Honda has committed four riders to the 2026 Women’s Motocross Championship, spreading its factory support across Quad Lock Honda Racing, SLR Honda, and Storm Lake Honda Buddy Brooks Racing for a six-round series that opens this weekend at the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Northern California.
Charli Cannon anchors the effort. The Australian finished second in the 2025 WMX championship standings and returns to Quad Lock Honda Racing aboard a CRF250RWE. Cannon enters the season as one of the field’s top contenders in a series that has drawn the deepest rider lineup the championship has seen, according to the SuperMotocross League, which now sanctions WMX under title sponsorship from Synchrony.
Mikayla Nielsen is back with SLR Honda for a third consecutive season. The Californian is a three-time AMA NGPC National Champion with a résumé that marks her as a threat for wins and podium finishes. SLR Honda also adds Mayla Herrick to its lineup. The Colorado native competed on the victorious Team USA squad at the 2026 FIM Oceania Women’s Motocross Cup in March and has qualified to compete against the men in Schoolboy 2 at the Loretta Lynn’s AMA Amateur National Championship this summer. Herrick will make her WMX debut at round three on her 17th birthday, the AMA’s minimum age for professional racing.
Kyleigh Stallings joins Storm Lake Honda Buddy Brooks Racing following an off-season team change. The four-time Loretta Lynn’s Champion finished in the top five in all but one WMX moto last year. The Oklahoman will compete in the final three rounds of the series.
The series gains visibility this year through a revised broadcast structure. First motos run on Fridays. Second motos shift to Saturdays and will air live on Peacock, which gives the championship a broadcast slot during the AMA Pro Motocross rounds it runs alongside. After Hangtown, the series travels to Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland before concluding August 28 in Indiana. WMX will also be showcased during the September 26 SMX World Championship Final in Ridgedale, Missouri, an addition that places the women’s series in front of the combined supercross and motocross season finale crowd.
The broadcast commitment and the SMX League’s involvement mark a shift in how the series is positioned. WMX now operates under the same organizational structure that runs the men’s supercross and motocross championships, with more than $150,000 in OEM contingency backing the 2026 season.
Brandon Wilson, Manager of Racing & Experiential at American Honda, framed the company’s support in the context of the broader motorcycling community. “Women make up an important, growing segment of the motorcycling community, so it’s fitting that they have meaningful representation on the elite motocross scene,” Wilson said. “We’re proud to have Quad Lock Honda, SLR Honda and SLH Honda supporting athletes the caliber of Charli, Mikayla, Kyleigh and Mayla.”
Whether the broadcast exposure and the organizational backing translate to sustained growth depends on how the series holds attention beyond the initial rounds. The six-race calendar is shorter than the 11-round men’s Pro Motocross schedule, and the Friday-Saturday split means WMX does not compete for air time on the same day as the main program. That insulates the series from direct comparison but also limits crossover visibility. The September SMX Final showcase offers one chance to put the championship in front of the full motocross audience at once.
Source: Honda. Images courtesy of Honda.
