Thanks, JT. As for the series, Ken Roczen is rocking with two-straight wins and hopes for the Indy sweep tonight. Same thing in the 250 class for Colt Nichols. It's up to a host of riders to stem that momentum right now. Check out 10 Things to Watch for more storylines.

Jason Anderson is back on track today after dislocating his finger on Tuesday. Honda's Jett Lawrence is making his return to action after several hard crashes stopped him from racing on Tuesday. Suzuki's John Short went down in the first turn of the 250 main and didn't complete the race, he's also back in action tonight.

Free Practice

Bobby Piazza was fastest in the 250 B group. Bobby was just short of the main event on Tuesday, and that led to quite the drama when Jett Lawrence  qualified but elected to not race and Bobby didn't get his spot. There aren't provisional start spots in the AMA rulebook, so the fifth rider in the LCQ doesn't get in if someone else in the main chooses not to race. Mitchell Oldenburg did get to race the main without qualifying though...it was a complicated story and we covered the whole saga. All we're really trying to say here is that Piazza might just make the main event tonight.

In 250 A, Christian Craig won the “fake start” and was the first rider on track. Michael Mosiman went to the top of the lap charts quickly, though. Craig logged a fast lap late but Mosiman remained on top.  Then it was Nichols, Oldenburg, Osby Moranz, Lawrence, Hand and Harlan. Lawrence, probably in pain, did not finish that session.

Colt Nichols was experimenting with a 3-onto-table leap that could be tough for 250s to do. Nichols got it, we’ll see what the 450 riders do next.

Justin Barcia won the “fake start” and led the pack onto the track. Zach Osborne has had speed this year, and he jumped to the top of the lap charts early in this one. Eli Tomac, Marvin Musquin, Malcolm Stewart and Cooper Webb popped up next as the early top five. In his fourth lap, Tomac dipped under the 50-second mark and took over the top spot.

Then the times started dropping in a hurry as riders got the track dialed. Adam Cianciarulo went to the top with a 48.6, just ahead of Musquin, then Cooper Webb, normally not so quick this early in the day, took the top spot with an impressive 48.1. Tomac then clocked a 48.2 to move to second-quickest.  

Freddie Noren and Justin Starling exchanged top times throughout the 450 B session, and Noren ended up on top. Alex Ray and Adam Enticknap battled over third, Enticknap ended up with the nod, with Carlen Gardner fifth.

First Timed Practice

In the first 250 B session, Devin Simonson, Bobby Piazza, and Hunter Schlosser fought for the top time of the session. Piazza held it early on but Simonson’s 50.5420 bested Piazza’s 51.1820.

In the first 250 A session, both Michael Mosiman and Colt Nichols crashed in separate occasions. Mosiman washed his front end in a turn and the Race Day Live crew reported he went to the pits to fix his shift lever. Nichols went down in the whoops and then pulled into the pits momentarily. Jett Lawrence had the top time early with a 49.966 ahead of Jo Shimoda’s 50.079. After Mosiman had his clutch lever replaced, he put down a 48.990. Nichols then jumped to the top spot of the session with a 48.3070 late, besting a 48.5010 from Shimoda.

While the entire 250SX A group was putting in laps, Christian Craig was standing in the mechanics’ area as his mechanic Derek Rankin worked on his YZ250F. The Race Day Live crew reported that Craig’s Yamaha would not start and they were trying to bump start it in the tunnel coming down to the first timed session. Unfortunately for Craig, the issue was not able to be fixed before the session had ended and he did not put down a single lap time. The team will continue to work on Craig’s bikes in order for the #29 to come out for the second session later this afternoon.

Nichols’ 48.3070 bested the session when the checkered flag flew.

“Track is tight so you’ve gotta be really, really patient,” the points leader said. “Really looking forward to it [racing tonight].”

Something has gotten into Cooper Webb today. He was fast and frisky in the free practice and logged the fastest time there. He then followed that with the top time in this 450 A session. Webb is not known as a qualifying specialist!

Better yet, his Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin was second fastest, so clearly the KTM boys have something figured out on this track. The corners and tight and Webb and Marvin usually are able to stick low in those tight corners. The whoops here, as Jason Thomas predicted, have become a short set of jumpers, and that’s usually bodes well for both of those riders. Even noted whoop blitzer Malcolm Stewart tried hopping through. Then, ironically, Webb blitzed across the top!

“I don’t know, I’m just feeling really good, the track is technical and trick,” said Webb.” You’ve got the be patient. I think I finally just have this air shock figured out and that’s huge—comfort is huge at this level. So we’ll keep the ball rolling and get ready for the day as things progress. We’ll try to keep this good mojo going.”

The track has ruts, but there are also slippery corners, and traction management (with the throttle hand) could be a big factor in who goes fast.

Before Webb logged his fast time, Adam Cianciarulo was at the top of the board, he ended up third, then it was Stewart and Roczen, Osborne, Ferrandis, Tomac, Savatgy and Anderson, which is impressive since he couldn’t even ride the other day.

A few weeks ago in Houston, Cade Clason nearly made the main event through the LCQ. It was his best performance since returning to racing in 2010 following an FIM suspension that cost him nearly two years. He finally got into the main last week, and followed that by leading the 450B group here for awhile. Late, Starling put in a fast lap that…tied Clason! They were tied down to the thousandth. Gardner, Enticknap and Schmidt came in next, Alex Ray had a tough session and finished 14^th, he only completed three laps. We’ll have to check his status going forward.  

Final Practice

It was shootout between Mosiman and Nichols in the final 250 A session, as the two swapped the top spot throughout the session. Nichols had a few nifty lines, including a different rhythm after the whoops, where he went wide and doubled into the section. But Mosiman was not holding back. He and Craig started the session with a little bar banging, and Mosiman kept cranking out good times to get to the top of the board. Then, late, Nichols struck back to get the top time. What was most surprising was to see Jett Lawrence getting in the mix. Coming in with a bad shoulder, he was not up to pace earlier in the day, but looked much better this time.

Nichols held on to top the session.

“It’s kinda tough," Nichols said after the session. "All the turns being that way are a little difficult and a lot of 90s and it makes it a little bit of a goat trail at times so starts going to be really important tonight to try to get out front and hit some clean lines and not get stuck behind people. But overall, the track was actually better that time, I thought, than the second practice so the more they work it, the better it’s getting. And yeah, I’m looking forward to tonight.”

 In the 450s, Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen battled for the “fake start” and Cooper controlled it through the first turn. Webb then pulled off to go to the back of the train, then immediately logged a flyer to go to the top of the board. Roczen answered right back to take the top spot, 47.5 to Webb’s 47.6. Then it was Cianciarulo, Plessinger and Musquin. Webb fired right back with a 47.1—what has gotten into Webb in qualifying today? Finally, Tomac got on his horse and went 46.9 to take over the top spot. So Webb answered with a 46.7! Tomac went to 46.8 but it wasn’t enough to top Webb, who ended up fastest in all three sessions today. For a rider not known for his qualifying laps, what is going on?

“I’m not sure,” said Webb. “It’s just a good day so far. I’m really enjoying the day and the track, it’s really tricky, you have to be smooth and aggressive at the same time. .So far so good, three good practices. It’s cool to have fans here, feels like we’re racing, so I can’t wait for the night show. The dirt is similar [to the other Indy races}. It’s hardened up a little bit, but I think the layout is really good. I think it’s a good track and we’ll see how it shapes up later on.”

It was Starling, Enticknap and Noren at the top of the board early in this 450 B group. Carter Stephenson went down on a jump and that led to a red flag, the track crew got out and smoothed some of the ruts before the session resumed. Cade Clason put in a fast time late to make some noise.

 Update: Mosiman Injured

In surprise news, it turns out Michael Mosiman, third in the final 250 practice, got injured right at the end of the final session. He's out for the night with a hand injury.

250 Heats

Hunter Lawrence grabbed the holeshot in 250 Heat 1, with Mitchell Oldenburg all over him early. Oldenburg lost ground but made it back up and then suddenly got around Lawrence for the lead, with Jo Shimoda right behind him. Then it turned crazy, as Shimoda jumped inside of Oldenburg and pushed him wide, allowing Lawrence to move back into the lead. One corner later Shimoda washed the front, so suddenly Lawrence had a big lead. Not bad for a rider who hurt himself on Tuesday and couldn’t even race a few days ago.

“My shoulder is starting to get better every ride and we’ll just have to wait and see,” said Lawrence.

In heat 2, Christian Craig got the lead early but his teammate Colt Nichols got around him. It was another big statement for Nichols, who would pull away from his teammate and take the win. Devin Simonson led the privateer brigade in third ahead of Thomas Do, Sayles, Varize,

“I had a cup of coffee before that one, I came out on fire,” said Nichols. “I want to make a statement right now and put my head down and go. I want to try to replicate that in the main.” 

450 Heats

Roczen holeshot the first 450 heat over Tomac and Osborne. They both made a run, first Osborne on Tomac, and then Tomac started putting it together and started closing on Roczen. On the last lap, Tomac got to Roczen’s rear wheel but ran out of time to try to make a pass. Roczen held on for the win.

“This track is different, it’s a lot tighter so it requires a different kind of riding,” said Roczen.

Justin Bogle grabbed the holeshot in heat 2 but the returning Jason Anderson got around, then went into battle with Marvin Musquin. Then came Barcia, while Adam Cianciarulo got a bad start and was in the back. Musquin made quick work of Anderson to take the lead and begin to pull away, while Cooper Webb, who was fastest in all three qualifying sessions today, started moving forward. Webb passed Bogle and Anderson, then started closing on Barcia. Musquin, who had pulled a lead, then went down in the whoops, giving Barcia the lead. Barcia then put the hammer down, actually pulling away from Webb to take the win.

“Definitely have some good momentum going, but this track is definitely different,” said Barcia. “Lots of slick spots and rough spots. We threw a lot at the bike, taking a bit of a blind shot at it.”

There was quite a bit of chaos behind this. Anderson was solid for third, but Bogle crashed back to eighth. Dylan Ferrandis was in a huge battle with his teammate Aaron Plessinger, but then Plessinger crashed. Ferrandis moved through for fourth, and Cianciarulo took advantage of the chaos to net fifth. Musquin and Plessinger recovered next, then Bogle and Davalos took the final spots.

LCQs

Johan Geistler grabbed the early lead in the 250 LCQ with the typical animal antics behind him, including Lane Shaw who went off the track and flying into the mechanics’ area…and then gunned it right through there and went back onto the track. Shaw was way back but kept charging. Up ahead, Hunter Schlosser put in a charge and took the lead, Lorenzo Camporese was solid in second, then Scott Meshey and Vinny Luhovey went at it for fourth. They passed each other back and forth, and they eventually caught Geistler, who was fading. They moved Geistler out of qualifying position, the Shaw got around him as well and made a charge toward the final transfer. He ran out of time, and Schlosser, Camporese, Meshey and Luhovey took the four transfer spots.

Joan Cros and Bubba Pauli led the way early while Justin Brayton was bumped around and started around sixth. He and Kyle Chisholm moved up methodically. Cade Clason, riding much better of late,  moved around Cros and Pauli to take the lead while Brayton picked his way through to second. He was patient with Clason, who he rides with weekly at Club MX. Finally Brayton triple-tripled to take the lead. Clason made the main again with second and Chisholm chizzed, of course, making the main with third. The Twisted Tea/HEP Suzuki teammates of Enticknap and Hartranft rode in formation, storming their way forward. Late, Enticknap picked off Cros for the final transfer spot, with Hartranft just short.

250 Main Event

Shocker in the 250 main. Colt Nichols said he would come out firing and did, ripping the early lead from Mitchell Oldenburg and starting to check out…and then he crashed on the first lap! He was lucky not to get hit by the field, and had to wait to get back to his bike. He got up in last and quickly started working forward, although the task would be easier in this injury-depleted field. As Nichols was crashing, Craig was passing Oldenburg to take over the lead. There were no problems for Craig the rest of the way, rolling easily to his second win of the season. Not a bad way to end a day considering his bike wouldn’t start for the first timed qualifying session.

“Yeah the whole day was off for me, I didn’t get to ride one practice, my qualifying time wasn’t good and I felt like I was still learning the track in the heat race,” said Craig. “I saw my teammate go down on the first lap, I hope he’s okay because that looked like a good one. Man, to have one of these days and it end up like this, I’m truly thankful.”

Jo Shimoda rode solid to net third, his second podium of the season, but one he felt he earned. His podium two races ago came courtesy of Craig and Lawrence crashing into each other, and Shimoda said it wasn't a real podium. He was happy with this one.

"I think this one I could say I got a podium," he said. "Good start, kind of pushed pushed pushed and just kept my own pace. I know Christian was pulling away. I just want to thank everyone, my mom and dad, this was a real podium."

Behind that came the action. Jett Lawrence was off to a bad start and began working through the pack, he was then caught by Nichols and the battle was on. Lawrence used some defensive strategies--stopping and cutting under in corners--to keep a charging Nichols behind him. Even when Nichols got around, Lawrence was able to square him up and get back around. As they battled, they closed on Oldernburg for third, then some more stop-defense action from Lawrence cost them more time. They reeled Oldenburg in again and Lawrence made the pass for third. Nichols followed to pass Oldenburg as well, and then two lapped riders slowed Lawrence, and Colt tripled past. A few turns later, Kevin Moranz went wide on the landing of a jump, and Lawrence had nowhere to go, landing off the track. That finally ended the battle for third, with Nichols securing third after picking himself up in last place.

"That was a battle," said Nichols. "I was coming through the pack and the first lap I was going over a triple and Christian was already on the other rhythm before the finish. I just kept digging. Shout out to my trainer Gareth Swanepoel, I've been working really hard ever since Salt Lake City last year, and I feel like my fitness is good. I just kept digging. Me and Jett actually had a pretty sick battle, that made fun going back and forth like that. I can’t really be disappointed, I did everything perfect, executed that start to a T, but then I made a boneheaded mistake. That happens. I gotta rebound next weekend."

450 Main Event

Cianciarulo led the field down the start straight but, with a bad gate pick, was wide in turn one, then Justin Barcia bumped him. That held them both up just enough for Ken Roczen to get inside and take the lead. Barcia was second and Cooper Webb also snuck under Cianciarulo to get to third. Then came Cianciarulo, Joey Savatgy and Eli Tomac, with Tomac making short work of Savatgy to move into fifth.

This was the lineup everyone wanted to see—Roczen, Barcia, Webb at the front, and then Tomac got around his teammate Cianciarulo to take over fourth. It was an impressive group, and everyone strapped in for what was set to be a big battle.

Roczen used his trademark early speed to jet away from Barcia early, but a few laps later Barcia began to close back in on him, then went for the big block pass in a 180, and they collided. Roczen a was able to escape, barely, keeping it on two wheels and getting away. Barcia ended up still in second with Webb and Tomac right behind again. The laps clicked off in formation—Roczen maintaining a small gap over Barcia, Barcia a small gap on Webb, and Tomac made a run at Webb for third. Then Webb turned it up on the final laps, and took advantage of a mistake by Barcia to slot into second. Everyone braced themselves for another huge Webb charge, as he has haunted the dreams of Roczen late in races before. Not this time—he got right to Roczen’s rear wheel on the last lap, but it wasn’t enough. Roczen gets the Indy sweep with three-straight race victories.

“This was amazing, I wasn’t gelling with the track very well, I don’t feel like I was riding it as well as I should, so that just makes me all the more stoked to get that win,” said Roczen. “I want to give it up to my team, the Honda guys and my mechanic, for keeping a cool head and giving me a good bike”.

“It was a great day, a step in the right direction, a lot of good qualifying times but I just came up short in the main event. So close, so far. Ken rode great and adjusted as the race went. I felt like I put in a good charge and got around Bam Bam and really put my head down and got close. I missed the rhythm with two to go, I felt like that really kind of killed it for me, but he rode a great race and beat me straight.. But we made a huge step today with setup and bike comfort. I feel like I’m right there and it’s a long series, I hope we get back to that top spot soon.”

It appeared Barcia and Tomac were set for another podium battle, but with one minute to go, disaster struck. Barcia ran into the back of lapped rider Vince Friese and went down hard, and Tomac had nowhere to go and crashed as well. This was horrible for Barcia’s championship hopes, as he went from a potential third-place finish to 19^th at the end. He was able to get up, slowly, and ride to the checkered flag under his own power. Tomac got going just behind Marvin Musquin, in fourth, but lost a few more positions down the stretch and ended up a disappointing seventh. Musquin, thanks to the Barcia/Tomac/Friese incident, inherited the podium.

“My goal tonight was to stay on two wheels and be more patient,” said Musquin. “The last two or three rounds have been super frustrating to me. I’ve been very aggressive trying to make it happen in the first lap, and ended up going down to dead last and had to come back. Tonight I was maybe too patient, I lost a few spots in the first lap, but after that I was able to pass Adam and Malcolm. I was a fifth-place guy tonight but it’s racing and the two guys in front of me went down and I got third. Feels good to be on the podium, but fifth place was my place tonight.”

Malcolm Stewart logged another solid ride to take fourth, Cianciarulo was fifth.

“The podium is right there, Marvin got me with about three minutes to go,” said Stewart. “Overall I felt really good, the whole Star Racing Yamaha team, this is a career best for me, we’re right there, that podium is right on the edge.”