Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jalek Swoll was the surprise 250 National winner. It’s his first career win as a pro, and his previous best was seventh overall (with 10-6 scores) at the previous event at Thunder Valley. He becomes the 87th different rider to win in the 125/250F class.

Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper won his first moto of the season by grabbing High Point’s second moto, but he was only third overall with 5-1 scores. Cooper has podiums in every race this year and now has 17 career podiums in 39 pro motocross starts. He has five career moto wins. Combining motocross and supercross together, Cooper has 67 career starts and 33 podiums, putting him just a hair under the 50 percent podium mark for his career.

Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence just edged Cooper on the day for second overall, adding one point to his series lead (now 11) via 3-2 scores. Lawrence also has three podiums in three races this year. In 2020, Jett scored one podium in nine rounds. 

#PrivateerLife

Ty Masterpool’s outdoor speed has never been in doubt, and after a few rough results (partly due to mechanical problems) at the first two rounds, he put it together and High Point to log an excellent seventh overall with 9-10 moto scores. Yes, the High Point 250 class was all over the map on consistency, so 9-10 netted seventh! This is Ty’s best overall result since he took sixth at RedBud in his 2019 rookie season. Not bad for a privateer GasGas rider in the 250 class!

Check out our recent Privateer Profile with Ty. 

Kailub Russell’s Debut

After eight-straight Grand National Cross Country Championships—as well as an AMA National Enduro Championship, Full Gas Sprint Enduro Championships, ISDE World Team Trophy for Team USA and more—Kailub Russell is going full-time motocross. He was supposed to race the whole pro motocross season as a 250 rider with Red Bull KTM, but a preseason crash left him with a broken jaw. He returned for High Point and told us the goal was to aim for top 15s at first. Well, in moto one he finished 15th. He was caught in a massive pileup in moto two and ended up 21st.

Dean’s Deal

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna now has one representative in the 450 class, with Dean Wilson. Zach Osborne and Jason Anderson are out with injury. Dean isn’t 100 percent either, though. After recording 12-12 moto finishes for 12th overall (see? Sometimes the overalls actually do make sense) Dean explained on Instagram that he’s struggling with Epstein-Bar Virus.

QUOTES FROM THE PADDOCK

450 Class

Ken Roczen |3 – 3 for fourth overall in 450 class

“Today started off really good. I felt comfortable on the track, but we had a slightly different bike setup so in the first moto it really beat me up. I wasn't that comfortable out there so I really couldn’t do that much. I still rode okay, but it wasn't the best and I ended up third. In the second moto I was pinched off and had a really bad start. We did some adjustments to the bike that helped me out and I charged forward hard in the first half of the race and ended up having a good battle with Dylan [Ferrandis]. I ended up with another third place for fourth overall, which is kind of weird, but in the end, I'm okay with it because we rode really well and charged hard. That’s all we can do.”

Chase Sexton |4-5 for fifth overall in 450 class

Overall, today was a little bit better of a day, qualifying third. I was running second behind Adam [Cianciarulo] for most of the first moto and then I hit a rock and fell over, so that was a bummer and I ended up fourth. In the second moto I just didn't have much in the tank; I was pretty fatigued after the first one. I struggled a little bit during the week, but we have some time to rest now and get back to work.

Erik Kehoe |Honda HRC Team Manager

"The track conditions at High Point were fast and surprisingly dry considering the forecast of rain all weekend. Jett had a consistent day while finishing a solid second overall and gaining valuable points. After showing good speed and qualifying second, Hunter made some mistakes that caused him to battle through the pack to earn eighth overall. Ken and Chase both had great speed in qualifying first and third, respectively. Chase wasn’t feeling 100% from being sick last week, but still put in a solid effort for fifth overall. Ken’s starts off the gate weren’t great, but he made some aggressive moves in the first few laps to catch the pack of leaders. His consistent 3-3 moto scores earned him fourth overall, which shows how tough the competition is right now!"

Aaron Plessinger | 5 – 8 for sixth overall in 450 class

“This weekend had some ups and downs. I was really happy with my riding in the first moto. I got a really bad start but had a really good flow going and came back to fifth place. I went into the second moto really confident and got an awesome start, but I couldn’t really find that flow that I had in the first moto, and I dropped back to eighth. The track was really tough. There were some spots that were dry and some spots that were soft. So it was definitely weird, but we have a weekend off and will get back to work and get ready for RedBud!”

Justin Barcia |9- 6 for seventh overall in 450 class

“It was a little bit of a tough day. I just didn’t jive with the track that much and I never felt super comfortable. I think we’ll go back to California and work on a few things and try to be a lot better for RedBud in two weeks. All we can do is keep level-headed and be better for the next race."

Marvin Musquin |10 – 7 for eighth overall in 450 class

"In the first moto, the start was decent but the riding was not good enough and the feeling was not good enough so we decided to go back to some old settings on the shock and it shows, it was definitely better in the second moto. I didn’t get a good start but I was able to fight back, attack and race hard to come back to seventh place, so that was a lot better. Overall, I’m obviously not happy because we’ve been working hard and it didn’t pay off for this weekend, so we need to keep going."

Cooper Webb |7 – 11 for 10th overall in 450 class

“It was a bit of a struggle today. I felt like I put up a good fight in the first moto and ended up seventh. In the second moto, I got tangled on the start and I ended up crashing three times coming through the pack, so that was pretty unfortunate. Now we’ve got a weekend off and all we can do is try to improve.”

Max Anstie|18-14 for 15th overall in 450 class

"We had an eventful day. The first moto didn't go to plan. I had a small issue, yet I managed to come back to eighteenth in that race. In the second moto, I got a bit of a better start and just basically sat in fourteenth, which wasn't too bad, but I want to keep making progress. We've got another couple of weeks now to keep stepping it up."

Brandon Hartranft |15-17 for 16th overall in 450 class

"It was a way, way better day for me at round three. I definitely gel on the east coast tracks a little more. I qualified thirteenth and felt like I knew what I was doing out there. That gave me a decent gate pick for the first moto. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake when the gate dropped and that put us way back. I literally went from about 36th to 15th – that was a really good ride. I had a decent start in the second moto and had some good laps. I pushed and I felt good all day with my riding and my fitness. This weekend, we definitely took some big steps in the right direction and we're looking forward to the rest of this season."

250 Class

Austin Forkner |7-6 for sixth overall in 250 class

"Overall I felt good and know my speed is there to be running up front. I need to work through that first lap. It’s never easy riding through the pack and I think we showed that with a good start we could be with those guys. We have another off weekend to fine-tune everything and hopefully put it all together at RedBud."

Hunter Lawrence|8-11 for eighth overall in 250 class

"Today was one of those days. Everything started off really good, except for the first-lap crashes in both motos! Starts were great, I was riding well and qualified second. I was up front in the first moto after getting the holeshot. I battled with Jalek [Swoll] in the first lap, but unfortunately, I gained a little too much speed downhill and crashed, putting me way back. My crashes ruined my overall results for the day, ending up eighth, but we’ll regroup and get ready for RedBud."

Dilan Schwartz |6-13 for ninth overall in 250 class

"Moto 1 was awesome. I got off to a decent start and made some passes to get up front with the top guys. I got to run with them for a while, which I felt benefitted me a lot. I am pumped to finish that moto with a sixth. My second moto was rough; I had a great top five start and unfortunately in the second turn, I collided with another rider and went down. That put me in nearly last place. I ended up crashing two more times during the moto from just pushing it hard to try and get into the top 10, but I only managed to get up to 13th. I’m really happy with my riding and I'm looking forward to the race at RedBud!"

Jo Shimoda |4-40 for 11th overall in 250 class

 "It was such a disappointment that my day ended that way. [Note: Shimoda was caught in a first-turn crash that ended his second moto.] I was so pumped with my first moto ride and knew I could have a chance at an overall podium finish. We’ll keep our heads up, work hard during the off weekend and come back stronger than ever at RedBud.”

Pierce Brown|11 -14 12th overall in 250 class

“I’ve been feeling pretty under the weather lately so I was just trying to make it through the day. We made it through healthy but it’s obviously not the result we wanted. I had two good starts, so I’m stoked on bettering my starts, but I just need to put everything together. I’m going to use this weekend off to get fully recovered and healthy for RedBud.”

Max Vohland |18-9 for 13th overall in 250 class

"It was a little bit of a tough day today. Practice didn’t quite go the way I wanted it to and we did a little bit of a bike change before the first moto. I ended up going down and getting stuck under the bike so it took a while to get up and I did my best to charge back and score some points. We did a little more of a bike change in Moto 2 and that helped a lot. I got a good start but I made a few mistakes and ended up getting pushed back to ninth. I’m looking forward to the next round, I’ve got some things to work on myself and it’s going to be good."

RJ Hampshire |38-8 for 15th overall in 250 class

"Man, what a day. Moto 1 was honestly the best I’ve ever felt, just clicking them off, and it was cool to have Jalek up there with me going 1-2. Unfortunately, things happen and it’s tough but you kind of have to take it and try to build off it [note: Hampshire appeared headed to the first moto win until his bike lost a chain]. I felt like today should have been a 1-1 day and we were onto something but I know we’re in a good spot, just need to keep our head up and looking forward to RedBud."

Stilez Robertson |12-16 for 14th overall in the 250 class

"The day had its ups and downs. In the first moto, I got a bad start and just didn’t ride very well. In the second moto, I got a good start and I was good for two laps and then went down and kind of got stuck on a berm. All-in-all, kind of a rough day but we’ll come out swinging for RedBud, it’s one of my favorite tracks so I’m excited."