Eli Tomac is the points leader for the first time this season thanks to his victory last weekend in Tampa, Florida. Ken Roczen, third last week, has been bumped back to second in points, with Cooper Webb still third. This trio of riders has won all but one race this year (Justin Barcia won the opener) and are beginning to set up a three-way title fight. Can someone else in the still-deep 450 field get a win and get back into title contention?

In 250SX East, Shane McElrath dominated last weekend's opener, his debut with Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha. Chase Sexton and Jeremy Martin were second and third.

One note from B group practice: Rockstar Energy Drink rookie Jalek Swoll has to ride in the B session because he did not make the main event last week. He was third quickest in B in the untimed Free Practice this morning.

In the seeded A group 250SX East session, RJ Hampshire held fast lap time most of the way, but Chase Sexton jumped to the top late. McElrath and Hampshire rounded out the top three. In the 450SX free practice, Dean Wilson bested Cianciarulo, Anderson, Hill and Davalos. Then came Stewart, Tomac, Osborne, Plessinger, and Webb.

Time Practice

 It looked like a darned race when Shane McElrath and RJ Hampshire battled side-by-side on the first lap of this practice. Shane took…can we call it the holeshot?...on the practice start, but RJ moved around and started logging heater laps. McElrath was notably better in the whoops, though.

Rookie Jo Shimoda went down in the whoops. Riders said they’re not that bad, but they’re definitely catching riders out in practice, and some riders have already resorted to jumping.

Earlier today it appeared quading through the center of the rhythm lane (jumping a single, table, single) would be fastest line, but 250 riders started jumping on and off of that tabletop, and it was faster to stay on the ground. Chase Sexton spent a lot of the session using that line and running at the top of the lap charts. McElrath, meanwhile, lost the front end in a corner and went down, then got up and started experimenting with jumping the whoops. Later, he logged a flyer to get back into the top spot and end the session with the fastest time. Hampshire jumped back up to second ahead of Sexton.

“We had a good week, first round jitters are out of the way,” said McElrath. “Track’s tough, it’s gonna take three starts like that. Track is breaking down, soft stuff is chunking away, but underneath it’s harder and it  has edges. It’s not actually soft at all."

With a gate start now being used for both timed practice sessions (last year a gate start was only used in the final practice session) each practice begins like a race. The 450 riders were a bit less agro on their first lap, though, with Ken Roczen and Zach Osborne getting through the first two turns 1-2.

Adam Cianciarulo had a big crash with about five minutes to go in the session and spent time sitting off to the side of the track holding his shoulder. He eventually walked off, but then hitched a ride on the Alpinestars mule. We will check on his status later. We didn't see the crash but he left his bike  laying on the track on the face of a triple, so that's not a good sign.

Malcolm Stewart held the fastest time early in the session, but then his teammate Justin Hill—fresh of a career-best last week-moved to the top. Then came Anderson and Tomac.

Tomac found a new line through the rhythm, going triple in, then table-on-off-triple. However, he remained only third-fastest even on the lap when he used that line. Roczen and Cianciarulo

“After free practice we made an adjustment, went a little stiffer, and It felt good," said Hill. "After last week, I’ve just got some fire under me. When the whoops are this long, it really requires control. In a short set, you can make a mistake and maybe get away with it. Here, you’ve got to grip the bike and be consistent.”

We've now heard Cianciarulo suffered a broken collarbone in the crash. That's a huge bummer and it will obviously put him out for the evening. We'll provide more news as we find it.

Jimmy Decotis, it appears, is out for the night. He suffered a crash in the first practice and hit his head, we checked with him between practices and he didn’t look good. He didn’t ride either of the timed sessions, which means he has not qualified for the race tonight.

Jeremy Martin led the way early in the final 250 A group practice session, while Jordon Smith went down on the first lap in the whoops—he was back up quickly, though. By this final session, most of the fastest laps were coming from the on-off table, instead of quading over it, which looked like it would be the fastest way earlier in the day.

McElrath jumped to the top of the charts on his fourth lap, with Sexton and Smith right behind. McElrath’s time in the 45-second range was over a second faster than anyone else in the session for much of the time as Chase Sexton sat about nine tenths behind the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha rider. As the checkers flew, riders were trying to put in that one last hot lap, but nobody could knock down McElrath’s time as he ends the session and the combined times on top heading into tonight’s racing.

With Adam Cianciarulo out for the night, a new man would end up on top of qualifying in the 450SX class for the first time all year. As the final session got underway, it was Malcolm Stewart who would lead the way around before Eli Tomac took the front spot in an effort to put down a good lap early. Justin Hill picked up right where he left off from the first session as he jumped to the top of the board early with a 46.699.

Cooper Webb then went to the top briefly before Hill again went faster as he was the first rider into the 45's. Martin Davalos sat in a good position early as well as he was up in second with a low 46-second lap time. Jason Anderson took a spill in the whoops mid-way through the session and actually ran into an Alpinestars Medical Crew worker in the process. Both men would be okay as they checked on each other upon standing back up.

Tomac figured out the tight inside line after the finish line jump that Hill was using and moved up to second on the board just over a tenth behind Hill. The whoops continued to break down as some riders began using a jump line to search for a smoother line to use during the night program. Justin Brayton went down hard after the finish line jump and would need to be tended to by the medical crew for some time. The red cross flag waved with three and a half minutes left in the session and several riders pulled off as the time kept winding down. Brayton eventually remounted and continued on as riders hit the track again.

Times were staying pretty steady as the session winded down with not many positions changing as guys continued to search for the optimal lines on the track. Remember, this is the last time they see the track before the gate drops for the main events in the night show. In the end, it was Hill who completed both qualifying sessions on top to take his first pole position of the year. Eli Tomac ended up second with Martin Davalos in third.

250 LCQ

The Last Chance Qualifiers finish up the day program as the field gets set for the 22 rider main events that occur during the night program. As the 250SX LCQ got underway, it was Darian Sanayei who grabbed the early holeshot. Kevin Moranz sat second behind him with Lorenzo Locurcio and Chase Marquier in the mix as well.

Moranz began working on Sanayei for the lead as Hardy Munoz worked up to Marquier for the final transfer spot. The glare from the sun coming into the stadium was brutal as riders struggled through the whoops. Justin Startling, who finished 20^th last week, fell in the first corner and missed the main event this week. Munoz and Justin Thompson fell together eliminating their chance at transferring as well.

Jordan Bailey caught up to the back of Marquier for the final spot and began battling it out with a few laps to go. Moranz eventually took over the lead from Sanayei with two laps to go and Locurcio tried to follow suit. Bailey eventually made the move on Marquier into the final transfer as the top four were nearly on top of each other as the white flag waved.

Sanayei was also passed by Bailey putting him in the final spot but then he passed Bailey right back. Marquier was lurking back there all the while and Sanayei and Marquier ended up crashing together once Bailey moved back around. Curren Thurman moved around to make it into the main event as the fourth and final transfer spot.

450 LCQ

In the 450 LCQ, it was Kyle Cunningham grabbing the holeshot with his teammate Ryan Breece snagging the lead from him. Adam Enticknap was up there as well but it was James Weeks who blitzed passed everyone in the whoops to take over the lead. Ronnie Stewart moved up into fourth early before Kyle Chisholm took it away from him, but it was five riders going through this LCQ with Adam Cianciarulo missing the main event with his broken collarbone.

The top four riders began opening up a bigger gap on the field with Weeks pulling away out front. The whoops were tricky for everyone as they struggled to balance between blitzing them and jumping them with the sun in their eyes. It was Cunningham taking the lead away from Weeks at the midway point.

Chisholm began working his way forward as he moved around Weeks as well to get up to third. Weeks continued to fight back with him, but they were both safely in transfer for the time being. Cade Autenrieth was closing up on Stewart for the final spot for much of the race as time was winding down.

As the white flag waved, it was all the HEP Suzuki teammates of Cunningham and Breece out front as they hang on to the top two spots for the rest of the lap. Chisholm held onto third with Weeks in fourth and Ronnie Stewart going through in the fifth and final transfer spot.

250SX Main Event ONE

Before the first race of the night even got underway, there was some chaos for defending champion Chase Sexton has his bike had some sort of issue during the sight lap. The team ran back to the pits to grab his second bike so he could make the start of the first main. Once the gate dropped it was Jordon Smith who took the holeshot. RJ Hampshire quickly shot into the lead as Sexton sat in third with his backup bike.

Points leader Shane McElrath had an awful start early on as he was buried back in 11^th by the end of the first lap. Hampshire went to work on pulling away out front while Sexton tried to make the move on Smith for second. Joey Crown was up in fourth early on with Jeremy Martin making the move around him to try to stick with the lead three. McElrath’s progress continued as he worked towards the top five within the first few laps.

Sexton made the move for second around Smith on the fourth lap of the race while Hampshire had opened up a two second lead over the field. Martin began closing on Smith for third while Sexton quickly reeled in Hampshire out front. The battle was on for the lead with about half the race still to go. Sexton wasted little time and snagged the lead with five minutes left in the race. Hampshire immediately fought back and put Sexton on the ground with a block pass.

That moved Sexton back to fifth behind McElrath who now moved into fourth. Martin was working up onto the back of Smith for second as the time continued to wind down. McElrath was working up to the back of both of them as the fight for second was quickly turning into a four-way fight with Sexton in the mix as well. McElrath and Sexton both moved around Martin as they continued to fight each other. All the while, Hampshire was opening up his lead looking for his first victory in 250 supercross.

McElrath was quick to close back up to Smith for second and punted him out of the way for second with still a minute left on the clock. Sexton was all over McElrath after that and moved around him for second with two laps left to go. Martin then had Smith in his crosshairs as he was closing back in for fourth.

As the white flag waved, Hampshire had a four second lead over Sexton. Martin and Smith had a battle royale on the final lap with Martin showing him a wheel several times, but he was unable to get the job done. Hampshire took the win in Main #1 with Sexton in second and McElrath in third.

“Yeah last weekend wasn’t great, so I needed to make a statement,” said Hampshire. “I ran it in a little heavy there, but he should have known it was coming there. He left it open.”

“I caught him and passed him straight up,” said Sexton. “He knows what’s up for that second main.”

450 Main Event One

In the first 450SX main event, it was Ken Roczen with the holeshot, but Cooper Webb quickly moved to the lead. Jason Anderson was in third early with the fastest qualifier, Justin Hill, in fourth. Roczen took the lead before the end of the first lap as he and Webb went back and forth. Hill fell from fourth and would remount in 15^th.

Eli Tomac was down deep in the field after one lap and was up to 11^th by the end of the second lap. Roczen immediately began opening up a lead out front as Webb and Anderson tried to keep going with him. Tomac went to work down the field as he worked on Dean Wilson for 10^th. Blake Baggett was making early moved as he passed Zach Osborne for seventh and went after Justin Barcia for sixth. Baggett made the move on Barcia in the whoops, but Barcia stuffed him and got him right back.

Martin Davalos was up in fifth in the early running as he worked on Justin Brayton for fourth. Brayton, who fell hard in practice, was just trying to make it through the night and Davalos moved around him for fourth. Further back, Tomac continued to work on making moved as he caught up to Osborne for ninth. Tomac made the move and set sail after Malcolm Stewart ahead of him.

Brayton was on his way backwards as Barcia moved around him before the halfway point and Baggett was quickly on him as well. Tomac finally made the move on Stewart to get up to eighth. The freight train of riders was helping Tomac to make quick moves as he was instantly on Baggett for seventh as well. Davalos fell from fourth with about five minutes still to go pushing everyone up a spot.

Roczen was in cruise control out front with a three second lead over Webb. The battle for second started brewing as Anderson caught Webb for second with a few laps remaining. Brayton fell in the whoops and put him further back as he fell down to 12^th. Lappers became a factor out front as Roczen was trying to work through the back markers.

In the end, it was Roczen who claimed his fourth straight Triple Crown main event victory going back to his Triple Crown sweep at Glendale earlier this year. Webb was able to keep second when as well from Anderson in third.

“The last Triple Crown did us really well,” said Roczen. “I didn’t grab a great start of the gate, but I grabbed a handful in the whoops to make the pass on Cooper. It’s a great way to start the night.”

250 Main Event Two

It was Josh Hill leading the field through the first turn in the second main for the 250SX class, but Chase Sexton was quick to take the lead away from him. Hill had to deal with his teammate Joey Crown as he quickly moved by for second. Shane McElrath was recovering from another so-so star and charged up and around Hill in the early goings as well.

Garrett Marchbanks was next to move around Hill as he was trying to stick with McElrath. Jeremy Martin then moved into fifth behind them leaving race one winner RJ Hampshire down in eighth in the early running. Smith fell again as he got together with Jace Owen after the finish line jump.

Sexton opened up a huge lead by the halfway point as McElrath started closing up on Crown for second. Martin then moved around Marchbanks just as Crown was passed by McElrath. Martin was giving Crown everything he can handle for third, but Crown held his own and was making life difficult for Martin. The two-time Pro Motocross champion finally made the move to get into third and Marchbanks followed suit less than a lap later to move into fourth.

Hampshire was left down the field for much of the race as he couldn’t move forward much. He stayed in seventh for much of the race as he worked on running down Josh Hill late. Jordon Smith fell for the third time in one race as he fell in the whoops and moved down to 20^th.

The battle for fifth was brewing late with Crown being caught by Hill and Hampshire as the white flag waved. Hill tried a few times to make the moved but was allowing Hampshire to close right in. Hampshire was able to get Hill for sixth in the end, but Crown held on for a top five. Sexton claimed the win over McElrath and Martin.

“I tried to just let it go and use it as energy,” Sexton said about his contact with Hampshire earlier. “Really got a good start that time and felt so good on my bike. It’s a really fun track for me and looking forward to this third main event.”

450 Main Event Two

The holeshot in the second 450SX main event went to Blake Baggett with Eli Tomac coming right into the lead before the third corner. Stewart sat in third early as he tried to go after Baggett. Justin Hill had a good start in fourth with Anderson right behind him in fifth. Roczen and Webb started in ninth and 10^th with Justin Barcia right behind them.

Webb moved around Roczen early in the race as the defending champion showed a high level of urgency to get to the front. Davalos jumped off the track in front of them moving them all up a few positions. Tomac immediately opened up a sizable lead out front as he tried to make amends for his rough first race.

Justin Barcia moved around Ken Roczen early on as well as the top ten was in a freight train outside of Tomac leading the group. Anderson was the man on the move near the front as he moved around Hill and Stewart and was quickly on Baggett for second, making the move with about half the race to go. Webb moved around Wilson for sixth as he continued marching through the field.

Justin Hill moved up to third at the same time as Webb moved around Stewart into fifth. Baggett then fell from fourth and allowed Webb through with Dean Wilson falling just moments later in the whoops. Tomac was cruising out front as he, Anderson and Webb were very close on points with one race still left to run.

Roczen quietly made a few moved to get up to eighth but that’s where he would stay as he tried to bring home a steady result in what appeared to be an off race for the German. Webb crashed heavily with two laps to go as he flipped off the side of the track and landed flat on his back on the concrete. No update on his condition at this time.

Tomac took the win away from Anderson and Hill as the end of it. “All you can do is keep your head up in these races,” said Tomac. “Got around that first turn better that time and rode like myself. Body was looser and felt better.”

“I honestly feel like I’m riding good,” said Anderson. “I just need to get a start and avoid the carnage because it’s kind of a mess. We’re having a good time, good or bad weekends, so we’re going to keep going and enjoy our season.”

250 Main Event Three

It was McElrath taking the holeshot in the third race, but Sexton was hot on his heels in the early going. Enzo Lopes got a great start as he was up in third with RJ Hampshire and Jordon Smith right behind him.

All eyes went to the battle out front as Sexton and McElrath began pulling away a bit out front while Lopes right to hold on for third. Hampshire made the move on Lopes, but the Brazilian rider fought back to hold the position. Then Smith made the move on Hampshire and got Lopes a few turns later. Hampshire followed through as the former teammates began disputing third place.

Jeremy Martin was recovering from a so-so start as he worked on Lopes for fifth. Martin made the move before the halfway point as the battle for third was still the hottest one on the track. Hampshire put Smith on the ground for third after the finish line jump the same way he put Sexton down in the first race.

Sexton, who didn’t need to beat McElrath to claim the overall win on the night, settled into a groove behind McElrath as they had a large gap over Hampshire behind them. Josh Hill moved around Lopes to get up to fifth and then Lopes lost yet another position as Marchbanks went through.

The field seemed to settle into their positions as the race continued to develop as everyone was just trying to wrap up their nights with good finishes. Riders like Jalek Swoll and Jo Shimoda made a few passes late to move up to ninth and eighth respectively.

In the end, McElrath would hang on for the victory out front but it was Chase Sexton who claimed the overall win on the night with a second-place finish. The result would move McElrath and Sexton into a tie for the points lead heading into next week. RJ Hampshire would hang on for third in the final race.

“I mean it’s always great to get a win, but I didn’t want the same thing that happened last year to happen,” said Sexton. “We made a big change in practice and it worked. We put in a lot of work in the offseason. I’m just happy to get out here in front of these fans and make it happen. I’m excited the way the season has kicked off and I’m looking forward to getting back after it next weekend.”

“We work hard, and we work to be in the number one spot,” said McElrath. “I tried too hard the first too and had silly mistakes and bad starts. I’m happy with a second with everything we faced today. Everybody was running around wide open today, so they (the team) really did a good job. We want that one more position, that’s what we work for.”

“The track was pretty tough,” said Hampshire. “I had a good jump line in the whoops and as the track developed, I knew it would work. We’re going to go back to work this week and come out firing next week.

Osborne and Anderson were 1-2 into the first turn, but Blake Baggett split them to get to second. Roczen cut over on Tomac to lock down fourth, and he gebagn attacking Anderson for third.

Anderson responded by making a move on Baggett on lap two. Roczen made a pass on Baggett and kept stalking Anderson as they chased Osborne for the lead.

On the third lap, Baggett washed the front in a 180 berm and went down, allowing Tomac to squeeze into fourth. This set up a chase between Osborne, Anderson, Roczen and Tomac, with Anderson in control of the overall with eight minute remaining. The battle kept heating up, with Tomac catching Roczen and then uncorking a triple at the start of a rhythm lane to pull up next to Roczen…he just wasn’t quite fast enough to get him. A lap later, Anderson used the same section to get inside of his teammate Osborne and get the lead. A few moments later, Tomac slid inside of Roczen to take third, Roczen came right back to repass him! Then Roczen made  apair of mistakes and that allowed Tomac to take the spot from him for good.

This was an exciting one down the stretch, with Osborne keeping Anderson in check, but then Tomac closing in on and then passing Osborne.

Late in the race, Davalos went flying in the whoops and went down hard. Tomac had caught Anderson and they engaged in a battle, with Tomac finally getting him. That was enough to move the overall over to him. At the same time Roczen got Osborne then started showing Anderson a wheel.

With a lap to go, Anderson got pitched in the whoops and went down, handing second to Roczen. This dropped Anderson back behind Osborne and Barcia.

At the finish, Tomac held on for the race win and overall win. Roczen and Anderson would end up second and third overall.

"Jason was in second there and I was like “Gosh dang it I’m gonna end up in third overall!” said Tomac. “The main focus was just going forward, I had a few spots, I knew I could get inside after the finish there. I felt a lot better in the second and third race. We’ve got to just hammer down, we’re in the grind of the season.”

“Had a great first race obviously, just a little inconsistent,” said Roczen. “Eli has been on it every week even if he gets good starts or not. In that third race, I came back on him, right by that triple over there, but I made a mistake, couldn’t get that triple and I had to double, and he came back on me right there.”

 “I think you saw all night with guys crashing in practice and stuff, the track was brutal,” said Anderson, who threw away second with his late crash in the whoops. “I was giving it my all, I got all sketchy, I was trying my butt off but I went down and hit a camera and stuff.”