First Qualifying Sessions

Qualifying kicked the day off with a bit of overcast still in the sky. No rain is expected today but the track did receive a little bit of rain in the days coming up to the event. As expected, the dirt looked prime as qualifying began and riders were laying into the corners hard as the berms and ruts started to develop.

Times were quick right away and we got out first look today of the shiny red plates aboard Haiden Deegan’s Yamaha. However, it was his teammate Justin Cooper who set the early pace on the day as he dipped down to a 2:04.076. He was the only rider in the 2:04’s and nearly a full second faster than Tom Vialle’s 2:05.019. Hunter Lawrence looked a bit better already today going third fastest in Q1 and doesn’t seem to be as stiff on the bike. Maybe that means the Hunter we saw prior to his crash at RedBud could be back here today.

In the 450 class, it was no surprise to see Jett Lawrence leading the field in qualifying, but the margin certainly raised some eyebrows. As the checkered flag waved on the A group, Jett’s 2:00.567 was FOUR seconds faster than anyone else as Ty Masterpool clocked in at a 2:04.655. Interestingly, Justin Cooper’s time would currently put him second overall in the 450 class, but the track was definitely getting a little bit rougher.

There will be some light track maintenance done after the 450B group that is out on the track right now wraps up their session. We will see if times are quicker when we come back shortly for Q2.

Second Qualifying Sessions

The track did end up becoming a little bit faster as the second sessions began. One of the more crucial parts of the track today will be Mt. Martin, especially in the 250 class. This year, they chose to build a big uphill triple out of the bottom of the hill which sort of makes or breaks the rest of the uphill. A lot of the top 250 riders were able to get it on their fast laps, but some of them would come up a bit short during other laps and it’s also developing a big knuckle in the face. That could be a tough area for the 250s today.

In the second 250A session though, Hunter Lawrence came out swinging and was able to lay down a 2:02.392 which shattered the 2:04.076 that Justin Cooper had laid down in the first session. It’s safe to say Hunter is looking back to his old self. That time would hold up to be the fastest qualifying time of the day as nobody could match that pace out of the #96.

Moving over to the 450 class, the attention was on whether someone could eat into the massive gap established by Jett Lawrence from the first session. Well, this time around, Chase Sexton came to play as he was able to dip all the way down to a 2:00.938. That was only four tenths off what Jett did in Q1. However, Jett himself went even faster this time out as he became the first rider all day to go sub-two minutes with a 1:59.716. That was more than enough to place him atop the board when the checkered flag waved as he has once again topped both sessions to qualify P1 for today’s Spring Creek National.

250 Moto 1

Off the start of the first 250 class moto of the day, it was Jo Shimoda firing out to the holeshot aboard his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. As the field pinched together going into the first corner, a small pileup occurred as Max Vohland, Seth Hammaker, and Dilan Schwartz all came together and went down. Vohland and Schwartz got up right away while Hammaker went to the mechanics area for repairs right away before rejoining about 30 seconds behind the field.

Shimoda led early from Haiden Deegan, Levi Kitchen, Justin Cooper, RJ Hampshire, Tom Vialle, Ryder DiFrancesco, and the rest of the field. Shimoda was pulling away ever so slightly out front while all of the action kicked off behind him.

Hunter Lawrence was able to pass Hampshire on the fourth lap of the race to move into fifth, while Justin Cooper almost simultaneously got around Levi Kitchen for the three spot. The next lap, it was Lawrence’s turn to pass Kitchen as he got around him into fourth while Kitchen began to struggle a bit and slip down the order. RJ Hampshire also made it around him on the same lap.

As Hunter Lawrence worked up to and passed Justin Cooper for second, Haiden Deegan had a big moment while in second place that saw him exit the track going up Mt. Martin. He was able to rejoin alongside Hunter Lawrence who now moved into second, but the loss of momentum shuffled Deegan back to fourth as his teammate Cooper also went by.

The middle part of the race was RJ Hampshire’s turn to catch on fire as he found his way up to Deegan then for the fourth place on the track and worked around him. Then he stalked Justin Cooper for the next three laps and also made it around him to get into third. By the time he was there, Hunter Lawrence was already eight seconds up the track.

Lawrence was that far ahead because he had amazingly pulled the gap back to Shimoda and was all over him for the lead. Shimoda defended the lead well for several laps, but it proved to be futile as Hunter Lawrence came through literally all the championship guys to take over the lead of the moto with two laps to go.

Hunter Lawrence would cruise to the first moto victory in the end ahead of Jo Shimoda, RJ Hampshire, Justin Cooper, and Haiden Deegan in the top five. Because of those results, Hunter Lawrence has provisionally regained the championship lead after one moto as he is ahead of Deegan by four points now heading into the second moto.

450 Moto 1

Adam Cianciarulo launched out to the holeshot in the first 450 class moto of the day as he thundered through the first turn with the field right behind him. Jett Lawrence came through the first turn in about third spot but was quickly into second place through the sand whoops. He then scrubbed the Chadapult jump hard going up the hill and was able to nab the lead away from Cianciarulo on the first lap of the race.

Before the first lap was done, Chase Sexton had a small crash a few turns before the finish line and slipped from third back to about seventh. He immediately went into charge mode though as he sat behind Jason Anderson and Dylan Ferrandis but passed them both right back. Then he worked his way around Garrett Marchbanks who was in third on the very next lap.

Within two laps, he was all the way up to second place as he got around Aaron Plessinger and then Adam Cianciarulo to get into P2. By the time he was into second place, Lawrence had opened up about a six second lead at the front and it seemed like he might be gone already.

But Sexton was resilient in his charge and began to close the gap down in a hurry. By the halfway point, Sexton was on Jett for the lead and the battle was on. Unlike in the past, Jett tried to turn the pace up and Sexton just stuck right in his shadow despite the increased pace.

The ran nose to tail for several laps before Sexton was eventually blocked a bit by a lapper and that gave Jett a pretty good gap in the lead. Behind them, Jason Anderson sliced through Aaron Plessinger and Adam Cianciarulo to get all the way up to second, but AP stuck right with him. Anderson, Plessinger, and Ferrandis had a good little battle for a lot of the moto until Ferrandis slid out on the last lap and fell off the group to finish fifth.

Jett Lawrence would win his 13^th straight moto in the end ahead of Chase Sexton, Jason Anderson, Aaron Plessinger, and Dylan Ferrandis.

250 Moto 2

Levi Kitchen led the field through the first corner off the start of the second 250 class moto, but it was Hunter Lawrence who quickly pounced and took over the lead. Early on, a lot of the guys who battled in the first moto at the front where a little ways back and not right with the lead group. Jo Shimoda was in about sixth spot just behind Justin Cooper, Haiden Deegan started outside of the top 10, and the whole time Hunter Lawrence was up front sneaking away.

Justin Cooper upped the pace early and moved first around Ryder DiFrancesco into third and then caught his teammate Kitchen and passed him to get into second. Lawrence was only a few seconds ahead by that point and Cooper went to work on staying with him and not letting him get away.

Behind that, Jo Shimoda spent a few laps behind his teammate Ryder DiFrancesco before he was able to get by and get onto Kitchen for P3. Shimoda wasn’t particularly close to Kitchen for the spot but then found some speed around the halfway point and motored on by. From there, he would take off with the position to the tune of 10 seconds.

Haiden Deegan wasn’t making quick progress through the field like he would have hoped as he just crested into the top 10 after the halfway mark of the moto. He would eventually claw his way up to the eighth position but would unfortunately see the points lead he had coming into the day disappear.

Things got wonky at the very end of the moto after Hunter Lawrence had led the entire way. With two laps to go, suddenly Justin Cooper came around as the race leader with a few second advantage over Hunter Lawrence. Lawrence was missing his visor and appeared to have a crash that pushed him back. According to Hunter after the race, he actually got together with a lapped rider and that’s what caused him to go down.

Justin Cooper would go on to take the moto victory which helped him earn second overall on the day, but Lawrence’s 1-2 scores on the day was still enough for his fifth overall victory the season. The result also puts Hunter back into the championship lead on the heels of Deegan’s rough day.

450 Moto 2

In the final moto of the day, it was Chase Sexton firing off to the holeshot as he powered into turn one just ahead of his teammate Jett Lawrence. Sexton held the lead for a few corners until Lawrence took advantage of a small bobble from Sexton in the sand whoops to take over the lead.

On the first lap, Jason Anderson and Shane McElrath both crashed and then remounted and rode to the mechanics area. Both of their bikes were pretty twisted up and after some talks with each of their mechanics, both riders would end up pulling out of the moto, ending their days early.

Sexton tailed Lawrence early until he fell through the right hander after the start and hit the deck. It wasn’t too big of a crash, and he quickly got back up, but he did lose a spot to Adam Cianciarulo in the process who got by into second. Sexton passed AC at the very end of the same lap but by the time he was back into second place, Lawrence already had opened up a huge gap. This time around, Sexton would not be able to eat away at the lead like he did in the first moto as Lawrence simply inched away with the lead from there.

Behind them, Ty Masterpool had a small tip over at the bottom of Mt. Martin about 10 minutes in that pushed him from fifth down to seventh. He would end up in a heavy battle for much of the moto with Grant Harlan and Garrett Marchbanks, but Masterpool was actually able to get ahead of both of them to finish the race in P6.

Adam Cianciarulo ran third for much of the first half of the race but Dylan Ferrandis and Aaron Plessinger both were inching up on him. Past the halfway mark, both of them would scoot by AC in quick succession to move into third and fourth, respectively, where they would stay for the rest of the moto.

Up front, Jett Lawrence stayed untouched the rest of the way home as he cruised to his 14^th straight moto victory and his seventh overall win of the season. He is still perfect through seven of these 11 rounds and the countdown to possible perfection feels like it’s really on at this point.