Untimed Practice

The whoops make all the difference here. Enzo Lopes was the only one in the 250 B group who could really blitz all the way through with speed, and because of that he was nearly a second faster than anyone else.

The whoops were even tough for the factory bikes in the seeded 250 practice. Everyone was flexing and coming into the whoops with huge entrance speed, but halfway through the set nearly everyone had lost momentum. Only one man could nail the whole set on the first lap: Chris Blose. Blose just knows whoops! He led early. Then about three laps in, Justin Cooper nailed the set and also unlocked the biggest rhythms, and he went to the top, as he usually does. There were a lot of eyes on Cameron McAdoo to see how he would look after last Tuesday’s crash. His first two laps looked rough, but then he nailed the whoops, and sailed up to second-quickest. He looked good!

In the 450s, Cooper Webb has a point to prove. The whoops have been a real problem for him here in Atlanta, and with these whoops looking even tougher today, Coop was ready to flex and show he has a fix. He hammered the whoops on the first lap, even passing noted whoop master Jason Anderson. Webb, not known as a practice time hero, stood on top of the board early.

Then the next obstacle appeared--the whoops started to break down. The whoops started to form some cups and ruts, and the feel changed, and then Webb wasn’t as strong. Anderson ended up on top ahead of Roczen, which is basically the way practice looked on Tuesday. Eli Tomac was on the track but his transponder didn’t record any times, so we don’t know where the defending champion stands. He looked fine, though.

In 450 B, Brandon Hartranft is back after missing the first two events here. He was 11th fastest in this session. Alex Ray was on top, followed by Nick Schmidt and AJ Catanzaro.

Timed Practice

This big supercross track is in full bloom. It’s rare that you watch a supercross these days and marvel at the size of the  jumps—we’re used to seeing triples and quads and all of that. This track is big, though. Riders are unlocking a single before the sand and turning it into a quad, jumping the entire sand section. This is from the 250 class! Everything just looks and feels 20 percent larger than the typical air time on a supercross track.

Yet, the speed and jumps aren’t the thing. The whoops are still the separator. There are two sets. One set is tough, but the main set is straight-up gnarly. Hunter Lawrence topped the session and said it best:

“I honestly think it’s the whoops,” said Lawrence when asked where he’s making up time. “I didn’t see what any of the other guys did, but they’re so gnarly. There’s 18 [whoops] here. The [set with] ten over here were tough, but the [set with] 18 are gnarly. We’ll try to keep picking it up and see what we can do.”

The 450 class qualifying sessions feature a recurring theme: Roczen and Anderson. On this track that means both of these guys are killing the whoops. Roczen makes ‘em look easy when he stays all the way on top, but even he chose to go around the whoops when he wasn’t on a fast lap. Cooper Webb sure looked good in the whoops when they were fresh, but it’s not as easy now that they’re getting beat up.

Chase Sexton had a good and bad session. He suffered two crashes in one lap, one was a spectacular sideways mid-air get off when his rear tire broke loose coming out of a corner, which sent him sideways off a double. Then he lost the front in a corner later in the lap. He was frustrated, but later came up for second in the session.

Eli Tomac struggled in this one, even when it looked like he was going for a heater lap he struggled in the whoops. That’s not typical for Eli.

Right now I have some really good speed in practice I’m just hitting my marks in practice it’s not like they’re crazy laps. But I need to get some starts, I’m having to do so much just to get to where I get, better starts would really help. I’m pretty sore. It was tough at the beginning of the day, but the more I ride you get the adrenaline going and it doesn’t really matter.

In the B group, Benny Bloss is still trying to get back to racing while nursing ankle injuries from Arlington. He went out for practice here on Saturday and Tuesday but didn’t race, he looks better this time. He was fasted in the session.

Freddie Noren, by the way, has announced on social media that he’s out for tonight due to an ankle injury.

Final Practice

Stilez Robertson nailed the practice start but hesitated going into the whoops. They cleaned the whoops up a bit but they also watered the track, so they were slippery and very, very tough. Still. Hunter Lawrence went to the top of the charts early but was topped by Cameron McAdoo. The top riders could all nail one solid run through the whoops but multiple laps for anyone is still tough. Lawrence was probably the most consistent through there.

Then it trouble loomed again for McAdoo…

It has not been easy on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. Seth Hammaker had a big crash earlier today and looked a little off in this final session. Then, McAdoo. Oh, Cameron McAdoo. The one man who didn’t need another big one did exactly that when he clipped a quad before a big triple, then got pitched off the bike on the take off. Cameron went flying through the air without his bike, landing on the downside of the double just barely to cushion his fall. If this were anyone else, it would register as an incredible, wild crash, but it’s still not as crazy as his crash on Tuesday. He managed to get back up and ride his mangled bike back to the pits.

Then Lawrence, who is looking really good, took the top time back. Justin Cooper was second.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Lawrence. “It’s my first-ever P1 in qualifying. Normally I suck in qualifying really, really bad. It’s a pretty cool feeling, but it’s only qualifying. Can’t wait until the  night show, that’s the funnest part of the day.”

Ken Roczen won the “fake start” and led everyone early. Aaron Plessinger went down in the whoops. Anderson and Roczen began exchanging the fast times again as they have nearly every session as of late. Anderson was on top for most of the session but then Sexton took it away. Anderson got back to the top late, so he now he has topped sessions.

“They kind of had me until the last lap and then I snuck one in there,” said Anderson. “But with how fast you have to go through the whoops and everything, it’s going to be hard to repeat that every lap, but at least you know if you’re in the ball park, if you get a start with them, you can race with them. I’ve made some changes to the bike and I think that helped me. So let’s get after it, I ready to get out there and battle, and make it hard on them.”

It’s not going to be an easy one for Cooper Webb. He tried everything but the pace once again isn’t there. He tried to tuck in behind Anderson on one lap but then Anderson tipped over in a rut, which slowed that lap. Webb was seventh-fastest, and over two seconds off of Anderson’s time. Now, we’ve seen Webb figured out a way before, and if the whoops turn into jumpers he might get a bail out. At the moment, though, he’s left searching for answers. Eli Tomac wasn’t in a great spot either, he never looked truly comfortable in the whoops, and was sixth fastest. It appears to be Anderson and the Honda teammates of Roczen and Sexton who were best throughout the day, we’ll see if they can carry it to the night show, get starts, and capitalize on their speed.

250 Heats

Justin Cooper holeshot the first 250 heat over Garrett MarchbanksJarrett Frye and Jace Owen. Stilez Robertson was the man on the move, making some passed to get to fourth. The battle for the transfer spot came down to Robbie Wageman trying to make up time on Cedric Soubeyras. He ran out of time and Wageman was headed to the LCQ.

"Yeah the whoops are just really long today and challenging, and the edges are starting to come back," said Cooper. "They came back in that heat. Really have to be careful, they have those cups and they don’t really move."

Hunter Lawrence was the fastest qualifier and holeshot this heat race, but on the first lap it was Pierce Brown showing speed, nearly getting around for the lead. Lawrence was able to lock it down and get back away. Hammaker moved to fourth over Cantrell, Swoll, and Peters. McAdoo, battered and bruised, was also battling his way back from a bad start. He got around Derek Kelley and Jerry Robin to sneak into a transfer spot. Nate Thrasher, winner and podium finisher in the last two races here, went down in turn one and had to dig deep to get back into transfer position, he would end up 11th. McAdoo pulled through for seventh ahead of Kelly, then Enzo Lopes and Jerry Robin  battled for the final transfer spot. Lopes made the pass, but Robin got him back on the final lap to take the last position into the main.

Lawrence won it over Brown, Hammaker, Cantrell, Swoll, Peters, McAdoo, Kelley and Robin.

“I feel really good and the track is in good condition right now,” said Lawrence, who has been flying all day. “Good long set of whoops, and I’m just having fun on my bike and that’s what helps most of all.”

450 Heats

Dylan Ferrandis grabbed a holeshot! That just about never happens. His teammate Aaron Plessinger was right behind him and then Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac swapped third and fourth. They actually pulled away from Tomac, who has not looked up to his normal pace today. Then Ferrandis went down in a corner and Sexton, who has passed Plessinger, shot by to take the lead. Then came Malcolm Stewart, who was having a feast in these whoops! He passed Tomac and Plessinger with a two for one pass.

Sexton pulled away to a strong heat race win, Stewart, Plessinger, Tomac, Ferrandis, Davalos, Tickle, Blose and Josh Hill rounded out the transfer spots. 

"It’s been solid so far," said Sexton "I wouldn’t say it’s the track, I think I’m just getting comfortable on the 450 and riding it like the 250. Looking forward to going out there and putting on a show."

Webb grabbed the holeshot in heat 2 over Savatgy and Anderson, then Roczen overcame a bad start and was flying on the first lap, passing several riders to get to fourth. He started eighth and passed both Barcia and Musquin together in the corner after the whoops. Anderson started stalking Webb and then made the pass in the second set of whoops. Roczen got to third and was closing but ran out of time. Then it was Barcia, Wilson, Savatgy, Bowers, Anstie, and Musquin, who went down but salvaged the final transfer spot.

“I just need to be in the race at the beginning,” said Anderson of his goals for the night. “For me whenever I give myself the opportunity, I do something good with it. I want to battle, these riders are riding good but I think it’s going to be good. Let’s go.”

250SX LCQ

Nate Thrasher grabbed the holeshot, as he needed to, and pulled away. Thrasher went down in the first turn of his heat race, which is what sent him to this LCQ. Dylan Scwhartz was next, then Gared “Stank Dog” Steinke. Derek Drake got by him for third. Then it was Robbie Wageman trying to get by, then Enzo Lopes caught Wagemen, and they battled to pass Stank at the same time. Wageman had nowhere to go and bobbled, nearly going down in the whoops, while Lopes busted through and took over third. Lopes kept closing on Schwartz, and Schwartz hit a tough block, allowing Lopes to take the second. Schwartz was third, and Ramy Alves got around Derek Drake to take the final transfer spot.

450 LCQ

Oh Justin Rodbell. Poor Justin Rodbell. Pour one out for Justin Rodbell. He holeshot the 450 LCQ and led until two laps to go, when he crashed in the whoops and missed a prime chance to make his first 450 main event. Early in the race Scott Champion held second, then went down! This put Brandon Hartranft, after missing the last two races, in second, but when Rodbell fell Hartranft got held up, allowing Alex Ray to power past into the lead. It was a heck of a ride for Ray, who had to pass Cade Clason, Adam Enticknap on his way to the front. Enticknap took second, Hartranft recovered for third,  and Clason rounded out the top four with Nick Schmidt just short.

“I was last gate pick coming into that LCQ and I didn’t have the best of gates,” said Alex Ray. “I had to make some aggressive passes out there, sorry boys, I’m friends with all of them! These boys built us some whoops today, and they haven’t been easy on any of us.”

250 Main Event

Okay, everyone here knew the goal for Cameron McAdoo. Just stay off the ground. Well, instead he was involved in about a season’s worth of incidents in one main event.

Justin Cooper holeshot, but McAdoo smaked a tough block at mid pack, bounced back toward the inside and crashed. Chris Blose clipped McAdoo’s bike, went flying and the ground hard. They immediately they red flagged the race due to Blose.

Yes, McAdoo was involved in a crash, and the race was red flagged, and he headed back to the start again.

Cooper served up sweet justice by grabbing the holeshot again over his teammate Nate Thrasher. Then all hell broke loose. First, McAdoo got sideways in the sand, tried to recover and scrubbed the wall jump in front of Hunter Lawrence. This left Lawrence with nowhere to go and he hit a tough block and went down. Then Seth Hammaker bobbled in the whoops, collected Jalek Swoll, and McAdoo had nowhere to go and crashed. He collected Pierce Brown. McAdoo got back up and was then taken out by Garrett Marchbanks with a vicious block pass. Somehow after all that McAdoo got back up, kept going, and never stopped digging. On the last lap, while in 13^th, he even caught Cedric Soubeyras and made a late charge for 12^th but came up a bike length short.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “It’s hard not to be. I felt like last week I crashed and that was tough to get through, but today was really hard. I had a big crash in practice. But I believe if you get knocked down nine times I’ll get up ten. Tonight was tough, three big crashes in the main event. I’ll just always fight to the end, we’re not going to feel bad for ourselves. We’ll see you in few weeks in Salt Lake City.”

With McAdoo way back with multiple crashes and Lawrence down early, it was Cooper’s night to go for huge points. However, he bobbled in a corner and his teammate Nate Thrasher snuck by. Apparently, if Thrasher goes to the LCQ, it’s on. From there the rookie cruised to an easy win, his second in a week

“Yeah it was great,” said Thrasher. “I ended up going down in the heat. The track is very technical out there and it was getting rough. I just got through the whoops, I wouldn’t say I was great, I was just okay. I had a terrible gate pick and I made it work. We had to execute and I executed. I just put solid laps in and I rode away with it.”

On a rough track with crazy whoops, Cooper decided to take it easy and accept second.

“Actually, yeah after the whoops I saw a pileup in the whoops and I saw Cameron in that,” said Cooper. “I didn’t see Hunter, but yeah, great night points wise. This track was tough and I just wanted to get through safe, points wise. I didn’t feel the need to push tonight. I want to give it up to my teammate, good to see the hard work paying off for him. We’ll go to Salt Lake in Two Weeks.”

Seth Hammaker was third.

I’m pretty happy with the progress we’re making, learning every round. I’ve learned a lot. I just want to close out this rookie season strong and healthy.”

Lawrence came from way back for fourth, then Peters put in a big charge for fifth ahead of Swoll.

450 Main Event

Aaron Plessinger nailed the 450SX holeshot but Roczen and Webb were right there. Webb was in a big battle with Anderson early, Anderson edged ahead, then Webb got inside after the whoops, leaving Anderson on the outside of the next corner. Dylan Ferrandis ran into the back of Anderson and both riders wet down. This moved Barcia to fourth. Roczen was riding super aggressive early and made short work of Plessinger for the lead. Webb stayed steady in third and then got Plessinger for second, and at the same time Barcia went down.

Roczen wasn’t going to get caught on this night. He completely checked out. Webb had to withstand constant pressure from Plessinger, who was under fire from Tomac. Then Barcia had recovered from his crash for fifth.

The race was over and Roczen had a huge gap, until he threw it down in the whoops. He got back up quickly and maintained a five second lead, but he abandoned blitzing the whoops and started jumping. Suddenly, the world flipped, as Webb, struggling in the whoops throughout the last two races, kept blizting, and he started closing on Roczen in a hurry. With two to go he was all over Roczen, and then Roczen went way wide in a corner, and Webb drove right through to take the lead. Webb was on the ropes, he escaped, and scored a massive win for the series.

“That feeling sucked when you’re struggling,” said Webb. “I have to give it up to my team, they gave me a competitive bike. I made so many mistakes, I didn’t ride good but I dug deep. I saw that crash and I smelled blood in the water. I was making so many mistakes, I was tired of being a hazard out there.”

“I had the whoops pretty danged solid the whole time,” said Roczen. “Then I went down that one time. My bars were pretty bent and it took time to get used to but hey, I have it all my got. In the end he was going pretty good. I had another close call in the other set of whoops. I’m going to go back, watch some footage, try to get better for next weekend.”

Tomac and Plessinger battled hard down the stretch and Tomac held for third.

“I felt like my riding was pretty good in the main, but Coop and Kenny were out front of me on the start,” said Tomac. “I tried to keep them within a reasonable reach, tried to put in a charge there toward the end.”