Chance Hymas

Every championship has its quiet threat — the rider who doesn't lead the headlines but keeps showing up on the podium anyway. In the 2026 250MX class, that's Chance Hymas. The Team Honda HRC rider from Pocatello, Idaho sits fifth in the championship with 230 points through eight rounds, and the trend line only points one direction: at Washougal he went 3-3 for third overall, backing up a 3-3 at the round before the field even noticed he'd arrived.

The stat that tells the real story: net positions gained from the holeshot stripe. Hymas sits at +99 through eight rounds — second-best in the entire 250 class behind only points leader Levi Kitchen. Translation: whatever happens off the gate, Hymas goes forward. Every moto, all summer.

The Idaho Way

Hymas comes from Pocatello, Idaho — a long way from the amateur hotbeds of California and the Southeast. Signed by Honda as a teenager, he's developed inside the same HRC structure that built the Lawrence brothers into the dominant force of the sport, riding the factory CRF250R. That pipeline shows: his riding has the calm, technical HRC signature, and 2026 is the season it's converting into results.

The Run-In

With three rounds left — Unadilla, Budds Creek, and Ironman — Hymas is chasing his first overall win of the season while defending a top-five championship position. With chaos ahead of him in the standings (a points leader who has led nine laps all year, and a charging Cole Davies), a big finish could vault him further up the board than anyone expected in May.