Welcome to the Race Day Feed, coming to you from WW Ranch Motocross Park for the seventh round of the 2020 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. From practice reports to the blow-by-blow from today’s program, you’ll find it all right here on the Racer X Race Day Feed. Updates are posted in chronological order, so be sure to scroll down for the latest info. For even more updates be sure to follow us on Twitter, @Racerxonline.

Morning Report

Good morning from WW Ranch Motocross Park in Jacksonville, Florida. With the COVID-19 impacting the schedule, we are here in Florida during the fall as opposed to last year’s event being in June. While we will not see the heat exhaustion-causing temperatures like we did at the 2019 event, we will still probably see the warmest temperatures of the circuit today. This morning has been cool but temperatures could rise to the high 80s before the end of the day. On a hotter day and on a tough, sandy track, this round could prove to be the separator in both championships. Those who truly prepped during the longer-than-normal break after Monster Energy AMA Supercross will be brought to the light today.

Just as the temperate will rise today, the action on the track has been hot lately as well. Last weekend at the Spring Creek National, Dylan Ferrandis and Jeremy Martin put on quite a show as they continue to battle day in and day out for the 250 Class championship. Ferrandis managed to not only straight-up beat Martin on his home track (literally) but he also did it with a sweep of the motos, holding off a late-race charge by J-Mart in the final few laps of the second moto. By doing so, Ferrandis retook the points lead by a mere three points. The Frenchman took on everything that Martin through at him in one of the most exciting motos of the year. With only three rounds to go, the Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha rider’s insignificant lead could boast big with the limited number of races left. Bad starts or small, opening lap mistakes could open the door right back up for Martin, who you know will pounce at the opportunity.

In the 450 Class, Adam Cianciarulo has rebounded well following a rough go at the season opener. Since crashing out of the lead in the second moto at the Loretta Lynn’s Ranch (he finished sixth the first moto), Cianciarulo has not finished a moto outside of the top five. He got the ball rolling at the RedBud 2 National when he won the first moto and took his first 450 Class overall. AC even could have gone 1-1 that day had it not been for a mistake while lapping a rider as he was leading the pack. Then last weekend in Millville, Minnesota, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider holeshot both motos and checked out for his first moto sweep of his pro career. On top of his own strong day, AC also capitalized on a tough day from championship leader Zach Osborne (who had a flat tire in the second moto and faded positions late because of it) and second in the standings Marvin Musquin (who had a rough crash down the big hill in the second moto he said he was lucky not to be injured from that resulted in a tenth that moto). Combined with his 50-point day and Osborne’s 23-point day (4-16 moto finishes) and Musquin’s 31-point day (3-10 moto finishes), Cianciarulo jumped Musquin in the standings and now sits only 15 points behind Osborne. Osborne is in the driver’s seat up this championship still but will he take it out of cruise control this weekend and start shifting gears? (Sorry for the dad joke, blame my coworkers! *Cough* Kellen Brauer! *Cough cough*). But seriously, Osborne’s goal early in the championship was to stack points, which he managed to do. But after last weekend where he gained only five points in the second moto to AC’s 25 points, he’s going to needs to get back to stacking points if he wants to leave Fox Raceway at Pala with a #1 plate on October 10.

Speaking of #1 plate, this championship is really coming down to the final stretch and it appears defending and three-time champion Eli Tomac’s chances of hanging another plate to hang on the wall are dwindling. He sits fourth in the standings, 39 points down from Osborne so he is not mathematically out of it yet but things are not looking too great for Tomac to earn a fourth consecutive title. Behind Tomac in the standings are Justin Barcia, Blake Baggett, and Chase Sexton who, like Tomac, could all play spoiler to front-running Osborne, Cianciarulo, and Musquin. The championship is not over mathematically for them yet either but they’d need to be perfect and have some serious luck turn for all the guys ahead of them. But they can really disrupt this title fight. Barcia has really been ramped up again this year and has landed severall overall podium finishes. Baggett turned his season around after winning the second moto at RedBud 2 and was one of the fastest guys on the track at last weekend's race. And watch for Sexton today. He won the first 250 Class moto here last year (although he suffered from heat exhaustion in the second moto) but he trains in this environment and he’s bound for a big break through here soon. Today just might be that day. Does Sexton come through for his second 450 Class overall podium? Does Osborne leave today with a bigger points lead? Will home state guy AC add another tally to his overall win count? The battle is really brewing up some great racing to watch and today should be no different. Give us your picks in the comments section below this post.

First Timed Practice

250 Class

In the first session of the day (250 B qualifying), Mathias Jorgensen had the top time with a 2:10.305. Hardy Munoz (2:12.813), Maxwell Sanford (2:13.065), Matthew Klann (2:13.810), and Brett Greenley (2:13.881) were the only riders under the 2:14 mark.

In the 250 A qualifying session, Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis’ time (2:03.882) just bested his teammate Justin Cooper’s time (2:03.885) for the top time of the session. Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM’s Derek Drake finished the session with the third-fastest time, his fast lap being a 2:05.663. Shane McElrath (2:06.472) was the only other rider to record a time under the 2:07 mark as Jett Lawrence (2:07.364), Jeremy Martin (2:07.369), RJ Hampshire (2:07.703), and Mitchell Harrison (2:07.897) all recorded their fastest lap times in the 2:07 range. Remember, Ferrandis and Cooper were fast at this event last year: Ferrandis took the win in the second moto and Cooper’s steady 2-2 gave him his first career 250 Class overall. Will they be able to repeat as the top two finishers this year? It would be quite the turnaround for Cooper, as his results in 2020 have not been up to par of his consistent front-runner and podium threat.

450 Class

In the first 450 qualifying session of the day, Chase Sexton topped the chart with a 2:03.209. Osborne’s 2:04.867 was the second fastest of the session. Baggett’s 2:05.103 was third fastest and Cianciarulo’s 2:05.423 was fourth-fastest. 

In the 450 B qualifying session, Scott Meshey’s 2:12.361 topped the group. Christopher Prebula (2:15.894), Tristan Lewis (2:16.455), and Vann Martin (2:16.744), Travis Delnicki (2:17.575) rounded out the top five in the session. Martin is making his return to racing after suffering a practice crash at the St. Louis Supercross in January resulted in a torn ACL, a torn patella tendon, a broken big toe, and two broken metatarsals that kept him sidelined for several months.

Second Timed Practice

250 Class

When the second session started, three Monster Energy/Star Racing mechanics were pushing Jarrett Frye and his bike, he seemed to be having an issue. I am not sure what the issue was but he managed to get going on the track and put in a 2:08.818 by the end of the session. When the guys got going, Jo Shimoda had the first fast lap of the session with a 2:07.983. Then his teammate Jeremy Martin jumped to the top with a 2:07.594. Ferrandis dropped a heater and then took the top spot with a 2:06.277. Jett Lawrence jumped into the second place spot with a 2:07.412 before Justin Cooper jumped into the second place spot. Jett dropped a 2:06.940 but it did not move him up in the session. When it was done, Ferrandis topped the session but it was his 2:03.882 from the first session that took the overall time.

“It’s awesome but I know it’s going to be difficult, a really challenging day,” Ferrandis said on taking the pole position.

Cooper, Drake, and McElrath's respective times from the first session carried over for the second, third, and fourth fastest combined times, respectively. 

450 Class

When the second 450 A group took to the track, Cianciarulo, Barcia, and Osborne took off when the flag waved. Just like in the first session, Sexton jumped to the top position with a 2:04.885. The Honda HRC rider sat ahead of AC’s 2:05.054 and Barcia’s 2:06.159. The big takeaway from this session was a big get-off by Marvin Musquin. While hitting the jump that sends riders back down onto the starting straight, Musquin’s rear wheel hit a bump into the face of the jump. Although the jump is more of a flat takeoff compared to the steep face of the other triples and doubles at the track, the bumps Musquin’s rear wheel hit caused the back end of his KTM 450 SX-F to swap out just as he was taking off, causing him to slam hard to the ground head first. Musquin was slow to get up but went for his bike immediately. He was in no rush but he appeared to be okay enough to go for his bike. With assistance from a racing official, he got his bike up and remounted before heading to where the mechanics were stationed near the starting gates. He met with mechanic Frankie Latham briefly before heading back to the team truck in the pits. We will provide more information on Musquin when it becomes available.

Pro Motocross has posted the crash on social media, watch it below:

When the session had ended, Sexton was the fastest qualifier (yet again) in both 450 A sessions but his 2:03.209 from the first session was the top time of the day.

“Looking forward to these two motos, we gotta translate this to a win,” Sexton said.

Sexton’s teammate Christian Craig qualified fifth overall on the day with a 2:05.617 from the second session. Max Anstie qualified tenth today with a 2:07.794 aboard his Suzuki RM-Z450. Fredrik Noren (2:08.262 to qualify 12th overall) and Justin Rodbell ( 2:09.470 to qualify 13th overall) put in two solid sessions. Noren was good here last year (9-8 for ninth overall) in his last ride of his self-sponsored effort aboard his Honda CRF450R before the JGRMX/Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team picked him up the following round as a fill-in for injured Justin Hill. Watch for Noren again today. Kyle Chisholm qualified 18th overall in his season debut with a 2:11.912.

250 Class Moto 1

It has warmed up here slightly from this morning. The Florida heat and humidity arrived prior to the start of the first gate drop of the day. Out of the gates it was Dylan Ferrandis with a great jump on the inside but it was Shane McElrath who powered around the first turn from the outside to grab the holeshot and the early lead. Through the first few sections it was McElrath, RJ Hampshire, Ferrandis, and Jett Lawrence. Jeremy Martin wasted no time jumping around his teammate to take over third. About a lap later, Jett made a move on Jeremy to retake third. Ferrandis and Hampshire battled back and forth through the roller section. Ferrandis initially had the spot but then Hampshire swung wide in the next turn and held on to the position. Shortly after, Ferrandis was able to make a pass stick on Hampshire and then he was able to make a move on his teammate McElrath for the lead.

Behind Ferrandis, Jett made a pass on J-Mart to retake fourth place. Hampshire, Jett, and Hampshire were three-wide two turns in a row as everyone continued to shuffle. Jett made his way into second and Hampshire got into third as McElrath dropped back positions. As Jett made his way into second, Ferrandis had already built up a four-second lead and had checked out. McElrath continued to drop as J-Mart made a strong run through the roller section to take over fourth. Alex Martin and Justin Cooper made their way to the rear fender of McElrath. A-Mart and Cooper both made their way around McElrath, who continued to lose position after position. He was eventually passed by Hunter Lawrence for eighth place.

While Ferrandis was gone out front, Hampshire and J-Mart caught up to the Jett. The youngster put in a charge as Hampshire and J-Mart battled one another. Then, with around a minute and a half to go and Hampshire had a huge get-off. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider went over the giant infield tabletop and about halfway to the landing the front end of his bike dropped suddenly and he had to hit the eject button and jump off through the handlebars. He got back up and ran to his bike, which was laying several feet away. But his Husqvarna FC 250 was completely mangled (missing front number plate, crooked and wobbly front wheel, bashed up seat/rear fender) as he rode back to the pits on the water truck path. Hampshire was only about to complete 13 laps before his big crash so he is officially awarded 35th.

Things did not go well for McElrath, who lost more positions than he gained. He eventually finished the moto in seventh, since Hampshire crashed out.

Ferrandis took the checkered flag about nine and a half seconds ahead of Jett Lawrence, who recorded a career-best, second-place finish. J-Mart finished third.

“I think getting a good start and be out front early was a key today,” Ferrandis said. “I wanted to take the lead, put a gap in and save my legs. …So stoked to get a good start, manage to get the win. It’s awesome.” 

“Today is just about saving yourself,” Jett said. “I finally got a decent gap and those few laps I just had a few too many and they ended up catching back up. I regathered and had a few tricky lines I felt like they couldn’t do, so I had them in my back pocket and pulled them out. It’s just good to be up here. It’s freakin’ hot, so you definitely have to stay cool out here and recovery is big.”

“Goal for moto two is to get a holeshot and get out front," J-Mart said. "We had a good start but not good enough. …we’re gonna see what we can do to get a little bit of improvement for moto two.”

I believe Brandon Hartranft went down early as he was running 32nd. But the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM rider pushed the entire moto and made his way into 13th. Great ride for the #30.

450 Class Moto 1

The first 450 Class moto gate dropped and we were rewarded with more battles by the top championship contenders immediately. Adam Cianciarulo shot out of the gates in the outside as he was joined by Zach Osborne in the middle and Chase Sexton on the far inside, three wide into the long sweeping, first turn. AC and Osborne kept the throttle on as they went through the holeshot line side-by-side, Osborne just barely getting the holeshot nod. Cianciarulo took the lead as Sexton shuffled into second around Osborne.

Through the majority of the race, the trio ran in that order as they played cat-and-mouse running in close and then opening up the gap on one another. At one point Sexton closed in on AC and momentarily took the lead before the #9 regathered, retook the lead, and put in a charge. But right behind the leading youngsters was now 31-year-old Osborne. About halfway through the race he really closed in on the lead duo. Then on the 12th lap of the race, Osborne pounced, making his way around Sexton and into second. Then just as quickly as he made a move on the #23, Osborne gassed it over a tunnel jump to get side-by-side with Cianciarulo over one of the tall mounds in the infield. The two landed side-by-side but Osborne’s drive into the jump and handful of throttle upon landing allowed him to power past Cianciarulo as they entered the turn.

Osborne led the final five laps of the race as Cianciarulo and Sexton held on for second and third, respectively. AC and Sexton were really pushing it out there but Osborne just raised the bar to another level. One difference between the three is AC and Sexton's bikes did not seem to be jerking nearly as much as Osborne's Husqvarna was. A lot smoother for AC and Sexton in the braking bumps. We will see if it impacts Osborne in the second moto or not.

On the last lap, we think Sexton went down as he recorded a 2:28.925, allowing Musquin to take over third place at the checkered flag. There was about an eight-second gap from Sexton in third to Musquin in fourth but a mistake by Sexton allows the Red Bull KTM #25 rider to take the final podium spot.

“This was definitely the most important moto for me of the entire season so far,” Osborne said. “Mr. momentum was trying to change his address on me and I kinda had to put a stop to it. So I knew that was important. I was under a lot of pressure. I felt it today. the red plate carries that weight for ya.”

“Really happy to be standing on the podium for the first moto,” Musquin said. “I was in fourth and that’s all I had. I got pretty lucky with [Sexton] going down in front of me.”

Behind Sexton, Barcia, Tomac, Baggett, Savatgy, Noren, and Christian Craig rounded out the top ten. 

Not sure what happened to Benny Bloss but the official results have him with a 39th-place finish after only completing three laps.

250 Class Moto 2

We heard the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna guys had to rebuild the motor and bike completely for Hampshire after his big crash in the first moto. Luckily, Hampshire was not injured in his bike crash and he was able to lineup for the second moto.

Gate dropped on the second 250 Class moto and there was a several-rider pileup in the first turn! Out front, it was another Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha rider with the holeshot: this time it was the #32 of Justin Cooper. Cooper out throttled Alex Martin and several of his Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha teammates to get into and out of the first turn with the lead. Ferrandis executed his plan of good start, get to the lead, and take care of business. The #14 grabbed an early lead from Cooper in the roller section and checked out yet again.

“Every race are important but it’s good to bounce back with two race in a row of double moto wins,” Ferrandis said. “Today was a difficult day but I made a job. Really happy. My start was much better.”

For a majority of this moto, Cooper ran by himself—too far behind Ferrandis to fight for the lead and too far ahead of being challenged. Cooper’s solid 4-2 was good enough for second overall.

"It’s been an up and down season, I’ve been waiting to put together two good motos like this and today was the day," Cooper said on the podium. "This place definitely brings the heat. …man it just feels good when you’re expected to do this and it hasn’t come in so long and to finally get it down is just, [I’m] grateful. The season is coming to a close and definitely want to finish it off strong, don’t want to go into the off-season feeling like I was under par. …this was a good rebound for us.”

Similar to the first moto, McElrath had another great start in this moto. Fortunately for him, he turned around his day. After fading throughout the most of the first moto, McElrath managed to run solid in third and hold off Jeremy Martin for the position. McElrath really holding off Jeremy Martin was 1.) impressive, especially after that first moto where he was fading lap after lap and 2.) and unintentional help to Ferrandis. Jeremy Martin, who accidently took out his brother Alex in the opening minutes of the moto and knocked his older brother from fourth to out of the top ten, was eventually able to take third away from McElrath but it was too late at that point for the #6 to run towards Cooper and/or Ferrandis. J-Mart’s 3-3 earned him the final spot on the podium as he just edged out Jett Lawrence’s 2-5. Bummer for the young Australian who just misses out on the overall podium yet again. He was out of the top ten early but he kept charging and made his way into fifth but he was unable to overtake McElrath for fourth. 

Bummer for Hunter Lawrence as well, whose bike shut down in this moto only three laps into this race. Hunter's 6-39 moto finishes (15 points total) earn him 14th overall on the day.

450 Class Moto 2

Riders took to the gates for the final race of the day and it was Musquin, Barcia, Noren, Cianciarulo, and Anstie out front early on. Barcia stole the holeshot but AC stole the lead. About half a lap in, Barcia went low into a turn but ended up going too low as he washed out the front end out of his Yamaha YZ450F. By the time he got going again he had lost a lot of positions but the radiator on the left side of his Yamaha was damaged so had to ride the outside of the track and go directly to the pits. He rounded the first lap in 38th. He would eventually charge to inside the top 15 as he finished the moto 13th.

Out front, Cianciarulo clicked off a handful of laps out front but several minor mistakes kept Musquin close behind him. Osborne made his way around Anstie, who put in a solid moto, to take over third place. Anstie would finish the moto fourth and his 13-4 earned him seventh overall on the day. He came from dead last at the start of the first moto. Impressive ride by the #103.

Out front, Cianciarulo clicked off a handful of laps out front but several minor mistakes kept Musquin close behind him. Osborne made his way around Anstie to take over third place as Musquin was gaining on Cianciarulo and was looking to make a pass. AC was on the outside of the long roller section as Musquin carried more speed on the inside. The section is followed by a 180-degree right-hand turn where both lines funneled towards the inside most line in the turn. Musquin pushed the limits from the outside line and as the two went for the same line, they collided, sending Cianciarulo’s Monster Energy Kawasaki into an abrupt hault, throwing him headfirst over the handlebars. Musquin stayed up and inherited the lead as Osborne went (overtop) of AC’s downed Kawasaki. He remounted in sixth behind his teammate Tomac—who was going to work himself.

Musquin then clicked off three laps of his own before Osborne pulled out another late-race push to the front similar to what he did on Sexton and AC in the first moto. Osborne aired if out of the split lane/big mountain before the finish line and snuck down inside of Musquin.

Behind the lead duo, Tomac manned a charge form 11th at the start to the front, picking off anyone and everyone in his way. He got around Anstie and Sexton to take over third—next in his way was Musquin. The defending champion made a pass for second in typical ET3 fashion. He followed Musquin back onto the starting straight and blasted around the outside of the long, sweeping first turn, absolutely hauling ass as he snuck in front of the #25 coming into the next section. It appeared initially Tomac’s charge might be done and at one point that Musquin would even get back around him. But he was not done just yet. He kept pushing and running a rather consistent pace (or at least not dropping of as much as others were) and he caught the race leader.

ET3 threw it all at the #16 but Osborne was able to hammer down to the finish of the moto as well as he held on for another 1-1 day. Tomac has a slip up on the last lap that ended his charge but Osborne kept pushing through the checkered flag no matter what because the last few messages he had gotten from his mechanic had to be that Tomac was right behind him. It was quite the ride by both Tomac to charge up to Osborne and by Osborne to hold off Tomac’s charge. Again, Tomac had a slight slip up on the last lap causing him to back it down and hold on for second but Osborne dropped a 2:15.368 on the last lap of the moto. Tomac’s last lap was a 2:18.804 and the only other last lap under a 2:22 was Anstie’s 2:20.443. Speaking of the Brit, Anstie put in a solid moto taking fourth place. Anstie would finish the moto fourth and his 13-4 earned him seventh overall on the day. He came from dead last at the start of the first moto. Impressive ride by the #103.  

“It was pretty deep mentally and physically,” Osborne said on the digging deep to hold off Tomac’s charge. “…He’s pretty lethal. I was just hammer down to the end. Really good day. …Here we are with two rounds to go. It’s on.”

“I’ve just been in a funk,” Tomac said on his results. “Just put myself in bad positions off the start….there’s more talenet this year, more speed this year. Past weekends, I’ve been searching. Nice to know I can be up there again.”

Musquin turned his day around to earn his third overall podium of the year on a day where he had a crash he said he was lucky to escape from uninjured—for the second week in a row.

“I can’t believe I’m standing up right here in second place,” Musquin said after his day started off rough with that crash in qualifying. “I gotta be happy…If you look at the overall of the day, the week…I’m lucky I’m not injured again….I didn’t give up, even though it was super hard standing on the line for the first moto.”

Cianciarulo finished seventh in the race, which he said afterwards was the best he could do.

“I think I put myself in good positions today,” he said. “I put my best foot forward, I can’t be bummed on that."