In the 250s, Martin Davalos went down in the first turn literally seconds into this practice. He was up quickly. Austin Forkner led in times for a bit then Dylan Ferrandis, who has looked  great all year, snatched the top spot away. It stayed nearly until the end of the session until Zach Osborne and Forkner logged late flyers to take the top spots.

No one busted out the big Cooper Webb "quint" in the 450s. Blake Baggett was on top for a lot of this session until Marvin Musquin and Eli Tomac took it away late. Weston Peick got kicked on a triple and went down SUPER hard, but (and only Peick could do this) he got back up and rode off to the pits. We'll check on his status after this.

Final Practice

This track is tough. Riders have mentioned a rare combination of slick soil and ruts together, which means it's tough to get your bike in the line you need. Jeremy Martin had a huge crash in this session, but he was able to get up okay. Jordon Smith was on top of the board early, but the best times all came late, with Dylan Ferrandis making his way to the top. He's been so good in practice this year, on a technical track, he could be en route to his first career main event win.

Somehow, someway Weston Peick made it back out for this practice despite clearing an entire triple without his bike in the previous practice. Peick says his heel hurts. The track probably has numerous injuries after taking such a hit from Weston.

The only problem for Peick was that he didn't realize with the Triple Crown format that he would have to log a top 18 time to avoid going to the daytime LCQ (normally a rider only has to worry about making the fast 40 to get into a heat race). Peick only rolled a few laps to make sure he was okay--and then became LCQ bound.

Marvin Musquin was tops in this one, making for a French sweep of the best times in both classes.

250 LCQ

The LCQs run during the day here with the Triple Crown format. But the craziness did not change from the usual. Jerry Robin got the holeshot, Nick Gaines worked his way into the lead and then Frenchman Yanis Irsuti wadded hard on a triple. He had to be taken off on a board on the Alpinestars Mule. This brought out the red flag and a restart. This was costly for Robin, who ended up in a first-turn crash and out of qualifying position. Gaines was again the one to watch in this one as he block passed his way to the front for the win. Josh Osby, Jacob Williamson and Zack Williams grabbed the transfer spots.

 450 LCQ

Weston Peick ended up in the LCQ, but erased all drama but absolutely nailing his jump and holeshotting big. There was a gigantic pileup in the second turn which cost probably 10 riders a chance to even contend for a spot. Peick, Benny Bloss, Cole Martinez and Dakota Tedder were top four with Ben Lamay bringing fire and rain and anything else to get around Tedder. Then Tedder went down with two laps to go and Lamay had an easy path to the final transfer spot.

First 250 Main Event

Martin Davalos grabbed the holeshot over Zach Osborne. Jordon Smith had his first good start of the season in third followed by Dylan Ferrandis. Osborne started flexing his muscles with some new rhythms behind Davalos, but then he bobbled which let Marty get away. On the third lap Ferrandis got around Smith for third. On lap four, Davalos spin the back tire, went sideway, and went flying off the track. This put Osborne into the lead. He started checking out from there ahead of Ferrandis. Behind them, Austin Forkner tried to close on Smith, but he made a few mistakes and Smith got away. With two to go, Colt Nichols made a pass on Jeremy Martin for fifth. RJ Hampshire showed his teammate Martin a wheel with two to go but couldn’t make it stick. Up front, the lead held for Osborne over Ferrandis and Smith.

First 450 Main Event

Christian Craig grabbed the holeshot over Blake Baggett, Justin Brayton moved to second and then Baggett and Anderson started having the battle of death for third. They went back and forth for awhile, then Brayton went after Craig and the entire pack closed up in a huge battle—Craig, Brayton, Anderson, Baggett, and Eli Tomac. Then Marvin Musquin joined the club making it a SIX rider battle! Anderson pressed Brayton but couldn’t get him, then Baggett was all over Anderson, then Tomac and Musquin swapped it right behind them. It was incredible! Anderson showed Brayton a wheel for two laps but then Brayton was able to get away, and then Baggett continued to press Anderson in every corner. At one point Tomac nearly passed them both as they battled, but then Musquin snuck it in on Tomac to make the pass and shove him back to fifth.

Brayton hung on to grab the win over Anderson and Baggett. "I know there are two more to go but I'm gonna enjoy this one for the next few minutes," said Brayton.

Second 250 Main Event

Forkner took the holeshot over Osborne, while Martin, Nichols and Jimmy Decotis went down in turn one. The race settled in with Osborne trying to close on Forkner, Davalos third, Smith fourth and Ferrandis fifth, but then Ferrandis caught a tuff block on the take off of the triple jump and went flying. He hit hard but was able to scramble off the track looking relatively unharmed, but his bike was destroyed.

Osborne started closing on Forkner a bit but then made two huge mistakes in one lap allowing Forkner to get back away. Then Forkner bobbled! Osborne closed up and it got tight for the lead, and he and Forkner collided in mid-air over a jump. Osborne went down but somehow Forkner was able to stay up and hold onto the top spot. Osborne’s crash was big but he somehow only lost two spots! Forkner was struggling, though, and Davalos was able to catch him. Forkner was able to hold him until the last lap when Davalos finally made it stick! Forkner really lost pace down the stretch there, wondering if there was a bike problem at play. The win went to Davalos. Behind that, Osborne was able to repass Jordon Smith to take third.

Blake Baggett nailed the start in this one but couldn’t hold the inside in turn one, just like in the first main event. He went wide enough for Anderson and Cooper Webb to sneak inside and get the top two spots. Eli Tomac got around Baggett, also to take third, and he started pressing Webb for second while Anderson tried to inch away. For most of the race, it looked like Tomac was going to take a shot at Webb, he had a good rhythm dialed in one of the lane’s to get to Webb’s fender. But then late in the race, Anderson bobbled and Webb pulled right on up on him. Then Anderson got away. Then on the last lap Webb got right back to him again, and it became a battle for the win right down to the final two corners! The crowd was going nuts as Webb tried to find a way to sneak around Anderson, he tried going inside in the final corner but couldn’t make it happen, Anderson held on to win by .4 seconds. More good racing! Tomac was third, Baggett fourth and Musquin got around Brayton to take fifth.

 Justin Hill, last week’s hero, has had a tough go of it. He was down in a pile up just out of the first turn in race one. In race two he was marching his way forward from the back of the pack, in ninth, when he crashed with three to go and had to be escorted off by the Alpinestars medics.

Final 250 Main Event

The Triple Crown format—and the math it requires—came into play big time in this one. Jeremy Martin got the holeshot over Davalos, while a huge pileup on the first lap grabbed a ton of riders, including Osborne who got stuck in the mess and tipped over. This threw the battle for the overall wide open, with Davalos and Smith tied for the lead on overall points…but Davalos then threw it away with a huge crash in the whoops! This left Smith in control of the overall with 3-4-3 scores, but Austin Forkner, in fifth, was coming and trying to make up ground, as was Osborne from way back. RJ Hampshire became a spoiler, he caught and passed Smith, which led to a momentary tie between Forkner and Smith, but then Smith continued to lose spots, allowing Osborne to also get back into the overall battle. When Osborne passed Smith for fifth, it gave him the overall lead with 1-3-5 scores, but Forkner started digging, knowing if he could get Hampshire and go from fourth to third he would get the overall lead back. On the last lap, he closed up on Hampshire, and then Hampshire didn’t jump the big table-to-table rhythm, allowing Forkner to pass him. Forkner’s pass, on the last lap, was the key, and he and Osborne tied for the overall—and Forkner won via the tie-breaker, which is the better final race finish.

What a race!

 By the way, Jeremy Martin went wire-to-wire to win the final main.

450 Final Main Event

Musquin got past Craig and then the damn burst, Craig started dropping positions. Anderson and Tomac moved to second and third, then Tomac nearly threw it away with a huge bobble in a rhythm lane. A lap later, Tomac turned it up even more and blew past Anderson for second. Then Webb passed Anderson.

Anderson still led the overall at this point with 7 points, against Musquin and Tomac’s 10. Tomac kept digging from second, trying to get Musquin. It wouldn’t impact the overall, but Tomac wanted it anyway. He ran out of time, and Musquin took the race win. Anderson’s fourth was enough to win the overall.