As Jason Thomas mentioned in his column, the track appears fairly simple. There is a big set of whoops, but they are short and will likely breakdown as the day moves along. The start is short and bends into a tight left hand turn and into a rhythm section. For more on the track, check out Staging Area.

The 250 points battle is tightening up, with the top three separated by just nine points. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne is coming off a fifth in Daytona, and holds a six point lead of Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy. Adam Cianciarulo is another three points back, but is coming off his first win since 2014 last weekend.

In injury news, Cooper Webb is still out due to a shoulder injury, but the team expects him back for Detroit. Red Bull KTM's Trey Canard is back after missing Daytona due to a crash in Toronto. Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM has brought on Dakota Alix for the remainder of the East Region to fill-in for the injured Benny Bloss. Cameron MaAdoo is out again this weekend due to a hand injury, but will make his debut with GEICO Honda next weekend in Detroit.

You can watch qualifying live at 12:50 p.m. EST on Racer X Online. Fox Broadcast will have live coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST.

First 250 practice

250 First Practice

Points leader Zach Osborne set the fastest time in the first practice, but that wasn’t the big story. Early in the session, Adam Cianciarulo took Osborne high in a corner. Osborne retaliated a few corners later, slamming AC hard, and knocking him off the track. AC was down for some time and received attention from the Alpinestars Medical team. He did get up under his own power and walked gingerly to the mule and was carted off the track. He did not continue the session. We’ll have more on his status for tonight as soon as possible.

On the track, Osborne, as we mentioned, set the fastest time with a 46.910. He was the only rider in 250s in the 46-second range. Joey Savatgy was second with a 47.009. Christian Craig was third with a 48.227.

A couple other notes. Savatgy, Craig and Mitchell Harrison were a few riders we saw jumping onto the tabletop out of the corner, similar to their 450 counterparts. The track crew removed the little dragon’s back prior to the big triple. We’re unsure why the move was made.

Rounding out the top 10 was Alex Martin (fourth), Jordon Smith, Dylan Ferrandis, Luke Renzland, Kyle Cunningham and Jesse Wentland.

450 First Practice

Marvin Musquin appears to be back to 100 percent after a recent battle with the flu. The Red Bull KTM rider set the fastest time in the first practice with a 46.100. Eli Tomac tried to chase him down late, but came up short with a 46.831.

Points leader Ryan Dungey was seventh, but he pulled out of the session early after a crash. Dungey did not appear to be injured and did get up and ride off under his owner power.

Blake Baggett's recent impressive form continued in the first session as he was third fastest (46.990), followed by Davi Millsaps, Trey Canard, Jason Anderson, Dungey, Broc Tickle, Dean Wilson and Malcolm Stewart.

250 Second Practice

The drama was toned down in the second 250 session, but there was still plenty to talk about. Joey Savatgy has dialed in jumping onto to table out of the corner and was the fastest overall qualifier.

Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM’s Jordon Smith appeared to have the top spot locked in, as he sat on a 46.599 late in the session. But Savatgy put in the fastest qualifying time on the final lap with a 45.605. Marvin Musquin was the only other rider in the 45-second range. He was the only 250 rider to dip into the 45-second range. Smith held on for second.

“I’m really starting to feel like myself," offered Savatgy after the session. He also said they made changes between practices, which really helped.

Zach Osborne was third fastest in this session with a 46.910. He tried to jump onto the table out of the corner, but wasn’t able to dial it in.

Adam Cianciarulo did lineup for the second session, after leaving the first session following a hard slam from Osborne. He was making a few mistakes, but appeared to be okay. He set the eighth fastest time with a 48.326.

Christian Craig was fourth fastest with a 47.187, followed by Dylan Ferrandis, Alex Martin, Mitchell Harrison, Cianciarulo, Cole Thompson, and Luke Renzland, who had a pretty big crash and did not continue.

450 Second Practice

Marvin Musquin is absolutely rolling today. The Red Bull KTM rider was a class above in the second session, laying down a 45.948 to captured the top spot.

Eli Tomac was second behind Musquin with a 46.141. In his first race back since a qualifying crash in Toronto, Trey Canard was third fastest in the session with a 46.389. He was followed by Jason Anderson, Blake Baggett, Ryan Dungey, Dean Wilson, Broc Tickle, Davi Millsaps and Josh Grant.

Chad Reed had a big crash in practice, and was slow to get up. He did eventually get up under his own power and walked off the track, but he did not continue the session. He qualified 13th.

250 Heat 1

Despite tweaking his knee in qualifying, Adam Cianciarulo led the field in the first heat race, grabbing the holeshot over Jordon Smith, Christian Craig and Alex Martin.

Cianciarulo had company up front, as the top four ran in tight formation on the opening two laps. Smith made a move for the lead on lap two, jumping onto the table out of the corner to pass for the lead.

On the following lap, Craig made his way into second with a nice pass through the whoops. After passing AC, Craig pressured Smith the remainder of the race, but couldn’t make anything stick. Smith held on for a 1.3 second win.

Cianciarulo regrouped and held off a charge from Martin to capture third. Jesse Wentland, Kyle Cunningham, Anthony Rodriguez, Henry Miller and Gradie Featherstone will transfer to the main.

Luke Renzland and Gannon Audette, among others, will head to the LCQ.

250 Heat 2

A lot of action to begin the second 250 heat race of the night. Mitchell Harrison grabbed the holeshot over Dylan Ferrandis, Joey Savatgy and Zach Osborne.

Osborne and Savatgy moved into second and third, and began to mount a charge toward the lead. In the first time through the whoops, Savatgy made a big mistake and went down. Ferrandis, who was directly behind him, went over the bars as well.

With Savatgy and Ferrandis out, Osborne quickly made his way around Harrison and took off for a 8.9 second win. Savatgy made a huge charge through the pack and came back to get third behind Harrison. Ferrandis worked back up to eighth.

Dakota Alix finished fourth over Fredrik Noren, Cole Thompson, Josh Short, Ferrandis and Jerry Robin.

Josh Cartwright and Lorenzo Locurcio, among others, are headed to the LCQ.

450 Heat 1

Not much to report from the front of the first 450 heat race, as Eli Tomac took the holeshot and led wire-to-wire to grab the win by 6.2 seconds over Cole Seely.

The real battle was for the final transfer spot between Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey. Dungey got off to a poor start, but came through the pack to latch onto the back of Reed for fourth. For every move Dungey made, Reed was there to counter. They even caught up to Anderson in third.

Dungey looked to have a pass made late in the race, but Reed was quick to counter and the two would battle till the final lap. Reed actually made a slight mistake in the last rhythm prior to the finish, but Dungey wasn’t able to capitalize.

Dungey, Josh Grant, Broc Tickle, Mike Alessi and Jake Weimer, among others are headed to the semi.

450 Heat 2

It was an all KTM affair at the front early in the second 450 heat race. For much of the race, KTM held the top four spots, but that changed with a hard charge from Malcolm Stewart.

Blake Baggett held the early lead, followed by Davi Millsaps, Marvin Musquin and Trey Canard. Millsaps took over the lead from his teammate on the first lap. By lap four Musquin had also gotten around Baggett to move into second. But Baggett didn’t go away and latched onto the top two.

Musquin tried for a few laps to make a move on Millsaps, but wasn’t able to make anything stick. As the last lap approached, Musquin cut to the inside prior to the finish to finally take the lead. He held on for a 1.5 second win over Millsaps. Baggett finished third.

Malcolm Stewart broke up the KTM party by taking fourth. It was an impressive ride from Mookie, who overcame a bad start and blitzed through the whoops to pass Canard for the final transfer spot.

Canard, Justin Bogle, Justin Brayton, Vince Friese, Justin Barcia and Alex Ray, among others, are headed to the LCQ.

250 LCQ

Dylan Merriam took the holeshot in the LCQ and went wire-to-wire for the win. Josh Cartwright held second behind Merriam for the entire race.

Scary moment for Drayke Sizemore, who was running third. He went down hard in the rhythm section prior to the finish and was on the ground for a long time while being attended to the Alpinestars Medical Unit. He was taken off the track on a backboard. We’ll try and get an update on his condition.

Luke Renzland had to fight through the pack, but he made it up to third. Eric Grondahl would take the final transfer spot.

450 Semi 1

It was a Smartop/MotoConcepts Honda 1-2 start to the first 450 semi race as Vince Friese and Mike Alessi held the top spots early.

Justin Bogle got into second on the opening lap, and then made the pass on Vince Friese through the whoops on the following lap. Friese held onto second for a majority of the race, but on lap five made a mistake in a rhythm section which allowed Dean Wilson to get around. On the same lap, Josh Grant made a slick pass prior to the final rhythm section before the finish to take third. Friese would finish fourth.

Mike Alessi grabbed the final transfer spot over Nick Schmidt, Alex Ray, AJ Catanzaro, Adam Enticknap and Kyle White.

450 Semi 2

Justin Brayton, like his MCR counterpart Vince Friese, took the holeshot in the second 450 semi. He was followed by points leader Ryan Dungey, Broc Tickle, Jake Weimer and Justin Barcia.

At points, Dungey was jumping through the whoops, but then switched back to blitzing them later in the race. Neither would lead to a pass, as Brayton put in an impressive performance to take the win by less than a second. Tonight, as has been the case for much of the year, will be very dependent on the start.

Tickle rode a great race in third, and was even catching Dungey at points in the race. Weimer got pressure from Barcia late in the race, but Barcia must have made a mistake because he dropped back on the final lap.

Trey Canard went down hard on the start. He was able to remount, but he only finished 10th and is headed to the LCQ along with Kyle Chisholm, Cade Clason, Justin Starling and others.

450 LCQ

Trey Canard can exhale, as the Red Bull KTM rider took over the lead on the first lap of the 450 LCQ and rode way with the win.

The real action, as is typical in the LCQ, took place behind the lead. Alex Ray jumped into the final transfer spot through the whoops, but AJ Catanzaro slammed him in the following corner and sent him off the track. Ray would then crash while trying to reenter the track. On the same lap, Catanzaro push Cade Clason wide right before the finish (they would meet again later), which allowed Kyle Chisholm to jump past both (they both rolled the finish) and into third.

Then came the final lap. Clason was hunting Catanzaro down for third and went for the block pass right before the finish. They collided, Catanzaro launch into the tower and Clason went down This allowed Adam Enticknap to steal the final spot on the last corner.

Nick Schmidt finished second behind Canard.

250 Main Event

This was a battle of the titans of the class. Zach Osborne and Joey Savatgy went head to head in a 20 lap slugfest. The two leaders broke away from the pack and fought tooth and nail the entire way.

Lappers played a big factor tonight, as the leaders lapped up to eighth. Savatgy held the early lead, with Osborne, and TLD teammates Alex Martin and Jordon Smith in tow. A huge pileup in the first rhythm section, which took about half the field, may have contributed to the leaders hitting lap traffic so early. The top four of Osborne, Savatgy, Martin and Smith pulled away from the second four pack of Adam Cianciarulo, Christian Craig, Dylan Ferrandis and Mitchell Harrsion.

Martin and Smith stayed close to Savatgy and Osborne for much of the race, before Martin made a huge mistake in the rollers after the finish and lawn darted into the Tuff Blocks. Smith, with nowhere to go, ran into the back of Martin. Both were held up, but only Martin, who was passed by Smith for third, lost a spot. Smith held on to the final podium spot ahead of Martin and Cianciarulo.

Up front, Osborne took over the lead on lap nine, when Savatgy jumped through the whoops and he blitzed them and put a block pass for the lead the following corner. While going through lapped traffic, Osborne couldn’t pull away from Savatgy, but Savatgy also couldn’t make a run at the lead. While Savatgy stayed close, he couldn’t get close enough to pull the trigger on a pass late in the race. Osborne took the win by 2.2 seconds. Osborne now holds a nine point lead over Savatgy

Christian Craig finished sixth ahead of Ferrandis, Harrison, Anthony Rodriguez and Kyle Cunningham.

450 Main Event

In the 450 main event, like its 250 counterpart, looked like we were going to see the top two in points square off head to head. While it had all the makings of a Tomac, Dungey showdown for the win, it turned into a Musquin, Dungey showdown for second.

Blake Baggett grabbed the holeshot in the main event and was followed by Dungey, Tomac, Musquin and Chad Reed. Dungey went for second early and passed Tomac, but Tomac fought through a few sections later to reclaim second.

By lap two, Tomac had moved into the lead, getting Baggett. Knowing he need to strike quickly to not let Tomac get away, Dungey moved into second a few seconds later. Tomac pulled a bit of a gap early, stretching it to around three seconds, but Dungey was able to reel him back in and cut it to a little over one second. But it didn’t last long, as Tomac again started to pull away and quickly built the lead back up to three seconds. Meanwhile, Musquin started the race right behind Dungey, but then started to lose ground. At the halfway point he got his lines sorted out and started gaining a ton of time on Dungey. He also got around Baggett when Baggett went down in the rollers after the finish in a crash very similar to Alex Martin’s in the 250 main event.

On lap 19, Musquin pulled to the rear of Dungey and made a pass stick. He proceeded to open a gap on Dungey and reeled Tomac in a bit. But Tomac again responded and built his lead to over five seconds by the end of the race.

With his sixth win in the last eight races, Tomac has cut the points deficit to just 12 with Dungey’s third place finish.

Cole Seely took fifth ahead of Davi Millsaps, Chad Reed, Broc Tickle, Jason Anderson and Justin Barcia.