In the premier class, we are witnessing one of the closest championship battles in history—and the stats back that up. This battle between Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton is separated by only a single point—which is only the third time since 2005 that P1 and P2 have been separated by less than ten points after the first nine rounds. Only the 2007 battle between Tim Ferry and Andrew Short was closer as those two were tied in points after the ninth round! There was the season where the Ryans (Villopoto and Dungey) were separated by only seven points in 2011. 

But, 2022 is the first season since 2005 where both P1 and P2 are over 400 points. These top two are on another level this year and it has been unbelievable to watch. Although a little distant from the lead two, Jason Anderson has been ripping as he is putting together his best Pro Motocross season to date. Expect some great racing between the top two, as well as Aaron Plessinger, Ken Roczen, Justin Barcia, Dylan Ferrandis, Christian Craig, Joey Savatgy, Shane McElrath, oh and Antonio Cairoli! The #222 is back for this weekend as his final Pro Motocross event of the summer (yes, he will be racing for Team Italy at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations).

In the 250 Class, despite a rough weekend of racing last go round at Unadilla MX that had several, uncharacteristic crashes and landing off the overall podium, Jett Lawrence still enters today with a healthy points lead over his brother Hunter. Somehow, Hunter has yet to win an overall this summer! He has been so close on several occasions but it has not worked out. Round nine winner Jo Shimoda remains in third as he continues to best Pro Motocross season to date. Shimoda remains the only rider not named Jett Lawrence to claim an overall win this season. In fourth sits Justin Cooper, who you could argue would have a 1-1 day at his home race if not for a small mistake. J-Coop continue to build back towards 2021 form following his slower start after his foot injury. Things have looked good the last few races for the #32.

A few last-minute things to note: as we covered yesterday in our First Look preview video and earlier today in our 10 Things to Watch feature, 19-year-old Guillem Farres is making his U.S. debut with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team. The Spanish rider will be aboard a #109 YZ250F, replacing an injured Nick Romano who suffered a season-ending thumb injury this week. With Romano, Matthew LeBlanc (collarbone), and Levi Kitchen (wrist) sidelined, the team will have Justin Cooper, Nate Thrasher, and Farres under the tent this weekend. The Star team expects Farres to turn some heads today.

Kawasaki teammate Seth Hammaker and Ryder DiFrancesco are both scratches today following the Unadilla National. Hammaker had a huge get off last weekend in the first moto then sat out moto two. DiFrancesco finishes inside the top ten in the first moto but a rock hit his shoulder in the second moto and he was unable to finish the second moto.

Tune in to all the action from Budds Creek Motocross Park today—remember, James Stewart will serve as the color commentator alongside play-by-play man Jason Weigandt.

Following the delayed announcement of Team USA for the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations that usually comes at the Unadilla National, we are set to have the team reveled today right before the start of the first motos.

Riders are taking to the track now for the first qualifying sessions.

First Qualifying Session

250 Class

In the first 250 Class B qualifying session, Zach Williams topped the field with a 2:05.078, over Hunter Cross (2:05.311), Maxwell Sanford (2:06.97), Chandler Baker (2:06.613), and Gage Stine (2:06.654). Baker and Stine were racing at the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch as they transition to the pro scene.

In the first 250 Class A qualifying session, it was RJ Hampshire with the top time early on. However, Justin Cooper put in a 1:59.132 to take the top time. Then, it was Jett Lawrence’s 1:58.444 as the first sub-1:59. Late in the session, both Pierce Brown (1:58.425) and Max Vohland (1:58.411) put in heaters to take the top two spots as Vohland puts his #36 machine in P1.

450 Class

For the first 450 Class A qualifying session, Eli Tomac was sitting P1 with a 1:57.945 over Ken Roczen's 1:57.973, Antonio Cairoli’s 1:58.198 and Chase Sexton’s 1:58.321. Joey Savatgy put in a heater of 1:57.814 on the last lap of the session to take the top time away from Tomac at the very end of the session.

second Qualifying Session

250 Class

In the second 250 Class A session, RJ Hampshire led the field around as a handful of riders hung back as the majority of the field blasted down the starting straight. Jett Lawrence and Carson Mumford were the last riders to leave the starting area.

The track got faster in this session, as Jett Lawrence claimed the top spot with a 1:56.809. Jettson’s top time gave him the top overall qualifying spot over Max Vohland’s 1:58.411 from the first session. The defending champion claimed his fourth P1 overall in qualifying this season. Justin Cooper put down a 1:57.283 to take P2 in both the individual session and overall. Jo Shimoda’s 1:57.595 was third fastest overall and Hampshire’s 1:58.011 was fourth fastest overall. Vohland’s 1:58.411 from the first session stood as his top time of the day, which was good enough for fifth overall. Hunter Lawrence’s 1:58.644 was seventh fastest overall. Guillem Farres qualified tenth overall with a 2:00.485 from the second session in his U.S. debut.

450 Class

It was Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson out front early when the 450 Class A group hit the track for their final qualifying session. Similar to the 250 Class, the 450 Class times got faster. A blazing 1:55.834 from Ken Roczen topped the board over Antonio Cairoli’s 1:56.441, Eli Tomac’s 1:56.586, and Chase Sexton’s 1:56.891. Dylan Ferrandis rounded out the top five in the session with a 1:57.020. Roczen’s 1:55 bested Savatgy’s 1:57.814 from session one to take the top qualifying spot of the day. The #94 has landed the top spot in overall qualifying for two consecutive weeks now.

Team USA MXoN Announcement

Before the start of the first motos, the Team USA Roster was confirmed for the 2022 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations: Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton, and Justin Cooper. Tomac will race the MXGP Class, Cooper will race the MX2 Class, and Sexton will race the Open Class. As the AM’s Mike Pelletier announced last night, Team USA will wear #101, #102, and #103 this year at RedBud MX.

Read the full press release from the American Motorcyclist Association.

First Motos

250 Class

Jett Lawrence took a gamble on the inside-most gate following his P1 overall in qualifying. The gates dropped on the first moto of the day, but it was RJ Hampshire who went in and out of turn one first, grabbing the holeshot and race lead. The #1’s inside gate pick allowed him to sneak up the inside of the turn, although a handful of riders. Hampshire had the early jump, but Michael Mosiman took the lead about half a lap into the race. On the first go up the steep hill by the podium, Justin Cooper went down in the inside most part of the turn, collecting Jalek Swoll as well. Hunter Lawrence had an early crash that cost him to drop back outside of the top 30. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing fill-in rider Guillem Farres was running in fifth and Maryland native and local Tyer Stepek was running in eighth in the early stages of the race. Farres was caught and passed by Jo Shimoda, who charged around Max Vohland as well before getting to fourth. Out front, Mosiman and Hampshire were yo-yo’ing back and forth until Hampshire made a successful pass for the lead. Mosiman was then immediately under fire from Jett Lawrence. The defending champion had a pass made but Mosiman fought back over the rollers before the finish line jump, but the #29 went down right before the tunnel jump seconds later. The mistake cost Mosiman second place and held up Jett Lawrence momentarily. This opened up Hampshire to open up a nice comfortable gap, and the #24 rode him to his first moto win of 2022. Jett Lawrence claimed second and Shimoda claimed third after a late move on Mosiman. Nate Thrasher was in third early but stalled his machine and could not get it started again! The #49 lost a lot of positions but eventually came through in seventh after a huge charge back up into the top ten. Farres finished sixth in his debut moto. Stepek finished 16th after running inside the top ten for the first 20 minutes of the moto. Hunter Lawrence had a few issues, going down and then later getting stuck in some trackside banners. Hunter made a late pass on Justin Cooper for eighth after the two were battling late in the race.

450 Class

The first 450 Class moto began, and riders blasted out of the gates. There were over half a dozen riders that went down on exit of the first turn, including Marshal Weltin, Jeff Walker, Scott Meshey, Vincent Luhovey, Chris Canning, Jeremy Hand, and more. Out front was Ken Roczen, Ryan Dungey, Antonio Cairoli, Justin Barcia, and Chase Sexton. On the first lap, Cairoli went down in the tabletop that sends riders back towards the back part of the track. He was okay but his bike positioned at the top of the takeoff meant he had to wait for the field to go by before he returned to his machine and remounted. He eventually came through the finish in 19th. Tomac quickly got around Dungey and then made a pass on Roczen to take the lead with a nice run up the inside of the steep hill by the podium. Similar to his home-state buddy Tyler Stepek, Maryland native Justin Rodbell was running in eighth early on. He eventually finished 15th. Chase Sexton was inside the top five off the start but did an endo on the first lap, which dropped him out of the top 15. On the very next lap, Canadian Tanner Ward went down and his bike collected Sexton also, who again, endoed and flipped forwards! The points leader suddenly went from about fourth to 30th with the two crashes as Tomac got into the lead out front. Sexton rode hard and eventually came through the checkered flag in seventh. Officially, Tomac will retake the points lead, but we still have a second moto to go. Will Sexton respond in the second moto? That is only the second moto so far this summer (19 total) where the #23 machine finishes outside of first or second. Jason Anderson rode awesome to a second-place finish, getting Dungey and Roczen late. Roczen held on for third ahead of Dungey, Christian Craig, and Dylan Ferrandis. Malcolm Stewart finished 12th/

Second Motos

250 Class

Justin Cooper entered and exited the first turn in the lead when moto two got underway. Jett Lawrence got pinched off as he was sandwiched between RJ Hampshire and Cameron McAdoo. The defending champion was about 20th early on but made quick moves to make it to 12th. A crashing Josh Varize almost took out the defending champion, who barely stopped in time. Jo Shimoda took second from Jalek Swoll, who got a great jump, and went after Justin Cooper. The #30 even had a pass made but Cooper struck right back! Then the #32 opened up about a second-and-a-half lead as moto one winner RJ Hampshire was rounding out the top five. After a few laps, Shimoda got right back up to Cooper and pulled off another pass! With Hampshire running fourth, Shimoda’s 3-1 would give him the overall over Hampshire’s 1-4. Swoll made a mistake, allowing Hampshire to take over third. Still, Shimoda’s 3-1 would best the #24’s 1-3. Jett and Hunter Lawrence were battling for eighth place. Hampshire started to close up on Cooper and made a pass for second place in the turn before the Big Gulp jump. Hampshire’s 2-1 would best Shimoda’s 3-1 for the overall win. Late in the race, Jett Lawrence climbed into third place, but he was not able to get Hampshire to disrupt the #24’s day. Shimoda took the moto win with a huge fist pump, but Hampshire hung on for second to claim the overall win—the fourth of his career and his first since the 2021 RedBud National.

450 Class