Free Practice

Practice started off with a lot of guys doing the same lines through the main rhythm sections. The 250B group also featured several debutant riders including Haiden Deegan, Chance Hymas, Talon Hawkins, and Caden Braswell. Tom Vialle was allowed in the A session due to a world champion provisional. Chance Hymas went fastest in the B group with a 53.580 with Haiden Deegan on a 54.959 behind him.

As the 250A group hit the track next, Jordon Smith set the early pace at a 55.596 but the times were dropping quick. His teammate Nate Thrasher then went to the top of the board at a 54.139. It took a little while but finally we saw the first group of riders break into the 52’s and it was Hunter Lawrence who struck first with a 52.882. Thrasher was hot on his heels though with a 52.900 as the main line started to develop all the way around the track.

That time would hold up in the end to keep Lawrence in P1 with Thrasher second, but Hymas’ time would actually put him in third overall in times from Free Practice.

Christian Craig and Jason Anderson led the field around as the 450A group headed out for their practice next. Anderson would also set the early pace with a 53.522 as the 450 guys also started to hit all the same lines as the 250 guys. The rhythm section coming back across the start will be interesting today to see if anything other than on-off-3-2 will be done but early in Free Practice, that was the preferred line.

Some riders also started to uncork the 3-4 in the rhythm section before that as Chase Sexton used it to his advantage to lay down a 52.392. That time would hold up as the checkered flag waved with Adam Cianciarulo, Christian Craig, and Jason Anderson as the only guys also down in the 52’s with Sexton.

First Qualifying Sessions

In between practice and qualifying, the track crew slightly modified the single before the long rhythm section as they built it up to evenly across on both sides. Riders were initially only using the lowered right side of the jump but now it was peaked out a bit more and even all the way. Times were a little slower in qualifying then but Haiden Deegan fired back this time with a 53.9 to Hymas’ 54.1 in the B group.

The A group headed out next for the 250SX guys and Michael Mosiman set the early pace, but he also found the ground with a little slide out on the tunnel jump. Nate Thrasher dipped down into the 53’s with a 53.306 but his teammate Jordon Smith was right there with a 53.389. A last-minute heater from Max Anstie put him P1 out of nowhere with a 52.918 as he put three tenths between himself and Thrasher behind him.

Chase Sexton led the field around in 450A Q1 early on. Adam Cianciarulo went down at the end of the whoops first time around but bounced right back up and was fine. Chase Sexton was experimenting with the left side of the rhythm section going over the table and then 3-3 after that and used it to run a 50.481 which was a second and a half better than anyone.

That time would hold up as Anderson and Tomac got a little bit closer to him but Sexton was still 1.3 seconds faster than anyone.

Second Qualifying Sessions

Haiden Deegan topped the final B qualifying session again with Hymas once again only a few tenths of a second behind him. Both riders seem like they will be able to mix it up tonight with some of the top guys, though they may be a tick off of winning pace heading into the night show.

The final 250A group then headed out and it was Jordon Smith setting the early pace this time with a 53.234. As with the two sessions before, it was a little bit of a Monster Energy Yamaha/Star Racing duel at the top as Thrasher put down a 52.937 and then Smith immediately upped it again to put in a 52.922.

Max Anstie did it again though as he put in a late hot lap once again to shoot to the top of the board with a 52.128. With that, Max Anstie qualifies P1 for the 250SX class heading into the night show.

Chase Sexton picked up right where he left off from the first qualifying session by laying down lap times that were noticeably better than anyone else. Almost everyone had shifted to the left side of the long rhythm section which was the over-3-3 option, but Sexton was still a second faster than Dylan Ferrandis through much of the first half of the session.

Five riders right behind Sexton were all within about a tenth of a second of each other but it was Sexton who remained over a second up on everyone for the rest of the session. With a 50.320, Chase Sexton goes into tonight’s action with a clear shot across the bow that he is ready to win again.

250SX Heat 1

The first gate drop of the night saw Hunter Lawrence grab the holeshot ahead of Hardy Munoz and Chris Blose. Blose quickly got around Munoz and Nate Thrasher was quick to make the move as well. Lawrence already pulled out a bit lead as the first full lap finished up and Thrasher moved into second.

Blose almost crashed in the sand in third and Chance Hymas found his way through into third place. Michael Mosiman was recovering from a bad start and moved around Henry Miller to get into sixth spot at around the halfway mark as he also went to work and passed Munoz moments later.

Marshal Weltin had a heat race he’d rather forget as he crashed in the sand early on and then had a big crash exiting the sand about three laps later that eventually forced him to the sidelines. Jace Owen, who had crashed in the first turn, was able to work his way around Gage Linville with two laps to go to make it back into the final transfer spot.

In the end, Hunter Lawrence would cruise to the heat race victory ahead of Thrasher, Hymas, Mosiman, Blose, Henry Miller, Munoz, Devin Simonson, and Owen in the final transfer spot.

250SX Heat 2

In the second heat race, it was Jordon Smith grabbing the holeshot ahead of Tom Vialle and Max Anstie. Anstie got right around Vialle and moved into second place as the Brit did not want to let Smith get a gap out front.

Haiden Deegan started in about eighth spot but stormed through a few riders and made quick passes in the whoops to move all the way up to fourth ahead of Jeremy Martin. Smith was pulling away out front a bit as Deegan went to work battling Vialle for third place.

Coty Schock plowed into the tunnel jump while in sixth place and would take a while to collect himself before remounting and riding off. Meanwhile up front, Smith made a few bobbles and allowed Anstie back into the picture a bit with a couple laps left.

Smith continued to make small mistakes in the sand and Anstie showed him a wheel as the white flag waved. It would be Smith that would hold on for the win ahead of Anstie with Vialle in third, Deegan fourth and Jeremy Martin rounding out the top five.

450SX Heat 1

Cooper Webb grabbed the holeshot in the first 450SX heat race of the night with Jason Anderson right behind him as the duo pulled away from Aaron Plessinger. Anderson spent a lap behind Webb before passing into the lead right before the finish line jump.

Anderson almost went down in the sand and that allowed everyone to close up close behind him. Aaron Plessinger took advantage to make the pass on his teammate Webb to get into second place as the battling continued. Ken Roczen also was on the move forward as he got around Justin Cooper to move into fifth place right behind Dylan Ferrandis in fourth.

As close as the racing was out front, it settled down pretty quick as everyone found their footing and a few seconds was put between everyone. Jason Anderson would go on to take the win ahead of Plessinger, Webb, Ferrandis, Roczen, Joey Savatgy, Justin Cooper, Benny Bloss, and Cade Clason.

450SX Heat 2

The final heat race of the night saw Eli Tomac grab the holeshot ahead of Colt Nichols and Chase Sexton. Adam Cianciarulo and Christian Craig rounded out the top five, but Craig almost went down in the sand on the first lap and Justin Barcia closed right in from sixth place.

Chase Sexton got right into second place and stalked Tomac out front for a lap before just blowing by him in the whoops to take the lead and he was off with it and away out front. Cianciarulo and Barcia were battling It out for fourth place and eventually Barcia was able to sneak by in the sand section to take over the position.

Barcia slowly reeled in Nichols for third and used the sand to his advantage again to make the pass into the spot on the final lap. Chase Sexton cruised away to the win with Tomac, Nichols, Barcia, Cianciarulo, Craig, Dean Wilson, Justin Hill, and Shane McElrath rounding out the final transfer spots behind him.

250SX Last Chance Qualifier

Josiah Natzke grabbed the holeshot in the LCQ ahead of Jeremy Hand and Jack Chambers. Brock Papi was in fourth early on with AJ Catanzaro and Coty Schock right there. Catanzaro made the move into the final transfer spot before the end of the first full lap as second through sixth sat nose to tail.

Natzke suddenly had some troubles and the whole battle behind him was able to go through which put Papi in the final transfer spot. Chambers then made a couple of mistakes and allowed Papi by and then Chambers ran into the back of Papi and went down which left Schock in the final transfer spot.

Jeremy Hand took the win in the LCQ ahead of Catanzaro, Papi, and Schock who headed to the main event with him.

450SX Last Chance Qualifier

Josh Cartwright grabbed the holeshot in the LCQ right in front of Chase Marquier and Fredrik Noren. Marquier slipped back and Kevin Moranz moved into third with Alex Ray moving into the final transfer spot. Ray then almost went down in the whoops and went off the track accelerating all the way down the concrete.

Things remained rather calm until the very last lap when Kyle Chisholm caught Noren for the final transfer spot with Justin Starling and Moranz already ahead. Chisholm clocked Noren in the final turn and Noren went down with Chisholm stalling. Alex Ray then came up to them, clipped Noren, and went down in the Tuff Blocks. That allowed John Short was the beneficiary as he went from seventh to the fourth and final transfer spot on the final lap. Cartwright would take the win up front.

250SX Main Event

The holeshot in the first 250SX main event of the year went to Hunter Lawrence with Chance Hymas right behind him. Tom Vialle was able to shoot into the race lead right on the first lap of the race and then nearly came together with Hunter Lawrence who went off the side of the track on the supercross triple and lost a spot to his teammate Hymas.

Lawrence regrouped and passed Hymas right back for second place as Vialle had a small gap out front. Lawrence then got around Vialle for the lead on the very next lap in the sand section and began taking off. Max Anstie got around Hymas as Hymas was making a few mistakes and suddenly Jordon Smith and Jeremy Martin also got by into the top five.

Jordon Smith was coming as he closed up on Anstie for third with the lead four riders breaking away from Martin back in fifth spot. Nate Thrasher was in sixth spot but crashed in the sand on the seventh lap of the race and slipped back to 13^th behind Chris Blose.

Vialle kept getting through the whoops slower than the two guys behind him and eventually Anstie cracked through into second spot. The next lap, Smith went down in the sand just like Thrasher had moments before and slipped back to fifth just in front of Haiden Deegan.

Jordon Smith spent a long time inching up on Jeremy Martin and passed him in the sand just moments before Vialle went down while in third. Vialle picked it up in fifth right in front of Deegan and Mosiman but made a mistake in the whoops on the next lap and both of them were able to sneak by.

Hunter Lawrence would cruise home to the win out front to win the opening round of the 250SX East as Max Anstie and Jordon Smith rounded out the podium behind him. Haiden Deegan finished up in fourth after Martin almost went down on the last lap but Martin was able to hold on for fifth in the end.

450SX Main Event

In the 450SX main event it was Eli Tomac grabbing the holeshot ahead of Aaron Plessinger. Christian Craig went down right out of the first turn and was dead last early on. Tomac led from Plessinger, Anderson, Barcia, and Chase Sexton.

Sexton and Cooper Webb got around Barcia right away as Plessinger was putting heat on Tomac out front. Dylan Ferrandis had a massive crash in the whoops right at the end of the whoops which caused the red flag to come out. Ferrandis was out for a while but was eventually able to stand back up with some help as he was carted off.

On the restart, Tomac led Plessinger again as it was a staggered restart. Anderson pounced by AP immediately into second place as Tomac opened up a small gap in the lead. Plessinger and Anderson started battling each other and it allowed Sexton through into third place as Tomac opened up a two second lead.

Sexton stalked Anderson for a few laps and then got around him when Anderson made a mistake in the whoops which pushed Anderson back into the clutches of Plessinger as Sexton scooted into P2. The chase was on as Sexton tried to reel in Tomac out front with well over half the race still to go.

Justin Barcia made the move around Cooper Webb a few laps after the restart and actually started to pull Anderson and Plessinger back towards him a little bit as the top five remained just six seconds apart from each other as the second half of the main event began.

Sexton caught Tomac for the lead with a little over seven minutes left on the clock as they had stretched out to about three seconds ahead of Anderson behind them. When Sexton caught Tomac, it seemed to wake Tomac up a little bit as he then opened a small gap back out.

Justin Cooper was the man on the move late in the race making a pass on Adam Cianciarulo and then Joey Savatgy to get up into eighth before he would then go on to pass Roczen on the last lap for seventh. Justin Barcia then went down in the whoops while running fifth, but he would remount in sixth just behind Cooper Webb.

Eli Tomac would go on to take the win as Sexton could never quite get back to Tomac and Eli would take the win by three seconds. Jason Anderson would round out the podium behind them.