Race Day Feed: Seattle

In the 250SX ranks the west region returns to action after being on break since Glendale. The points, just like out east, are very tight. Levi Kitchen leads Jordon Smith by four points, with RJ Hampshire holding third just a single point back of Smith. That leaves little room for error, especially on what promises to be an extremely challenging and treacherous racetrack.

Another storyline to keep an eye on is the return of Michael Mosiman. His addition to the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team was recently announced, and he was slated to race tonight in Seattle. We’ve since learned he recently sustained an ankle injury, and it’s questionable whether or not he’ll race tonight. If he does, he won’t be at 100 percent.

As mentioned above, the weather is going to play a roll here. It rained here last night, but the track was at least covered then. But, this morning, right after the tarps came off the rain came down and hasn’t stopped since. It’s not a deluge, by any means, but it’s steady, adding to puddles of standing water already present on the track. The dirt here is soft even when it’s dry, so you can expect this track to get absolutely nasty when the bikes hit it. Get ready, we’re in for another tough one!

Track Update

Track walk just concluded, and good news, the rain has let up, at least for now. The track actually isn’t too bad at this point! The lower parts, like the start straight and the transitions between jumps, are definitely wet. The start stretch, which is about 300 feet long, is utter soup! But the jumps and whoops themselves, despite getting rained on for about thirty minutes, are surprisingly good. If we’re lucky enough to avoid any further rain, we should actually have a decent, albeit rutty, racetrack. That’s good news, because the track layout, with its long rhythms, looks like a fun one to watch the action on. There’s also a very steep wall jump immediately following the whoops, and it’ll be interesting to see how that affects passing. And speaking of passing, there’s a short straight stretch following the finish line jump that leads into a big bowl turn, which could lend itself to some very aggressive moves. Practice is set to begin shortly, so check back soon for a look at who’s handling the slop in stride.

250SX Qualifying – Session One

Michael Mosiman hurt his ankle recently, but by watching him in the B qualifying session, you’d never know it. He was fastest right away, and seemed to figure some rhythm combos very quickly. He had a few overjumps and slight cases, and went down in the sand section when he was on a hot lap, but even so, his 51.083 was the fastest of the session. Credit to Lux Turner and Dylan Walsh too, who were second and third-fastest. The duo are both coming back after getting injured at Anaheim 1, and by the looks of things they’re ready to get down to business.

The times in the A group were a little slower, but as the session wore on they steadily started lowering, bit by bit. The slick conditions didn’t result any excessive chaos, and the guys seemed to be handling the rhythm lanes pretty well, although some of the jumps look like they’re developing kickers. For the most part though, it was pretty uneventful and when the checkers flew it was Levi Kitchen who was fastest with a 52.798.

450SX Qualifying – Session One

It took Jett Lawrence a while to get going in this one, but not surprisingly, he would shoot to the top of the board with just two minutes remaining, besting Cooper Webb by about two-tenths of a second. Chase Sexton was quick to respond with a 53.183, then Lawrence would get him back with a 52.603, but it was Eli Tomac who would have the final say. On his final lap, Tomac waited for the track to clear, dug in, and threw down. He looked aggressive out there, and when he crossed the line he’d recorded a 52.325, the fastest of the session. He also busted out a line in the longest rhythm line that nobody else was doing, going 3-3-3 on his way out of it. Not only did it look fast, he was launching off jump faces that very few riders were using, which allowed him to avoid deep ruts on takeoff.

As expected, the track is developing some pretty deep ruts in places. Some of the ruts between jumps, and on jump faces, in the rhythm lanes are especially treacherous, with guys dragging pegs as they're launching off. The good news is, the rain hasn't been back since this morning, so hopefully the track is able to hold its shape.

250SX Qualifying – Session Two

Just like in the first B session, Michael Mosiman was fast right away, and continued to lower his times as the session progressed. The times were a bit slower in this one though, with Mosiman turning his fastest lap, a 53.780, on his final lap. He also had a little tip-over late in the session as he came out of the whoops and slipped on the ensuing wall jump.

In the A group Ryder DiFranceso had a challenging session. He pulled in early for something, then later had to ride from across the track holding his seat in his hand, which had somehow come off his bike. That’s something you don’t see very often! He was able to rebound, however, and got in some fast laps to qualify seventh-fastest. Absolutely ruling this session was Jo Shimoda, who stayed at the top the whole time and finished .354 seconds ahead of Jordon Smith. The final 250SX qualifier must have been trickier than the first, as it served up quite a few more crashes. RJ Hampshire, Nate Thrasher, Hunter Yoder, and many more, all found themselves on the dirt at various times.

450SX Qualifying – Session Two

The second qualifying sessions always begin with a gate drop, and when this one got underway it was Jett Lawrence streaking to the front, only to run it wide in the first turn and have Cooper Webb sneak up the inside and take off. Nevertheless, Lawrence quickly found the top of the board, with his brother, Hunter, right behind him. At this point it seemed like it might be the Lawrence show all session, but Eli Tomac stepped up and broke into the 52-second range with a 52.647. Webb then took it a step further, posting a 52.352, and when Lawrence tried to top him, he came up about two tenths of a second off the mark. Undeterred, Lawrence went back to work, and was able to throw down for the fastest 450SX lap of the day.

The 2-3-3-3 line through the longest rhythm lane that Tomac came up with in the first session must have been more difficult to navigate in this one. Plenty of guys were eyeing it up but backed out of it, but Jett Lawrence was executing it flawlessly on most laps. It was clear he was studying the line, he even pulled over on the side of the track and eyed it up for a few moments. Lawrence also continued to blitz the whoops after almost everyone else started jumping through them. Shocker, Lawrence is going to be strong tonight.

250SX Heat One

The first race of the night got underway with a holeshot from Levi Kitchen. He had RJ Hampshire behind him, but Kitchen was extremely fast in the opening stages of this race, building a gap on Hampshire and stretching it as the race unfolded. Julien Beaumer quickly found himself alone in third, and behind him the next few riders were pretty spread out too. Kitchen went on to win by almost ten seconds, and Hampshire, Beaumer, Ryder DeFrancesco, Anthony Bourdon, Robbie Wageman, Dylan Walsh, Hunter Yoder, and Max Sanford filled the remaining transfer sports. A pretty good battle materialized toward the end of this one between Walsh, Yoder, Sanford, and Lux Turner, but Turner was just a bit too far back to crack into the transfer group.

250SX Heat Two

Jordon Smith got a pretty good jump out of the gate in this one, but it was Jo Shimoda who would emerge with the holeshot. Phil Nicoletti and Carson Mumford held third and fourth, but Mumford took third when he sailed by Nicoletti in a rhythm lane. Nicoletti would lose two more spots a couple laps later when Garrett Marchbanks and Michael Mosiman both motored by. Up front Shimoda continued to lead. Smith didn’t give up the tow, however, and on the last lap Shimoda made a mistake in a rhythm lane and went down, handing the win to Smith. Shimoda would salvage a second, with Marchbanks, Mumford, Mosiman, Nicoletti, Cole Thompson, Nate Thrasher, and TJ Albright transferring to the main.

Credit to Thrasher, who went down early and had to come from way back to get into a transfer spot. The ruts are already getting tricky and are deep enough in some places that the guys are dragging pegs. The track crew will do their best to keep the track maintained, but the longer main events are going to be tough!

450SX Heat One

Chase Sexton kicked off the 450 action with a holeshot, with Hunter Lawrence right behind him, but Lawrence made a mistake in a rhythm lane and lost a spot to Mitchell Oldenburg. No matter for Lawrence though, who retook second a couple spots later. Then Sexton made a mistake coming out of the sand section and stalled his bike, handing the lead to Lawrence, who immediately did all he could to stretch it out. Sexton, who had Eli Tomac right on him, refused to give up though, and put his head down and went after Lawrence, taking chunks out of his lead every lap. With two laps to go Sexton and Tomac were all over Lawrence, but Sexton made a mistake in the whoops and Tomac flew by. He was on Lawrence’s tail, but Tomac just couldn’t get close enough to make a move. Lawrence hung on, Tomac took second, and Sexton, Justin Barcia, Adam Cianciarulo, Oldenburg, Mitchell Harrison, Derek Drake, and Justin Rodbell filled the remaining transfer spots.

Ken Roczen had a small crash in the early part of this race and couldn’t get his bike fired back up quickly enough to get back in the race. He’ll head to the LCQ.

450SX Heat Two

The fight for the holeshot in this one was intense, with Aaron Plessinger, Shane McElrath, and Vince Friese all jockeying for position. Friese took the lead briefly, but Plessinger went up the inside of Friese and took the lead a few turns in. Friese would later go down in the whoops. Bloss held third at this point, but Cooper Webb was coming fast and quickly shuffled Bloss back.

Up front Plessinger was riding awesome and wasn’t really allowing Lawrence to close on him, but Plessinger eventually made a couple mistakes, one in a rhythm section and one in the whoops, and in the blink of an eye Lawrence was all over him. Lawrence used a superior line to get side-by-side with Plessinger and pass him two turns later, but Plessinger refused to give up, and even pulled up next to him in the whoops a lap later. The crowd roared their approval, but Lawrence pulled away again. Still, Plessinger refused to give up, and started reeling in Plessinger again, but just couldn’t get close enough to do anything. The transfer spots were taken by Lawrence, Plessinger, Webb, Malcolm Stewart, Justin Cooper, Benny Bloss, Jason Anderson, Shane McElrath, and Cade Clason.

250SX LCQ

Blake Gardner was doing great after nabbing the lead in this race but went down in the sand section all by himself. That put Lux Turner in the lead, and he had a pretty comfortable gap over Josh Varize, who then lost second to Talon Hawkins. Behind them Ty Freehill was in qualifying position, but both Brad West and Matti Jorgensen went by. The battle at this point was between Jorgensen and West, but Jorgensen threw a block pass on West, took control, and rode away with the final transfer spot. Turner won, followed by Hawkins, Varize, and Jorgensen.

450SX LCQ

No surprises to start this one. Ken Roczen and Ty Masterpool came out in front, went side-by-side down the first rhythm lane, with Roczen taking sole possession of the lead in turn two and ducking out for the win. Behind him Masterpool held second, but Tristan Lane was only a couple lengths behind him, and closing. But then Vince Friese started pressuring Lane and moved into third. Then Ryan Breece came from several spots back, blitzed the whoops, and blew past two riders and into fourth place! Lane was out of qualifying position now, and the stage was set for a death duel between Kyle Chisholm and Breece for the final transfer spot, with Chisholm making the pass in the whoops. But then Breece got him back and went after Friese for second. Chisholm absolutely refused to give up though, and continued hounding Breece. Unfortunately for Chisholm he made a mistake in a rhythm section that took him out of the fight. Roczen, Masterpool, Friese, and Breece all transferred to the main.

250SX Main Event

Levi Kitchen nabbed the holeshot to start off the 250SX main event. Julien Beaumer initially applied pressure, but Kitchen didn’t waste much time before stretching out a lead on Beaumer, who then gave up second place to Jordon Smith. That set up a battle between Beaumer and Michael Mosiman, but Mosiman made a big mistake in a rhythm section and lost a spot to RJ Hampshire. Hampshire proceeded to go after Beaumer, but Beaumer withstood the pressure well, shutting down every attempt Hampshire was making. Finally Hampshire flew around the outside in the sand, setting up a pass that he executed two turns later. Nate Thrasher was next to pass Beaumer, followed by Garrett Marchbanks, shuffling Beaumer back to sixth. 

With about four minutes remaining disaster struck for Smith. All alone in second place, Smith got cross-rutted in a rhythm section and was slow to get up. He lost a ton of time, then later crashed again in the same section. Then, when getting back on the track, he didn’t look for traffic and rode out in front of another rider, got hit, and went down again.

The battle to watch now was between Marchbanks and Jo Shimoda. Shimoda had gotten a mediocre start and had crashed early in this one, but caught fire late and had caught Marchbanks, who'd inherited third when Smith went down. He was able to squeeze by, and Marchbanks wasn’t able to hang onto him. Shimoda would go onto claim third behind Kitchen and Hampshire with a fantastic second-half performance.

450SX Main Event

Chase Sexton emerged with the holeshot with Ken Roczen right behind him. Jason Anderson looked spicey and quickly moved into third, but Cooper Webb looked even friskier and quickly went by Anderson. Jett Lawrence, meanwhile, was about ninth, but making moves. After about four minutes he’d moved by Anderson for fourth, and was about five seconds behind Roczen, who’d surrendered third to Webb. It didn’t take Lawrence long to slice by Roczen.

On a side note, Lawrence and Webb had figured out a line in the sand section, railing the outside and jumping over a single, and they were making up a ton of time doing it. It was in this section that Lawrence came flying in right behind Webb, but got too close to him, hit his rear tire, and went down, causing him to drop a few spots

A few laps later Sexton made a mistake in a treacherous rhythm section. He didn’t go down, but it put Webb right on his rear fender. Lawrence was in third and about nine seconds back of the battle for the lead, but he was making a lot of time on them. With eight minutes left Webb pulled alongside Sexton in a rhythm, but made a mistake and gave the advantage back to Sexton. The battle was raging, and the crowd roared their approval. Despite the pressure from Webb, Sexton held extremely strong, and was able to pull a gap back out on Webb. But then Sexton made a mistake and stalled his motorcycle in a turn, allowing Webb to shoot right by! The battle for the lead was right back on, and a lap later Sexton was able to get Webb back. Webb was relentless though, and knifed his way back around Sexton and was even able to put a couple seconds on him. Then Sexton made a mistake and had to roll a double, giving Webb about three more seconds. Sexton kept at it though, and when the white flag came out he was only about a second-and-a-half behind Webb. Some great riding from Sexton and a couple small bobbles from Webb, who later said he’d developed bad arm pump, erased that gap. Webb was forced to block the inside coming into the final turn, but executed perfectly, keeping Sexton at bay and taking the win by half a second.

Lawrence, who earlier in this race was making up time seemingly at ease, saw his progress hampered by stalling it right after the sand section, and later being forced to check way up to avoid getting together with a lapper. At that time it seemed as though he simply accepted that the win wasn’t going to come tonight, and settled in for third. Credit to Plessinger, who was absolutely charging late in the race and nearly had a shot at Lawrence right at the end.