Sexton took 2-2 for second overall. He holeshot moto one but Lawrence jumped past on a single jump, and then he battled past Ferrandis in the second moto.

“Yeah this one is a lot harder when you haven’t been racing,” said Sexton. “RedBud I felt pretty good the whole time, but this one was tough. I felt like my riding today was a little better, I felt more solid on the bike. Speed was good, I just didn’t really have it in the second moto. I was not riding smooth, and when you don’t ride smooth, that track will beat you up pretty bad! I’ve just got to keep climbing that ladder until I’m where I was last year. Jett’s not going to make it easy and neither is Dylan. It’s going to be a fun rest of the year. Just trying to get back where I was, that’s my mindset right now.”

Ferrandis is also working hard to find his old form, but he felt he might have tried too hard coming into this race.

“Obviously we’ve been struggling with the bike at the beginning of the season,” said Ferrandis. “We have to try a lot during the week, and this week again we found some improvements on the bike, and I did some pretty hard training in the heat in Florida. I think sometimes you body can not keep up. It made me struggle a little bit, I was feeling pretty tired. Both motos I tried to go hard, especially that second moto when I was behind Jett. I hit the wall, and all I could do was back off and just cruise. It’s part of the season, you know? It’s hard sometimes not training, but for the week ahead I think we’re in a good spot on the bike, so this week maybe we relax a little bit. Training in the heat, that’s tough and it takes a toll on your body, for sure.”

Lawrence is now into the halfway mark of a perfect season. As a rookie. The only other 450 rider to even lead laps this year is Ken Roczen, who doesn’t even really race the series.

Some other rides of note: Aaron Plessinger has been dealing with back issues lately and hasn’t ridden much. The back was better coming into Southwick but he was whipped, like the rest of the boys, when the racing was over. He was fourth overall.

“Yeah man that was tough,” Plessinger said. “Fans hyped me up. I had to make fourth place exiting somehow. It was a tough day. That was like the fourth fricken 35-minute moto I’ve done in the last four weeks. Yeah, it was tough. We got it done. ...I just needed some extra energy I didn’t have. It was fun. this track is always challenging.”

Garrett Marchbanks continued his strong run of 450 rides, and comebacks, with fifth overall with a 10-5.

“Yeah, I woke up this morning with a pretty bad cold,” Marchbanks said. “Didn’t really know how I was going to do today. I just told the team ‘I’m going to give it my best I can do and whatever I get is what I get.’ So, first moto, made it hard on myself. Had a couple issues. Came from 36th to 10th. And then second moto finally got off to a good start and just did all I could do. Rode the best I could for how I felt and, yeah, got fifth overall.”

“Honestly, I’m pretty happy with where I am at right now,” the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha rider continued. “I didn’t think I’d be riding this good. But obliviously, we always want better. I want better. This is my first top-five in the 450 Class. Hopefully we can start to set ourselves up for podiums here soon.”

 Southwick had its local hero angle working courtesy of Chris Canning, of Connecticut, who scored a career-best seventh overall with 8-7 scores. “Yeah, I needed the crowd there that second moto,” Canning said. “I love this
place; this is the local track. My father-in-law owns it, so I try to do good every year.”

Now, we move to the totally nutty 250 class. Hunter Lawrence had done a great job of controlling the situation, managing bad track position in first motos and then taking off in the second motos to win all the overalls. Then last week he finally won a first moto…since then all hell has broken loose. Hunter crashed out of RedBud in a first-turn incident, and then his bike blew up at Southwick in moto one, causing a DNF. Suddenly, Hunter’s entire points lead is gone, and Rookie Haiden Deegan, who didn’t have the best day with sixth overall, now finds himself carrying the red plate.

But Deegan isn’t the only contender. Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle has quietly been improving in his first year in America, and the two-time MX2 World Champion now has his first win in America, with 1-3 scores at Southwick.

“This means a lot. I had a few tough races, and it took time, even to get on the podium,” said Vialle. “This is my first win but also my first podium. It was tough, to be honest. Getting everything together now, feel better on the bike and starting to feel like myself, like last year, on the bike. Track was nice, like I said on the podium, a little bit like what I know. Even if the track is was different than Lommel or tracks like that, with the hard base, it was still good to be back into the flow of a sand track. Hopefully we can continue like that next weekend.”

Justin Cooper had a shot at this one, leading moto one before tipping over and crashing, and then making a late bid to steal the moto win and overall in moto two before tipping over again. This held him to 2-2 scores and second overall.

“Overall on the day, I felt like I gave it away to be honest, but overall it’s a really good day, my riding is good,” said Cooper. “Man, I feel like I’m so close to that win, I just couldn’t get it done today. My breathing is still a little bit off and my neck is still sore, that doesn’t effect the riding, but it’s tough with deep breathing. But once we’re out there racing, it doesn’t make me any better or any worse.”

Not only has Deegan shot into the series lead, but Hampshire, Cooper and Jo Shimoda are suddenly thrust back into the title hunt, with all five riders within 22 points. 

“I kinda realized the situation going into moto two that those guys were having a tough day,” said Cooper. “Came in 48 points down, now I’m 22. I cut it more than in half. It’s crazy how this sport is. Unfortunate I missed that one round but that’s what I’ve  been dealt, but Hunter has had a tough time, too. Gotta  make the most of it and take this down to the wire.”

Shimoda has his own breakthrough, passing Vialle in moto two to get the win. His 6-1 gave him third overall, and much-needed momentum.

“Yeah to be honest I’ve been struggling this whole outdoor season,” said Shimoda. “Throughout the week I’ve basically only been testing. It’s been hard to get this flow going and do two 30s during the week, not feeling comfortable. Today, getting the win, the team deserves it more than I do. They’ve been working so hard. We finally have something to show for it. I’m happy for them.”