Free Practice

As the first set of practices hit the track, it was apparent the track would be totally fine. It was a little wet in some spots, but the tops of the jumps were essentially dry. Pierce Brown was the man setting the early pace when the A group finally hit the track as he became the first rider into the 55-second range all day.

The times continues to drop down as the main lines started becoming the triple-triple to end both long rhythm sections. Cameron McAdoo momentarily took the top time away from Brown, but Brown fired back with a 54.1 as the flag waved to end free practice on top.

The 450 A group hit the track next and some of the corners were really starting to get some deep ruts. Eli Tomac shot out in front of everyone early on and looked solid throughout the whole session.

Chase Sexton waited until the very end to put his best lap down and it was enough to go fastest. Cooper Webb had a small tip over in the 90-degree corner after the first rhythm section and then Grant Harlan went down in the second rhythm section after the finish line with Chase Marquier, but that was the only real incidents of the session. Sexton’s 53.8 was enough in the end to stay on top.

First Qualifying Sessions

A lot of track work went down between sessions as there was no C group practice or qualifying and it gave the track crew the opportunity to completely clean up all of the berms. When the 250A group hit the track for their first set of qualifying, the lap times immediately were going much lower than free practice.

Jett Lawrence was the man to beat throughout the session as he laid down a 52.257 in the end to go fastest. Derek Kelley went down pretty hard in the whoops halfway through the session but was eventually able to get back up and ride back to the mechanics area by himself.

Chase Sexton led the field around for the first set of 450A qualifying moments later and also set the pace with a 52.429. Tomac and Sexton continued to shuffle the top spot around through the middle of the session as Sexton went down to a 52.249 but then Tomac laid down a 52.065 to jump to the top.

The track seemed to have a couple spots that were critical to putting a lap together and it wasn’t so much about the rhythm lanes or the whoops as much as it was nailing the corner going into the first rhythm section and the corner before the sand. Tomac’s time would hold on for the top position in the end.

Second Qualifying Sessions

The final qualifying session of the day saw a great track as the long break between qualifying not only allowed a lot of work on the track but also the sun had come out which was really drying out some parts of the track that were still soggy and soft.

Right away as the 250A guys hit the track, the best times of the day started flying in. A handful of guys found their way into the 51’s which was led by Jett Lawrence’s 51.312. Jett actually put a few 51-second range lap times in as he had a half second in hand over Hampshire and Levi Kitchen who were both on a 51.8.

Lawrence again lowered his time right as the checkered flag waved to go down to a 51.027 in the end, which was more than enough to qualify P1 in the 250SX class.

After that it was time for the last 450A qualifying session of the day as the riders practiced their start going into the night and Chase Sexton led the field around again. Adam Cianciarulo was the fastest man early on laying down a 51.1 but Chase Sexton found his groove around halfway through the session to put in a 50.704 and become the first rider all day to dip into the 50’s.

Eli Tomac didn’t seem too comfortable in this second session and even was doing a completely different rhythm than the triple on-off-three-two-one line in the first rhythm section as he went roll-over table-three-three-one and it seemed to be a little bit slower. When he finally got a solid lap in, he was only able to jump to fifth fastest which is where he would stay.

Sexton’s time stayed on top the rest of the session as Cianciarulo’s 51.191 was the closest rider to Sexton behind him. Sexton rolls into the night show with P1 in qualifying in the end.

250SX Heat 1

Off the start of the first heat race of the night it was Hunter Yoder grabbing the holeshot with Carson Mumford right behind him. Kaeden Amerine was in third place early on, but Pierce Brown quickly moved around him and went after the leaders.

RJ Hampshire was buried early in the race outside of a transfer spot, but he made quick work forward and was into ninth after two laps. Enzo Lopes went down on the start of the third lap and shuffled back out of a transfer spot.

Mumford and Brown both made the move around Yoder after Yoder had led the first two times over the line. Dylan Walsh crashed hard over the wall jump with a few minutes left and would remain down needing to be worked on by the medics.

Brown stole the lead away from Mumford at the tail end of the fifth lap. Hampshire had made it up to fourth by this point and Lopes had also worked back into a transfer spot.

Pierce Brown would win the heat race ahead of Mumford, Hampshire, Yoder, Joshua Varize, Enzo Lopes, Amerine, Cole Thompson, and Anthony Rodriguez heading to the main event.

250SX Heat 2

The second heat race saw Levi Kitchen grab the holeshot ahead of Cameron McAdoo and Jett Lawrence moving around Stilez Robertson. McAdoo and Lawrence were absolutely going at it for second place early on allowing Kitchen to open up the gap out front while they dueled behind him.

They continued to battle back and forth until finally they came to blows after Lawrence made the pass, but McAdoo tripled back alongside of him, and they both crashed pretty heavily. They got back up nearly at the same time, but Lawrence was unhappy with McAdoo for the situation and shook his hands in frustration.

Stilez Robertson got around them into second but Lawrence hot up and passed McAdoo finally and then caught and passed Robertson for second. McAdoo tried a few times on Robertson on the final lap but couldn’t quite make it happen.

Kitchen cruised to the heat race win much to the delight of his home state crowd as Lawrence eventually crossed in second. No words were exchanged after the race between Lawrence and McAdoo in the end but both riders comfortably qualified for the main event.

450SX Heat 1

Kevin Moranz grabbed the holeshot in the first 450SX heat race ahead of Christian Craig but then Craig shot right into the race lead and pulled out a bit of a gap. Aaron Plessinger moved into second place during the first full lap as Adam Cianciarulo also got around Moranz to move into third.

Cole Seely was up in fourth place early on in his return to racing but let Justin Barcia scoot by him into fourth as Seely settled into fifth just ahead of Dean Wilson. Justin Hill was working his way forward as he moved into a transfer spot on the fourth lap and then passed Kevin Moranz moments later.

Plessinger slowly reeled in Christian Craig for the lead and the battle was on as the white flag waved. Plessinger made a few attempts to pass Craig but never could quite get it done as Craig would claim the heat race victory.

The battle behind them for the final transfer spot was wild as Josh Cartwright had ninth on the final lap after a big battle with Justin Hill, Kevin Moranz, Kyle Chisholm, Fredrik Noren, and Cartwright put them all seventh through 11^th. Cartwright would then go over the bars in ninth in the whoops with one turn to go and give the final transfer spot to Chisholm.

450SX Heat 2

The final heat race of the night saw Cooper Webb grab the holeshot with Jason Anderson right behind him. Grant Harlan was third, but Chase Sexton moved around him before the crossed the line on the first lap and then Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac also both got around Harlan as well.

Tomac got around Roczen for fourth and was working to keep Sexton and Anderson close ahead of him. The front five were opening up a bit gap on everyone else as Sexton went to work on Anderson for second place.

Anderson continued to defend as Sexton tied many times to show him a wheel before finally a slight bump from Sexton as they rolled through the second 90 after the finish line pushed Anderson to the ground as Sexton moved up into second and Tomac to third.

Sexton reeled in Webb for the lead but just like Craig in the heat race before, Webb was just able to keep Sexton behind in the end. Tomac finished up third with Roczen fourth and Anderson fifth.

250SX Last Chance Qualifier

Derek Drake grabbed the holeshot in the 250SX LCQ and opened up a big gap to Hunter Schlosser behind him in second. The AJE Motorsports GasGas team of Mitchell Harrison, Austin Politelli, and Jerry Robin were going at it for third, fourth, and fifth. They were all closing on Schlosser as well with Dilan Schwartz also getting in the mix. A huge crash between Tre Fierro and Ty Freehill slowed everyone down for the final two laps as the red cross flags were waving after the finish line jump. Robin ended up getting bumped down to fifth by Politelli and Schwartz also then got by Robin moments later. Schwartz tried to make the pass on Politelli in the last turn but fell short. Drake won from Schlosser, Harrison, and Politelli in the end. No further updates at this time on the status of Fierro or Freehill.

450SX Last Chance Qualifier

Joan Cros holeshot the LCQ but Josh Cartwright was able to quickly move through into the race lead. Cade Clason was second with Fredrik Noren moving by into third as Josh Hill also moved around Joan Cros into the fourth and final transfer spot. Clason crashed on the wall jump at the halfway mark and slipped back to fourth just ahead of Logan Karnow as Josh Hill moved around Noren into second. Cartwright would hold on for the win ahead of Hill in the end with Noren and Clason also transferring to the main event.

250SX Main Event

In the 250SX main event, the holeshot went to Stilez Robertson with Hunter Yoder right behind him. Jett Lawrence and Cameron McAdoo were battling it out for third early with RJ Hampshire right behind them as Pierce Brown went down in the first corner and was dead last.

Lawrence, McAdoo, and Hampshire all shuffled Yoder back to fifth as Lawrence closed right up on Robertson for the race lead. Mitchell Oldenburg slid out while in fifth on the third lap and fell back as Levi Kitchen moved into fifth.

Lawrence moved around Robertson on the fifth lap as they dived back and forth and then Robertson went down hard in the whoops while trying to battle Cameron McAdoo to hold on for second. McAdoo skirted by as did Hampshire and Hampshire then made the move on McAdoo a few turns later to move into second. Robertson was down on the ground for quite a while before finally standing up under his own power and walking to the medical cart.

Pierce Brown was making strong progress through the field at the halfway point as he moved up into ninth around Derek Kelley and then got around Hunter Yoder for eighth moments later. Enzo Lopes worked around Max Vohland to get into the top five at the halfway point as well and then he also got around Kitchen after Levi made a mistake and slipped back.

As Lawrence slowly inched away out front, McAdoo found a way back around Hampshire into second place as they stayed just about three seconds behind Lawrence out front. Vohland also got around Kitchen as Kitchen was struggling in the later stages of the race.

Lapped traffic was everywhere as Lawrence weaved through and then Hampshire took advantage of McAdoo trying to weave through as well to pass back into second place as the white flag waved.

Jett Lawrence would claim the win in Seattle for his fourth win of the season as Hampshire just held on for second place over McAdoo in the end.