympic-point totals for each round.
Idaho Falls raises the pressure
The final two rounds will be held Friday and Saturday at the Mountain America Center. A back-to-back conclusion changes the normal rhythm of a championship weekend. Riders and teams must repair machines, manage injuries and reset mentally in less than a day.
For Hart, the objective is simple to describe but difficult to execute: score enough across six remaining motos to overcome Walker’s one-point lead. The exact title permutations will depend on each night’s overall result, so declaring a required finishing position before the racing begins would be premature.
The schedule also increases the value of mechanical preparation. EnduroCross courses combine logs, rocks, tires and other obstacles in a compact arena. A damaged wheel, control or cooling component can be costly when the next championship round begins the following evening.
A Canadian title story reaches its decisive stage
Hart is already a two-time AMA EnduroCross champion, but the 2026 chase has developed into a direct rematch with Walker after the pair finished level on points in 2025 and Walker took the title on a tiebreaker. The current one-point gap gives the Idaho Falls finale another unusually narrow setup.
Salt Lake nearly erased the deficit without deciding the championship. Hart now arrives at the final doubleheader with three straight wins, proven recovery speed and a clear opportunity to take the standings lead on the track.
Canadian off-road fans can follow the final two rounds on Nov. 13 and 14, with the first night’s results carrying directly into Saturday’s championship decider. The back-to-back format leaves Hart, Walker and LeBlond little opportunity to recover from a difficult opening round of the finale.
