Chase Sexton rolls into Glendale as the points leader again in the 450SX class after his second place finish in Detroit last week put him one point up on Detroit winner Jett Lawrence. A lot of the talk this week has been about Eli Tomac and the struggles that the two-time champion had in Detroit. Team manager Jeremy Coker spoke to our Jason Weigandt this week and explained that Tomac did not have a shock failure of any kind that led to his 10th place finish, but rather that his setup was off which led to arm pump. Glendale has been great to Tomac in the past and he may need a big ride tonight to get back into this title chase before we head east.

In the 250SX West Region class, they are coming off a weekend off for the first time this year after 250SX East kicked off in Detroit last week. Levi Kitchen grabbed the win in Anaheim 2 two weeks ago and is now tied in points with Jordon Smith as the title fight heats up into the second half of this championship. 

Bikes will be on track soon here in Arizona and we'll be here to bring you updates as the day goes on. Review the schedule below for how the day lays out or check the broadcast schedule below that to tune into the race.

Free Practice

Free Practice kicked off with the 450C group as we will have the 450SX class going first again this week in the practice, qualifying, and heat races tonight. Josh Hill led the C group in the first session. Then Mitchell Harrison topped the B group with a 1:10.083. Joan Cros had a crash early in the B session that saw him limp off the track and eventually get carted off the track.

Next up was the A group, and the times were dropping down in a hurry. Justin Barcia was the first one to go under 1:10 as he was ahead of the field but the times were only going lower. Jett Lawrence laid in a 1:06.358 which was exactly one tenth faster than Dylan Ferrandis. Five riders were within the 1:06 range though.

As the 250A group hit the track, it was Carson Mumford who set the pace early on with a 1:08.697. Mitchell Oldenburg was able to go a little bit faster than him into the low 1:08’s but it looked like it was going to be Jo Shimoda with the top time as he put in a 1:07.964. Right as the checkered flag waved, Jordon Smith shot to the top of the board with a 1:07.952 and that would remain the top time the rest of the way.

TJ Albright would later top the B group with a 1:11.755 by just over a second ahead of Max Miller who laid in a 1:12.767. Guillaume St-Cyr then topped the C group after that with a 1:14.639.

First Qualifying Sessions

It was time to get qualifying underway just after 12:30pm local time as the 450C group headed out for their first official timed laps. Josh Hill, who has been dipping in and out of racing through the first six rounds, was fast once again in the C group laying down a 1:08.564. Marshal Weltin fresh off racing the opening round of 250SX East last week was right in behind him at a 1:08.756. The track crew had lightly watered between sessions and the grip was coming back into the track a bit.

Jerry Robin stepped it up and went fastest in the B group as they hit the track next with a 1:07.430. Jeremy Hand ended up second fastest with a 1:08.033. Thanks to the water on the track, the ruts were starting to dig in lower and lower in the bowl berms.

As the 450A group headed out, a notable omission early in the session was Chase Sexton who came rolling in after about a minute and a half of the session out there. Sexton reportedly had a crash this week and is a little banged up, but he was out there in that session putting laps together. Jett Lawrence was flying early in the session as he put down a 1:05.172. But Eli Tomac lit up the board next putting in a 1:05.022 to jump to the top. Times continued to fall though as then Jason Anderson jumped into P1 with a 1:04.677 but that wouldn’t last either as Jett Lawrence then put down a 1:04.115 to end the session on top by half a second.

RJ Hampshire led the 250A group out next and set the early pace as well with a 1:07.828. Levi Kitchen and Jordon Smith then got into a bit of a lap time battle at the top with Smith running a 1:06.682 before Kitchen jumped to the top with a 1:06.642. Smith ended up having a small slide out on the start straight but would be okay. RJ Hampshire fired off a late hot lap in the session to jump up top with a 1:06.296 which was only half a tenth of a second faster than Levi Kitchen as the checkered flag waved.

Max Miller ended up with the best time in the B group for 250’s as he put down a 1:11.340. TJ Albright was fastest throughout the session, but Miller pipped him right at the end. Robert Hailey had a small crash after the big double jump, but he ended up being okay.

Addison Emery topped the C group with a 1:14.645 just ahead of Guillaume St-Cyr and Braden Spangle.

Second Qualifying Sessions

The final set of qualifying headed out on the track after a ton of track work went in with a 50-minute break between the first and second round of qualifying. Josh Hill set the pace for the third straight session with a 1:06.606 as the #44 machine looks pretty solid today.

In the final round of qualifying for the B group, Jerry Robin was fastest once again with a 1:06.873. Hunter Schlosser had a huge crash in the rhythm section after the finish where he went over the bars and mangled the bike up pretty good. Amazingly, he got right up and back on the bike, seemingly okay.

Jason Anderson and Jett Lawrence had a battle for the top qualifying honors in the final session of the 450A as Lawrence had the top spot and then Anderson put in a ridiculous 1:03.400 about halfway through to go to the top of the board. A handful of guys looked to be sizing up quadding out of the long rhythm after the start, but nobody was able to do it. Lawrence ran multiple 1:03’s, but Anderson remained fastest to qualify P1 in Glendale.

Levi Kitchen had a small crash off the start of the final round of qualifying for the 250SX A group, but he was fine. Jo Shimoda was fastest for much of the final session, but times came in hot right at the end. Jordon Smith laid in a 1:04.747 to go fastest, and despite the efforts of Kitchen, Hampshire, Beaumer, and more getting down into the 1:05’s, Smith’s time remained the top mark heading into the evening.

Max Miller would top the B group in the final round with a 1:09.710. That time was about a second and a half better than the first session and put Miller 17^th overall mixed in with the A group. Guillaume St-Cyr then topped the final C group with a 1:12.491.

450SX Heat 1

As the gates hit the dirt for the first time, it was Malcolm Stewart with the early lead over Ken Roczen, but Roczen was able to sneak into the lead coming through the second corner. Vince Friese was in third place early on battling with Jett Lawrence and Jett was making a couple of mistakes. Eventually, the #18 machine found his way by into third place.

Chase Sexton then had to battle Vince Friese and he was able to sneak up the inside in the sand section to take over fourth place. The front group had really spread out because of all the battling as Roczen was +4 seconds on Stewart who was +4 on Jett.

Lawrence made a late run on Stewart for second on the last lap but Stewart was able to hang on. Josh Cartwright had a big crash on the last lap and unfortunately would be helped off by the medics. Ken Roczen would go on to win the heat race ahead of Stewart, Lawrence, Sexton, and Friese.

450SX Heat 2

Aaron Plessinger grabbed the holeshot in the second heat race ahead of Shane McElrath and Hunter Lawrence. Jason Anderson was on fire early on making the move on Eli Tomac and Hunter Lawrence before passing McElrath into second place and setting sail after Plessinger.

Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb were coming as well moving through into fourth and fifth, respectively, behind Lawrence. The battle for third heated up as Tomac was being pushed by Webb onto the back of the #96 machine. Tomac was able to make the pass on the fourth lap to get into third place and wasn’t too far behind Anderson at that point in second.

The race settled in from there as Plessinger cruised home the win out front much to the joy of the crowd. Jason Anderson came home in second with Tomac third, Lawrence fourth, and Webb rounding out the top five.

250SX Heat 1

Levi Kitchen grabbed the holeshot in the opening 250SX heat race of the night ahead of Carson Mumford and Mitchell Oldenburg. Mumford actually went for a couple early passed on Kitchen for the lead, but Kitchen was able to scoot away just a bit and get a bit of a gap in the lead.

Julien Beaumer moved into fourth place early in the heat as he shuffled Phil Nicoletti back to fifth. Ryder DiFrancesco then was putting the pressure on Nicoletti for fifth as the field was once ahead spreading out quite a bit.

Kitchen cruised to the win in the heat race by about two seconds over Mumford and Oldenburg who were battling all the way to the flag. Beaumer and Nicoletti rounded out the top five as DiFrancesco just couldn’t quite make the pass on Nicoletti for fifth.

250SX Heat 2

The final heat race of the night saw Slade Varola grab the holeshot before jumping off the track into the second corner and handing the lead over to Nate Thrasher. Jordon Smith moved into second then ahead of Hunter Yoder with Josh Varize and RJ Hampshire.

Nate Thrasher then had a huge crash from the lead in the long rhythm section when he cased a triple two jumps from the end and the bike launched him into a front flip where he got about ¾ of the way around and landed on his back. The medics started trying to get him up, but his leg was hurting too much that he had to lay back down, and the red flag came out. Thrasher would be helped to the medical mule gingerly before being carted off. No update at this time on his condition.

On the restart, it was Josh Varize and Jordon Smith side by side through the first rhythm section, but Smith quickly took the lead. Jo Shimoda moved into second place and was putting the heat on Smith out front trying to take the lead away. Shimoda kept him honest the rest of the way, but it was Smith who took the win in the heat race ahead of Shimoda, Hampshire, Marchbanks, and Yoder.

450SX Last Chance Qualifier

Kyle Chisholm grabbed the holeshot in the 450SX LCQ ahead of his teammate Shane McElrath. John Short was battling for a transfer spot early on and ended up going down which allowed Fredrik Noren up into the battle with Kevin Moranz for the final transfer spot. Justin Starling was third, but Noren passed both him and Moranz to get up there. Then Cade Clason went for a pass on Starling for the final transfer spot and Starling put him down. That allowed Devin Simonson into fourth to complete the transfer spots. McElrath took the win ahead of Chisholm, Noren, and Simonson.

250SX Last Chance Qualifier

The first 250SX LCQ saw Slade Varola and Matti Jorgensen battle for the lead for a couple laps before the red flag was displayed for Addison Emory who went down. Emory would be carted off after being tended to by the medics for a few laps. On the restart, it was Max Sanford who go out to eh early lead while Jorgensen went down in the first turn this time. Sanford went on to win the LCQ ahead of Billy Laninovich, Guillaume St-Cyr, and Blaine Silveira.

250SX Main Event

In the main event for the 250SX class it was Levi Kitchen getting the holeshot with Jordon Smith and RJ Hampshire right there with him. Smith followed Kitchen for the first lap before making the pass just after the finish line. Kitchen fought back in the next corner to get down the inside and retake the lead.

Smith then slowly put the pressure back on Kitchen throughout the third lap and made the pass for the lead again over the finish in the exact spot he did the lap prior. RJ Hampshire was watching all of this and pounced by Kitchen into second place just two turns later to try to latch onto Smith in the lead.

Another two laps went by with Smith in the lead, but then Jordon tucked the front end in the same spot he crashed in qualifying earlier. That small slide out put Hampshire into the lead with Smith picking it up right with Kitchen.

Ryder DiFrancesco went down hard in the rhythm section after the finish about halfway through and that left him in a tough spot on the track trying to collect himself while the medics worked on him. While that was happening, smith got back around Kitchen only to crash again in the rhythm Ryder D was down in and suddenly the top three spots were wide open.

When Smith picked it back up, he was in a battle for about sixth spot with Mitchell Oldenburg and Julien Beaumer right ahead of him. As Oldenburg went to pass Beaumer, it slowed both of them down and Smith was able to slip back by into fourth place. Garrett Marchbanks was charging up behind Smith and also got around Oldenburg into fifth just two laps later.

Hampshire held a healthy five second lead over Kitchen who had about three seconds on Jo Shimoda as the time continued to wind down. The race remained status quo from there as Hampshire went on to take the win ahead of Kitchen and Shimoda with Smith and Marchbanks rounding out the top five. Levi Kitchen is now the sole points leader in the 250SX West class.

450SX Main Event

The gate dropped and fired the 450SX main event into the first corner with Ken Roczen grabbing the holeshot ahead of Aaron Plessinger and Jason Anderson. Jett Lawrence got bumped around a bit on the first lap of the race as Cooper Webb gave him the business and that even put him off the track at one point.

Plessinger ran second for two laps before tucking the front end and slipping all the way back to 19^th. Roczen then led by two seconds over Anderson and another three seconds back to Eli Tomac. Webb pushed Vince Friese off the track and that led the flood gates pour open as Hunter Lawrence, Jett Lawrence, Sexton, Dylan Ferrandis, and Malcolm Stewart all went by.

Jett Lawrence started to reel in Webb for P4 and was able to find a way around him in the whoops which seemed to razzle Webb a bit. After Jett went by, his brother Hunter was soon to follow, and then Ferrandis and Sexton also went by to push Webb all the way back to eighth.

Meanwhile, Plessinger was charging back through the field from 19^th to get into 10^th with about seven minutes left to go as he made the pass on Justin Cooper. Jett Lawrence spent much of the second half of the race inching up on Eli Tomac and was finally able to make the pass into third with about four minutes left on the clock.

Chase Sexton and the ill effects from his practice crash seemed to be taking a toll on him late in the race as Webb and then Malcolm Stewart both went by as the white flag waved.

Ken Roczen would go on to take the win for his first win of 2024 ahead of Anderson, Jett Lawrence, Tomac, and Hunter Lawrence.