First Practices

In the 250s, Shane McElrath was on the board quickly here, ahead of Enzo Lopes and Jeremy Martin. Then Chase Sexton took the top spot away on lap six. Jeremy Martin bumped Garrett Marchbanks from third to fourth with a good lap late in the session0—JMart was letting it fly in the whoops.

In 450s, Cooper Webb jumped out first in the free practice. Riders started experimenting with the rhythm out of the start, trying to triple over the first jump and table, then going double-triple-triple. It’s tough but several riders got it. Tomac used it to get to the top. This track appears much more tricky than Sunday's, leading to more experimentation and a bigger variance in lap times—throw the really long whoop section in for good measure, as well. As a result, times start dropping massively but the end of this session, including a frisky Zach Osborne going to the top. Further, his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammates Jason Anderson and Dean Wilson went second and third. A Husky sweep! Webb, Tomac, Stewart, Bloss, Brayton, Justin Hill, and Roczen rounded out the top ten. Adam Cianciarulo, who got banged up badly in a big crash in Sunday’s main event, finished the session 19^th.

In the 450 B group, Freddie Noren is nursing a sore ankle from Sunday’s race, but he was at least the fastest during the rolling (non-jump) site laps for the B group. Ryan Breece, Carlen Gardner and Adam Enticknap were the two quickest once the times began. Noren had a small crash in the whoops. Gardner then busted out the big rhythm after the start to move to the top of the board. Alex Ray then came back with the big rhythm on his final lap and stole the top time from Gardner. Enticknap, Noren and Breece rounded out the top five.

The times from this session do not count for qualifying.

Second 250 Practice

Jerry Robin led the majority of the 250 B session, but Dustin Winter jumped ahead of him with about three laps remaining in the session. Carter Halpain, who is now on a the SGB Kawasaki team, was third fastest. Lorezno Locurcio was next.

This looked like a moto instantly, as Shane McElrath jumped into the lead with Pierce Brown right behind, and then Marchbanks made the pass on Brown. Yes, this is practice, but with the guys pushing this hard early, it felt like a race. Marchbanks actually looked faster than McElrath around the whole track…until they got to the whoops and McElrath pulled away. Behind all this, Sexton and Martin logged even faster times to take the top spots. McElrath put together a different combo in the rhythm after the start to get the top spot away from Sexton. Sexton tried a flyer using the other rhythm but was only able to get the second spot. Colt Nichols filed into the third spot ahead of Marchbanks and Martin. Both Nichols and McElrath looked strong in the whoops, which are really tough.

Second 450 Practice

Tomac “holeshot” this practice, and by the way he “holeshot” both of them on Sunday, too. Cooper Webb went to the top of the lap charts, though, before Tomac and Roczen jumped ahead. Then Dean Wilson got it! What is in the Rockstar Energy drinks they’re serving at the Rockstar Energy Drink Husqvarna truck? Then his teammate Zach Osborne was rolling with a heater lap, but he choose to jump the whoops instead of skim, which slowed him, and he ended up running third. Zach’s corner speed is next level, though. As Osborne was working on his whoops, Jason Anderson took over the top spot. At that point, they were back to running 1-2-3!

Osborne wasn’t the only one experimenting with the jump line, as Cooper Webb was also. Later, Webb went down in the whoops while jumping, he mistimed a whoop, stuff the front, and went down. He got up slow. In the end, the Husky boys nearly swept it again with Anderson and Wilson 1-2, but Tomac snuck into third, ahead of Osborne.

Alex Ray led this 450 B session early over Adam Enticknap, but then Enticknap stepped up the pace and went to the top. Ray saw this and stepped up even further, bumping Enticknap off by a tenth. Ray looked surprisingly smooh jumping the big rhythm after the start---just watch those corners, A-Ray. Josh Cartwright was third ahead of Gardner and Noren.

NOTE: Adam Cianciarulo has announced he’s out of tonight’s race after trying to give it a go in practice.

"I've just been crazy sore since Sunday. It's not just pain, it's weakness, I can't really grip the bike. I don't want to be a danger to anyone else out there."

Final 250 Practice

 Coty Schock led early but Jerry Robin again took the top spot away. Curren Thurman took the top lap time next. The Texan had a crash early in the session but came back to top Jerry, with Lorenzo Locurcio third. Locurcio then leap frogged Jerry for second, and Jerry came back to re-claim second. But Thurman held on.

Sexton bumped McElrath in the first turn—a byproduct of the tricky right-hand first corner. That put Sexton ahead of Marchbanks on the early laps. 

What did McElrath think of the bump from Sexton?

"It'll take a lot more than that to knock me down."

McElrath and Nichols then moved to second and third behind Sexton. On the seventh lap, McElrath went to the top spot over Sexton. Sexton put in a fast one but McElrath held on. Nichols became one of the first 250 riders to jump onto the table after the 180, and Sexton quickly did it too. But McElrath got that jump down, also, and still held the top spot, and held it by a pretty impressive six tenths of a second. On the last lap Jeremy Martin put in a flyer to move into third behind Sexton and McElrath. McElrath's half-second edge was bigger than expected. What was the key for McElrath to build such a big gap?

"It was connecting everything," he said. "It's funny because a lot of people were saying the track was too simple the other day, but there were a lot of things with the conditions that made it challenging. Tonight, they built a track. It's physical and it's technical. A half second [gap] is good on this track, but it's tough to link everything together." 

Final 450 Practice

Roczen led early in this practice, with Blake Baggett hauling through the whoops to move to second. Malcolm Stewart and Jason Anderson came through next to take second and third. Times started shuffling. Tomac took the top spot, Anderson came back for second, but moments later his teammate Wilson went even faster to go to second. Then Roczen took the second spot away, with Tomac still first.  It looked like that would hold, but Anderson logged a flyer to go back to the top. Then with a lap to go Blake Baggett unleashed an unbelievable run through the whoops and took the top spot! And that would hold, Baggett’s first fast qualifier since Anaheim in 2019.

A few other things to note: Cooper Webb looked like he was struggling in this practice, and took an extended stop in the mechanic's area. He was sixth quickest. And Justin Barcia, who needs a big bounce back after eighth on Sunday, was 11th. Barcia remarked to NBCSports' Will Christien that he and the team are making massive bike changes all day. 

Zach Osborne had great speed earlier today but wasn't as quick in this one, just ninth. However, he's been working on a jump line through the whoops the whole session, and as this track breaks down, all those speed runs across the top of the whoops by others might not even matter. Watch for Zacho's jump line to come  into its own later tonight.

In the B group. Adam Enticknap and Aley Ray continued their duel for B group supremacy. This time Enticknap got the end with an impressive 46.4, which made him 13th quickest overall. That's strong!

The dirt has shaped up much MUCH better here for the second Salt Lake City supercross compared to Sunday's event. Prep looks better, with even more watering, but also there's far less wind today, which helped keep the moisture in the dirt. We've now passed the point of the harshest sun and temperatures so it looks like this is going to hold. A more technical track and better dirt? We'll take it!

Onto the night show!

250SX Heat 1

In the first gate drop of the evening, it was Chase Sexton grabbing the early lead as Garrett Marchbanks settled into second ahead of Kyle Peters. Enzo Lopes was up in fourth early on and applied pressure to Peters for the three spot while Marchbanks sprinted ahead trying to keep pace with Sexton.

Lopes cased the supercross triple and then crashed on the next on-off when he clipped a Tuff Blox on the takeoff. It appeared he dislocated his shoulder but was able to walk off under his own power. No update on his condition at this time.

A close battle commences for the final transfer spot as Coty Schock, Lorenzo Locurcio, John Short, and Justin Rodbell were battling it out. Schock fell while in transfer and moved Rodbell into the final transfer spot. Kevin Moranz then moved into 10^th and worked on closing up onto the back of Rodbell for the final transfer.

Jo Shimoda was recovering from a bad start and worked his way into the final transfer spot with a few laps remaining as he moved around Kevin Moranz. Once Shimoda moved into transfer, the chaos seemed to settle as the top nine established a gap back to Moranz.

Chase Sexton cruised to the win leading Marchbanks over the line with Peters, Chris Blose, and Jace Owen following him home.

250SX Heat 2

The holeshot in the second heat race went to Shane McElrath ahead of his teammate Colt Nichols with Pierce Brown right behind the Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha duo. Brown went down at the end of the whoops at the end of the first lap and was left to again have to charge forward.

Colt Nichols was the next one to fall as he tipped over out of second and dropped back to fifth, just ahead of Darian Sanayei. Further back, Jordan Bailey moved around Curren Thurman and then Wilson Fleming to move up to eighth.

McElrath had a moment of his own out front as he jumped off the track after the finish line jump. He would regroup and maintain his lead over Jeremy Martin who had now moved into second. Nichols then caught and passed Jalek Swoll moving up the fourth.

Curren Thurman moved into the final transfer spot ahead of Wilson Fleming while Fleming fell back into the clutched of Jerry Robin and Pierce Brown. Robin then went after and got by Thurman for the final spot as Brown continued to push up to them with two laps to go.

MacElrath took the win out front leading home Martin, Nichols, Justin Starling, and Swoll.

450SX Heat 1

In the first 450 heat race of the night, it was Cooper Webb grabbing the holeshot with Malcolm Stewart and Chad Reed settling in right behind him. Jason Anderson applied early pressure to Reed but took a few turns to make the pass stick.

Stewart was putting the pressure on Webb for the lead within the first few laps as he was absolutely crushing the whoops in typical Mookie fashion. Anderson started to reel them both in once he was clear of Reed and was working on turning it into a three-rider battle for the lead.

Stewart nearly made the pass for the lead before Webb wrestled the lead back away from him before the finish with two laps to go. As they came to the white flag, Stewart finally made the pass with a great drive through the whoops.

Malcolm Stewart took the heat race win with Webb, Anderson, Dean Wilson, and Justin Brayton following him across the line.

450SX Heat 2

Ken Roczen grabbed the holeshot in the second 450SX heat race with Kyle Cunningham ripping a good start from the outside and following him through in second. Blake Baggett fell early in the race and was way down the order having to pick his way through the field.

Zach Osborne moved into second and had Benny Bloss right on him as Eli Tomac also made the move on Cunningham to move into fourth. Tomac also moved forward to get Bloss just a lap later as he was trying to keep touch with Roczen who was pulling away out front.

Further back, Baggett was slicing through the field as Alex Ray held the final transfer spot and Adam Enticknap, Kyle Chisholm, and Tyler Bowers were all mixed in as well. Baggett moved around Ray into the final transfer spot with two laps to go but the chaos was still cooking.

Tomac moved around Osborne for second, putting in his best lap of the race, but still couldn’t pip Roczen’s best time out front as he was nearly eight seconds in the lead. Roczen held on for the win as Osborne put one last charge in and nearly got back by Tomac for second.

250SX Last Chance Qualifier

In the 250SX LCQ, it was Wilson Fleming getting the early lead with Kevin Moranz, Dustin Winter, and Coty Schock in the transfer spots early on. Winter made an early pass to get around Moranz as they were all jockeying for position through the whoops on the second lap.

Josh Osby was catching Schock for the final spot as Winter and Moranz continued to battle each other ahead of them. Osby made the pass on Schock to move into fourth as he worked on going after Moranz for third ahead of him.

Moranz then fell back to fourth and had to deal with Schock closing in with Curren Thurman and Luke Neese not too far back. Thurman moved around Schock to get into fifth, but he still needed to go after Moranz ahead of him.

Fleming held on for the win out front and led home Osby, Winter, and Thurman who made a last turn pass on Moranz to get the final transfer spot.

450SX Last Chance Qualifier

Ryan Breece grabbed the early lead in the 450SX LCQ with Justin Hill right behind him. Fredrik Noren was up near the front early on but fell from fourth and was way back.

Hill went after Breece for the lead and got him before the end of the second lap as Carlen Gardner and Josh Cartwright held onto the final transfer spots. Adam Enticknap was coming from a bad start and caught up to Cartwright for the final spot. Enticknap made the move into fourth and continued on trying to run down Gardner ahead of him.

Noren was trying to charge forward from his fall and made it up to sixth but was running out of time as he was six seconds down of transfer with two laps left to go. Hill was cruising away with a big lead out front, leaving Breece, Gardner, and Enticknap to settle second place among each other.

In the end, Hill held on for the win away from Gardner, Enticknap, and Breece headed to the main event.

250SX Main Event

The sixth round of the 250SX East Regional Championship got underway from Salt Lake City and it was Colt Nichols grabbing the holeshot away from Shane McElrath and Jace Owen. Pierce Brown was up in fourth early on by Sexton quickly moved around him and went after Owen next.

Sexton then fell after the finish line jump and Brown had nowhere to go and he got stuck on top of him. While Sexton went to work on slicing through the field from 17^th, McElrath was going after his teammate Nichols for the lead. Sexton was already up to 11^th by the end of the second lap as he was riding as hard as he could to not lose maximum points to McElrath in the championship.

Jeremy Martin moved up into third around Owen while Jalek Swoll found himself inside of the top five early as well. Sexton was wasting no time in going through the field as he was already eighth before the five-minute mark of the main event.

McElrath then made the move for the lead on his teammate as they both had opened up a big lead on Martin behind them. Sexton them moved around Garrett Marchbanks and Jace Owen to move into sixth with still over half the race left.

Sexton then got around Kyle Peters and made the move on Jalek Swoll for fourth with over seven minutes still on the clock. Pierce Brown, who fell with Sexton early on, was having to play catchup again this week as he was working towards the top ten.

The leaders were all running very similar lap times in the 47-second range which made life difficult on Sexton as he tried to run down his teammate Martin for an improbable podium. Kyle Peters made the move on Jalek Swoll to get back into sixth but was quickly losing touch with Marchbanks ahead of him.

Further back, Jo Shimoda was charging forward from a rough start and made the move on Jordon Bailey to get into the top ten and then also passed Jace Owen a lap later. Pierce Brown was trying to follow him through and was quickly on the back wheel of Bailey as well.

McElrath held on for his third win of 2020 leading a Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha one-two with his teammate Nichols coming home in second. Martin held on for the final podium spot, leaving Sexton to settle for fourth. The championship is now a dead heat at the top between McElrath and Nichols heading into this Sunday.

450SX Main Event

In the 450SX main event, it was Zach Osborne with the holeshot with Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen both buried down the field. Malcolm Stewart fell coming out of the first corner and caused a bit of a stack up in the field.

Roczen was destroying the whoops and blew past Tomac on the first lap but then Eli threw it back in on him to make the pass back just a few turns later. Roczen did the same thing next lap and took off trying to get away from Tomac early on.

With Osborne out front and Cooper Webb in second, they worked on pulling away at the front while all eyes were on the battle between Roczen and Tomac further back. Jason Anderson made a quick move on Justin Barcia to get into third and then Roczen and Tomac both moved around Barcia within a few turns as they continued to slice forward.

Anderson then had to deal with pressure from Roczen who was desperately trying to put time between himself and Tomac coming behind him. The top five were essentially running nose to tail as Anderson was working on catching Osborne and Webb out front.

Closing in on the halfway point of the race, Tomac began putting pressure on Roczen for fourth as Kenny could not make the pass happen on Anderson ahead of him. Roczen went to jumping the whoops and coughed up the spot to Tomac at the halfway point.

Tomac then charged around Anderson to get into third but he was still about four seconds down of the leaders. Up front, Webb was working on Osborne for the lead of the race with eight minutes left on the clock.

Behind the top five, it was Dean Wilson holding onto sixth ahead of Justin Barcia and Malcolm Stewart. Stewart, who fell on the first lap, was putting on a wild charge forward as he was utilizing the whoops to blitz past people for positions.

As Osborne and Webb were working on each other for the lead, Tomac started to close in on them rapidly as he was going for the win with five minutes remaining. With four minutes remaining, there was nothing in it between the top three as Webb finally made the move on Osborne for the lead.

Lappers came into play as Osborne couldn’t complete the long rhythm lane and allowed Tomac through for second. With two laps to go, Tomac was going for it for the win, putting everything into catching and passing Webb for the win.

Cooper Webb was able to hold on for his second win in 2020 leading Eli Tomac and Zach Osborne over the line. Anderson finished fourth and Roczen settled for fifth in the end, losing five more points in the championship chase.