Jarrett Frye makes his pro debut today for Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha. It will look like he’s replacing Ty Masterpool who is out of this round from soreness in his leg sustained in a late crash at RedBud 2. But the plan was always for Frye to debut when he was healed up from his torn ACL earlier this year. With the ACL healed, in steps Frye.

But there was more stories to be discussed from the Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha camp entering the weekend. Nate Thrasher was fully expected to make his pro debut this weekend as well, expect it was for the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM team. Suddenly, those plans were quickly changed and there’s no Thrasher under the tent this weekend. Key catalyst appears to be a link between Thrasher and Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha that is a developing story. Either way, Thrasher is out for Spring Creek.

That’s your pre-race lot from the home of the Martin Brothers this morning. Practice is already underway, and we’ll be here to provide updates throughout the day.

FIRST PRACTICES

The roar of the bikes hit Spring Creek for the first time on Saturday morning as the 250B group headed out for their first qualifying session. TJ Uselman was the top time of the session but has a surprising rider hot on his heels as KTM Orange Brigade amateur rider Max Miller appears to also be making his pro debut this weekend about the #604 KTM.

In the 250A session, home soil proved to be beneficially almost immediately as Alex Martin shot to the top of the time sheets and stayed there by session’s end. Alex and his brother Jeremy are quite familiar with Spring Creek as their parents own the facility. Jeremy didn’t quite fare as well as his brother in the first session as he ended up in seventh.

Adam Cianciarulo picked up right where he left off after winning RedBud 2 as he was fastest in the first 450A group qualifying session of the day. He pipped teammate Eli Tomac by three quarters of a second as he was the only rider to drop into the 2:02’s so far.

Local star power continues to shine through at Spring Creek as Bryce and Blake Hansen from Kaukauna, Wisconsin led the 450B group. Nicolas Rolando from Uruguay actually tied Blake Hansen’s best time but had a worse second fastest lap which relegated him to third.

Derek Kelley was able to lay down the best time in the second of the 250B groups, but the lap times from the first sessions were actually faster as the track continued to wear in throughout the day.

As such, the track was also a bit slower for the 250A group as Jeremy Martin laid down the top time of a 2:03.724 but was still nearly a full second off his brother Alex’s top time from the first session. So, Alex Martin goes fastest for combined qualifying over Justin Cooper and Dylan Ferrandis.

In the final 450A session of the morning, Chase Sexton upped the ante as he just got Cianciarulo for the top spot from his time in the first session as he laid down a 2:02.557. Cianciarulo was second fastest again and just ahead of Blake Baggett.

Henry Miller and Tyler Bowers both had hard falls in the fast session after the mechanics area. Miller would be carted off the track and is likely done for the day. The 450B group was led home by Joseph Perron who went a second and a half faster than anyone else in the session.

250 MOTO 1

As the first gate drop of the day happened, it was RJ Hampshire who grabbed the holeshot from Justin Cooper and Alex Martin. Ferrandis was up into fourth early and was keen to waste no time as he passed Alex Martin right away and closed up on his teammate Cooper. Martin was struggling early as he not only lost a spot to Ferrandis but was immediately pressured by Cameron Mcadoo.

Only a lap later, Ferrandis had made the move on Cooper and was applying the pressure to Hampshire for the lead. Hampshire put up a fantastic fight for nearly six laps as Ferrandis tried every move he could think of before finally making the pass for the lead stick at the top of the hill before the finish line jump.

Further back, Jeremy Martin didn’t quite have the start he was looking for and was trying to charge his way forward after starting just outside the top 10. He had finally worked his way into the top five just past the halfway point as he made the move on Justin Cooper with 12 minutes to go. He now sat behind his teammate Jett Lawrence as the two worked to reel in the elder Martin brother, Alex, ahead of them.

The duo caught Alex with about seven minutes to go in the moto and the three-rider battle quickly ensued. Lawrence was throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Alex and even had an angle for the pass a few times before Troll Train just kept the power on. Finally, Lawrence made the pass stick with just a few minutes left in the moto as Jeremy Martin then closed right up onto his brother. Jeremy tried several times to make a run at Alex, but just couldn’t quite get him before the flag waved.

In the end, it was Ferrandis taking his first moto win since Ironman ahead of Hampshire and Jett Lawrence. “It’s a big relief,” said Ferrandis. “The past few races have been hard for me with a lot of up and down, more down. I injured my shoulder. It was not ideal, but we regrouped during the weekend off and tried to recover the best that I can. We did the job today.”

450 MOTO 1

Adam Cianciarulo nabbed the holeshot in the first 450 Class moto as he pushed Marvin Musquin out to take it. Musquin settled into second right behind him as Chase Sexton also had a good early start and was running in third. Series leader Zach Osborne was fifth after the first lap as he worked on Blake Baggett ahead of him.

Defending champion Eli Tomac came around in the mid-pack after the first lap and was left with another moto of playing catchup to all the top guys ahead of him. Blake Baggett went to work on Sexton for third and made a great pass down Mt. Martin where he just out braked the Honda HRC rider.

The top five riders were opening up a gap on Joey Savatgy as Cianciarulo continued to hold a narrow advantage over Musquin out front. Baggett closed up to Musquin and looked to make a move anywhere he possibly could. Baggett even tried the same exact move he put on Sexton to pass Musquin, but he just couldn’t quite crack the dam.

Osborne turned up the intensity as the race clicked over to the second half and closed up to Sexton for fourth. Similar to those in front of him, Osborne tried many times to make a pass on Sexton before muscling him out of the way in the back of the track to take over fourth place.

Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac were running in seventh and eighth, respectively, as they slowly caught Joey Savatgy ahead of them for P6 late in the race. Tomac had caught Barcia early in the race but just stayed right on his heels for much of the second half of the race.

Musquin finally made a mistake after the relentless pressure of Baggett forced an error from the Frenchman. Musquin stalled at the bottom of Mt. Martin and came to a dead stop. He was able to get the bike re-fired before Osborne got to him, but Baggett had already gone through for second.

Barcia got to the back wheel of Savatgy and spent about a lap looking for a way through before he dove to the outside in the first set of sand whoops. Amazingly, he made the pass stick as he shut the door and they made contact. Savatgy fell and would drop back to ninth.

Adam Cianciarulo took the win in the first moto as he just narrowly held of Baggett in the end. The duo out front dropped Musquin late and left the Frenchman for third. “Any time you’re leading a 450 race, unless you’re on another planet, you’re going to have these guys right on you,” said Cianciarulo. “I feel really comfortable in that situation, honestly. I’ve always felt like I’ve done some of my best work when someone is right on me and I’m in the lead. Just trying to focus on my laps. I feel good today, Kawasaki has the bike working great.”

250 MOTO 2

Shane McElrath burst through the middle to take the holeshot in the second 250 Class moto as he led at Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha 1-2-3 with Cooper and Ferrandis right behind him. Jeremy Martin was able to make the pass on his brother Alex right at the end of the first lap and move up into fourth.

As the Ferrandis win had pulled him provisionally even in points with Martin after the first moto, this battle for third early one was essentially a battle for the points lead. Just as things were settling in, McElrath fell from the lead which promoted Cooper to the lead with the Ferrandis-Martin battle closing in right behind him.

Cameron Mcadoo was forced out of the moto with an illness early on while he was battling for a top five position. McAdoo rolled into the pits and collapsed off his bike after just a few laps and would need to receive medical attention.

Ferrandis spent a few laps trying to make the move on Cooper for the lead and finally made the pass stick as the race approached the halfway mark. Martin was quick to react behind him and he flashed by Cooper as well to get into second.

All eyes were focused on the lead battle as the gap never grew to over two seconds. Martin kept matching Ferrandis corner for corner to keep the Frenchman close as he looked for an opportunity to pounce into the lead.

With the white flag waving, Martin ran his best lap of the race and put in one last charge to try to get Ferrandis for the win. With a send down Mt. Martin, he pulled up right alongside of him twice in successive corners and nearly made the pass with two turns to go. Then a small case on the step-up before the finish allowed Ferrandis to close him off again and regain the lead.

Ferrandis crossed the line first to go 1-1 on the day for the overall win, and with it he takes the points lead back from Martin as well. Martin held on for second with Justin Cooper rounding out the podium. “I think we have a good relationship with Jeremy,” said Ferrandis of his titanic battle. “He’s such a nice guy, always been nice. When I came over from Europe, I think he was the only one to always say hello every time and he’s always been a nice guy with me. On the track, we both have a race to win and championships to win. But when we take off the helmet, I think it’s good to have a good relationship. I really like Jeremy. He’s a two-time outdoor champ so he’s not someone who you can play with. I think we gave you guys a good show.”

“I didn’t know it was for the points lead,” said Jeremy Martin. “I mean, obviously I got a fifth in the first moto so that was quite a bit of points gained. I just knew for Moto 2, I saw the 14 on the back of the jersey, and I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to get this cat.’ And I was doing everything I could to get that GEICO Honda up there. I don’t like coming in second but that was probably one of the funnest motos I’ve had all year. Between supercross and motocross, that was cool. We raced each other hard, we raced each other very clean, we got close. We’ve got three rounds left but if we have battles like that, that’s going to be a blast.”

450 MOTO 2

Adam Cianciarulo once again grabbed the holeshot in the second moto as Baggett was right behind him this time. Sexton once again found himself in third and Osborne was hot on his heels in fourth. Musquin rounded out the top five.

Early on, Baggett was not the same form he was in the first moto as Sexton put in a quick charge to make the move into second. Cianciarulo was stretching out the lead out front as Baggett slipped back into the clutches of Osborne as well.

Broc Tickle had an ugly crash on the triple step-up at the back of the track while working his way through the field. Tickle was tackled by his bike and left writhing in pain on the ground for several laps before he was able to get up and walk away under his own power.

Back to the lead group, Sexton and Baggett caught Cianciarulo for the lead past the halfway point and the three riders engaged in a big battle. Sexton tried a couple moves on Cianciarulo before losing some ground and fading back into the clutches of Baggett again.

Zach Osborne ran into some big troubles with about 10 minutes to go in the moto as he pointed to his front and with a clear front wheel issue. It appeared to be a front flat tire, but Osborne refused to enter the pits to change it for two laps in a row while the team were prepared for him to come in.

The team was shouting to bring him in, and Osborne stayed out for the final 10 minutes of the race trying to nurse the bike home to the best of his ability. Musquin then went down while running in the top five and dropped down to eighth as his opportunity to gain huge points on Osborne slipped away.

In the end, Cianciarulo took the victory in the moto for his first career 1-1 overall in his 450 Class career. Baggett followed him home in second with Sexton rounding out the podium. “I was just kind of tunnel vision all day,” said Cianciarulo. “I’ve never gone 1-1 before, even last year when I won the championship on a 250, I never went 1-1. Can’t say enough good things about the team, the bike’s really good, and I’m just feeling really confident in my riding. In supercross and even the first round of outdoors, things are starting to tumble out of control and I’m like, ‘Man, what am I doing?’ and just continuing to grind and put one foot in front of the other and here I am with two wins in a row. It’s crazy.”