After struggling with a hand injury early in his first MXGP (450) campaign, Herlings has come on strong in recent weeks and is currently second in the championship behind Antonio Cairoli. Herlings has spent the past week training with Aldon Baker in Florida and rode press day at the track on Thursday. As we pointed out yesterday, Herlings will have some adjustments to make in his debut.

Only pride will be on the line for the 250 Class this weekend, as Zach Osborne clinched his first career 250MX championship last weekend. Adam Cianciarulo is looking to build upon his first career moto win, and overall, last weekend and hang onto third in the championship, which would be a career-best finish. Aaron Plessinger, who won here in 2015 and finished second overall last year, is only 11 points back of AC.

Coverage of qualifying begins at 10:00 a.m. on the NBC Sports Gold App.

First Qualifying Sessions

As we mentioned yesterday in “10 Things to Watch” since Southwick, GECIO Honda’s RJ Hampshire has been a consistent podium threat, and was one rider that could snag his first moto win this weekend. In the first qualifying session of the day, Hampshire proved he’s up for the challenge, setting the fastest qualifying time over teammate Jeremy Martin. Hampshire was the only 250 rider in the 2:14s with a 2:14.958. Martin was second with a 2:15.065.

When we spoke with Joey Crown earlier this week, he told us that he doesn’t have support for next year and that he was hoping to garner attention at Ironman. Well, in just his third professional race, the Michigan native is off to a great start, qualifying third fastest with a 2:15.757. Crown just nipped Budds Creek winner Adam Cianciarulo, who set a 2:15.758.

In his first race back from injury, Justin Hill looked good in the first session, qualifying fifth fastest ahead of Zach Osborne, Chase Sexton, Aaron Plessinger, and Justin Cooper.

Well, it didn’t take long for Jeffrey Herlings to get accustomed to racing in the U.S. The three-time MX2 World Champion dropped a heater on the final lap of the first session to edge Eli Tomac for the fastest time. Herlings was the only rider in the 2:09s, with a 2:09.422. Tomac was second with a 2:10.051.

Herlings was nearly two full seconds faster than third place Marvin Musquin (2:11.527). The top three were well ahead of the fourth fastest qualifier, Cooper Webb, who set a 2:13.158. Blake Baggett, Justin Barcia, Christian Craig, Justin Bogle, Dean Wilson, and Weston Peick rounded out the top 10.

Second Qualifying Sessions

Momentum is a scary thing, and Adam Cianciarulo is carrying a ton into Ironman on the heels of his first career overall win last weekend at Budds Creek. GEICO Honda rookie Chase Sexton held the fastest time for much of the second session, but was shuffled back to third late when Cianciarulo dropped a 2:12.676 on lap six (of seven). On the final lap Jeremy Martin put in a 2:12.823 to secure second fastest overall. Sexton slotted into third with a 2:13.348. RJ Hampshire, fastest qualifier from the first session, was sixth fastest in the session and overall.

In just his third career race, Justin Cooper set the fourth fastest time ahead of Zach Osborne, Hampshire, Aaron Plessinger, Justin Hill, Sean Cantrell, and Colt Nichols.

The surprise of the first session, rookie Joey Crown, was just 16th fastest in the session. His first time was enough for 11th overall.

At different points in the second 450 qualifying session, Jeffrey Herlings was three to four seconds faster than the second fastest qualifier. While the pack would trim the gap, Herlings was more than a second faster than second place Eli Tomac.

Herlings bettered his time from the first session and dropped an amazing 2:08.230 late to capture fastest qualifier. On the final lap Tomac dropped down to a 2:09.680 to secure second.

Third fastest qualifier, Blake Baggett, was nearly two full seconds behind Herlings with a 2:10.168. Marvin Musquin was fourth with a 2:10.954. Cooper Webb, Justin Barcia, Christian Craig, Cole Seely, and Weston Peick rounded out the top 10.

We’ll have combined times once the 450 B second session is complete.

250 Moto One

Zach Osborne didn’t need to win the first moto at Ironman. The ultimate goal—the 250MX championship—had been achieved last weekend at Budds Creek. Yet, it didn’t stop the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider on a perfect afternoon at the season finale.

Out of the gate it was Jeremy Martin running off to the holeshot, with Osborne, Budds Creek overall winner Adam Cianciarulo, and a pair of rookies—Sean Cantrell and Chase Sexton—in tow.

On the opening lap, Osborne didn’t hit the uphill triple, which allowed Cianciarulo to get around a few moments later for second. Up front, Martin was hoping to open a gap but went down. He remounted outside the top 10. A few moments later, Aaron Plessinger also went down and would get up just in front of Martin.

Osborne hounded Cianciarulo for 20 minutes—less than two seconds separating the two. On lap 9, Cianciarulo drifted wide, which allowed Osborne enough room to get into the lead. Osborne proceeded to put the hammer down and pull away from AC.

Look at the times once Osborne got into the lead:

Osborne: 2:11.694
Cianciarulo: 2:14.796

Osborne: 2:09.764
Cianciarulo: 2:11.274

The gap would never waver from there, as Osborne raced to a 9.1 second moto win. Cianciarulo cruised home for second.

After disposing of Cantrell after a fierce battle early, Sexton held the final podium spot in his grasps until two laps to go. Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Colt Nichols had pulled to within a second of Sexton, but with a lap and a half to go Sexton ran into a lapper and went down. He remounted in fifth, but a few moments later went down for a second time. He went on to finish 10th. This allowed Nichols to earn his first-career moto podium.

Plessinger worked back through the field to get fourth. Mitchell Harrison joined his Star teammates inside the top five with fifth. Cantrell finished sixth after an early run at the podium. Bradley Taft finished seventh, ahead of Martin, Kyle Cunningham and Sexton.

450 Moto One

Eli Tomac is one step closer to his first career 450 title but it didn’t come without some shaky moments in the first moto at Ironman.

Tomac got off to a hot start with Blake Baggett and the visiting Jeffrey Herlings in tow. Herlings was on a mission early, blasting around Baggett and Tomac to take his first-ever lead in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. Early in the race Tomac was trying to stick with the three-time MX2 World Champion when his championship nearly unraveled. Tomac jumped to the outside, maybe trying to set Herlings up for a pass, when he hit soft dirt and high-sided. Fortunately for Tomac and the Kawasaki brass, he was able to quickly remount in sixth, but had problems with his clutch, as he continue to bang on the lever over the next couple laps.

In desperate need for as many points as possible, Musquin, who had worked around Baggett earlier, started to apply pressure to Herlings for the lead. By lap 8, Musquin had cut his 3.1-second lead to 1.6 and was even pulling onto the rear wheel of the world champion. But Herlings remained in control under the intense pressure and a few laps later had stretched his lead back to over three seconds.

Herlings’ Gap on Musquin in Moto One:

Lap 3: Herlings 3.1

Lap 6: Herlings 2.3

Lap 8: Herlings 1.6

Lap 11: Herlings 3.8

Lap 13: Herlings 5.7

Lap 14: Herlings 6.9

Lap 16 (end of race): 8.0

Musquin wasn’t able to mount another charge and Herlings cruised to the moto win in his first-ever Pro Motocross race. Musquin finished second and pushed the 450 championship to the final moto of the year. Baggett took home third ahead of Cole Seely and Eli Tomac.

Cooper Webb, Weston Peick, Benny Bloss, Christian Craig, and Justin Barcia rounded out the top 10.

Tomac holds a 24-point lead over Musquin and Baggett entering the final moto.

250 Moto Two

The final 250 moto of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season featured a familiar name at the top of the leaderboard.

There was no backing it down for 250MX champion Zach Osborne today at Ironman Raceway. After hounding Adam Cianciarulo for 20 minutes in the first moto before finally taking the lead, and eventually, the win, Osborne ran away with the second moto for a perfect 1-1 day.

In a carbon copy to moto one, it was Cianciarulo, Jeremy Martin, Osborne, and Sexton up front early. This time Osborne wasn’t going to patiently sit behind AC. He struck quickly to inherit the lead from Cianciarulo, who had more trouble behind from Aaron Plessinger. On the same lap as he lost the lead, AC would also lose second to Plessinger. But shortly after taking over second Plessinger went down. He would remount in fifth but later pulled out of the moto.

Once out front, Osborne, like in moto one, dropped the hammer and pulled away. By the third lap he had already stretched his lead to more than six seconds. He’d never waver en route to a dominating 8.3 second moto win. Despite some late pressure, AC would hang on for a second straight runner-up finish.

Behind Osborne and AC, it got interesting for the final podium spot late in the race. Colt Nichols hounded Jeremy Martin for third for a majority of the moto before finally making a pass stick late in the race. Martin wasn’t giving up, though, and stuck with him over the final few laps before making a pass stick on the final lap. Nichols would hang on the fourth and take third overall, his first career overall 250MX podium.

Tough day at the office for Chase Sexton, as he crashed again late in the moto after coming together with teammate RJ Hampshire in a battle for fifth. Hampshire would finish fifth, while Sexton remounted to finish sixth.

Rookie Justin Cooper finished a solid seventh ahead of Mitchell Harrison, Justin Hill, and Nick Gaines.

450 Moto Two

That’s a wrap on the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and we have a new champion.

The championship was pushed to the final moto after points leader Eli Tomac crashed early in the first moto and finished fifth, while title rivals Marvin Musquin and Blake Baggett finished second and third, respectively. Entering the moto he held a 24-point lead on both and just needed to finish in the points to claim his first career 450 championship.

Baggett and Musquin did what they needed to do on the start as they ran 1-2 early. Moto one winner Jeffrey Herlings got a bad jump, as did Tomac. Herlings ran into more trouble when he tangled with Fredrik Noren and went down and would remount near the tail end of the field. From there, it was a masterful display of riding from the world champion as he carved his way through the field with relative ease.

By the second lap, Herlings was already up to 14th and climbing quickly. A lap later he had already caught Tomac and was soon around him as well. Herlings continued to push hard and had worked up to Baggett in second with around a minute plus two to go. He quickly got around Baggett as well and was setup for a second place finish as Musquin had built around a ten second lead. But on the final lap, Musquin went down before the Godzilla jump and handed the lead over to Herlings, who went on to a 2.6 second win in an amazing display of riding. He also claimed the overall with 1-1 scores. Musquin went 2-2 for second overall and Baggett brought home third with 3-3 finishes.

With Herlings in the lead, Tomac’s finish didn’t matter. He was in no hurry on this day to charge his way through the pack. Yet, he was able to work up to sixth and clinch his first career 450 title.

Cole Seely took fourth ahead of Cooper Webb, Tomac, Weston Peick, Christian Craig, Justin Bogle, and Dean Wilson.