250 points leader Adam Cianciarulo was quick too, but wasn’t quite at Ferrandis’ pace in this session. Times dropped off by a little over a second behind Cianciarulo, but they stayed pretty tight after that. Alex Martin, Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence, Michael Mosiman, and Martin Davalos are all separated by less than half a second!

Elsewhere in the 450 Class, Anderson was second-fastest with a 2:05.261, just ahead of Ken Roczen’s 2:05.579. Justin Hill, who was much better last week than he was at Hangtown, started the day off well by qualifying fourth-fastest. And check out Jake Masterpool! The privateer was sixth fastest, putting him ahead of plenty of factory backed racers.

Other things to keep track of include Anderson, who’s suffered from altitude sickness here in the past. Anderson and the team have taken steps to minimize his exposure to the altitude (he usually comes in late and leaves early), and it’s been a while since we’ve seen it take a toll on him. Still, it's worth keeping an eye on. Also, Joey Savatgy is back after missing the first two rounds due to injuries suffered in supercross. Blake Baggett is racing after jamming his wrist last week, and Justin Barcia continues to race through the pain of two wrists on the mend that were broken during supercross. Finally, one of the biggest obstacles the riders face this weekend isn't even on the track. It's the altitude, which robs a significant amount of power from the bikes and lead to a shortness of breath for riders. The power loss can be especially bothersome for 250 riders.

Qualifying – Session Two

When the 250s rolled onto the track for the final qualifying session of the day the fans here at Thunder Valley were given a preview of what might play out once the gate drops. Justin Cooper, Adam Cianciarulo, and Chase Sexton all found each other on the track and went at it for about a lap. They weren’t close enough to run it in on each other in any of the corners, but they were close enough that it sure felt like they were racing. Cianciarulo was slowly inching up on Cooper as the lap wore on, but opted not to continue that pace after crossing the finish line. Alex Martin, who was pretty quick in the first qualifier, had what looked like a pretty good lap going on his final attempt but ended up swapping in a turn, sending his heater up in smoke.

When the checkers flew it was RJ Hampshire who was fastest. He was seventeenth fastest in the first session but made some major adjustments between qualifiers (he mentioned altitude related changes) and was able to shave over five seconds off his best time. Hampshire was great last week too and had a good day going before he got cleaned out in the second moto and had to retire due to bike damage. If he can avoid problems like that today we might just see a podium performance from the GEICO Honda rider.

In 450 action things are looking somewhat grim for anyone not named Eli Tomac. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider picked up where he left off in the first qualifier by unleashing more ridiculous, head-shaking speed in the second. His fastest lap was over a second-and-a-half faster than Ken Roczen’s, and even Tomac’s second-fastest lap would have been good enough to earn him the top spot. As obvious as it was that Tomac was feeling good, he confirmed it after qualifying wrapped up. “If I get the start I think I can break away. That’s how good I’m feeling right now,” Tomac said. If you’re the competition you’re hoping Tomac gets buried in the first turn!

One of the more entertaining parts of practice came when Tomac geared up to throw down a heater with Zach Osborne right behind him. Osborne tried to latch on, but Tomac ended up slowing down and cruising about halfway through. Osborne did the same, refusing to go around Tomac. On the very next lap Tomac dropped the hammer, and this time he didn’t let up. Osborne hung with him, but as the lap wore on it became clear Tomac was inching away. Elsewhere there were fireworks between Jason Anderson and Jake Masterpool. It’s unclear exactly what happened, but Anderson, who’d been trying to go around Masterpool on the final lap, came off the track revving his engine at Masterpool and throwing his hands up in the air. If we had to guess we’d say Masterpool may have inadvertently gotten in Anderson’s way when he was trying to throw down a hot lap.

We're set for a great day of racing, and there's even a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon so things could get crazy. Be sure to check back here when the gates start dropping for the latest on what's happening. 

250 Moto One

The excitement started early in this one. With brilliant lighting and rumbling thunder serving as a distant backdrop, the gate fell and Ty Masterpool shot out with the the immediate lead. RJ Hampshire and Adam Cianciarulo wasted no time in getting around him though, and the battle for the lead was on. But as the two were going at it Justin Cooper was able to charge up and sneak around Cianciarulo. He then blitzed a downhill and railed around the outside of Hampshire to take the lead. Cianciarulo would get Hampshire a few laps later, and things wouldn’t get any better for Hampshire from that point. After briefly being part of an intense battle for third between himself, Dylan Ferrandis, and Michael Mosiman, Hapmshire seemed to fade slightly, allowing both riders to go around him.

At this point a light rain had started to fall, increasing steadily as the race progressed until it became a near downpour. The rain changed the track dramatically, and several riders even came in for goggles. Cooper himself nearly threw it away in some high-speed rollers while leading but managed to hang on. As the race started to wind down Cianciarulo was reeling in Cooper slightly, but the closer he got the more the lightning started to intensify, prompting a red flag. Since there were only six minutes left in the moto, the checkered flag came out too, ending the race early.

450 Moto Two

If you’re a Ken Roczen fan there’s very little Roczen could have done to make you happier in this moto. After Zach Osborne got the holeshot Roczen quickly blitzed by and checked out. It was obvious from the beginning nobody was going to catch him too—Roczen was on the gas and he immediately started opening a gap over Osborne. Eli Tomac, meanwhile, had gotten a bad start and was fighting his way forward from roughly fifteenth place. Things came apart for the defending champ though when he developed goggle problems. He attempted to ride through it, roll-off film trailing behind him and all, but he was losing major time and opted to come in for a goggle change. From there he was able to work his way forward and with about three laps remaining he found himself battling with the likes of Blake Baggett, Dean Ferris, and Jason Anderson. Tomac and Anderson got around Baggett and Ferris, but Tomac just couldn’t find a way around Anderson for fourth. With about a lap left Tomac tried an inside rut on Anderson, but it was either deeper or slicker than he expected and it completely took him off his rhythm, causing him to lose several seconds. That was all the space Anderson needed to easily cruise to fourth. Roczen won by over half a minute, Osborne took a lonely second, and Cooper Webb earned third.

Cole Seely was having a great race and ran as high as fourth or fifth, but went down when he used the same rut that derailed Tomac. Dean Ferris had his best race of the season, running as high as fourth before losing a few spots late in the race to Anderson and Tomac to finish sixth. Marvin Musquin went down in the second turn and had to come from way back. He eventually finished eighth. Joey Savatgy, who’s racing his first National of 2019 today after getting hurt in supercross, crashed early while running seventh. He got back in the race but ended up pulling out after five laps.

250 Moto Two

Justin Cooper kicked off the second 250 moto by taking the holeshot, but Adam Cianciarulo was right behind him. Jordon Smith was strong early and kept in touch with Cooper and Cianciarulo, but after a few laps the lead duo started separating themselves from the field. Then Cianciarulo made a mistake, which shot him off the track, and he opted to cut across the track and reenter after missing a small section. Cianciarulo made sure not to gain any ground, entering behind Cooper, and even seemed to allow him to gain a small gap before hammering down, but the argument could be made that Cianciarulo had cut the track. We’ll see what the AMA says on it later.

As the race continued Cooper’s lead over Cianciarulo would fluctuate between about one and two seconds. Cianciarulo was riding strong but just wasn’t ever close enough to throw a wheel in on Cooper. It ended up not mattering though because Cooper got kicked funny in a rut and his legs came completely off the bike, sending him to the ground. It wasn’t a hard crash, but it was all Cianciarulo needed to duck out with the lead. Cooper put in a massive charge in the closing stages of the race to close on Cianciarulo, but there just wasn’t enough time left to work with. Afterward Cooper was frustrated and voiced his displeasure with Cianciarulo’s off-track excursion.

Michael Mosiman had an outstanding race and ran with the pack that was behind the leaders all moto. As things started shaking out toward the end he found himself in fourth just behind Colt Nichols. Mosiman ran Nichols wide in a corner, nearly forcing him off the side of a jump, to move into third. Elsewhere things didn’t go well for Dylan Ferrandis, who must have crashed or had some sort of problem. Ferrandis was way back early in the race and had to put in a major charge just to salvage points.

The results aren’t available just yet, as the AMA is likely still making a decision on what to do regarding the situation with Cianciarulo going off the track. As it stands he’s got the overall, but that could change. Stay tuned!

450 Moto Two

Blake Baggett and Cooper Webb started off up front, but Webb quickly took sole possession of the lead. Several turns in he found himself under pressure from Moto One winner Ken Roczen, while Baggett and Marvin Musquin scrapped for third. El Tomac ran just behind them in fifth. As the race started to take shape Roczen took over the lead, but Tomac was on the move about five seconds back and had passed Baggett for fourth. Next on Tomac’s hit list was Musquin, who Tomac disposed of by taking the inside at the bottom of a downhill. Tomac was all over Webb next and went by him after about a lap. Roczen was next, although it didn’t happen right away. Roczen had about seven seconds on Tomac, which took Tomac several laps to erase. When he did he stalked Roczen before finally striking in a set of high-speed rollers. When Roczen took the outside, the same line most everyone had been taking all day, Tomac responded by simply lifting up his front wheel and blitzing right down the middle and past Roczen. From there he checked out and took an uncontested win.

A ways back Musquin held third, but Zach Oborne, who didn’t get the greatest of starts, was putting on a serious charge and it looked like a battle was just moments away from erupting between the two. Then Osborne seemed to back off a bit, and just like that, Musquin was all by himself in third. Webb, meanwhile, who had led briefly, faded a bit after battling with guys like Osborne, Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia, and Baggett. He crossed the finish line in eighth. Joey Savatgy, who DNF’d the first moto, looked like he was experiencing problems with his machine in the second moto and was in and out of the mechanic’s area several times.