As far as the weather is concerned, it’s perfect and is expected to stay nice all day. That’s fortunate because Northern California has been receiving a lot of rain lately. It only stopped several days ago, just in time for Monster Energy Supercross. Don’t let that bum you out if you prefer nasty tracks though, as the dirt here in Oakland is soft and somewhat sandy. It always breaks down quickly, forms huge ruts, and usually ends up being one of the gnarliest tracks of the year. Seriously, it’s tough. Compounding that factor are two long whoop sections that are going to get beat worse than the Saints last week. Too soon? There are a couple of long rhythm lanes too that stretch all the way from about where home plate would be all the way out to the left and right field walls. It's going to be interesting to see what options the guys settle on as the day progresses.

Practice is set to begin shortly, so check back soon for a report on who’s packing speed here in Oakland.

250SX – First Qualifier

You’d never know this was a practice session based on how competitive the guys got as they blasted down the start stretch and into the first turn. It was not unlike the start of a main event—positions were jockeyed for, plastic was scraped, and guys were elbowing each other deep into the first turn before Shane McElrath eventually emerged with the “holeshot.” McElrath was fastest early on too, but Mike Mosiman briefly bested him. McErlath was able to take the top spot back with a 55.519, but then all the usual suspects started throwing down heat. Dylan Ferrandis, Adam Cianciarulo, and Colt Nichols all took turns at the top of the leader board before Ferrandis finally produced a time nobody could match. Jimmy Decotis looked fast too, and although he never held the fastest time he did end up third-fastest and was one of only three riders to dip into the 53-second range. Elsewhere Cameron McAdoo got into Justin starling and they both went down hard and ended up off the track. McAdoo was able to remount and Starling, who is still pretty beat up from a big crash at A1, was able to walk off.

450SX – First Qualifier

Tyler Bowers was fast right away, setting a 54.249 on his second lap, but one lap later it was Justin Hill who shot to the top with a 53.584. Hill went down shortly after and was off the track for a few moments. He was able to remount and get going again. Ken Roczen, meanwhile threw down an absolute scorcher (52.709) to take over the top spot. It would hold until the end of the session too. Bowers was quick in this one and spent much of the session second-fastest. He had a line in a rhythm lane that we didn’t see anyone else doing, which probably contributed to his fast lap times. Justin Barcia, who is riding with a badly bruised tailbone, didn’t look like he was taking it easy but wasn’t really a factor in the fight for the top spot either.

The track so far is typical Oakland. Deep ruts are developing all over the place and we’ve already seen more than a few guys get cross-rutted. They’ll perform maintenance throughout the night, but once the gate drops for the mains there’s nothing they can do. This track is going to be tough tonight!

250SX – Second Qualifier

Cameron McAdoo was fastest initially in the final 250SX qualifier, but RJ Hampshire and Dylan Ferrandis displaced him early. Then Jimmy Decotis unleashed some heat to jump to the top of the board. Ferrandis fired back with another fast lap, and the two went back and forth with fast laps before Ferrandis finally ended the exchange by recording a 52.795. Decotis finished third after Shane McElrath got in a fast one toward the end to take over second. Still a great showing from Decotis, especially considering he didn’t ride all week on account of being sick.

450SX – Second Qualifier

There was very little going on in the second 450SX qualifier. A lot of the guys spent good portions of the session rolling the jumps and studying the track instead of putting in blazing laps, and there just wasn’t a whole lot of back and forth at the top. Bowers was fast again in this one, spending some time at the top of the board, but Roczen eventually knocked him down a spot, only to see his teammate Cole Seely then best him with a 53.073. Seely would later beat his own time, posting a 52.956. It was a good thing for him he did too because Joey Savatgy was able to record a 52.962.

250SX Heat One

Shane McElrath got things going with a holeshot, but shortly after the first turn some carnage unfolded. Lopes went down and McElrath got slammed from behind and crashed. He was able to remount, but he was way, way back. Up front it was Jess Pettis leading with Cameron McAdoo giving chase. After a few laps Jacob Hayes and Jimmy Decotis had crept up too and Hayes was all over McAdoo.  McAdoo was able to get around Pettis, and both Hayes and Decotis followed suit almost immediately. Several turns later Mike Mosiman made the move too. Decotis was clicking off some fast laps and soon he went around Hayes and started reeling in McAdoo. He made the move into the lead with just over a lap remaining. McAdoo kept him close but was unable retaliate. Decotis won, with McAdoo, Hayes, Mosiman, Pettis, McElrath, Sean Cantrell, Martin Castelo, and Carson Brown filling out the transfer positions.

250SX Heat 2

RJ Hampshire kicked off the second 250SX heat with a holeshot and quickly went to work building a lead. Dylan Ferrandis put his hooks in him though and was able to stay with him. Then Hampshire went down in a sand section, handing the lead over to Ferrandis. With roughly two minutes remaining Ferrandis led but Colt Nichols was slowly creeping up on him. Adam Cianciarulo ran third after starting in about tenth, Chris Blose was fourth, and Hampshire had stabilized in fifth. Moments later Hampshire got Blose. Things were pretty spread out and there wasn’t a whole lot going on in the closing stages of this one. Nichols wasn’t able to catch Ferrandis and finished second, with Cianciarulo, Hampshire, Blose, Mitchell Harrison, Garret Marchbanks, Jerry Robin, ,and Gage Schehr rounding out the transfer spots.

450SX Heat One

Blake Baggett busted out a holeshot in the first 450SX heat race of the night, but Eli Tomac and Marvin Musquin were all over him. Seely wasn’t too far back either and it wasn’t long before he pulled up alongside Musquin in the whoops and blazed by in the following corner. One lap later Tomac madethe move on Baggett and took the lead. Seely knifed past Baggett right after that and did his best to latch onto Tomac. Dean Wilson, meanwhile, was having some kind of problem and was riding slowly way, way back. As the laps wore on Tomac was distancing himself from Seely, Brayton and Musquin fought over fourth, and Bogle went down in the whoops after he’d battled into a transfer spot. Tomac won, with Seely, Baggett, Musquin, Brayton, Aaron Plessinger, Kyle Chisholm, Cole Martinez, and Alex Ray transferring to the main.

450SX Heat Two

Cooper Webb picked up where he left off last week and got out to the early lead in this one.  Joey Savatgy was on his rear wheel, and a few seconds back Ken Roczen and Chad Reed were going at it for third. Reed was holding Roczen off pretty well, but then Roczen scrubed the crap out of a single and zipped past while Reed was still in the air. Up front Webb stalled, which allowed Savatgy and Roczen to go by. In fifth was Tyler Bowers, but he had Justin Barcia all over him. After a brief battle Barcia made the pass and went after Reed with just over a lap remaining. He got close but ran out of time. Savatgy took the win, with Roczen, Webb, Reed, Barcia, Bowers, Vince Friese, Justin Hill, and Austin Politelli transferring to the main.

250SX LCQ

The 250SX LCQ got started with a bang when Enzo Lopes got pushed wide and went down in the first turn. Thomas Do emerged with the lead, with Logan Karnow, Chris Howell, and Devin Harriman holding transfer spots. Then Howell went down, allowing Scott Champion to shuffle up into a qualifying spot. Up front there was a lead change, Karnow took over, with about a minute-and-a-half remaining. With one lap remaining Howell had closed on Harriman and nearly made the pass when Harriman missed the finish line double. Half a lap later Howell bashed his way past Harriman to take fourth. Karnow  won, with Do, Champion, and Howell all transferring to the main.

450SX LCQ

Dean Wilson and Justin Bogle came into the first turn side by side, but it was Bogle who came away with the lead after the second turn. One lap later Wilson took the lead right back. Ryan Breece and Carlen Gardner held the final two transfer spots, but Ronnie Stewart was able to get by for fourth about halfway through. That’s about all the action this LCQ had to offer. Wilson took the win by almost four seconds over Bogle, with Breece and Stewart wrapping up the final transfer spots.

250SX Main Event

Colt Nichols nailed the holeshot, but several turns into it Adam Cianciarulo had taken over the lead. RJ Hampshire and Jess Pettis went down on the first lap and found themselves way back. RJ Hampshire would go down again about a lap later. Jimmy Decotis also went down in the whoops. Up front Cianciarulo continued to lead, but Nichols was refusing to let him run away with it, and even showed Cianciarulo a wheel a few times. Shane McElrath and Dylan Ferrandis were only a few seconds back in third and fourth, but there was a large gap back to fifth, where Hayes and McAdoo were battling hard. After a few intense laps Hayes was able to make it by McAdoo and started inching away from him. Up front things were heating up, but not for the lead. Ferrandis had caught and passed Nichols to take over second, and while the two were going at it Cianciarulo had managed to build a bit of a gap. After a few more laps had passed Nichols found himself under fire from McElrath. But then things got nuts up front. With just over a lap left Cianciarulo bobbled and Ferrandis was all over him as the final lap commenced. Ferrandis was breathing down his neck and it seemed a pass was on the way, until Ferrandis bobbled before a whoop section, giving Cianciarulo all the room he needed to hang on for the win.

450SX Main Event

Cooper Webb got things going the right way by nabbing the holeshot over his teammate Marvin Musquin. Justin Bogle ran third, with Aaron Plessinger, Joey Savatgy, and Ken Roczen in tow. Tomac got a terrible start and was buried in about thirteenth at first. As the opening laps played out Webb and Musquin started inching away from the field, Savatgy went up the inside of Bogle for third in the sand section, Roczen also went by Bogle, and Tomac had battled up to seventh and was on the tail end of the third-to-sixth train. A few minutes before the halfway point Plessinger went down just before the sand section and was unable to get his bike until traffic cleared, causing him to lose a ton of spots. Up front Webb continued to lead, but without his teammate, as Musquin went down between whoop sections.  A lap later Savatgy went down in the sand section while running third. Roczen and Tomac were now in second and third, but Webb had about eight seconds on Roczen with nine minutes remaining.  Tomac then gave third back to Musquin when Tomac missed a triple. Tomac then gave up another spot to Baggett, while Musquin seemed to find another gear and went by Roczen for second. Roczen’s troubles would continue when Baggett also went by, knocking Roczen out of podium position. With three laps left there were two battles to keep an eye on. Musquin was closing on Webb up front, and Tomac was all over Roczen for fourth. After a few laps of battling, Tomac motored by Roczen, and Webb had managed to stabilize his gap over Musquin at about three seconds. Baggett rode all by himself in third, as did Tomac and Roczen in fourth and fifth. Then, with a lap left, Musquin somehow found himself right on Webb for the lead. It looked like he might have had a shot, but Webb managed to hang on to take his second career 450SX victory. Musquin, Baggett, Tomac, and Roczen rounded out the top five. Dean Wilson had a strong ride, earning sixth.