Justin Barcia is still the points leader, although it appeared briefly that Ken Roczen would hold the lead after round two. Then Roczen was penalized four points for jumping through a red cross flag, which he says he could not see because Ferrandis was blocking his view. Regardless, the penalty stands and that vaulted Barcia back into the points lead. Barcia was riding well Tuesday until he broke his shifter off and was stuck in first gear for the final few laps. Translation: lots of contenders tonight.

The 250 class is defined more easily. Christian Craig was amazing at round one, Jett Lawrence was amazing at round two.

Practice is now underway, we'll be back shortly.

Untimed Practice

These times don't count for qualifying but you can find the scores on AMA Live Timing. Christian Craig and Jett Lawrence were the fastest riders early in this session—no surprise there. The only odd thing was seeing Craig hang back and run his laps at the back of the field, as he is usually one to fight to get to the front of the train. Then Lawrence took it back on the tenth lap.

RJ Hampshire is already battered and bruised after a variety of incidents to start the year, and now he’s taken on more lumps after a big endo in this practice. Somehow he got back up and on the bike—but that’s what RJ does. He crashed as the session was ending, so he did not get back on the race track. We'll see if he's okay for the next session.

So much for the super techy nature of the track, as it took two laps for riders to uncork bigger rhythms like 3-3-3 on one side of the stadium. One interesting section is the split-berm left before the big supercross triple. There's a hump on the inside and riders can double-triple the small rollers before the big triple if they get it right. Our man Jason Thomas says the outside of the turn could come back around if riders quad coming into the turn.

In the 450s, it was Justin Barcia and Benny Bloss out front  early in this one. Justin Brayton was crushing the whoops early and held the top spot. Then Osborne took it away. Osborne has been frisky in practice this year compared to usual. Cianciarulo got on the gas at the end and put in a late heater as time expired, and that was enough to go to the top of the board, with Osborne second, Barcia and Roczen third and fourth. Malcolm Stewart was fifth. Anderson is the first two experiment with a big line out of the first turn, tripling in and going 3-3-1 into the corner. Looked faster, but Anderson’s time was sixth. We also spotted Cooper Webb taking a visit into the mechanic's area. The 2019 champ was only 14th in this session--the practice runs haven't been good so far this year, and that's often the case with Webb, but even at that standard 14th is probably not where he wants to be. 

First Timed Practices

RJ Hampshire went down hard with an end at the end of the first timed session, and he did not return for this session. That’s not good news for the Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna rider.

In what’s become the pattern of 2020, Jett Lawrence and Christian Craig swapped the top spot around in this session, Jett leading early, Craig taking it back. Jett put in a heater but couldn’t match Craig’s time, he lost a little speed on his fast lap with Mitch Oldenburg in front of him. In the end, no one could match Craig.

“The dirt has hardened up, but it still has traction like Velcro,” said Craig. “Compared to the first two rounds this is a legit supercross track. Those two tricky rhythms if you make a mistake you could be down hard, so you have to be cautious.”

The big news was Austin Forkner going down hard in the same spot where Hampshire went down in the first session. Forkner was trying to triple and get inside in a 90-degree corner between rhythm lanes, but he clipped the landing and went over the bars. He actually did a complete flip and landed on his feet, but then walked off, clearly in pain on his right side—possibly a shoulder. His session was done and his mechanic pushed his bike back. Could this be the end to his night?

In the 450s, the riders were doing some experimenting. The 3-3-3 in the longest rhythm is now not necessarily ideal, because it’s so hard to land and get inside without crashing like Forkner did. Also, a few riders, like Dylan Ferrandis would go 3-3-1 after the first turn. Ferrandis looked really good but struggled in a different section of the track so his lap time didn’t show his speed.

Roczen was up front early in this one, and by a full half second.

“I don’t know, I just try to take it corner by corner, every track build it seems like it keeps getting more wet and tacky It’s going to be rough and rutted tonight. Another practice to go, but I’m pretty excited. We’ll try to improve but if we can’t we’re in a good place.

Final Timed Practice

With Forkner and Hampshire out, the 250 field couldn’t afford to lose any more talent, but it almost happened when Jett Lawrence went down hard in the whoops, landing on his side and catching his right leg between the bike and the ground. He got back up and rode off—but we have heard he’s okay and only left because his bike was beat up.

Lawrence was fast before he crashed, shadowing Christian Craig around and creeping up on the Yamaha rider, and going to the top of the qualifying board. Lawrence actually ended up fastest in the session despite not finishing it. Craig was second for awhile but Nichols snuck in ahead of him right at the end. Craig's time from the first session actually held up as fastest overall time in the 250s. Nichols and Lawrence are also making bids for tonight's win.

"Mainly, it’s about getting the start," said Nichols. "Need a really good start and just put in clean laps. Track is breaking down quite a bit, so rail the outsides, cut low in a few spots and figure out that tricky sand section. I actually felt pretty good, first one wasn’t so great but I felt more like myself in that [final] one."

Roczen was again on fire to start this session, just crushing the corners and taking the top spot. Then Tomac jumped up front—score a few good runs for the established stars. Also, credit to Cooper Webb, who was fifth in the first timed session and was running fifth for most of this session. For Webb, that’s a lot better than the earlier rounds. Then Vince Friese crashed hard in the corner after the whoops, and was down long enough to bring out the red flag. Luckily, Friese eventually got up under his own power.

Tomac’s time held on for the top, and that’s big for him. Roczen and Cianciarulo were next, then Osborne, and Brayton snuck into fifth late, edging Webb.

“It’s tough right now,” said Tomac. “I’d say the hard section is the rhythm lane down the third lane, you have to hit the inside on the last triple, and that’s where the 250 guys [Hampshire and Forkner] are making mistakes.”

Speaking of that session, Ferrandis was really experimenting hard and trying to get that inside lap after lap—a lot of riders abandoned the strategy and either tripled to the outside or double-singled on the inside. Ferrandis kept sticking with the triple on the inside and then it bit him and he cased and nearly crashed like Forkner and Hampshire. After that, he switched to the outside. Also, most riders are going wall-triple-single-inside  heading into turn one. Ferrandis does it differently, going wall double-double, then going wide and tripling into the next section, while everyone else doubles. Ferrandis isn’t the fastest but he has alternate lines and strategy that could pay off.

250 Heats

Jet Lawrence and Lane Shaw were 1-2 into turn one of 250 Heat 1, Jett took off and Michael Mosiman moved to second. It was privateer power all over this heat, with a few factory riders out, the likes of Shaw and TJ Alrbright got to run up front. Eventually Jett pulled away from Mosiman, and Mitchell Oldenburg moved up to third. A battle for the final transfer spot came down to Luke Neese and Curren Thurman, Thurman went down in the last turn and Neese pulled through.

The favorites got horrible starts, Crag and Nichols, while Logan Karnow and Wilson Fleming battled for the lead. Then Karnow flew over a berm all by himself while leading! Max Vohland assumed the top spot while Craig moved up to second. Nichols had an off-track excursion which set him back even further. Eventually, Craig started to close on Vohland and then went by him in the whoops. Vohland hung on for second while Nichols battled past John Short and Jo Shimoda to take third. In the last turn, Grant Harlan snaked past Kevin Moranz to take the final transfer spot.

“I made a pretty boneheaded move off the start and mis-shifted,” said Craig. “Had to work pretty hard coming from the back, hopefully we figure that out for the main event.”

450 Heats

Barcia and Roczen battled with Webb then Osborne and Plessinger. Roczen was putting a ton of heat on Barcia but Barcia had the right lines to hold him at bay. They pulled away from Webb while Webb had to deal with Osborne. Roczen could not find a way around Barcia and finally appeared to surrender the fight—until with two laps to go Barcia ran into the back of Alex Ray, who went down early in the race and was going a lap dow. Ray wasn't really at fault, Barcia went right into him. Barcia went down and Roczen took the lead and the heat race win. Barcia somehow scrambled back up to his feet and held off Webb, who held Osborne back the whole way. The other action to watch came courtesy of Ferrandis, who got a bad start and had to work forward. Along the way he got tangled up with Brandon Hartranft, who went down in the whoops. He managed to get to ninth for the final transfer to the main.

Cianciaurlo and Davalos battled for the lead off the start, Cianciarulo took control. Chaos broke out when Malcolm Stewart went Mach 7 in the whoops, lost control, then barely got stoped for the corner—but ended up taking down Marvin Musquin, and then Vince Friese and Broc Tickle got caught with Marvin and went down as well.

Cianiciarulo pulled away while Davalos was under fire from Stewart. Tomac then did something you rarely see—he actually passed Malcolm in the whoops! Tomac was looking for ways around Davalos and he and Stewart both made passes together. This pushed Davalos to fourth.

It’s rare to see Malcolm Stewart passed in whoops. It’s even crazier to see Chiz not Chiz. Kyle Chisholm got taken down by Justin Bogle while running sixth, which will put Chizz into the LCQ. Tickle will be there are well, but Musquin survived with the final transfer spot.

250 LCQ

Kevin Moranz—who was passed in the last turn of the last lap of his heat race—took over the lead early over Logan Karnow, Jeremy Hand and Devin Simonson. Simonson then bobbled and Jonah Geistler went by for fourth. Max Miller was on the change hard from fifth, though, but a last-lap mistake allowed Geistler to get away. Geistler, who just turned pro, is into the main for the first time in his career.

450 LCQ

This is the 450LCQ—so you know what happened. Kyle Chisholm won. Chizz gonna Chizz, people! Broc Tickle moved his way up to second (he was down in a pile in his heat race) and Cade Clason looked good to make his first main event in years. Then things started happening at the end. Austin Politelli took over third and Clason was left to fend off Carlen Gardner for fourth. In the last turn, Gardner got inside and he and Clason locked bars. Gardner’s hand even came off the bar momentarily but he stayed up, and then Clason tried to square him up and dive underneath, but he hit Gardner’s tire and went down. Gardner took the final spot into the main, Alex Ray was just short.

250 Main Event

Nichols led the pack into turn one but Craig sliced inside to make the pass and steal the lead. Nichols stayed close to his teammate for awhile, with Max Vohland and Michael Mosiman in tow. Jett Lawrence, winner of the previous race, got a horrible start. Mosiman and Vohland had a good battle for third. Mosiman made a pass entering the whoops but didn’t have enough momentum to hold it, Vohland got back around him with a block pass that nearly put Mosiman down. Then Vohland started making mistakes and Mosiman, Shimoda and Lawrence got by.

Craig pulled away early, then just past the halfway mark Nichols found his groove and started tracking Craig down. The two teammates went at it, Nichols making a pass for the lead while weaving through traffic, then he bobbled in the sand and Craig pulled up next to him. Craig then used his whoop speed to get back into the lead, and he added a little block pass on his teammate to slow Nichols down and open up a gap. Nichols went back to work and tracked him down, then made the move for the lead again in the rhythm lane over the table tops. Nichols was going inside, and that made all the difference. From there Nichols kept hammering down and pulled away to take his first win of the season, and first since 2019. The two teammates are now tied atop the standings.

Lawrence pulled through for third after a big block pass that knocked Mosiman down. Shimoda was fourth and then Mosiman had a crash but hung on for fifth.

'We were 1-2 and it felt like another day at the Yamaha track in California," said  Nichols. "I tried to be patient and pick up on where he was going faster. That feels good, haven’t won in while. Glad I got my starts back on track, too. I had to take advantage of today, a couple of guys crashed out."

"Our team laid into me and Colt after that heat race, the starts were embarrassing," said Craig. "So we got out 1-2. I wanted that to be my race, but Colt took advantage of those lappers, I got him back, but I ran out of a little bit of steam. I’m kinda bummed, but it’s not bad, sharing the points lead with my teammate going into Indy."

Lawrence is well aware the Yamaha boys now share the points lead.

“Terrible start, I swear my mechanic could have ran out of the gate faster than I rode. I was riding a little tight and holding my breath early. I had to make that pass on Mosiman, he’s kinda annoying to get around. Man, it’s annoying enough to see one red plate. Now I’m going to see two!

450 Main Event

Cooper with the hole shot over Roczen and Cianicaruo. then Plessinger Stewart Anderson Davalos and Barcia and Tmac On lap 2 Musquin went down and was last.

Webb looked good for a few laps but Roczen was quicker in the whops, then Webb made a mistake and Roczen pounced quickly to take it away. Cianciarulo pressed Webb for a bit, but Webb settled down. Plessinger made a run at Cianciarulo, bobbled and almost crashed, then was passed by his teammate Stewart. then came Barcia, and Tomac was next after passing Anderson.

Things settled in up front—Roczen, Webb, Cianciarulo, Barcia. Barcia looked super fast and was closing on AC, then he made a mistake and lost ground, then he crashed in the sand. Tomac blasted by, then Barcia got him back!

Webb was setting up for his usual late race heroics, but he got balked badly by Vince Friese while putting him a lap down. Roczen stretched it to over four seconds In the final fie minutes, though, Webb dug deep again and started closing. It was down to 2 seconds, then 1 second, and then Roczen hit the white flag with Dean Wilson about to go a lap down. Wilson, for some reason, never got out of the way, and then  hogged the good line from Roczen, who had to go wide to get around. This opened the door for an easy pass by Webb, who once again stole a race win on the last lap. 

"It was a close race the whole time, Kenny rode well, didn’t make a lot of mistakes," said Webb. "The lappers there at the end were a bummer. I really have to give it to my team, they were amazing, I was on a different setting every time we were out there. I told them to take the wheel and just give me a setting and I’ll figure it out. Kenny wasn’t making it easy, I pounced on that last lap. We’re in Texas. You gotta go big or go home”

Roczen looked very angry after being held up by Wilson.

"I’ve been practicing my patience," said Roczen. "I was screaming in my helmet, he says he didn’t hear me. I finished second. I’m very very very frustrated. I’m going to keep it cool. 

"Yeah feels good to get a solid result after an up and down first few races," said Cianciarulo, third. "Track being technical played into my flavor. Being behind Cooper and Ken, it’s cool, it’s two totally different riders. I did my best, for me it’s just a nice steady day ,didn’t feel like I ever rode over my head or rode too hard."