In the 450 Class it’s a similar story shaping up, but instead of Ferrandis, it’s Zach Osborne leading the championship charge. Before last week it looked like Adam Cianciarulo, fresh off a 1-1 day of brilliance at Spring Creek, might mount a charge on Osborne, but Osborne put in one of the strongest days of his career, going 1-1 despite an absurd amount of pressure from Eli Tomac late in the second moto. Cianciarulo, on the other hand, went 2-7, which resulted in Osborne walking away with a 29-point lead. With just four motos to go in the season it’s a huge lead, but if Cianciarulo is lucky enough to have Osborne have an unlucky day at Thunder Valley, Cianciarulo could have a fighting chance heading into the last race of the season. Marvin Musquin, the only other rider still in any kind of realistic contention, trails Cianciarulo by a single point, but if both have bad days, Osborne could actually clinch the championship. If he puts 21 points on Cianciarulo and 22 points on Musquin, he’ll wrap up the 2020 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross 450 National Championship.

Additional things to keep in mind include the elevation, weather and the track itself. With Thunder Valley sitting at roughly 5500 feet above sea level (it varies depending on where a rider is on the track), the bikes, especially the 250s, will be down on horsepower due to the thinner air. Thunder Valley features a steep, uphill start too, which means any horsepower disadvantages will really stick out like a broken spoke. The temperatures, usually fairly hot when Lucas Oil Pro Motocross normally visits in late May/early June, aren’t even expected to breach 70 degrees today, which means riders who can handle the elevation will be able to push harder deeper into the motos. As for the track, Thunder Valley is usually known for developing crazy big ruts, but that may not be the case today. Things are looking somewhat flat, but we'll see it shapes up when the gates start dropping. All in all, the stage is set for what could be an outstanding, and consequential, day of racing in Colorado. Buckle up!

On the injury front we’ve got Broc Tickle returning to action after missing last week due to a big crash at Spring Creek. Mason Gonzales and Hampshire, who both had huge crashes on the same jump last week, are also in, while Jalek Swoll will miss the final two rounds with a shoulder injury. For a complete look at who’s in and who’s out for Thunder Valley, check out our Injury Report.

Qualifying – Session One

Justin Cooper looked a lot like the real Justin Cooper in the first 250 qualifier. The Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider set the fastest time of the session on his fourth lap, a 2:07.574, followed closely by his teammate, Shane McElrath, who posted a 2:07.690, also on the fourth lap. Dylan Ferrandis rounded out the qualifying podium in third fastest, but was over a second off McElrath’s time. The big standout from this practice, however, is Nate Thrasher, who is making his pro debut with Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha. The rookie was fifth fastest behind RJ Hampshire, and while he was roughly three seconds off Cooper’s pace, his top-five effort is still very impressive. Jeremy Martin was eighth fastest with a 2:10.890.

In the first 450 Qualifier Adam Cianciarulo came out swinging, recording his fastest lap, a 2:08.201, on his third lap, but Blake Baggett edged him out two laps later with a 2:08.048. The top five of Baggett, Cianciarulo, Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac, and Zach Osborne are pretty close in pace, with less than a second separating all of them. If you’re paying attention you noticed the fastest 250 times were faster than all of the 450s. That’s not because the 450 riders are off the pace, it’s because it’s early and the track is still breaking in. It’ll be interesting to see how the times look when the second set of qualifiers rolls around.

Qualifying – Session Two

Jett Lawrence got going early in this one, setting a fast lap of 2:12.413, but it didn’t take long for times to start dropping. First Jarrett Frye posted a 2:11.426, then guys like Hunter Lawrence, Shane McElrath, and Derek Drake started clicking off some quick ones, but they were all still in the 2:11 and 2:12 range. But judging by the times from the first session, which were in the 2:07 and 2:08 range, you know it was only a matter of time before someone came along and separated themselves. That someone was Dylan Ferrandis, who spun a 2:09.220. McElrath came close a few laps later with a 2:09.413, but it was Justin Cooper, who was fastest in the first session, who ended up really dialing up the heat with a 2:08.769. Ferrandis had a little crash after that, but apparently it didn’t bother him because he got up and busted out a 2:08.097 to steal the fastest time of the session away from Cooper at the very end. Cooper’s time in the first session was faster though, making him the day’s fastest 250 qualfier.

“This [Thunder Valley] is where I got my first moto win, it’s treated me well,” Cooper said afterward. “I’ve been third and second here the first two years I’ve been here and I’m looking to take that next step and get on top. The motivation is at an all-time high right now, it’s been an up and down season and I’m looking to make a statement today and get on top of the box. That’s the goal and now’s the time.”

In 450 action Adam Cianciarulo wasn’t messing around. Amidst initial fast times of 2:11.075, Cianciarulo almost immediately turned a 2:05.336. The time was so fast that even Grant Langston in the television booth wondered if Cianciarulo had accidentally cut the track somewhere. Cianciarulo backed it up shortly thereafter though with a 2:06.498. Clearly, the Monster Energy/Kawasaki rider wasn’t playing around in his final qualifier. Times started to drop as the second 450 A qualifier progressed, but for a while nobody was able to dip below 2:08. Finally Christian Craig dropped down to a 2:07.811, then Baggett found some speed late and turned a 2:06.384. There would be no catching Cianciarulo though, who was simply on fire and looked extremely fast on some of the uphill sections.

“I’ve always felt really comfortable at this track, I got my first podium here in 2015 and I have a win here,” Cianciarulo said afterward. “I love the dirt and I love the ruts. Even though I grew up in Florida in the sand, these are the conditions I really enjoy riding in. When I’m having the most fun out there is normally when I’m at my best. I haven’t really been pushing it too hard in qualifying lately, as long as I’m in the top five I’m happy, but today it’s flowing a little bit. I feel good, the bike setup is really nice, and I was able to connect the track. When you’re pushing that hard it’s difficult to not make any mistakes, and I had one of those laps where I didn’t make any mistakes, and that’s where you see that big gap there. First gate pick for the race, let’s make it a good day!”

Earlier in the day it looked as though the Thunder Valley mega ruts might not make an appearance this year, but as the qualifiers wore on some really big ruts started developing. So much so that Justin Barcia even got stuck in one briefly! Stay tuned, the gates will start dropping soon and you don’t want to miss the action!

250 Moto One

Dylan Ferrandis got the jump in the first moto, alongside Mitchell Harrison, but Shane McElrath snuck into the lead almost immediately. The two quickly distanced themselves from Harrison, who was soon passed by a charging Justin Cooper. Jeremy Martin started in roughly seventh place. As the opening laps unfolded Cooper continued moving forward and caught up to Ferrandis but wasn’t able to make a move on his teammate. After a few laps Ferrandis picked up a bit more speed and went around McElrath for the lead.

While the three Yamahas were breaking away up front Martin was busy trying to limit the damage. He was working forward and was inching up on Harrison for fourth after RJ Hampshire had gone down and handed over fifth. Martin was eventually able to zap Harrison shortly before the halfway point, but by then the damage was done and Martin was nearly fourteen seconds back of Ferrandis, and almost seven seconds behind Cooper in third. Speaking of Cooper, he was clearly feeling good after qualifying fastest and passed McElrath for second with about thirteen minutes left on the clock.

In the second half of the moto the battle to watch was between Harrison, Jett Lawrence, and Hunter Lawrence for fifth. The pressure on Harrison was immense and he tried to withstand it, but Hunter finally dove to the inside to take the spot, and Jett followed suit a few turns later. Something happened to Lawrence out of view, however and he gave up spots to Harrison and Jo Shimoda. Things relaxed for a little bit, but soon Harrison was under fire again from Shimoda and Lawrence.  Hampshire had rebounded and was on the tail end of this battle too, but he crashed hard trying to run them down and DNF'd. Both Shimoda and Lawrence were able to get by Harrison.

Up front Ferrandis was in firm control, and judging by the stylish whips he was throwing on the last lap, he was feeling pretty good. Cooper took second, followed by McElrath. Martin did his best to catch McElrath, and he was reeling him in, but there simply wasn’t enough time to get the job done and he crossed the line two-and-a-half seconds behind McElrath. Jarrett Frye caught up to Harrison at the end and tried to make a move right before the finish line, diving in and drag racing to the line, but the attempt was unsuccessful, although he only missed making the pass by .046 seconds!

Alex Martin crashed in this one while running tenth and took a little bit of time to get his bike going again. That resulted in a loss of multiple spots and Martin ended up in twelfth.

“This morning I started to feel the pressure of the championship and I’ve been trying to dig deep,” Ferrandis said afterward. “We are now thinking about this championship. I was happy with my start, the Star Racing Monster Energy bike was so powerful today and that helps a lot. I should have grabbed the holeshot but I released the throttle just a little bit too early. Was behind my teammate and we had a good fight. I was surprised, the track, they put a lot of water on it and it was slippery. I took my time and then I took the lead and controlled the race. To win this moto gives me a bigger gap on J-Mart. That’s pretty good, and we’ll do the same in the second moto.”

450 Moto One

Fastest qualifier Adam Cianciarulo shot out to take the holeshot for the seventh time in a row, but Chase Sexton wasn’t far behind. Zach Osborne got bounced around a bit on the start, but about halfway through the first lap he was looking to challenge Sexton. Justin Barcia and Blake Baggett ran fourth and fifth, but Eli Tomac, who’d gotten a horrible jump, was moving up fast and was soon on the tail end of the Barcia/Baggett battle. It looked like there might be a battle between Baggett and Tomac, but Baggett went wide and seemed to simply let Tomac go by. That left Tomac to go after Barcia, but by then he had a bit of time to make up on the Monster Energy Yamaha rider.

With ten minutes down Max Anstie was trying to get by Justin Bogle for eighth, but found himself under fire from Christian Craig. That derailed Anstie’s attempt at zapping Bogle, and he even ended up losing a spot to Craig, although he would eventually get Bogle later in the race. The Tomac/Barcia battle had heated up by this point, and after shadowing Barcia for a bit Tomac was able to get by and immediately pull a gap on Barcia. The next rider in sight for Tomac was Osborne, although there was about fourteen seconds between the two.

At the front Cianciarulo was still in control, leading Sexton by about three seconds at the halfway point, with Osborne another eight seconds back.  Both Sexton and Osborne started to cut ever so slightly into Cianciarulo’s lead, but Cianciarulo seemed to respond, slowing their march on his position. After a few furious laps Osborne’s paced slowed a bit and soon Tomac was all over him. The fight, if you can call it that, was extremely short—Tomac passed Osborne with ease and motored away. That spaced the top five of Cianciarulo, Sexton, Tomac, Osborne, and Barcia out, but things tightened up a bit at the front when Cianciarulo made a mistake in a right-hander and nearly high-sided. He saved it though, and after seeing his lead on Sexton shrink to a second-and-a-half, the gap was quickly back up to nearly four seconds.

Back in the pack Baggett, who’d started strong, was falling back, giving up spots to Marvin Musquin and Craig. Anstie was creeping up on Baggett too, but Baggett responded and didn’t allow Anstie to get within striking distance. With a few laps left Tomac was absolutely flying, but there simply wasn’t time to catch Sexton. Cianciarulo took the win, followed by Sexton, Tomac, Osborne, and Barcia.

“I feel probably the most confident and comfortable I’ve been on the starting gate since I can remember, probably ever,” Cianciarulo said after taking the checkers. “I’m really enjoying that, and obviously the Kawasaki bike is absolutely ripping and that helps. I’ve been in that position a lot lately and I kind of just picture it before I leave that gate, that’s where I’m going to be, and I feel like I’ve run through it in my mind. I look at it like practice. But it’s challenging when they’re seeing where I’m going behind me and can pick apart the track and I’m left to try to figure it out. At the beginning I feel like I wasn’t flowing too well, but after twenty minutes or so, after I made that little mistake, I felt really good and managed the race from there. Chase [Sexton] made that little push right there at the end so I had to pick it up. I’m stoked on the win, this is awesome.”

250 Moto Two

Justin Cooper snagged the holeshot to kick off the second 250 moto, with Shane McElrath and Jarrett Frye in tow. Jeremy Martin held fourth, but was itching to make moves, which he did on Frye almost immediately. Shortly after that he went around McElrath and went after Cooper. Dylan Ferrandis, meanwhile, had gotten a lackluster start and was running eighth after a few minutes. Ferrandis  didn’t seem to be riding impatiently though, and while he was making passes, he wasn’t forcing the issue.

Up front Martin was all over Cooper and was doing everything he could to try to wrestle the lead away, but he just couldn’t make anything work. Then Cooper seemed to find something extra and opened up a two-second gap on Martin. 

Back in the pack Ferrandis had climbed to sixth but went down when Brandon Hartranft and Hunter Lawrence, who were battling all over the track, unexpectedly drifted wide in a turn, leaving Ferrandis nowhere to go. Ferrandis got up quickly but had dropped back to ninth, although at the halfway point he’d battled back up to sixth and was all over Hartranft, who’d give up fourth to Hunter Lawrence. Hartranft was putting up a good fight, but a couple of mistakes from Hartranft allowed Ferrandis to motor by with ease. 

With thirteen minutes to go Martin had reloaded and was firing on Cooper with both barrels. The two were side by side and back and forth, but every time Cooper managed to come out on top. The battle went on like this for a couple laps before Martin seemed to ease up slightly. Martin then tried an aggressive move when he sliced inside and pinned the throttle, but wisely aborted at the last second. Had he stayed in it both he and Cooper would have hit the dirt hard.  Martin then made a little bobble that gave Cooper some breathing room, but that didn’t last long and soon Martin was right back on Cooper. But, try as he might, Martin just could not make a pass, and as the clock continued ticking down it seemed like he may not be able to get the job done—Cooper was just too strong on this day. Then Martin had an encounter with a lapper that sent him off the track, sealing Martin’s fate and relegating him to second in the moto.

Back in fifth Ferrandis was working on Hunter Lawrence but was having about as much luck as Martin was on Cooper. But the two were going so hard they ended up catching McElrath for third and went around him as quickly as they’d caught him. At that point Ferrandis finally spotted an opening and pulled the trigger, taking third from Lawrence. Ferrandis’ forward progress would stop there though, as there were only two laps left and Cooper and Martin were too far ahead to be caught. Cooper took the win, and the overall, to cap off an absolutely brilliant day of racing. Martin took second, with Ferrandis, Lawrence, and McElrath rounding out the top five.

“A lot of pressure was on my shoulders and I’m glad to say it’s off,” Cooper said afterward as he held his dog, Thor, on the podium. “I wanted to do this all season but it just hasn’t gone my way. It’s a good time to do it, now I can go into the last round and try to do the same thing next weekend. I wanted to bring Thor up. The last time he was at a race was A1, and I won there. I brought him again and we’re on the top step again, so I might have to start paying for him to come every weekend.”

 “I was in a bad position. I really wanted to get as much points as possible,” Ferrandis said after the second moto. “I got a bad start, I don’t know what happened. I had a small crash and there was nothing I could do. I put my head down and gave it everything I had. The track was gnarly but it was a good ride, almost better than moto one. I think finishing fifth in the second moto would have been a disaster so I gave it everything I had. It was damage control and we can go to the next round with eighteen points on J-Mart, which is better than zero. We’ll see. The team did a good job, the Monster Energy bike was awesome and the power was incredible.”

 “I didn’t get the best of starts in the first moto. I got a good jump but got robbed up the hill,” Jeremy Martin said. “I was all in in moto one trying to get Shane for third. I inched up on him and couldn’t get him. In moto two we made a change to the bike and got a better start. I was like, ‘Oh my god this is nice to be up front!’ I tried to get Cooper right away and couldn’t get him. I backed off and tried to regroup and threw another effort at him. I came really close a few times but I blew through all my tear-offs and a lapper was in the main line and I blew off the track and had nothing left. But it was a solid second moto and we’ll see what we can do next weekend at Pala.”

450 Moto Two

The final moto of the day was a crazy one! Adam Cianciarulo got out to the lead right away, but Zach Osborne was all over him, setting the stage for what could turn into an epic battle. Max Anstie was highly motivated early in this one, making moves early that saw him move into third, but it didn’t take Eli Tomac long to get by him. When he did, he was about three seconds behind Cianciarulo, but as the laps ticked by Tomac started to inch up on Osborne, who was about a second-and-a-half off of Cianciarulo. Soon Tomac was all over Osborne, and the two were side by side for several corners before Tomac was able to seal the deal and motor away.

With twelve minutes down Tomac had eaten up Cianciarulo’s gap, and when Cianciarulo went around the outside in a left-hander, Tomac immediately selected the far inside, railed it, and took over the lead. Cianciarulo tried to fight back, and he did keep Tomac in sight for a while, but there was simply no catching Tomac in this moto—the reigning champ was on his game!

With twelve minutes to go Christian Craig was holding a strong fourth, with a tremendous battle between Anstie and Barcia playing out behind him. Anstie was holding strong, and with Barcia making a few mistakes, including one that required a near superhuman save, it seemed like Anstie just might hold onto fifth. Then again, on-the-edge riding never really seems to slow Barcia down, and was able to get around Anstie. Then something happened with Barcia out of view and he dropped out of the race.

Up front things were smooth sailing for Tomac, until what appeared to be a problem with Tomac’s clutch slowed his pace considerably. Tomac was furiously working on something on, or near, his clutch lever, every chance he got. All the while, Cianciarulo was inching back up on him. Tomac eventually seemed to get the problem figured out, however, and put an end to Cianciarulo’s progress. Not what Cianciarulo wanted, but he had bigger problems at that point, as Osborne had put in some hot laps and was closing back in. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider seemed to have things under control, but a big mistake over a small jump resulted in a near crash for Cianciarulo. He was somehow able to make a miraculous save, but not without losing a spot to Osborne. After taking a few moments to regroup, Cianciarulo was all over Osborne with two laps to go. Then he came in hot in a left-hander at the bottom of a hill, looking like he was going to smash into Osborne. He tried to slow up and just barely grazed Osborne’s rear wheel. Osborne was unaffected, but Cianciarulo went off the track and lost about five seconds to Osborne, effectively ending his run on Osborne. Tomac took the win, followed by Osborne, Cianciarulo, and Craig.

“I’m thankful we were able to get back out to Lakewood for one of the nine races we’re having this year,” Tomac said. “I finally had a race where I felt like myself. I was a little bit farther up on the start, within touch. The first moto I was out of reach too early on. I felt like I rode the same both motos, but in the second I put myself in a better position. In this moto I don’t know, I don’t know what happened. I had a little bit of a clutch hang-up. I got going and it seemed to fix itself and that was that. It was a really good day for us, we’ve been needing something. We’ve been in a rough place, I’ve been kind of searching lately. It’s good to be back. Thanks to Monster Energy Kawasaki, Bell, Alpinestars, Oakley, PPG, thank you. I feel good now. I was struggling to find that good race place and the flow. I think we got it figured out now and I’m looking forward to next week.”

“It was a great moto. Zach and I locked bars on the start, and I just sent it those first few corners,” Cianciarulo said. “I was able to pass Marvin [Musquin] there and get into the lead. I set a really good pace there in the beginning and I had a feeling it was Eli behind me. I feel like I put up a really good fight but he had a few lines that were better than me. Once he got by I was able to latch on a little bit there, but unfortunately made a mistake right there before the mechanic’s area. It sucked because coming into that corner I was so unsure of what line I was going to hit, and that’s probably what cost me. There was a big kicker on the top of that face after the inside rut. The way the lines formed today was weird. Once the ruts dried out you, the ones further outside, you couldn’t really go to them because you didn’t know which ones went together. It’s unfortunate to lose the overall there at the end, but it’s a perfect time to put my money where my mouth is, where I say I’m not disappointed when I give it my best effort. I sent it trying to get Zach there, I put a real aggressive move on him. It’s one of those things you kind of have to do, but I rushed it and I should have waited. I had the pace, I should have waited. But live and learn. We’ll come to Pala and take it to the last moto.”

“In the first moto I got smashed from someone behind me in the second corner. It jammed my foot really bad. I could handle it, but the more I went on the more the pressure hurt. Between motos I got it massaged out and just took a big dose of adrenaline going to the line, which is about all you can do for it. They were trying to tape it and I was like, ‘No, don’t tape it. I’m just going to go down there and do the job.’ I got off to a good start, and me and Adam were grinding up the hill there. Kind of had a midrace lull and felt good at the end and had some good lines. I wasn’t totally in my comfort zone today and did a little bit of points racing.”

As for his foot, Osborne says he’ll be fine.

“My foot will be fine. I think the footpeg went across the top of my foot and just kind of jammed all those tendons. It’s a little swollen but it’s nothing major. I can still ride at a decent pace and I’ll be fine.”  

Christian Craig put in a solid ride to end up fourth in this moto, snagging fifth overall.

“I’ve been right on that edge in sixth and seventh, and those top five guys have been just a step in front of me,” Craig said in his post-race TV interview. “I’ve been drilling and working every day with my trainer Swannie [Swanepoel], and we finally got there this time. I got a decent start, made some passes, and actually earned this fourth place. That felt good. It’s crazy, the sixth places these past few weeks were so hard to get, but this fourth seemed so easy. That kind of tripped me out, but it just feels good to get a solid place and get that top five I’ve been reaching for.”