In 250SX action the points are even tighter. Max Anstie leads Cameron McAdoo and Pierce Brown, who are tied for second, by a single point. Haiden Deegan and Tom Vialle, tied for fourth, are just three points back, while Coty Schock, who is racing with a cracked collarbone, is just four points back of Anstie. Every point always matters, but in tonight’s case, it could mean the difference between  having the red plate and not even being in the top three!

Speaking of Schock and his cracked collarbone, the injury bug bit a few additional riders last week. Hunter Lawrence is out with a shoulder injury, sustained in Daytona, and so is Dean Wilson, due to a scapula injury. On the plus side, Colt Nichols will race for the first time in 2024 after recovering from a rotator cuff injury. For a complete look at who’s in and who’s out for tonight’s race, check out our Injury Report.

The Track

The weather in Birmingham leading into Saturday has been, in a word, wet. There were even flood warnings issued to parts of the state, and the rain fell steadily all day yesterday. Yet somehow the track crew was able to keep most of the track dry! Yes, the lower parts of the track are definitely muddy, and there is standing water between the jumps in places. But, that will dry out with use, and the majority of the racing surface is quite dry. Parts of it are pretty spongey and will break down quickly, but if the rain stays away, which it’s forecasted to do, tonight’s track should be in great shape. In other words, we’re not in for another mudder!

The dirt consists of mostly red clay, and we’re going to see some major ruts build up. There are some rocks mixed in here and there. There are two rhythm lanes—one runs the entire length of the stadium, while the other is a little shorter. The start straight runs the entire length of the stadium, and terminates into flat, lefthand 180-degree turn that then goes into the shorter rhythm lane. Noticeably absent are whoops, although in their place is a roller section after the turn following the finish line jump. The first practice of the day is set to begin shortly, so soon we’ll get an idea of just how this track might shape up for tonight.

250SX C Group - First Qualifying Session

Free practice was cut in an effort to avoid any unnecessary wear on a soft track, so the first group of the day jumped right into qualifying, and right into breaking the track in. And, as expected, there was a lot of sliding around out there and deep ruts started to form immediately. But even so, the rhythm lanes and jumps were doable. The track is shockingly good, even this early. Hunter Cross was fastest in those one by a mile with a 1:05.364. The next closest rider was Charles Tolleson with a 1:07.999.

250SX B Group - First Qualifying Session

The standing water between the jumps, for the most part, was gone by the time the 250SX B group rolled out for their first qualifier, but the ruts in the rhythm lanes were starting to present a challenge to the guys looking for fast combos. It’s still muddy enough out there that you can tell which riders have mud experience and which ones don’t. Bryce Shelly, Hardy Munoz, and Jack Rogers definitely seemed like they were in the former group, as they were the only riders to drop down into the 1:01 range for most of the session. But then Brock Papi snuck in a heater at the very end to take second-fastest behind Shelly, whose 1:01.402 was fastest of the session.

250SX A Group - First Qualifying Session

Preston Boespflug was fastest to start things off in this one, but as the riders started figuring out the track the times started dropping quickly. Nick Romano was first to displace Boespflug, then Haiden Deegan quickly moved to the top. Several riders, including Cameron McAdoo, spent time at the top, but it was Seth Hammaker who would reign supreme with a 56.522. Haiden Deegan was second-fastest until the very end, but Max Anstie threw down a fast one on his las lap to take second with a 57.342.

The lines are starting to come around in the rhythm lanes. Deegan was the first rider we saw to go 4-2 to exit the shorter rhythm lane, but other riders quickly followed, and so far, that’s the preferred line. In the opposite rhythm lane, the fast combo, for now, is a 2-2-3-2-2. The 180-degree turn before that rhythm is still pretty wet, however, and riders are avoiding the inside, which contains a big puddle. Depending on how that turn shapes up, this combo could change. These times will likely be a little faster in the second set of qualifiers after some track maintenance.

450SX A Group – First Qualifying Session

The track crew cleaned the track up a bit before the 450s came out, and some new lines immediately started showing up. Some of the guys preferred to take the 4-2 exit of the first rhythm lane like the 250s, but others started going 2-2-2-3. There’s also another section, a large single with small singles on both sides, that most guys were going double-single, but we saw Ken Roczen, Adam Cianciarulo, and Lawrence (and probably more) turn this into a triple about halfway through the session.

Adam Cianciarulo was fast early, but Eli Tomac would claim the top spot on his fifth lap with a 57.032. Tomac would later have a little tip-over but got right back up. Right about that time Lawrence notched the fastest lap with a 56.482, which would hold strong for the rest of the session. Roczen wasn’t far off with a 56.635.

The track is holding up pretty well in some areas, but in other spots the ruts are getting really deep, making entering the shorter rhythm lane a treacherous affair. The other side of the track, for some reason, is substantially drier and isn’t getting quite as rutted. It’s going to be extremely interesting to see how things shape up in the second set of qualifiers.

450SX B Group – First Qualifying Session

Mitchell Harrison quickly shot to the top in this one, but Jerry Robin knocked him off in his fifth lap with a 1:00.432. Harrison fired back with a 1:00.130, however, one lap later. If you’re following the return of Colt Nichols, who missed racing up to this point with an injured rotator cuff, he spent the first half of the session around eighth. Understandably, in his first race back, he didn’t look like he was pushing it very hard, but he did end things strong, logging a 100.361. to take over second-fastest behind Harrison, who’d lowered his time to 59.506.

450SX C Group – First Qualifying Session

Colby Copp owned this session early, with his fastest time, a 1:02.243 hanging in there for quite a while. But, Aaron Tanti, who is in his first race back since injuring his shoulder, turned in a 1:00.882 in his sixth lap. Copp would later take a pretty good digger in a rhythm lane, but got right back up and rejoined the session.

250SX C Group – Final Qualifying Session

The track was in much better condition for the second round of qualifiers, and not surprisingly, the times were immediately much faster right away. In this one it was Thomas Welch standing tall, logging a 58.677 on his fifth lap. It cannot be overstated how much better the track is compared to the first qualifying sessions. The sun has been coming in and out too, and the exposure to the heat of the sun is helping things along.

250SX B Group – Final Qualifying Session

Marcus Phelps took advantage of the improved conditions early to log the first fast lap of this session, a 58.689, but Logan Leitzel quickly took over with a 58.498, only to lose out to Bryce Shelly, with a 58.152. The rapid fire lead changes didn’t stop there, however, as Hardy Munoz, who’d gone down in the first turn on the practice gate drop, busted out a 56.970. Hardy would later go down, but he got right back up and seemed fine.

250SX A Group – Final Qualifying Session

The A group really illuminated just how much better the track had gotten since the first round of qualifiers. The majority of riders had turned a group of three singles into a triple, while before almost all of them were going 2-1. Some riders even tripled out of the short rhythm lane like the 450s were doing, although most opted to go 3-2 out of this section. Different lines have developed, and the guys have more usable real estate to work with.

Haiden Deegan was in the middle of laying down what looked like a blistering lap, but he made a mistake going into a 180-degree berm and went over the top of it. He was just fine, and after wrestling his bike out of the Tuff Blocks, rejoined the session. Daxon Bennick, in the meantime, had claimed the top spot with a 54.838. Tom Vialle took over after that, logging a 54.304, but Max Anstie knocked him off with a 54.193. Seth Hammaker’s turn was next, edging Anstie with a 54.174, but then Anstie came back, beating Hammaker by two-thousandths of a second! Talk about fractions of an inch!

450SX A Group – Final Qualifying Session

This session kicked off with none other than Jason Anderson and Jett Lawrence getting together in the first turn after the practice gate drop. Both went down, and Anderson’s front number plate was dangling from his bike, but both riders seemed just fine.

Ken Roczen was fast early, then it was Justin Cooper with a 53.940. Then Eli Tomac layed down a seriously fast lap. He looked motivated while doing it too, and you had the feeling it was going to put him up top halfway into it, which it did (53.320). He’d lower that time to a 52.991 later, but it didn’t matter because Jett Lawrence immediately busted out a 52.777, which nobody would top.

The track is in incredible shape, and the mud that was everywhere in the lowest parts of the track is gone. The build itself was done in anticipation of a mud race, which is the reason there are rollers instead of whoops, so the track is pretty basic and easy. Nobody ended up trying any different options in the longest rhythm lane other than 2-2-3-2-2, and the guys ended up settling on 3-2 to exit the shorter lane.

Dylan Ferrandis didn't seem comfortable all day and seemed to struggle to put in clean laps. He spent some time in the mechanic's area too, and ended this session 12th-fastest.

450SX B Group – Final Qualifying Session

Anthony Bourdon was great in this one, leading the way for quite a while, and even bettering his own time on his final lap with a 55.962. Colt Nichols wasn’t too far off with a 56.366, but he probably could have bettered that had he wanted. He wisely didn’t seem to be pushing it out there though, as this is his first race of the season after sitting on the sidelines with a damaged rotator cuff.

450SX C Group – Final Qualifying Session

The standout from this session was Aaron Tanti, who is returning from a cracked bone in his shoulder. Tanti wasn’t excessively flashy out there, but he was visibly quicker than most in the session, and he ended the session over two seconds faster than Preston Taylor, who was second-fastest.

250SX Heat One

This one started with a crash involving Seth Hammaker and Deegan in the first turn when Hammaker got into the back of Deegan, after Deegan seemed to move over on him, and both bikes got tangled together. Deegan wasn’t happy, and was sure to yell and gesticulate angrily at Hammaker before finally picking up Hammaker’s bike off his and pushing it over into the dirt. Up front was Coty Schock, cracked collarbone and all, with Nick Romano about two seconds behind. That changed though when Romano crashed exiting a rhythm lane. Cameron McAdoo, who was right behind him, had nowhere to go and also went down, but got up quickly and rejoined the race in second place ahead of Daxton Bennick.

As the race wound down Schock continued to lead, and although McAdoo was closing on him, Schock did what he needed to do to hang on for his first career heat-race win. McAdoo, Bennick, Henry Miller, Marshal Weltin, Marcus Phelps, Bryton Carroll, Ryder Floyd, and Bryce Shelly followed in transfer spots. Romano was in a qualifying spot even after his crash, but went down again to earn a ticket to the LCQ. If you're counting, that's Romano, Deegan, and Hammaker all in the LCQ so far!

250SX Heat Two

Tom Vialle exploded out of the gate to narrowly grab the holeshot over Jalek Swoll. It looked like Swoll might challenge for the lead immediately, but Vialle put his head down and stretched out a small gap on Swoll. Before too long Swoll, who for some reason was missing his visor, started feeling pressure from Chance Hymas and Pierce Brown. Max Anstie lurked not too far back, in fifth. With two laps Swoll was doing a good job of holding down second, but was under immense pressure from Hymas and Brown. With about a lap-and-a-half left Swoll gave way, and Hymas, Brown, and Anstie motored past. Brown proceeded to knife around Hymas for second, and Anstie came incredibly close to throwing it up the inside of Hymas in the final turn. He wasn’t able to maintain momentum, however, and Hyams escaped with third. Vialle won, with Brown, Hymas, Anstie, Swoll, Jeremy Martin, Hardy Munoz, Gage Linville, and Preston Boespflug  filling the remaining transfer spots.

450SX Heat One

Ty Masterpool came blasting into turn one for the holeshot, but Chase Sexton immediately yanked away the lead and made an immediate break for it up front. About half a lap later Masterpool went down at the end of a rhythm lane. That put Jason Anderson in second, but Sexton was already gone. The battle to watch at this point was between Justin Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis for fourth, with Malcom Stewart a couple lengths behind. Barcia was eventually able to make a move stick and motor away, and Stewart quickly did the same to Ferrandis. Credit to Ferrandis though, who seemed to have a bit more in the tank than he did during qualifying.

At this point there were two battles to keep track of. Barcia and Stewart were creeping up on Anderson, and Grant Harlan was all over Aaron Tanti for the final transfer spot. In the first battle, Stewart took charge and went around Barcia and was all over Anderson, even bumping him as he tried to go up the inside. Anderson held him off though, and a bobble from Stewart a few turns later on the final lap would give Anderson the breathing room he needed to hold onto third. In ninth, Harlan was able to overtake Tanti for the final transfer spot. Sexton, Anderson, Stewart, Barcia, Ferrandis,Justin Cooper, Shane McElrath, Mitchell Harrison, and Harlan filled all transfer spots.

450SX Heat 2

The crowd got exactly what they wanted in this one when Eli Tomac blasted to the holeshot with Jett Lawrence half a length behind. It looked as though there would be a tremendous battle between Tomac and Lawrence at this point, but Cooper Webb quickly stepped in and took the spot away from Lawrence, who was then suddenly under pressure from Ken Roczen. Roczen pulled up side-by-side with Lawrence in a rhythm lane, but Lawrence didn’t allow Roczen to make a pass, and just like that, put almost two seconds on Roczen in the blink of an eye.

As the race progressed Aaron Plessinger found himself on Roczen’s rear wheel and started turning up the heat, even busting out a wild jump combo in one of the rhythm lanes that wasn’t being widely used during qualifying. Roczen persevered, however, and steadily regrew the gap on Plessinger.

An exciting moment came near the end of the race when Lawrence got by Webb, who then tried to strike back in the next rhythm lane. Webb tripled out in an attempt to leap to the inside of Lawrence, which he did, but he didn’t quite have the position to make it stick. Webb bumped Lawrence and went down, and the crowd let out a huge gasp. Lawrence then went on a run with about a lap-and-a-half remaining to try to get Tomac, and made tremendous progress, but wasn’t able to get close enough to make a move, taking second place 0.980 seconds back of Tomac. Roczen took third, with Webb, Plessinger, Adam Cianciarulo, Benny Bloss, Colt Nichols, and Kyle Chisholm filling the remaining transfer spots.

250SX LCQ

One of the most stacked 250SX LCQ’s of the year got underway with Seth Hammaker maneuvering his way to a holeshot with Haiden Deegan right behind. It looked like Deegan was closing at first, but Hammaker found his groove and stabilized the gap, then started motoring away from Deegan. Behind them there wasn’t much going on, at least not in qualifying spots. Nick Romano had gotten a bad start and wasn’t in qualifying position, then crashed while attempting to get there, putting him way back. In third all by himself was Dominique Thury, with Jace Kessler holding down a lonely fourth. Then disaster struck for Kessler, who made a small mistake all by himself and went down, promoting Logan Leitzel to fourth. Kessler tried to give chase, but ended up crashing again in the process. Hammaker dominated this one start to finish, with Deegan, Thury, and Leitzel filling the remaining transfer positions.

450SX LCQ

John Short gave the #199 the first supercross lead it’s had in years by coming out of the first turn in first. Freddie Noren held second, Aaron Tanti third, and Hunter Schlosser fourth. The rider to keep an eye on was Anthony Bourdon, who was running sixth behind TJ Albright. After muscling by Albright Bourdon immediately streaked to the rear wheel of Schlosser and wasted no time in applying heavy pressure. Then, exiting a rhythm lane, Bourdon sailed right by on the inside and made a break for it. He kept charging too, and with one lap left he was giving Tanti all he could handle for third. Tanti held strong though, and Bourdon seemed to ease up a bit, realizing a fourth in the LCQ is better than crashing out while going for third. Short, Noren, Tanti, and Bourdon transferred to finalize the 450SX lineup for the main event.

250SX Main Event

Jeremy Martin briefly enjoyed a lead after holeshotting the 250SX main event, but Tom Vialle quickly sliced by and did his best to duck out. Cameron McAdoo was not interested in letting that happen, and blasted by Martin and gave chase. Haiden Deegan, meanwhile, had gone off the track for some reason and skipped a double as he went through the mechanics’ area. It appeared as though he made some passes with the move, but he was still outside the top ten. Championship leader, Max Anstie, also had troubles early, getting a bad start and running outside the top ten. Anstie would later develop bike problems and was forced to pull out of the race.

Up front Vialle was steadily gapping McAdoo, who had about four seconds on Seth Hammaker in third. Hammaker, in turn, had about the same amount of time on Pierce Brown in fourth. In other words, there wasn’t much going on in the battle for the podium. The best battle on the track was playing out between Martin and Chance Hymas, but Jalek Swoll put an end to it when he punted Hymas out of the way and went after Martin himself. Swoll ran out of time, however, and Martin held on for fifth.

At the end of the race Deegan hit Coty Schock, knocking him over the berm in the final turn, causing Schock to drop a couple spots. Schock wasn’t happy, and the two had words afterward. By the looks of it, the exchange wasn’t polite, either. 

450SX Main Event

Jett Lawrence got out of the first turn in the lead, but Cooper Webb seemed intent on keeping a bead on him. Then, for some reason, the 30-second girl was on the track as the guys came around and she got nailed by Webb! She went flying, but fortunately it looked like she was okay, and nobody, other than her, went down. Webb seemed like he was able to keep his composure, and went back on the hunt. Justin Cooper ran third with an aggressive-looking Chase Sexton in fourth, with Ken Roczen rounding out the top five. Eli Tomac hadn’t gotten a very good start and was about tenth.

Up front it was still all Lawrence after about six minutes had elapsed, but Webb was hanging in there, keeping the gap at about two seconds, but as the laps continued to click off, Webb’s grip on the tow started to fade, and before long the gap had grown to nearly four seconds. Further back, Sexton had lost some of his early pace and had slipped back to fifth, and Tomac had worked his way up to seventh past Justin Barcia. Roczen was riding smoothly in fourth, and after patiently waiting for a chance to get by Cooper, made a move stick with about eight minutes remaining. It wasn’t long before he was all by himself in third, with Webb about four seconds ahead in second, also all by himself.

In the later stages of the race Tomac held sixth, but wasn’t making much progress on Sexton, who was about five seconds up. Sexton then got around Cooper, and Tomac then found himself under fire from Jason Anderson, but only for a brief moment, as Anderson made quick work of Tomac.

Lawrence would ride to a lonely win, with Webb and Roczen rounding out the podium. Sexton took fourth followed by Cooper, with Anderson finishing two-and-a-half seconds ahead of Tomac.