250SX Showdown

For some reason the gate just to the right of Sexton, who was way on the inside, was open. It didn’t seem to help him much, as he got pinched on the start and got going in about tenth. Justin Cooper went down two turns in, while his teammate, Shane McElrath was in the lead and trying to check out. Forkner ran second, with Christian Craig, Cameron Mcadoo, Jett Lawrence, and Chase Sexton behind him. Then Forkner went down hard, going over the bars on a dragon’s back and slamming into a berm. It was obvious Forkner was hurt, and as if on cue, the red flag popped out, prompting a restart. Shane McElrath, who’d already built a sizable lead, must have been wondering what he’d done to anger the moto gods.

On the restart it was Jett Lawrence taking the holeshot, but McElrath was right behind him, with Chase Sexton lurking in third. Ferrandis, who was no longer under pressure for the championship, held fifth. The battle for the lead started heating up a few laps in. McElrath was all over Lawrence, and in the turn after the finish line tried to take him wide. Lawrence didn’t cooperate though, and fought back, holding McElrath up in the next turn. That in turn allowed Sexton to get by them both! Sexton led for a couple laps, but then in the straightaway he slowed dramatically, looked back, and allowed McElrath to go by. Several turns later, McElrath appeared to slow a bit and Sexton shot back by. Sexton looked like he was done with any games at this point, and dropped the hammer. McElrath got back on the gas too, and at roughly the halfway point Sexton had a little over a second on McElrath, with McAdoo and Ferrandis roughly six seconds back. But then Ferrandis went down. He remounted quickly, but he’d pretty much given up any hope of getting up front and potentially helping his teammate, McElrath, in the championship battle against Sexton.

With five minutes remaining the battle for third was the one to watch. Michael Mosiman had gone around McAdoo, and Ferrandis had caught back up to McAdoo and was applying heavy pressure. He made a move in a right-hander, but McAdoo jumped back by in the following rhythm lane. But then Ferrandis passed McAdoo again, and Lawrence followed suit shortly thereafter. McAdoo seemed to fall completely off the pace after that and lost another spot to Brandon Hartranft. On the last lap Cooper blasted McAdoo, which sent him to the dirt and McAdoo was unable to get his machine fired up again. Up front it was all Sexton, who’d controlled the race from the moment he passed McElrath in the rhythm lane. Sexton won by 4.275 seconds, with McElrath and Mosiman rounding out the podium. Ferrandis took fourth. Both Sexton and Ferrandis were presented with their respective number one plates on the podium immediately following the checkered flag.

“Everyone said I got lucky last year and it fired me up coming into this season,” an ecstatic Sexton said afterward. “I won 5 main events and this is my last 250 race before heading to HRC Honda, I’m so happy.”

Ferrandis was so overcome with emotion after the race the tears started coming out, and as he was explaining that he never expected to win back-to-back titles he was forced to cut his interview short—he was so choked up he couldn’t continue.

450SX LCQ

Carlen Gardner took early control of the final LCQ in 2020. Fredrik Noren found his way into second, with Kyle Chisholm in third. Ryan Breece was in a qualifying spot, but then went down after the finish line and just like that, he was out of it. With two minutes to go it was Gardner, Noren, Chisholm, and Alex Ray. Kyle Cunningham looked like he was going to mount a charge on Ray, but ended up making a mistake and stalling his bike in the whoops, giving Ray all the breathing room he needed. Gardner took the uncontested win, with Noren, Chisholm, and Ray all transferring to the main.

450SX Heat Two

Ken Roczen holeshot the second 450SX heat race, followed by Zach Osborne, Blake Baggett, Justin Barcia, Chad Reed, Eli Tomac, and Malcolm Stewart. As the race wore on there wasn’t much battling happening, but with a minute to go Tomac, who’d moved up a couple spots, picked up fourth when Baggett made a mistake and sent a Tuff Block flying. Tomac’s forward march continued two laps later when he launched past Barcia in a rhythm lane. Time ran out shortly thereafter, and Roczen took the checkers. Osborne, Tomac, Barcia, Baggett, Stewart, Benny Bloss, Justin Hill, and Reed transferred to the main as well.

450SX Heat One

Broc Tickle got the 450SX action going by grabbing the holeshot, but about one lap into it Martin Davalos decided the lead would look better on him than Tickle. Jason Anderson shuffled Tickle back another spot a few moments later and took off after Davalos. After a few laps Anderson had gotten around Davalos, and the top nine were now Anderson, Davalos, Cooper Webb, Justin Brayton, Tickle, Vince Friese, Dean Wilson, Aaron Plessinger, and Tyler Bowers. Friese ended up getting shuffled back to ninth and was under significant pressure from Kyle Chisholm at the beginning of the final lap. But Chisholm tried to put an aggressive move on Friese and ended up losing time, and his shot at taking over the final transer position. Anderson won, followed by Webb, Davalos, Brayton, Tickle, Wilson, Plessinger, Bowers, and Friese.

250SX LCQ

Unlike usual, the 250SX LCQ immediately followed the 250SX heats, instead of going after the 450SX heats, which gave LCQ-bound riders less time than normal to prepare, particularly the 250SX west racers. And speaking of LCQ-bound riders, this LCQ was loaded. Dylan Ferrandis, Alex Martin, Hunter Lawrence, Pierce Brown, Brandon Hartranft, Lorenzo Locurcio, Justin Starling, Luke Clout, and more were all shoehorned into this one. Ferrandis lined up way on the inside, and when the gate dropped the move paid off, with Ferrandis sneaking up the inside and darting away with the lead. Behind him were Brandon Hartranft, Alex Martin, Jace Owen, and Darian Sanayei. Sanayei’s effort ended early though when he spun out just a little bit and his rear wheel was hit by the rider behind him, spinning Sanayei around even more. Lawrence was sixth, and Brown, who tangled with a banner in his heat race, had gotten a bad start and was running eighth early on. Brown moved into seventh and was pressuring Lawrence, but ended up crashing hard and took himself out of the fight. Ferrandis won, taking Hartranft, Martin, and Owen to the 250SX main with him.

250SX East Heat

As the riders lined up for the first heat race of the day, Chase Sexton found himself with Colt Nichols directly to his left, with Shane McElrath to the left of Nichols. When the gate dropped the two Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha riders shot out front, with McElrath taking control of the lead after a lap. Sexton, meanwhile, was running seventh. Not surprisingly, the points leader didn’t take long to start moving up, and with about three minutes to go he’d passed Jalek Swoll for fourth and was closing on Pierce Brown. Up front McElrath continued to lead, holding a two-second cushion over Nichols, but as the race started to wind down Nichols started to reel McElrath in. Sexton had also caught the lead duo.

On the final lap Sexton went for a pass on Nichols and tripled into a corner. Nichols had opted to double single, and as Sexton landed he and Nichols smashed together and they both went down. Sexton got going again fairly quickly, but Nichols looked like he was hurt, although he did get going again.

McElrath took the win, with Sexton, Jo Shimoda, Swoll, Kyle Peters, Enzo Lopes, Chris Blose, John Short, and Nichols taking the final qualifying spots. Nichols looked like he was in some serious pain though, so we’ll see if he’s able to make it back for the main. Pierce Brown crashed in this one and went into some banners. He thought he’d freed his bike from them, but ended up sucking the banner in even harder. We’ll see him in the LCQ.

250SX West Heat

Mitchell Oldenburg took the holeshot in this one, but at the end of one lap it was Justin Cooper in the lead, followed by Christian Craig. There was a big pileup in this one in the second turn involving Alex Martin, Brandon Hartranft, Dylan Ferrandis, Robbie Wageman, and several other riders. Ferrandis got going again, but it took a while before he did. As the race wore on Ferrandis had made up a few spots, but he wasn’t ripping through the pack, most likely on account of the condensed talent. With a minute to go he was running roughly fourteenth, and simply ran out of time, although he did put in a valiant effort, finishing tenth, just a few seconds back of Martin Castelo. Cooper took the win, with Craig, Austin Forkner, Cameron Mcadoo, Derek Drake, Oldenburg, Michael Mosiman, Jett Lawrence, and Castelo rounding out the transfer spots.

Qualifying, Round Two

When the gate dropped to begin the second 250SX West qualifier, it was almost like the start of a main event as the pack roared down the short start stretch and into the first turn. Tuff Blocks got bumped and a few riders had to dab to keep from going down as Austin Forkner, Cameron Mcadoo, and Brandon Hartranft all motored off up front. When things settled down a bit it was Dylan Ferrandis fastest with a 50.616, but Jett Lawrence, who simply sat on the gate instead of launching with everyone else at the start of practice, quickly threw out a 49.817. Undeterred, Ferrandis reacted, logging a 49.127, before heading into the mechanics area and chatting with his mechanic for a few moments. When Ferrandis returned to the track he dropped his own time to a 49.121, but Lawrence snuck in a 48.953 on his ninth lap. With just one lap left, Ferrandis put together his most impressive effort yet, throwing down a 48.346 with no more time on the clock for anyone to respond. Forkner put in a fast one on his last lap too, but it was nearly a second slower than Ferrandis’ fastest lap.

Shane McElrath and Pierce Brown both went down in the first turn when the 250SX East pack came in after the gate dropped, but fortunately both were fine and got right back into qualifying. Chase Sexton and McElrath traded fast laps at first, but then Sexton set an incredible 48.735. His next lap was ridiculously fast too, a 48.782. How’s that for consistency? McElrath recorded a 49.952 next, and although it was off Sexton’s pace, the way he hooked the rut right before the finish line was a thing of beauty. Sexton looked focused out there and was riding with his head down just clicking off lap after lap. There didn’t appear to be the same shenanigans between him and McElrath as there were in the first qualifier, but when the qualifier ended Sexton didn’t seem too happy with McElrath.

“I got a good jump, first corner first in both practices,” Sexton said. “Shane [McElrath] for some reason keeps trying to mess with me on my fast laps and running into me in the first corner. I’ve just got to stay away from him. Overall, I think I have the track figured out, and the dirt is good. Just need to stay out of the chaos.”

The track had been cleaned up and maintenance for the second round of qualifiers, and wasn’t nearly as rutty as before. This allowed some of the 250s to start hitting the same combos as the 450s, which they weren’t able to do in their first go-around.

Speaking of the 450s, when they came back out the short straightaway after the finish line was starting to get slick and several riders had their rear ends start stepping out as they walked the thin line between traction and low-siding. Malcolm Stewart’s wheel stepped out completely on him once, and he found himself sliding out and skittering to a halt on the slick surface. Moments later Cooper Webb and Zach Osborne hit the dirt right before the finish line, and it looked as though Osborne might have taken a handlebar to the gut. Whatever happened, Webb was able to get going again while Osborne immediately exited the track. He was under his own power, but left the stadium on the Alpinestars Medical Mule. We’re hearing he checked out okay after an ultrasound, but he has to be sore after that hit. As far as fast times go, Benny Bloss held the fastest lap, a 49.630, late into the qualifier, but Tomac ended up dethroning him with a 49.438. Then in a strange twist, defending champion Cooper Webb put in his best lap, which ended up being exactly the same as Tomac’s fastest time. What are the odds of that?

“Really thinking about the long game today which is the championship,” Tomac said. “The track is a lot different than what we’ve had previously. We’ve got more technical lanes to it, a little slower here and there. That being said, it’s really surprising that we’re that close. When the track’s longer, there’s a little more to it. Off to a good start today though.”

“Yeah, it’s a great day so far. It’s pretty crazy to see that [qualifying tied]. I saw our second best was like that too. It shows that we’re about the same,” Webb said. “Salt Lake had been awesome. I feel like my results have been incredible. We have one more to try to cap it off. I feel like this is the most technical track of the year so far and going to have a long main event with trick sections where you’re going to have to not make many mistakes. It’s cool to get a fast time in practice. I usually struggle with this but feeling good today.”

The second 450 B qualifier was similar to the first, except for Fredrik Noren wasn’t able to take over the fastest time again. Alex Ray was fastest, this time with a 52.102. Noren was putting on a heater in his final lap, but had to check up in the whoops because Ray had gone down right after them.

Qualifying, Round One

Jo Shimoda was the fastest rider in the first timed qualifier early on, but it didn’t take long before the likes of Chase Sexton and Shane McElrath started exchanging blows on the stopwatch up top. McElrath seemed to have a bit of strategy going too. The Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha rider tucked in behind Chase Sexton several times and followed him for about three-quarters of a lap before backing off. Whether he was just trying to get a look at Sexton’s lines or playing head games, is hard to say. But things got a little spicy the third time McElrath jumped in behind Sexton. As the two came into a right-hander, McElrath cut inside and intentionally took Sexton all the way to the Tuff Blocks, forcing the GEICO Honda rider to get on the binders pretty hard. It wasn’t dirty and neither rider was ever in danger of crashing or even trading paint, but it’s not often you see guys putting moves on each other like that during qualifying. Then again, it’s not every day a title gets decided, either. McElrath ended the session fastest, posting a 51.101.

In the firist 250SX West qualifier Austin Forkner got things going by crashing in the first turn when the pack came out of the gate for a practice start. It was just a small tip-over and he was fine, and now he can say he’s got that first-turn crash out of the way already. Up front it was all Dylan Ferrandis at first, but Jett Lawrence had a little something to say about it when he threw down a 51.667. Then Ferrandis and Forkner started trading times. Ferrandis displaced Lawrence with a blistering 50.868, then lowered his own time again on the very next lap, logging a 50.633. Forkner, who must have already been on a hot lap, immediately responded, posting a 50.529, which would end up being the fastest time of the session. Ferrandis’ 50.633 isn’t too far off though, and he looked very precise out there, especially in the ruts. It’s going to be fun to see what times are in the final qualifier.

In 450 action the power difference between the 250s and 450s was immediately apparent, as the larger bikes were able to complete combinations the 250s weren’t. Most 450 guys were able to launch a triple to table, something only a few 250 guys even attempted (and came up short on), as well as a really cool table-to-table, off, triple-triple combo that looked very fast. Not all of the 450 guys were doing that last combo, however. As far as times, Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen, and Martin Davalos set laps under fifty-one seconds almost right away, but it was Malcolm Stewart who was leading the pack early on with a 50.28, which he later lowered to a 50.048. A few laps later Eli Tomac busted out a 49.868, only to see Webb respond with a 49.657, which would close the out the qualifier as the fastest time.

In the B session there wasn’t much going on. Alex Ray was quick during the first half, but Fredrik Noren ended up fastest with a 52.581.

Morning Report

This is it. Not just the final round in Salt Lake City, but the last round of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross season. It’s been a long and strange road to get here. Whoever thought we’d be holding seven straight races in the same stadium, on Sundays and Wednesdays, in June, with no fans? Yet, here we are, thanks to the folks at Feld Motor Sports and the state of Utah were able to work together to make sure there are no asterisks associated with 2020.

One man who must be especially happy is Eli Tomac. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider is on the cusp of wrapping up his very first premier supercross title, something he’s been chasing for a very long time. With a twenty-two-point lead over Cooper Webb, the only other rider in contention, a championship is all but guaranteed for Tomac. If Webb wins, Tomac simply needs to finish nineteenth or better to clinch the title. Considering Tomac’s worst finish of the season is seventh, don’t expect him to be lounging around in twentieth or worse. If Webb doesn’t win, all Tomac needs is a single point, which he’ll earn simply from qualifying for the main.

In the 250SX classes, east and west, things aren’t so simple. In the eastern division Chase Sexton leads Shane McElrath by six points, which means finishing third or higher clinches it for Sexton no matter what. Since today’s 250SX racing is a Showdown format, featuring the fastest riders from both the east and west, Sexton will have quite a bit of additional talent to deal with, but the good news for Sexton is, three of those riders coming from the west are his teammates—Christian Craig, Jett Lawrence, and Hunter Lawrence.

Dylan Ferrandis, who leads Austin Forkner by seven points, faces a similar situation as Sexton. A third or better for Ferrandis seals the deal no matter where Forkner finishes. Ferrandis will face new faces in the form of Sexton, McElrath, and Colt Nichols, but that’s likely only to be an issue if Forkner wins and at least two of those guys finish ahead of Ferrandis. Justin Cooper also has an outside shot at winning this title, but he’s facing a seventeen-point gap, making a 250SX title for him very unlikely. But, we’ve seen some wild Showdowns in the past, and with as much on the line as there is tonight, you never know what might happen. Things certainly have the potential to get crazy! For a complete look at 250SX title scenarios, go here. 

On another note, today marks the final race of the legendary Chad Reed’s racing career, although there’s some debate on whether or not he’ll return for a few races in 2021. Check out this podcast our own Steve Matthes did with Reed earlier this week.