Here are the standings in both classes:

More pics from press day yesterday:

Morning Report

Let's send it to Steve Matthes who is live at the stadium: 

Well folks, it’s cloudy and a tad chilly here in Salt Lake City but we’re just about ready to kick off round 16 of the Monster Energy SX series. We have the sudden retirement of Marty Davalos still fresh in the air here. Poor Marty crashed yesterday and suffered a concussion and a broken collarbone. Apparently Marty was going to announce his retirement at the end of the season (next weekend) but this crash has moved things along. As you know, I've always been there for Marty and I'm glad he got the chance to race two seasons of 450 supercross. That was always his goal.

We have plenty to talk about in the 450SX and 250SX east title chases. The track is a big change from the Atlanta races with the smaller floor here and we have two triples out there on the track as well as a very small whoop section. So, in other words, nothing really challenging for the riders for this round. Dirt looks good though and we’re all looking forward to having Daniel Blair guide us on the TV tonight. Blair gets his shot to jump into the booth play-by-play spot for tonight, and former JGRMX Team Manager Jeremy Albrecht will take Blair's usual spot as an extra analyst on the floor. We'll see what perspective a former team manager and mechanic adds to the show. 

Free Practice

Here are times from free practice:

First Timed Practice

No surprise to see Christian Craig jump to the top of the charts early, word is that he’s been lighting up the test track during the  break (which is typical Craig, also). Lap times started dropping fast once the 250 guys started getting their bigger rhythms down, from low 50s early in the B group, to 48s, and then down to 47s. The rhythms might separate the 250s more than the 450s here, there are two sections that are tough—you’ve got to triple on to a table out of turn one, and then later it would help to get over a table coming out of a 180. Not easy, especially at altitude.

The break in action allowed several riders to heal up from injuries. It feels like eons ago, but Craig had a huge crash in his heat race at the last Orlando and hurt his hand, he had to dig deep to gut out some points. Race Day Live’s Ashley Reynard has reported that Craig only lost two weeks of riding to heal up. Late in this session he logged a 47.5 to retake the top spot. Another rider returning from a hand injury is Michael Mosiman, who hurt himself when he collided with a rider in practice at the last race. Mosiman, on the TLD/Red Bull GasGas, was actually fastest for awhile but ended up second.

“It’s really just about that one lap here and doing those sprints,” said Craig. “It’s going to be hard to put those consistent laps tonight, but I feel like I have the stamina to do it in the main event. Two rounds to go and Colt has what I want. I’m pumped to be back here racing, I missed it.”

Cooper Webb wasted no time logging hard laps in this practice, jumping out front first. He went 48.0 to get on the board first, but then Eli Tomac took it with a 47.7. It didn’t take long for faster laps to come in, with Tomac running a 46.980 and Webb just behind with a 47.162.

The dirt looks, well, not like Salt Lake City. There’s a lot of moisture mixed in, so the usual desert dry surface appears tacky and rutted. Will that moisture stay? Eli Tomac hopes so.

“I love it here, was had great success last year and it’s so good to see people back in the stands,” said Tomac. “Track has really good moisture in it today, should be good racing tonight. Right now I’m comfortable, track got better than it did in the first practice, so I’m going to leave my bike, no changes.”

In the B group, Wageman looks good in the 450 class, but Justin Starling was able to edge him for top time. 

Final Practice

Curren Thurman was on top for most of this session, but it was interesting to see the lap times are slower than the previous session, which is usually not the case. It gives you an indication of how the track prep is going. It still looks damp out there. Justin Rodbell was second ahead of Stapleton">Geran Stapleton, who was fastest earlier today.

Everything changed in the seeded 250 practice. First, Colt Nichols nailed the fake start when the gate dropped for the 250 seeded riders, but Christian Craig was out to make a statement and was all over his teammate. Then he passed him in the whoops. Craig’s early heater laps went to the top spot early, and he was making a statement.

Then Craig mis-timed a rhythm section and was about to come up short on a jump, so he let go of the bike and bailed off in mid-flight. Craig managed to downside the landing of a jump with his body, which was the best-case scenario, but he caught his left leg and appeared to have tweaked either his ankle or his foot. He did not rejoin the practice and took a ride back to the pits on the Alpinestars Medical Mule. This is a disaster for his title hopes, Craig needs to finish at least 14^th tonight if Nichols wins the main. We would expect Craig’s status to be determined right before the heat races.

The odd thing is that even though Craig was out, his time still stood at the top for awhile. Mosiman was up to second and then came Nichols and Lawrence. Lawrence, on the 10^th lap, jumped to the top and then came Mosiman Nichols and Shimoda as fast laps began to flood in late. Craig’s early fast time got pushed back to fifth, but that’s not really the issue, he just needs to be able to race tonight and try to salvage something, or Nichols could wrap the title early.

As for Lawrence with the quickest time?

“We did a quick shock change, we tried the other shock and it was good in some spots but I was losing time in other sections,” he said. “We went back to our base setting and it had a better drive through the whoops. Got a good flowing. I hope Christian is okay.”

In the 450s, Aaron Plessinger nailed the holeshot on the fake start, but Cooper Webb slipped by and then moved to the top of the charts. Webb is no doubt more aggressive in qualifying here than usual.

Chase Sexton had a big crash when he endoed in a rhythm lane and went over the bars hard. Like Craig he managed to get over the face of a jump and he barely avoided being tagged by his bike. It was still a hard hit and Sexton’s session was done, he will also have to be a race-time decision to see if he lines up.

Anderson had the top time toward the end but in the 11^th lap Joey Savatgy went fast to top it, and then Tomac returned to the top again with a 12^th-lap heater, good enough to top the session again. Savatgy and Anderson were second and third, then Webb and Roczen were fourth and fifth ahead of Barcia, Ferrandis, Sexton, Stewart and Wilson.

“It took a little while to get going there but I snuck in a good lap at the end,” said Tomac, who topped both time sessions today. “I was missing some lines early on. Track is still really good so I’m looking forward to going racing. The track is going to be technical enough that I think guys are going to make mistakes. You’ve just got to hit your lines every lap.”

AJ Catanzaro nailed the fake start in 450B but yielded to Cade Clason, who also had the fast time early. Clason might just be the most improved 450 rider compared to the 2020 season, where he failed to make a single main event. Freddie Noren was second by the third lap and then came Cheyenne Harmon. Then Starling and Alex Ray jumped to the top of the fray, with ARay on top. Starling threw down again and moved to the top, which is where he was in the B group earlier today.

250 Heats

The night show started with 250 heat race 1, and Colt Nichols did exactly what he had to do by grabbing the holeshot. Behind him Michael Mosiman failed to jump onto a table top and ignited a pileup with three other riders. However, this 250SX East field is incredibly thin, as there were only 13 riders on the gate. That made it a lot easier for Mosiman, who rallied all the way back to third behind Frenchman Thomas Do. 

"Big time relief, that was a long beak," said Nichols. "That was the most racing I’ve ever done, seven races in four weeks and then 10 weeks off. I'm just trying to do what I’ve been doing all year, bike was hooking up got me out to a great start. Take that into the main."

All eyes were on Christian Craig to see if he could get it into the main after a huge crash in practice. Unfortunately while he did line up, it only lasted a lap, as he was rolling jumps immediately, and then he rode off the track and into the pits. Clearly his night is over and this effectively hands the championship to Nichols.

Jett Lawrence nailed his start with a huge holeshot and made it look easy from there to take the win.

450 Heats

Webb and Plessinger battled for the holeshot but the outside line worked in Webb’s favor, then his teammate Marvin Musquin slid into the second and started putting pressure on. Then Barcia and Sexton were in a battle for fourth behind Plessinger, but Barcia went down. Plessinger closed up on Musquin when Musquin bobbled in the whoops, then Plessinger made a mistake which allowed Sexton to close in. Then Musquin washed in a corner and went down. Good racing! This opened Plessinger and Sexton up to battle for second, but then Plessinger made a mistake and Sexton and Anderson got by. Musquin recovered for fifth, then it was Tickle, Bowers, Starling and Hartranft. 

For Webb, who normally only shows his best stuff in the main, qualifying second and winning a heat is a big step.

“We’re back in supercross,” said Webb. “It’s been a good day, qualifying went well and I got a heat race win, I don’t normally get those.”

Joey Savatgy nailed a huge start in heat 2 but went too wide in turn one, then he got blocked in turn one by Malcolm Stewart and shoved back. Tomac snuck to the inside to take the lead over Stewart, then it was Ferrandis, Roczen, Savatgy, Wilson, Bloss, Clason, Anstie. Stewart made a strong push to get close to Tomac at the end, it was an impressive ride but Tomac hung on for the win. Roczen overcame a bad start to battle past Ferrandis and take third. Savatgy ended up fifth, then it was Wilson, Bloss, Clason and Anstie to the main.

“That’s what we want right now, stay as strong as we can,” said Tomac. “Happy with my riding and the first turn, I got underneath those guys, then I hammered down. Mookie was riding phenominal there, if I had made one mistake he would have been around me.”

LCQs

Josh Varize was down in the pileup with Mosiman in the heat, he came back to win the LCQ despite a near-crash in the whoops. Luke Neese, Mason Kerr and Jonah Geistler took the final transfer spots. Incredibly, Craig, Curren Thurman and Austin Cozadd were all out, which meant Rene Garcia finished fifth, and was the only bike circulating that didn’t make the main.

 After a heat race crash that damaged a radiator, Justin Barcia had to return for the 450 LCQ. He dominated. Behind him a battle developed with a pack of privateers all chasing Kawasaki contingency. Devin Raper had a good start but made mistakes and dropped back. Fredrik Noren went to second and Henry Miller was third, then Josh Cartwright battled to fourth, and Jeremy Smith went down behind him. This moved Alex Ray to fifth but he ran out of time to make a move on Cartwright. This put Cartwright into the main for the first time this year.  

250 Main

With Christian Craig out it looked almost automatic for Colt Nichols to wrap up the title. However Jo Shimoda was third in points and had an outside chance to stave off title elimination, all he had to do was log the race of his life. That’s exactly what he did.

Shimoda grabbed the early lead on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki and held tight against pressure from Michael Mosiman. Plus, a shout to Frenchman Thomas Do who stayed in the fight early. Mosiman looked to have a speed edge on Shimoda and he kept the pressure on, getting side-by-side with the Kawasaki rider and nearly making the pass several times. He couldn’t get it done, though, and then he started making mistakes. Slowly by surely Jett Lawrence started to close in from third.

As for Nichols, he admitted that seeing Craig go out was an emotional experience and he didn’t execute the start or the first laps like he needed. He finally gathered it together late and made a charge toward Lawrence, who had caught Mosiman and Shimoda. This led to a tense battle as the four leaders picked their way through thick lapped traffic. Finally Lawrence made a move on Mosiman for second and got close to Shimoda. He couldn’t make the pass, though, and Shimoda rode brilliantly under fire, getting a key triple over a table that Lawrence messed up a few times. That’s the gap Shimoda needed, and he sailed to his first-ever Monster Energy Supercross win. Even better, it allows him to keep the title fight alive headed to next week’s finale and the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown.

Nichols was trying to get around Mosiman for third and then Mosiman made a huge mistake, cased a jump and bounced off the track. This gave Nichols third. Mosiman was fourth and Do fifth

“First I want to say thank you so much to my family and my team, and my family is here from Japan right now, so it’s really nice to do it in front of them,” said Shimoda. “Just imagine coming over from Japan with only part of your family, and then you get to race supercross, and then winning? That’s an incredible thing to me. I rode my best all day and this is where we ended up, so thank you.”

“I’m super pumped for Jo, he’s good buddy of mine, so congrats to him but also damn you Jo, I needed those points!” laughed Lawrence after taking second. “No, I made a few silly mistakes I shouldn’t have made, I’m bummed about that. Track’s gnarly. You have to hit your marks because it looks tacky but it has a slippery base. Good to be back on the podium, I missed this.”

“I’m a little frustrated with how it went, the one guy I didn’t need to have win won, but hats off to Jo, he rode great, same to Jett,” said Nichols. “Sad to see what happened to Christian, you never like to see that happen to someone, [I know because] I’ve had my fair share of injuries. There’s a lot on the line here, and I just push, pushed pushed, but I ran out of time. Jo did what he had to do and I straight-up didn’t.”

450 Main

Roczen used the inside to get the holeshot in the main and he jumped over the table on the first lap to extend the lead. Savatgy was second, Musquin sliced by, then Savatgy fell on the first lap, moving Musquin to second. Then a super aggressive Anderson was there in third after bumping Ferrandis.

Roczen did his usual check out early thing, opening up a gap on Musquin in the first half. Then Marvin started reeling him in. Behind them a big battle between Anderson, Webb and Stewart broke out, with Stewart all over Webb and looking for an opening.

In a similar scenario to last weekend’s race, Roczen then crashed while leading, as this time he lost the front end exiting a corner and went down. This put Musquin into the lead but again put wind in the sails of Webb. Webb made a move on Anderson and then pulled away from the Anderson/Stewart battle. The series’ leader started making tracks toward Musquin, and no doubt anyone watching, knowing Webb’s late-race heroics, expected a win to come. But Musquin responded! He greased the outsides of each corner so Webb couldn’t get him from the inside, he used his corner speed to get the key triple over the table, and he adapted his line in the whoops to neutralize Webb’s advantage there. Webb kept in close, but Musquin held on to win his first race since Seattle of 2019.

“Salt Lake is good to me,” said Musquin. “Back in 2018 I won the heat and won the main, it was a great race and I was fighting for the championship. This year was a different story, I had a big injury and missed all of last year. My goal was to come back. I had some good races but I’ve been obviously struggling and the result hasn’t been great. I can’t believe it right now, I’m standing on the top of the podium. My goal was to get better and better. There’s so many good riders, ou could see it in practice, we’re so tight. Kenny was out front and he was not really going away and behind me was close. I was trying to be consistent. Those whoops were really tough. Then I saw Coop coming and I was like, “Yeah, let’s give it my best!” I’m happy I gave it my all tonight.”  

“Second place is never fun, but congrats to Marv, it’s been a long road back for him,” said Webb. “Pumped for him and the team to go 1-2. I didn’t get a good start tonight and that hindered me. I made some moves good moves but I was struggling a little bit early. Found my way up to Jason, I but Malcolm was really good in those whoops and they were super tricky. Finally got a good line and felt pretty good, made a charge there at the end. I thought I was in a great position but Marv really stepped it up at the end. Points is key, but you really want to win when you get that close.”

Anderson made a mistake, dropping him to sevent, and Stewart took third, his first career podium.

“Utah fans had me pumped up!” said Stewart. “That was such a crazy race. This is so awesome to be up here and finally get the weight off my shoulders. It’s a dream come true.”

Ferrandis came through for fourth, then Chase Sexton held off his teammate Roczen for fifth.  

“Everything was going to our plan, we executed on the start, we made the right decision to go inside,” said Roczen. “I was feeling pretty good but we got into some  appers as well, I made a mistake and I had to double through that entire rhythm lane and that cost me some time. Like everyone said the whoops are really tricky. I think I needed a little more safety, if I could have gotten my bike to settle a little better it would have been better flow around the track. I just didn’t have it there, I changed up my line over there and it was a little bit better, but I came out of that turn and I don’t know, it happened so quick, I just lost the front over a couple of bumps.  What do you want me to do? I gave it my best out there. I gave it my best but it didn’t go as planned in the end.”

Aaron Plessinger and Dean Wilson came through next. Eli Tomac was the fastest qualifier but crashed early in the main. He rode ninth most of the way but Wilson got him for tenth.