Track walk has wrapped concluded. Bikes will be on track shortly. Here is the expected weather for today. No updates to the schedule yet. Check out the full race day schedule below.

Note, this is not only the first East/West Showdown of the season (West will go first in qualifying and heat race) but this is the first non-Triple Crown race with a 250SX Futures race.

In the 450SX Class, Chase Sexton took the win last weekend in Georgia, cutting into his gap to points leader Eli Tomac. P1 in the standings Tomac and P2 Cooper Webb both started outside the top five before finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, which allowed Webb to gain one point on Tomac. Entering today, Tomac (292 points) has a six-point advantage over Webb (286 points) and a 17-point advantage over Sexton. We have only see one other rider outside of these three to take a win—Ken Roczen—but others have shown speed. Seems like a win is just around the corner each week for Justin Barcia. Does the New York native get his first win of 2023 at his “home” race?

This will be an East/West Showdown, so let’s take a quick look at both 250SX regions. In the 250SX West Region, Jett Lawrence has a commanding championship lead over RJ Hampshire and Levi Kitchen. In the 250SX East Region, Hunter Lawrence has a commanding lead of his own. Hunter’s points gap is currently 45 points, so if he ends today with a 52-point lead (or more) then he will hoist a #1E plate tonight. Riders from both coasts are excited to compete against the entire 250cc field today. The showdown puts all the best West riders in one heat then all the East riders in another heat, meaning several main event staples/bubble guys might not make it right through their heat tonight. These showdowns have been wild in the past, so we should be in for good racing tonight.

A couple injury notes: Nate Thrasher is out for the rest of the 2023 season after a crash last weekend in Georgia. And Jeremy Martin is out for this weekend following a crash in the main event as well. The #6 is dealing with a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). Read our full injury report.

Free Practice

250SX

The 250SX overflow session (essentially group C practice today with the East/West Showdown format) took to the track first. Kaeden Amerine (51.479) topped the board in the field of seven riders.

The 250SX West Region was up first. It was Peirce Brown leading the field around both on the track and on the live timing and scoring as his 49.623 was the fastest lap early. Jett Lawrence jumped to the top of the board with a 48.283. The #18 would put down a 47.619 to top the 250SX West Region free practice session over Max Vohland and Enzo Lopes.

250SX West Region Free Practice

When the 250SX East Region took to the track, points leader Hunter Lawrence was out front. Chris Blose was P1 early with a 48.893 until Jordon Smith (49.576) and Hunter Lawrence (49.674) bumped Blose back to P3. Haiden Deegan put down a 49.303 to move into P1 in the session. Deegan’s time would top the East Region group, although the times were a little slower than the 250SX West Region.

250SX East Region Free Practice

450SX

The 450SX free practice got underway and Justin Barcia got out front first, ahead of Eli Tomac. The duo also led the qualifying. Aaron Plessinger had a crash in the first rhythm section as he came up short on a jump and hit the ground. He was able to get up on his own power—with the help of two Alpinestars medical crew members—and then was helped onto the medical cart. Barcia topped the board with a 48.167. Check out the big line he was doing in the first rhythm section: triple-quad (single table over single)-triple. He was one of the riders doing this line yesterday during the press day riding session.

450SX West Region Free Practice

Check out some raw footage from free practice, by our man on the ground, Tom Journet.

First Qualifying Sessions

250SX Futures

The 250SX Futures had their first qualifying session of the day and it was Ryder DiFrancesco leading Julien Beaumer, Casey Cochran, and Evan Ferry. DiFrancesco’s 50.230 was the first fast lap. A few riders had issues and went down at the end of the first rhythms section, including Mark Fineis and Trevor Colip. Daxton Bennick jumped up to first with a 49.449. But it was Beaumer who jumped to first with a 49.306, which topped the session as the checkered flag flew.

250SX East Region

Flopping from free practice, this time it was the 250SX East Region who had their first qualifying session before the West Region. When the green flag waived, Hunter Lawrence and Haiden Deegan led the field around. Deegan and his teammate Jordon Smith did Barcia’s triple-quad-triple line in the first rhythm section as they were both found a flow early. Smith moved into P1 with a 49.418, which he then bested after a 48.728. Chris Blose (49.434) and Jo Shimoda (49.452) now P2 and P3, respectively, as the Kawasaki teammates continued to put in solid times. On the second-to-last lap, Max Anstie (49.331) moved into P2. Blose, Shimoda, and H. Lawrence round out the top five.

Take a lap with Hunter Lawrence below.

250SX West Region

Pierce Brown, Levi Kitchen, and Carson Mumford out front as the first 250SX West Region qualifying session got the green flag. A 50.462 from Max Vohland was the fastest time early, until Jett Lawrence and Enzo Lopes jump to P1 and P2 with 49.535 and 49.716, respectively. Josh Varize went down after the finish line jump. He got up and got going again after a minute. Carson Mumford jumped up to second behind Jettson with a 49.461. the #18 clicked of a few more fast laps, busting out a 48.363. Lopes returned to P2 with a 49.240. Mumford starting doing a double-quad (two singles over table)-double-double in the first rhythm section. He would seatbounce the double and send the quad. Jett Lawrence topped the session with a 48.363 over Lopes, Mumford, Hampshire, and Kitchen.

450SX

Right from the getgo in the 450SX we saw the championship leader down hard. Eli Tomac was exiting the first rhythm section when his right hand slipped off the handlebars and the #1 endoed hard. He was slow to get up as his YZ450F lay down on the right side, running wide open as the rest of the field navigated around the downed rider and his machine. Track crew members ran to kill the machine as Tomac was still hunched over. He managed to get up under his own power and went straight to the nearby tunnel, limping as he appeared to be in pain. Tomac did not rejoin the session.

Adam Cianciarulo put down a 48.933 to become the first fast lap. Ken Roczen put down a 48.374 that bumped Cianciarulo down. Justin Hill’s fast lap of 48.430 moved into third in the session as the #46 found some good lines. Roczen topped the session as Jason Anderson moved into P2 on the last lap, bumping the Justin duo of Barcia and Hill down to third and fourth. Chase Sexton rounded out the top five.

Aaron Plessinger, who crashed in free practice, did not start this session. Daniel Blair reported Plessinger is pretty banged up but does not have any broken bones. The #7’s status is to be determined for the rest of the day.

Second Qualifying Sessions

250SX Futures

Mark Fineis had the fastest lap early with a 52.068 when the 250SX Futures took to the track for their final qualifying session. Ryder DiFrancesco put down a 49.444 to take P1 but by the end of the session it was Julien Beaumer who claimed the top spot with a 49.340.

250SX West Region

Jett Lawrence and Levi Kitchen got the fake holeshot together in the second 250SX West Region session. Jett Lawrence had a 48.813 that put him first on the board over Pierce Brown (49.343) and Enzo Lopes (49.381). Carson Mumford put in a 48.895, which was briefly P2 until a Max Vohland heater (48.865) bumped Mumford to third. Late in the session RJ Hampshire’s fast lap of 48.563 moved him into P2. Jettson topped the 250SX West Region combined qualifying.

250SX East Region

When the 250SX East Region gates dropped on the fake start, it was Hunter Lawrence ahead of the field. Haiden Deegan rounded the first turn in second as they went to work finding their flow. Jordon Smith jumped up to P2. He would go down twice and pull off before the end of the session, as he picked up his mechanic and went straight for the pits. Smith ended the session in second. Deegan had a crash of his own as he was exiting the whoops. Hunter Lawrence topped the East Region combined qualifying with a 48.701.

Phil Nicoletti stopped by the Race Day Live booth to join in on the broadcast and share some laughs. 

450SX 

As the 450SX group A session was moments away, Eli Tomac pulled into his respective gate on the starting line. Unfortunately, Aaron Plessinger did not lineup, as he was officially listed as out for the night following his hard crash in free practice.

After a wild opening lap of the first 450SX group A qualifying session where Eli Tomac crashed hard and did not rejoin the session, the second session saw early carnage as well. Fredrik Noren cartwheeled hard on the starting straight as the field rushed around the 180-degree turn before the whoops. Then, moments later, Justin Barcia accidently cut in front of Adam Cianciarulo, and AC slammed into Barcia and went down hard. AC was sitting catching his breath as the rest of the session continued to circulate the track. He was tended to by the Alpinestars medical crew, then stopped in the mechanics’ area for a brief time before he went out and started to put down some qualifying laps. As the fast laps started to filter in, it was the #46 of Justin Hill who sat atop of the board. Tomac’s early fast lap of 50.643 was 11th in the session as he reportedly dealt with a charley horse from his crash earlier. Jason Anderson put in a heater (47.707) to move into first in the session and first on the day, besting Ken Roczen’s first qualifying time. Anderson finished first overall in combined qualifying for the second time this season, ending a six-week streak of P1 overall qualifying finishes by Chase Sexton. Justin Hill was third as his brother Josh was eighth. Cooper Webb finished the session sixth, Tomac seventh, and Cianciarulo 12th.

Night Show

Heat Races

250SX West Region Heat Race

A slight rain started to fall in the break before the night show as fans packed into the stadium. When the first race of the night, the 250SX West Region heat race dropped the gate, it was RJ Hampshire who holeshot the race and lead the field early. Hampshire led Max Vohland, Hunter Yoder, and Enzo Lopes. Jett Lawrence was about eighth off the start. Yoder went down exiting the whoops and then three riders—Jerry Robin, Robbie Wageman, and Derek Kelley—collided with one another in the and were all down. Robin had to push his bike off the track as the other two remounted. Jett charged up to fourth, then capitalized on the close racing between Vohland and Pierce Brown in order to pass Brown and move into third. Then Jettson made a pass on Vohland in the whoops to move into second place. Out front Hampshire was cruising by himself, but the #18 made it close at the finish as he almost ran down Hampshire at the end of the race! When Hampshire took the checkered flag, Jett Lawrence was only. 0.452 seconds behind! Next up is the 250SX East Region heat race.

250SX East Region Heat Race

The 250SX East Region heat race blasted off the gates and Haiden Deegan grabbed the race lead exiting the first turn. Jo Shimoda made a quick pass on Deegan in the turn before the whoops to take over the lead. Hunter Lawrence made a pass on Deegan to take over second place. Chris Blose and Tom Vialle, who have been battling with each other basically all season long, were once again battling for fourth place. Jordon Smith made a pass on both of them to move into fourth place as Hunter Lawrence charged towards Shimoda. Shimoda held on for the race win over the #96—just 0.442 seconds ahead!

450SX Heat Race 1

The gates dropped on the first 450SX heat race and it was Ken Roczen out front of Cooper Webb and the rest of the field. Roczen and Webb went back and forth as they started to gap the field. Justin Hill ran third, but the front two had started to gap the #46. Joan Cros went down and stopped to straighten his bars a lap or so later. Roczen started to open up a gap and he would eventually cruise to the race win by about three seconds over Webb. Justin Hill would hang on for third as Colt Nichols and Kyle Chisholm rounded out the top five. Shane McElrath made some late passes to move into a qualifying place, as he finished eighth.

450SX Heat Race 2

When the second 450SX heat race blasted out of the gates, Justin Barcia had the jump, but Chase Sexton jumped out to the race lead. Jason Anderson got around Barcia, who had a slip up exiting the whoops, as the #51 went down. Eli Tomac was outside the top five but made a pass on Benny Bloss to move into fourth. Sexton cruised to an easy heat race win by about eight seconds over Anderson. Cade Clason went down on the opening lap in the turn before the mechanics’ area and at the end of the race he was battling with four other riders for 11th place. Clason was fighting with Chase Marquier, Devin Simonson, Kyle Bitterman, Jared Lesher, and Deven Raper. Marquier took 10th, but came up short of qualifying.

250SX Futures Main Event

Fastest overall qualifier Julien Beaumer blasted to the race lead in the 250SX Futures main event. On the opening lap, Evan Ferry went down, and his bike collected both Avery Long and Gage Stine. The trio had to fight back from being dead last. Ryder DiFrancesco ran second ahead of Tyler Stepek. Stepek got shuffled back a few positions, first by a charging Daxton Bennick, then by Mark Fineis, Casey Cochran, and Jyire Mitchell. Bennick made his way around DiFrancesco as he was the fastest on the track. Out front, Beaumer was untouched as he gapped second place by about 5.5 seconds. But a charge from a fast Bennick almost foiled Beaumer’s night. Bennick cut the lead in half, then got within two seconds. Then the #241 was about a second back as they took the white flag. In the final turn, Bennick to the inside, as a lapper split him and Beaumer. Beaumer was able to hang on though as he blasted out of the turn and took the race win, barely edging out Bennick. After the race, the two shared a handshake on the top of a jump. Beaumer picked up his second consecutive 250SX Futures main event win as Bennick and DiFrancesco rounded out the podium. This was the fourth and final qualifying event for the 250SX Futures, who will race their championship finale at the round 17 Salt Lake City Supercross to determine the 2023 AMA Supercross 250SX Futures Champion.

250SX LCQ

The 250SX LCQ blasted out of the gates, and it was Luke Neese and Coty Schock out front. The race was red flagged after three laps as Josh Varize high sided and needed medical attention. Varize was helped to his feet by the Alpinestars medical crew, which was great to see. He was helped onto the medical cart as the rest of the field lined up for a staggered restart. On the restart it was Schock, Neese, Yoder, and Park. Park passed Yoder to take over third. At the end, Yoder and Miller were battling for fourth as they came into the final turn. They both went down, Miller got banged up, and somehow Dilan Schwartz snuck into the fourth and final transfer spot.

450SX LCQ

The 450SX LCQ blasted out of the gates, and it was Tristan Lane leading the field. Josh Cartwright went down while in the top five, which ended his chances of qualifying. Devin Simonson took over the race lead as Chase Marquier and Cade Clason shuffled into the final two transfer spots. John Short came up…just Short in fifth.

With the 250SX East/West Showdown only moments away, we went on a weather delay here at the stadium. Fans were instructed to clear out the lower bowl area and any seating areas that are not covered. At the same time, bikes were pulled off the track and sent through the tunnel into the bottom of the stadium, even though rain had yet to fall. 

Then rain started to fall and it started to fall hard. Around 9:45 p.m. local time we saw some flashes of lightning. 

We should expect an update close to 10 p.m. local time on whether or not we will race tonight.

250SX East/West Showdown

Once the delay was over, the 250SX field lined up in their gates and declined a sight lap. So when the gates dropped, the riders were seeing the track for the first time.

When the gates dropped, the riders slid and slipped their way down the starting straight, trying to empty the puddles on the long run. It was Max Anstie who found himself in the race lead early. Anstie was leading Vohland, Hampshire, Jett and Hunter Lawrence, Lopes, Hicks, Schock, Shimoda, and Mumford. Brown and Shimoda hit one another in the turn before the mechanics, Brown going down and Shimoda being forced off the track, although he did stay up. Jett made a pass on Hampshire to take over third place. Deegan had the fastest lap halfway through the main event as he charged up to seventh. Jettson moved into second place, then he went back and forth with Hampshire before he made a pass stick, while also sticking some dirt and mud into the #24’s eyes in the process. Deegan had a crash in the turn before the finish line that dropped him a few spots. Jordon Smith had a few falls of his own. Suddenly, Anstie has a sizeable lead. But then the #18 cut the lead down. A lot. Anstie got the white flag and as Jett took the while flag, he slowed up briefly, chucking his goggles off in the process. Then he charged back at Anstie! In the final run through the whoops, Anstie was rolling keeping it safe, but he was almost keeping it too safe as he almost let Jett take the lead! Jett started to fishtail the rear end exiting the turn, which allowed Anstie the gap he needed in the final turn to take his maiden 250SX main event win! As Jettson entered the final turn, in comes a sliding Hampshire, who takes the #18 down! They both hustle to get up, but Jett got up first and still managed to come through in second place! Hunter came through in third, then Vohland in fourth, as Enzo Lopes rounded out the top five in a great ride. Hampshire would pick himself up but was not able to finish, as he actually had to have help pushing his bike off as his rear wheel was locked up. Instead of taking the checkered flag, they pushed his machine off after everyone else was off the track. Hampshire officially finished 13th. Deegan came through sixth, Shimoda ninth, Pierce Brown 11th, Levi Kitchen 12th, Smith 18th. With Hunter finishing only three positions ahead of Deegan, the #96 was not able to wrap up his title.

450SX Main Event

When the gates dropped on the 450SX main event, it was Chase Sexton jumping out to the race lead early. Ken Roczen quickly jumped to the race lead as Barcia ran into Sexton, resulting in the #23 going down. Jason Anderson went down in the whoops section as Roczen lead Barcia, Tomac, Benny Bloss, Cooper Webb, Dean Wilson, Sexton, Fredrik Noren, Kevin Moranz, Cade Clason, Jeremy Hand, Kyle Chisholm, Grant Harlan, Shane McElrath, and Josh Hill. Roczen was rolling out front, as his, Barcia and Tomac’s laps were all 59s compared to Bloss (fourth) and the rest of the field being 1:05s or slower. Sexton made a pass on Webb to take over fifth place. Roczen had a 3.3-second lead on Barcia, but that changed quickly with some lapped traffic. Barcia pounced, taking Roczen high in the turn before the whoops (same spot he had his run-in with Sexton). This time no one went down. Roczen then came up short—big time—on the finish line jump and then was forced to throw his goggles only a few turns later. Once Tomac got around Bloss, he started to piece together a few solid laps and caught up to the rear of Roczen. Roczen tipped over in the whoops section, which moved Tomac up to P2. Noren, who was running sixth, went down late in the whoops, bumping Shane McElrath and Kevin Moranz to sixth and seventh, respectively. Barcia got the white flag, then rode the final straight away before the finish line turn with a few fist pumps before the #51 took his first race win of the 2023 season. Tomac and Roczen rounded out the podium, as Sexton and Webb rounded out the top five.