In the 250SX class, Jett Lawrence is coming off his second straight victory and his third from four races to start the East Region campaign. The Honda HRC rider has looked nearly flawless the last two weeks and only some lapped traffic last weekend saw his lead diminish down to Pierce Brown behind him before he eventually pulled away again.

Lawrence holds an eight-point championship lead over Cameron McAdoo who has also been on the podium at each of the four rounds. McAdoo told us yesterday that his starts have been holding him back, but that he didn’t feel that was the difference in Detroit as Lawrence was just riding “phenomenal.” If McAdoo wants to stop some of the bleeding though, a win tonight in Indianapolis could be huge.

The track layout today was actually designed by a Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 4 player who won the track design contest in the game last year. It bears resemblance to Houston 1 from last year but does have a couple unique rhythm options and a tricky double into a raised sand corner. It is also a typical football stadium layout with six lanes running the distance of the stadium bookended by bowl berms at just about each end. The options should create great opportunities for block passes and close racing.

Practice will begin in about 45 minutes with free practice sessions running until 1 p.m. local time when qualifying begins. Be sure to catch all the coverage of Race Day Live and the night show broadcast by clicking the links in the broadcast schedule below. Let’s go racing!

FREE PRACTICE

The pristine Indianapolis soil greeted riders as Free Practice began just before noon. A hot topic going into the weekend was how much the dirt would break down and what adjustments riders would make to compensate. Throughout the opening sessions of practice, each bowl berm established as many as four or five different ruts which again seemed to keep a few rhythm options limited.

The 250 A group hit the track and was led around early by Pierce Brown and RJ Hampshire. Both riders rode press day, and it was apparent they were already feeling the flow on the track as Brown went fastest early on with Hampshire right behind him in second.

Jett Lawrence, who did not ride press day, rode around at the tail end of the field for a few laps working on coming to grips with the racetrack. When he did start putting laps down, he almost had a crash in the whoops one lap when he missed a whoop about halfway through and ended up hopping over to the left of the track and clipping the Tuff Blocks. He would stay on two wheels and then shot to the top of the board just a few moments later with a 45.418.

In the end, it would be Lawrence’s time that would hold up to claim the top spot ahead of Hampshire, Brown, Cameron McAdoo, and Jordon Smith.

Justin Barcia led the 450 A group around as the top end of the 450SX class contingent hit the track. Barcia, Eli Tomac, and Jason Anderson also all rode press day and found their way to the front of the field and the time sheets early.

But Chase Sexton popped his name to the top of the boar with an early 46.101. Eli Tomac responded with a 45.630 to lower the top time by a half second just moments later. The track continued to really wear down as the session progressed with some big notches developing in the whoops.

A crucial triple in out of the turn just after the whoops seemed to be a big difference maker for a lot of guys and Tomac would again lower his time down to a 45.509 towards the end to claim the top spot in Free Practice.

FIRST QUALIFYING SESSIONS

A lot of track work went on between the end of Free Practice and the beginning of the first rounds of Qualifying. Almost everything except the whoops were cleaned up around the track, and the whoops would bite early. Preston Kilroy went down hard in 250C and would need to be backboarded off. No current update on his condition.

As the A group hit the track, Pierce Brown and Cameron McAdoo got into a little bit of jousting early on when they both ended up doubling the supercross triple and then McAdoo ran Brown wide. They would continue out and McAdoo would set the early pace at a 45.446.

Jett Lawrence had a fall in the sand section as the inside line began to work in. The Honda HRC man tucked the front end and ended up buried. Pierce Brown would also have a fall when he got sideways at the end of the whoops and went off the left side of the track before the berm. Both would quickly remount though.

Lawrence would then go to the top of the board moments later with a 45.386. Lawrence, and a handful of other riders, were also able to start busting the triple in after the whoops. With most of the track not having much separation, getting through the whoops, and nailing that line will be crucial throughout the day.

Jason Anderson got out front early as the 450SX A group hit the track next. He would lead the field around and also set the early pace as the times were beginning to dip down into the 44’s for the first time as well.

Lots of riders found the ground throughout the session as well. Shane McElrath crashed hard after the quad coming across the start straight. He would take a little bit to collect himself but would eventually remount his KTM and continue on. Then Justin Brayton and Justin Bogle crashed at the end of the whoops moments later and both seemed to be pretty shaken up. Neither rider would remount as Bogle slowly limped off the track and Brayton would get a ride on the Alpinestars Medical Mule after the session ended.

As for the qualifying side of things, Chase Sexton had worked his way into the top spot by the mid-point, but he also found the ground when he crashed in the sand. Eli Tomac wicked up the pace late in the session to go fastest at a 44.584 which would hold as the checkered flag waved. Tomac P1 so far today in Indy.

SECOND QUALIFYING SESSIONS

Quick note on the day, Stilez Robertson was notably absent in the first two sessions of the day, turns out he had a practice crash earlier this week and injured his arm/wrist. He’ll be getting more information on the injury in the coming week but he’s out for today.

On the track, the whoops had been knocked down a bit following the first round of qualifying making them flatter and less notchy. With the corners also getting cleaned up again, the track was in prime condition once more as riders took to the track.

In the final 250 A session of the day, it was RJ Hampshire who ripped the holeshot in the fake start, but he would quickly blow off the track in the first rhythm lane as Pierce Brown came down the inside. Brown led them through which means he set the early pace at the end of the first hot laps. Mitchell Oldenburg found his way into P1 moments later as everyone was around the mid-45’s early on.

RJ Hampshire hit the deck in the sand as the key feature of the track continued to reach up and bite people. Jett Lawrence became the first person into the 43’s as he put in a 43.972 and everyone else would be left to match that pace.

Joshua Varize found the ground at one point after the finish line jump. He would remount and go back to the mechanics area to fix a few tweaks the bike suffered in the fall. Phil Nicoletti also had a crash at the end of the whoops section with a few minutes left, but he would remount and continue.

Jett Lawrence would lower his time down to a 43.826 which was good enough to qualify P1 for the Indianapolis Supercross. McAdoo would go second fastest with a 44.060 while Pierce Brown rounded out the top three 44.616.

In the 450 A group, the times were dropping in a hurry. It started out with Malcolm Stewart getting out front on the fake start they do in these final qualifying sessions, and he would set the early pace in the mid-45s.

The track essentially came down to putting the sections starting with the sand and ending with the triple-quad together, but there was another new trick most everyone pulled out in this session. After the finish line jump, riders were quadding and then doubling into the corner which looked to gain a few tenths of a second.

Stewart was also jumping through the whoops and doing so in essentially two jumps where he we go 4-5 through the set of nine of them meaning only the starter whoop and final whoop bookended his two-jump line. He used that to go to the top of the board with a mid-43 about halfway through the session.

Incredibly, Tomac would lower the time down to a 43.041 just moments later as the points leader connected everything together on the track well and blitzed the whoops. That time would end up holding with Jason Anderson eventually moving into second just a tenth of a second down and Chase Sexton rounding out the top three.

250 HEAT 1

The first gate drop of the night saw Cameron McAdoo grab the holeshot while Phil Nicoletti, Lane Shaw, and Jeremy Hand all went down in the first corner. McAdoo led early from RJ Hampshire and Jace Owen with a gap quickly establishing between McAdoo and Hampshire out front.

Owen found himself under attack early on as Jordon Smith and Mitchell Oldenburg closed up from behind. Smith made a bobble in the sand and that allowed Oldenburg through into fourth and he would quickly pounce on Jace Owen for third the very next lap.

Riders were crashing all over the place as Joshua Cartwright slid out trying to make the pass for the final transfer spot, then Jack Chambers and Brock Papi both crashed in the whoops moments later. Oldenburg fell trying to avoid Papi, but he would remount still in a transfer spot. Papi would walk off under his own power but was clearly hurt as he held his arm/wrist.

McAdoo took the win out front from Hampshire, Smith, Owen, and Cullin Park.

250 HEAT 2

The second heat race for the 250SX class saw Kyle Chisholm grab the holeshot as Jett Lawrence went tumbling to the ground in the first turn. Hardy Munoz ran it in deep up the inside and clipped Lawrence as they entered the first turn. Munoz would remain down on the ground for several laps.

Enzo Lopes was also down in the big first turn crash and he would pull into the mechanics area and out of the heat race. Pierce Brown would take the lead away from Chisholm on the second lap of the race as the duo led Luke Neese, Lance Kobusch, and Michael Hicks.

Brown had a huge crash at the end of the whoops as the laps winded down and he would need to be helped up to get off the track. That put Kyle Chisholm into the race lead with Neese in second, and Lawrence coming all the way back to pass Kobusch for third place with a minute left to go.

Lawrence completed an unbelievable comeback to win the heat race ahead of Chisholm, Drake, Kobusch, and Neese inside the top five.

450 HEAT 1

Vince Friese grabbed the holeshot in the first 450SX heat race of the night by Marvin Musquin quickly went by for the race lead. Jason Anderson made a quick pass into second place and got around Musquin for the race lead moments later before the second lap was complete.

Dean Wilson moved into third place early on as he got around Vince Friese as well. Chase Sexton was making up for a bad start early on and he charged up to Justin Starling for fifth place on the fourth lap to make the pass stick to get into the top five.

Sexton continued his charge forward and got around Vince Friese moments later. Anderson had pulled out a sizeable lead out front while eyes were focusing in on Sexton as he closed in on Dean Wilson and Marvin Musquin ahead of him.

Musquin tipped over in the sand and as Wilson went to avoid Musquin, Sexton swooped around both of them to take over second place. In the end though, Anderson would control it from the front all the way home and win the heat race ahead of Sexton, Wilson, Musquin, and Friese.

450 HEAT 2

The final heat race of the night saw Malcolm Stewart grab the holeshot, but Cooper Webb was able to get by and take the race lead. Stewart fought back and got the lead away from the champ as Justin Barcia also snuck by Webb into second place.

Eli Tomac was back there in fourth place as the lead group opened up a little bit of a gap early over fifth place man Justin Bogle. Alex Ray and Deven Raper went down together battling just outside the top 10 and after Ray was ran into by Bubba Pauli, Raper and Ray exchanged words and began shoving and tackling each other. Eventually they were broken up by a flagger.

The race out front was also heating up as Justin Barcia charged forward to catch and pass Stewart for the lead. Stewart was not willing to let the #51 go though as he fought back to the outside of the whoops. Stewart momentarily took the lead before Barcia put a block pass back on Stewart to get the lead back on the last lap of the race.

In the end, Barcia would hold on to win the second 450SX heat race ahead of Stewart, Tomac, Webb, and Bogle inside of the top five.

250 LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER

Jeremy Hand got to the corner first in the 250SX Last Chance Qualifier, but Pierce Brown quickly took the lead away. Enzo Lopes moved into second with Josh Osby moving into third ahead of Hardy Munoz in the final transfer spot.

Phil Nicoletti was down the order early on as the ClubMX Yamaha rider needed to get a move on to catch Munoz for the final transfer spot. He made the pass on Joshua Cartwright to get into fifth spot at around the halfway point of the race.

Nicoletti made the pass for the final transfer spot as the white flag waved but Munoz was not done. He fought back and made the pass on Nicoletti as they went through the whoops. Nicoletti couldn’t get the next rhythm lane and Munoz pulled enough of a gap to take it home.

In the end, Brown would take the win ahead of Lopez, Osby, and Munoz.

450 LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER

Joan Cros grabbed the holeshot in the 450SX LCQ, but he was passed by Kevin Moranz for the race lead before the end of the first full lap. Logan Karnow held onto third place early on ahead of Scott Meshey, Brandon Scharer, Xylian Ramella, and Dominique Thury.

Scharer made the pass on Meshey for the final transfer spot at the halfway point, but the lead group stayed right on top of each other with Meshey and Ramella hanging in there. Scharer then made the pass on Cros for third place pushing Cros back into the clutches of Meshey.

Logan Karnow took the lead as the white flag waved while Cros got back around Scharer. Karnow would hold on for the race victory ahead of Moranz, Cros, and Meshey who swooped the final transfer spot after Scharer tipped over on the final lap.

250 MAIN EVENT

Jett Lawrence grabbed the holeshot in the main event ahead of Cameron McAdoo to finally setup the battle we wanted to see at the front of the 250SX class. Jace Owen sat in third place early on with Jordon Smith in fourth and Mitchell Oldenburg rounding out the top five.

Smith made a mistake on the second lap of the race and Oldenburg was able to get by. Brown closed right in with Hampshire and Chisholm just behind the battle for fourth as the lead duo of Lawrence and McAdoo started to open up the gap.

Smith then crashed after the supercross triple on the third lap of the race and would fall back outside of the top 10. The race for the lead was on as McAdoo momentarily passed into the lead but Lawrence fought back in the very next corner.

McAdoo made the pass for the lead stick the very next lap as they had pulled out a huge advantage on Brown back in third place. With 11 minutes still on the clock, the race was on at the front, and it looked like there was no signs of it slowing down.

Further back, Hampshire made the move on Oldenburg to get into fourth place while Chisholm got around Owen to move into sixth place. Lawrence made another run-on McAdoo for the lead but then messed up a rhythm section after the whoops and lost some ground to the Kawasaki rider out front.

Lawrence was able to take advantage of some lapped traffic to catch McAdoo napping a bit and make the pass for the lead again at the halfway point. The continued to slice through the traffic and Lawrence made a huge mistake out front allowing McAdoo to close right back in.

McAdoo then struggled a little bit with the traffic and Lawrence was able to open up a few second advantage with five minutes to go. McAdoo was keeping tabs all the way through and wasn’t letting Lawrence get too far away out front.

Meanwhile, Hampshire had made his way around Pierce Brown for third place and Oldenburg was closing in as well behind Brown looking to move into fourth place. The gap between the two would continue to fluctuate as the laps wound down and Brown even closed back up on Hampshire a bit, but ultimately, they would all hold position.

Jett Lawrence would remain unheeded out front the rest of the way and go on to claim his third straight victory and fourth win of 2022 to extend his championship lead out to 11 points. Cameron McAdoo would hold on for second with Hampshire rounding out the podium.

450 MAIN EVENT

Justin Barcia grabbed the holeshot in the main event with Jason Anderson and Malcolm Stewart right behind him. Eli Tomac tried to make an early move on Stewart to get into third place, but the Husqvarna rider held off the points leader early on.

Marvin Musquin ran in fifth place with Chase Sexton in sixth and Cooper Webb in seventh as the top five started to open up a bit of a gap. Suddenly, Tomac pounced on Stewart to take over third place and set sail after Anderson and Barcia in front of him.

Tomac put the pressure on Anderson for second and it seemed to wake up the Kawasaki rider a little bit as he then pulled back away from Tomac and closed up on Barcia. Then he made a mistake in the whoops and Tomac was suddenly right back in the picture. The front three were getting away a little bit but it was still Stewart back there in fourth with Musquin and Sexton right on him.

Lapped traffic started coming into play early as they caught the tail end of the main pack. Barcia initially got through the traffic better but then Anderson would capitalize on a moment to take the lead. Barcia came back the very next lap to get into Anderson and put El Hombre on the deck. Barcia put up his hand going down the next section as to apologize but Anderson would go all the way back to seventh.

So, Barcia led from Tomac and Marvin Musquin who had gotten around Stewart for third. The top seven riders were all separated by just seven sections as the race continued into the halfway point. The race would remain stagnant with nothing in it between the front five for the next five minutes as they essentially just ran nose to tail, but it seemed like it was building into a tremendous battle for the lead.

Tomac finally got close enough to make something happen on Barcia for the lead and when Barcia just slightly got the rhythm section wrong after the whoops, Tomac pounced. But Barcia stayed right behind Tomac for the next few laps trying to look for an opportunity to get back by for the lead.

Stewart then had a big crash while running in fourth place. The rhythm section after the whoops had gotten some deep ruts established in them and Stewart just hooked the ruts enough to case the triple in and go over the bars. He was a little bit second hand for about a lap, but he would remount amazingly still in eighth place and continue on.

Eli Tomac would maintain his lead out front and win his 43^rd career main event as he took the win in Indianapolis. Barcia would hold on for second with Marvin Musquin rounding out the podium. Sexton also held off a late charge from Cooper Webb to finish up in fourth place.