Free Practice

Unlike most rounds, the day started out in Anaheim with further Free Practice sessions for the Supercross Futures class which had qualifying late in the afternoon yesterday. More qualifying is soon to come but Haiden Deegan still remained on top like yesterday.

After the Futures sessions wrapped up through, it was time for Free Practice to begin with the 250SX class heading out first. Many of the riders saw the track yesterday during press day as a lot of the contingent took advantage of the first Friday sessions of the year after Anaheim 1 and San Diego press days were both cancelled due to weather.

As the 250A group hit the track for the first time today though, most of them were already dialing some of the key rhythm sections like 3-3-3-3 through the first base rhythm section just after the finish line jump. The most interesting section today will probably be the rhythm section up the third base line which has the potential to three into it but might even be possible to jump three in and three on to the next table. Certainly, lots of options in play but some form of a race line will materialize in these first few sessions most likely.

Cameron McAdoo and Stilez Robertson both led the 250A group for some time, but Jett Lawrence shot to the top with a 1:00.015. RJ Hampshire also put a good one together and ran a 1:00.040 to just miss eclipsing Jett. Jett Lawrence was able to drop down to a 59.016 then as the checkers waved but Hampshire was right in there too with a 59.523. Times are dropping fast.

Next up was the 450A group and Christian Craig led the field around early on. Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb were playing some cat and mouse as Webb followed Tomac around early on which also gave a good early indication of which of the two were finding their way around the track better.

Tomac shot to the top first, initially with a lap time in the mid-1:00s but then he and several others dipped down into the 59s. Chase Sexton shot to the top at a 59.154 for just a few seconds before Cooper Webb became the first rider all day to dip into the 58s with a 58.832. The checkered flag then waved and Tomac’s final attempt was only good enough to go back to P2 with a 59.122. So, Webb on top early in Anaheim.

First Qualifying Sessions

The Supercross Futures riders hit the track again next but this time it would be for their third qualifying session, though the first one on Saturday for them. Haiden Deegan and Daxton Bennick both went down at differing occasions but would get up just fine. Several riders were going down in the whoops though as the Futures class was really pushing the envelope. In the end, Julien Beaumer would surprise and qualify fastest in the first session of the day by six tenths of a second with a 59.621 over Haiden Deegan’s 1:00.279.

Next up was the first qualifying session of the day for the 250SX guys as Cameron McAdoo led the A group around the track. Levi Kitchen had a big crash after the dragons back and it took him a few moments to collect himself before getting up and riding back to the mechanics area.

McAdoo set the early pace at a 59.708 but Jett Lawrence eclipsed that moments later to jump down to a 59.684. Suddenly, McAdoo went flipping over the bars when his hand slipped off in the whoops and he would crawl off the track before being helped off by the Alpinestars medical team.

RJ Hampshire had momentarily gone fastest while that whole thing was going on but then Lawrence put a burner down to go down to a 58.723. Meanwhile, McAdoo was gingerly helped to the medical mule and was able to sit down by himself but was clearly in some pain as they carted him away. No update at this time on his condition.

Jett Lawrence would lower his time once again before the session came to an end as he went down to a 58.247 while RJ Hampshire was the only other rider to go into the 58s with a 58.784.

It was time for the 450A group right after the 250’s all headed out of the stadium and this time it was Chase Sexton who ended up ahead of the pack early on. Sexton also set the early pace with a 58.510 as he pulled to the side and let a lot of the field go by.

Joey Savatgy went down when he landed on a Tuff Block through the first rhythm lane, but he would be fine and continue. Aaron Plessinger tipped over in the same corner before that rhythm section and then Alex Ray went down in the whoops at one point but both crashes were inconsequential.

Sexton then improved on his top time to go down to a 58.017 while guys behind him like Eli Tomac and Jason Anderson were just dipping into the 58s. Justin Barcia had a close call when he went over the berm after the finish line jump and nearly got clipped by riders going the other way. Sexton ended up on top through with a 58.017 to lead the field into the final qualifying session of the day.

Second Qualifying Sessions

As the final qualifying sessions of the day began, the 250A group rolled out and it was a bit of a shock to see Cameron McAdoo back in action after his big get off in the first session. McAdoo rolled around behind the field for a while and eventually started jumping things again and blitzing the whoops.

A few other things were happing as well like Jett Lawrence and Stilez Robertson going back and forth atop the leaderboard for a little bit as they were in the mid-59s. Max Vohland had a small tip over after the finish line jump but got right back after it.

Mitchell Oldenburg went down on the dragons back and was down for a little bit but was ultimately fine. McAdoo eventually rode back to the pits with his mechanic but his time from the first session holds up for now to put him in the show for tonight.

Jett Lawrence eventually dipped down into the 57s with a 57.988 to qualify P1 for tonight.

Ken Roczen, who was second fastest in Q1, led the field around off the fake start in Q2 as the Suzuki rider was looking to make an early impact. Chase Sexton was right behind him though and true to form from the first session, Sexton shot to the top of the board first with a 57.983.

Sexton again lowered his time down to a 57.564 and nobody else could dip down into the 57s with him which ultimately left Sexton as the fastest qualifier again. Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen were close behind in the 58’s but it looks like Sexton has everything working for him as we head into the night show.

In the final Supercross Futures qualifying session of the day, it was another hot lap battle between Julien Beaumer and Haiden Deegan. The track they got was a lot rougher than they had pretty much all day long, so it was interesting to see how they attacked it in more of a race setting. Beaumer once again reigned supreme though as he put in a 1:00.968 which was just better than Deegan’s 1:01.350.

250SX Last Chance Qualifier

The Last Chance Qualifiers started just shy of 5 p.m. and it was the 250SX class that launched off first. Joshua Varize grabbed the holeshot ahead of Mitchell Harrison, Kaden Amerine, and Robbie Wageman in the transfer spots.

Dominique Thury tipped over after the finish line on the second lap and slipped way down the order. Robbie Wageman then crashed in the whoops while running in fourth place and also watched his chances of making the main events fade away. Devin Harriman also went down while running in sixth as the hits just kept coming. Amerine then crashed at the end of the whoops moments later.

All of the crashing gave a huge gap to the front four which was now Varize, Harrison, Brandon Scharer, and Brandon Ray. Then it was Ray’s turn to crash from fourth place at the end of the whoops and that just barely allowed Austin Politelli to get by.

Politelli then missed the double jump on the last lap over the start straight and Ray fought back to retake the final transfer spot as Politelli went off the track. Politelli then took out Hunter Schlosser for fifth when he rejoined. Varize took the win ahead of Harrison, Scharer, and Brandon Ray in the end.

450SX Last Chance Qualifier

Chase Marquier grabbed the holeshot in the 450SX LCQ while Logan Leitzel and Logan Karnow got together and went down. Kevin Moranz was in second early on with Justin Starling in third and Grant Harlan in fourth.

Harlan went down before the whoops on the second lap and that allowed Fredrik Noren to get into the final transfer spot, but he had Alex Ray and Shane McElrath right behind him.

Kevin Moranz got around Marquier for the lead on lap three as McElrath also got around Alex Ray for fifth. Marquier got passed by Starling for second and then missed the rhythm section which allowed Starling, Noren, and McElrath all by. Ray then also moved around Marquier moments later.

It got really close between all of them but in the end, it was Moranz winning from Noren, Starling, and McElrath.

250SX Race 1

The gates dropped on the first race of the night as 250SX Race 1 launched out and it was RJ Hampshire grabbing the holeshot from Levi Kitchen and Jett Lawrence up front for what was a pretty clean start. Mitchell Oldenburg sat in fourth with Pierce Brown rounding out the top five.

Lawrence quickly made the pass on Kitchen on the second lap of the race as there was already a couple of seconds to Hampshire out front. Brown was able to get around Oldenburg to get into fourth place and amazingly Cameron McAdoo was in eighth spot battling with Enzo Lopes early on as well.

Lawrence then tucked his front wheel after the finish line jump on the fourth lap and high sided. He would remount behind McAdoo now down in eighth spot as Hampshire now led from Kitchen and Brown. Lawrence made a quick move around Lopes and McAdoo to get back into sixth right behind Stilez Robertson.

Pierce Brown then caught and passed Kitchen for second as the GasGas man was on the move in the first half of the race. Jett Lawrence also caught and got around Robertson just moments later to move back into the top five.

Lawrence next took advantage of an inside line before the big double-double to make the pass around Oldenburg and get back into fourth. McAdoo was in a huge battle for seventh with Lopes, Max Vohland, and Derek Kelley all right in the mix.

Vohland was moving as he got around McAdoo into seventh and started to pull away from the Kawasaki man. Lawrence then made the pass on Kitchen, this time for third, as the championship leader was keen to get back to Brown in second.

In the end, Hampshire would take the victory in the first race of the night just ahead of Pierce Brown and Jett Lawrence who were battling for second right at the line.

450SX Race 1

Off the start of the first 450SX race of the night, it was Chase Sexton grabbing the holeshot ahead of Ken Roczen and Adam Cianciarulo. Eli Tomac was in about sixth spot with Cooper Webb just outside of the top 10. Kyle Chisholm and Kevin Moranz got together and went down on the first lap but both remounted fine in last place.

Tomac spent a couple laps behind his teammate Ferrandis before making the move up into fourth place. Webb had made some great progress as he was bringing Jason Anderson with him to the rear wheel of Justin Barcia in a battle for sixth place. Then Barcia fell in the bowl berm after the finish and slipped back a few spots just outside of the top 10.

Sexton continued to lead by just over a second form Roczen, but Cianciarulo was slipping away from them as he sat four seconds back of the lead dup and was starting to be caught by Eli Tomac for third. Tomac made the pass stick after the two doubles at just about the halfway mark of the main event.

Dylan Ferrandis was the next man to make a move after he caught up to Cianciarulo. It took him several laps to get there but as soon as he did, he pounced down the inside to make the move into fourth. Webb followed him right through to move into fifth and then Jason Anderson also got around AC just movements later to get into sixth.

Webb and Anderson started pushing right up to the rear wheel of Ferrandis who in turn was upping his pace a little bit to try to not let them by and was also staying close to his teammate Eli Tomac. It became a three-rider battle for fourth as the white flag waved.

Anderson became the man who could make a move happen as he sent it down the inside of Webb after the whoops and the two made contact. Webb fell as Anderson just slipped away and Webb would slide down to seventh.

Chase Sexton would cruise home to take the win ahead of Roczen, Tomac, Ferrandis, and Anderson inside of the top five.

250SX Race 2

The second Race for the 250SX class of the night fired into the first turn and ti was Cameron McAdoo grabbing the holeshot ahead of Phil Nicoletti. Nicoletti then took over the race lead as Pierce Brown moved into third place.

Jett Lawrence and RJ Hampshire ended up getting together at the back of the pack and Jett was down in dead last while Hampshire was a few spots ahead of last. Then McAdoo lost the front end after the dragons back and brought Pierce Brown with him as they slid down the order which gave Nicoletti a huge lead over Stilez Robertson and Levi Kitchen.

Hampshire went down again as he and Joshua Varize came together in the sand section. Hampshire took a while to collect himself and was in dead last way behind 21^st once he got going again. Hampshire eventually went back to the pits to grab his mechanic and they rode off the track and out of the stadium.

Max Vohland had moved into second ahead of Robertson and Levi Kitchen as Phil Nicoletti was holding on to a five second lead. Vohland started chipping the gap down one second per lap and then he slid out after the finish in the same spot McAdoo did a few laps prior.

Meanwhile, McAdoo was back up to sixth now ahead of Vohland and Jett Lawrence was up to eighth just behind Vohland. Oldenburg was still in fourth with Derek Kelley rounding out the top five.

Robertson slowly caught Nicoletti for the lead as Nicoletti seemed to be struggling staying in the grove. Robertson made the move for the lead and Levi Kitchen also got by Nicoletti on the same lap to move into second as the white flag waved.

Stilez Robertson would take the win ahead of Kitchen, Nicoletti, Oldenburg, and Kelley inside of the top five.

450SX Race 2

The second 450SX race of the night saw Jason Anderson rocket out to the holeshot with Ken Roczen right behind him in second and Aaron Plessinger moving into third early on. Cianciarulo, Sexton, Tomac, and Ferrandis all sat right there as well with everybody jockeying for position.

Colt Nichols went down on the first lap in between the two doubles and found himself well down the order. Anderson led from Roczen, AP, Sexton, and AC inside of the top five as Tomac went to work on AC for fifth.

Sexton slid out after the finish line jump on the third lap and fell behind Ferrandis which put him back to eighth. Plessinger was pushing on Roczen for second as the lead trio was getting away from Tomac back in fourth. Webb also made the move around the outside of Cianciarulo to get into the top five before the third lap was over,

Plessinger then made the move on Roczen after the whoops, but Roczen immediately struck back to get into second and he was not wanting to let Anderson get away. Then Plessinger slid out in the bowl berm after the finish the very next lap and slipped all the way back behind Cianciarulo in eighth.

Things settled down for a little in the middle part of the race as Anderson continued to lead but the battle was brewing for second as Eli Tomac closed in on Ken Roczen. Tomac tried to make the move but then in stuffing Kenny for the spot, he missed the supercross triple and then Roczen stuffed Tomac back in the following corner.

Roczen then slid out coming towards the finish line jump the very next lap and that allowed Tomac through, but Roczen was still right there, and Webb wasn’t too far behind Roczen.

Anderson would hold on to take the win ahead of Tomac, Roczen, Webb, and Sexton at the end of Race 2.

Supercross Futures Main Event

Off the start of the first Supercross Futures main event of the year, it was Talon Hawkins who grabbed the holeshot ahead of his teammate Casey Cochran. Daxton Bennick settled into third with Julien Beaumer in fourth, Cole Davies in fifth, and Haiden Deegan in sixth.

Beaumer cased the supercross triple on the first lap and appeared to break some spoked on his bike which would bring his night to an early end. Hawkins and Cochran went back and forth for the lead, but it was eventually Hawkins who would take it over.

Haiden Deegan crashed while battling Preston Boespflug for fifth and he would slide back to seventh. Bennick moved up to second as he tried to close in on Hawkins out front for the win.

Hawkins then got the whoops wrong as he continued to blitz them and that allowed Bennick to jump on by into the race lead. Hawkins would crash after the whoops on the last lap and hand second to his teammate and then Haiden Deegan would pass Boespflug on the final lap to get into fifth.

Daxton Bennick would take the Supercross Futures main event win ahead of Casey Cochran, Talon Hawkins, Cole Davies, and Haiden Deegan.

250SX Race 3

The final 250SX race of the night kicked off and it was Jett Lawrence who launched out to a huge holeshot. He brought Levi Kitchen with him and Joshua Varize was up front as well in third. Cameron McAdoo was just behind Robertson and Vohland as they battled it out for a top five spot.

Hampshire was buried early on as a consequence of his outside gate pick from DNFing the second race. Robertson moved up into third around Varize and brought Vohland, McAdoo, and Pierce Brown with him.

Enzo Lopes crashed at the end of the whoops on the third lap while running in seventh spot which pushed him all the way down the order to last. Lawrence continued to lead by two seconds over Kitchen as both riders had opened up a large advantage over Robertson in third.

McAdoo and Vohland were going at it for fourth and while they battled, Pierce Brown got right on them and all three of them nearly came together. Brown stalled his GasGas which slid him way back to 13^th behind Nicoletti.

With the overall scores sitting as they were, Levi Kitchen held a two-point advantage over Jett Lawrence for the win if he could just stay in second place behind Lawrence with time running down.

Lawrence would go on to win the final race of the evening, but it was Levi Kitchen who would take home his first career 250SX win with 4-2-2 scores to win the Triple Crown. Jett Lawrence would finish second on the night with Stilez Robertson rounding out the podium.

450SX Race 3

Off the start of the final 450SX race it was Jason Anderson again jumping out front and grabbing the holeshot. Chase Sexton was right behind him with Cooper Webb in third and Eli Tomac begin d Webb. Roczen sat in about seventh spot behind Dylan Ferrandis and Adam Cianciarulo.

Tomac started busting out the 3-on-3-on-off line for the first time all day as he nearly passed Cooper Webb for third. Webb fought back and then Tomac almost went down on it trying it the next lap through.

As Webb continued to defend from Tomac’s advances, Tomac got off line going up the jump face of the three in and went down huge when he landed on some Tuff Blox. He was able to remount, though he was visibly laboring his shoulder and was way down in 14^th.

At the same time, Chase Sexton made the pass on Anderson to take over the race lead which was also the move for the overall win as Anderson slipped back to Webb’s clutches behind him.

Sexton slowly inched away at the front of the field with Anderson holding Webb at bay. Roczen was still hounding Ferrandis for fourth but couldn’t quite get close enough to make a move on the Frenchman.

Anderson then made a mistake at the end of the long rhythm section that moved Webb up to second place in the race. Sexton held the advantage for the overall by two points over Jason Anderson and three points over Ken Roczen as they ran with time winding down.

Chase Sexton would take the race victory and the overall win on the night with 1-5-1 scores to beat Jason Anderson by two points to take the win. Ken Roczen would pass Dylan Ferrandis on the last lap to tie Anderson for second on the night, but the tiebreaker would go to Anderson. Eli Tomac would finish the race 13^th and collect sixth overall.