In the 250 ranks it was all Levi Kitchen until two weeks ago in Nashville, where Kitchen crashed and gave up a ton of points to Hampshire, who won. Hampshire now leads Kitchen by two points, and both are coming into Denver with their sites set squarely on winning. We spoke with both of them yesterday to get their thoughts on the importance of tonight, and you can check it out right here. No matter what happens, whoever leaves with the points lead has a major advantage, and the ability control their own destiny, next week at the finale.

One rider who won't be racing tonight is Benny Bloss, who fractured his arm and collarbone while practicing. For a complete look at who'll miss tonight's racing due to injury, check out our Injury Report.

There was originally supposed to be a sand section on the track, but it's been turned into a small jump section, and the sand seems to be mixed in with the dirt. Speaking of the dirt, it's very difficult to keep it in good condition here. It can get windy here (it was pretty windy yesterday afternoon), which makes keeping moisture in the dirt even more difficult. Hopefully they're able to manage it well, otherwise it'll get dry and slick. Qualifying is set to commence soon, so check back in the near future for a report on who's fast in Denver.

Qualifying – Session One

Qualifying is underway here in Denver, and so far it seems like the 250SX guys haven’t completely figured out how to get through the long rhythm lane cleanly. Most guys in the 250SX class were opting to go 2-2-2-2-3, with the fast guys instead going 2-2-3-3-1, but they were having a hard time executing that faster jump line cleanly and consistently. Out of everyone Levi Kitchen was probably the most consistent through that lane. He was also experimenting in a shorter rhythm by tripling in, while everyone else was taking a single-to-table to enter the same section. Not surprisingly, Kitchen spent some time at the top of the board, but it was Nate Thrasher who would end up fastest, posting a 57.343.

When the 450s rolled out they were definitely navigating the long rhythm lane better, but a lot of the guys were still struggling to get through cleanly. One rider who looked great was Chase Sexton. On a track on which even the slightest bobble would ruin a run through a section, Sexton looked fast and tidy, and toward the end he bumped Jett Lawrence for the fastest time by almost half a second. Lawrence responded at the end though, jumping back to the top of the board.

The sun is out and the track is starting to dry out, and there’s even some dust in places. There are also some ruts that developed when the track was still moist this morning that are making the transitions between jumps tricky. The second set of qualifiers will be coming up soon, so check back to see how the track, and line choices, are evolving.

Qualifying – Session Two

When the bikes came out for the second qualifying sessions of the day they were greeted by a track that was much drier and slicker looking than the first. The times were still faster though, because the nasty ruts in corners and jump transitions were cleaned up. RJ Hampshire took advantage too, coming out of the gate with urgency, immediately laying down heaters. Jordon Smith did the same thing, locking right onto the rear of Hampshire, and briefly held the fastest lap. Hampshire topped him later, but several laps in Levi Kitchen came along and busted out a 54.643, about three-tenths faster than Hampshire. Undeterred, Hampshire nailed the 2-2-3-3-1 line in the long rhythm and executed the rest of the track great, turning a 54.546. Kitchen put in a few laps after that, but Hampshire’s time was untouchable. With Hampshire and Kitchen trading fast times, and separated by only two points in the standings, the stage is set for a monster 250SX main event.

In the 450 class it was Chase Sexton who was on fire early. He set the fastest lap right away, then a couple laps later he lowered it with a 54.111. Jett Lawrence refused to let it stand, however, dipping into the 53-second range with a 53.917. Then, out of nowhere, Malcolm Stewart threw down an extremely fast lap. It wasn’t quite fast enough to match Lawrence, but it was close and it moved him into second with a 54.104. On the very next lap Stewart was absolutely flying and it seemed like he might take over the top spot, but he made a mistake two turns before the finish and slid out in a flat turn. He didn’t go down, but his time was ruined. Stewart knew he was on a good lap too, you could see the frustration in his body language as he got going again. It might not have mattered anyway though, because Lawrence set an even faster time on his last lap out. Eli Tomac couldn’t quite find the pace in this one, finishing eighth-fastest with a 55.129.

250SX Heat One

The first holeshot of the night went to Jo Shimoda. He had Talon Hawkins on his tail, but Jordon Smith took over second after about a lap and took off after Shimoda. His progress was halted however when he went down all by himself and dropped back to fifth. Levi Kitchen ran fourth early, but he quickly closed on Hawkins and was able to slice by. His forward march would stop there though, as Shimoda was gone at this point. Shimoda would go on to win by over eight seconds, with Kitchen, Hawkins, Smith, Cole Thompson, Hunter Yoder, Max Miller, TJ Albright, and Geran Stapleton taking the final transfer spots.

250SX Heat Two

Ryder DiFrancesco shot out to the early lead in this one, but he had fast company on his tail in the form of Nate Thrasher, Julien Beaumer, and RJ Hampshire. DiFrancesco rode strong, but Thrasher wasn’t going to let him keep the lead and went by him as the two entered the long rhythm lane. Hampshire was next to go by DiFrancesco, and he did it in the exact same place Thrasher did a lap earlier. As the race wore on Hampshire reeled in Thrasher, and with two laps left he was all over Thrasher as the two were getting into heavy traffic. The two were able to get past the lappers pretty cleanly, and on the last lap it looked like Hampshire was going to make a move stick through a rhythm lane. Thrasher cut over though, blocking Hampshire, and Hampshire never got another shot at him.

Further back Josh Varize and Julien Benek had a great battle going for the final transfer spot. Varize had gotten around Benek, but Benek was fighting back, and bashed into Varize hard as the two exited the whoops. Varize somehow withstood the blow without going down, hung onto the spot, and took ninth. Thrasher, Hampsire, Beaumer, DiFrancesco, Anthony Bourdon, Robbie Wageman, Lux Turner, Phil Nicoletti, and Varize filled the nine transfer spots.

450SX Heat One

Hunter Lawrence and Cooper Webb came into turn one side by side in this one, but it was Lawrence who emerged with a clear lead. Webb didn’t seem to mind though, and simply went by Lawrence as the two entered the long rhythm lane. Webb gapped Lawrence at first, but Lawrence reeled him back in and even put a move on him, but Webb withstood the pressure and held the lead. Lawrence bobbled a lap later, giving Webb some breathing room, but on the last lap he was all over Webb again. Just when it seemed like he might try something he got out of rhythm, which is all Webb needed to ride to a comfortable win. Webb, Lawrence, Malcolm Stewart, Eli Tomac, Shane McElrath, Justin Hill, Mitchell Harrison, Cade Clason, and Freddie Noren filled the transfer spots. Dylan Ferrandis and Mitchell Oldenburg went down in the first turn and will take a trip to the LCQ.

450SX Heat Two

Jett Lawrence took the holeshot in the last 450SX Heat, and just like that, the race for the win was over. Behind him Vince Friese held second ahead of Chase Sexton, Jason Anderson, and Justin Barcia. Sexton displaced Friese by absolutely railing the outside of a berm and passing him on the outside. Anderson went by Friese next, and then Barcia went around Friese shortly thereafter by passing him around the outside. Sexton actually started to make up some time on Lawrence with a couple minutes remaining, but Lawrence had plenty of room and just managed his way to the win. As the race wound down John Short and Colt Nichols were battling for the final transfer spot, but it was Nichols who edged out Short. Lawrence, Sexton, Anderson, Barcia, Dean Wilson, Justin Cooper, Adam Cianciarulo, Friese, and Nichols all transferred to the main.

250SX LCQ

Noah Viney got a great jump out of the gate in the 250 Last Chance Qualifier and would have had the holeshot, but he lost the front in the first turn and went down, triggering a first-turn pileup. Max Sanford then took over the lead and started gapping Preston Taylor. Carter Stephenson held third all by himself, with Kile Epperson about two seconds back. After a few laps however a cluster of riders started bunching up behind Stephenson. Epperson had caught him, and he had Brad West on his tail. Stephenson was able to squirt back away, but West squeezed by Epperson on the final lap, two turns before the finish line, to take the final transfer spot. Sanford won, with Taylor, Stephenson, and West transferring to the main.

450SX LCQ

Mitchell Oldenburg started in the best way possible by nabbing a clean holeshot, with Jerry Robin and Jeremy Hand right behind him. Dylan Ferrandis and Kyle Chisholm ran fifth and sixth early, but Ferrandis started making moves quick, battling back and forth with Grant Harlan for several turns before going inside in a righthander and taking over fourth. Ferrandis then caught and passed both Hand and Robin and went after Oldenburg, who was a little over a second ahead. About a lap later he went by Oldenburg through the whoops and disappeared. The rider to watch at this point was Chisholm. With two laps left Chisholm held fifth and was about two seconds back of Hand. Chisholm steadily closed the gap, but ran out of time before he could show Hand a wheel. Ferrandis, Oldenburg, Robin, and Hand transferred to the main.

250SX Main Event

Levi Kitchen and RJ Hampshire lined up right next to each other on the gate, but when it dropped it was Jo Shimoda shooting out to the holeshot. Jordon Smith briefly held second, but Kitchen went by him within a few turns. Hampshire, meanwhile, held fourth behind Smith, and Nate Thrasher was fifth. A few laps went by like this, but then Hampshire started closing on Smith, only to bobble in a rhythm lane and cough up a few seconds. A few laps later he caught back up to Smith and tried to take an inside line entering a rhythm section. That caused Smith to drift wide, and he landed on some Tuff Blocks and nearly crashed. Smith was able to save it after going off the track, but that gave Hampshire third.

Kitchen still held second, about two-and-a-half seconds back of Shimoda, and was about three seconds ahead of Hampshire. The bad news for Kitchen was that the buckles on his left boot had come undone. Kitchen seemed to be handling it just fine, but it certainly wasn’t an ideal situation. With about five minutes left Kitchen made a small mistake in a rhythm lane, which allowed Hampshire to close enough to get Kitchen in sight in the same lanes. At that point the gap stabilized, and try as he might, Hampshire wasn’t able to keep reeling in Kitchen. Then, with about a minute left, Hampshire started slightly creeping up on Kitchen again, but Kitchen was closing in on Shimoda at the same time. On the final lap the gap between Shimoda and Kitchen was about one second and shrinking, but Kitchen ran out of time and finished in the runner-up spot, about half a second behind Shimoda, with Hampshire taking a very close third. Now Kitchen and Hampshire will go into the final race of the year, which is an East/West Showdown, tied for the points lead!

450SX Main Event

Chase Sexton went down in the first turn to kick this one off, which also held up Malcolm Stewart. Hunter Lawrence took the holeshot, with his brother, Jett, right behind him in second. Justin Cooper held third for the first two laps, but Eli Tomac took over the spot coming out of the whoops, much to the delight of the crowd. Unfortunately for Tomac he went down about half a lap later all by himself in a righthander. Cooper Webb didn’t get a very good start and found himself in sixth several laps in.

Up front Hunter Lawrence continued to lead, and Jett wasn’t pressuring him at all. Jason Anderson was about three seconds back of Jett, with Barcia another couple seconds behind Anderson. If you were looking for a battle, you’d have to look all the way back to seventh, where Sexton was hounding Tomac. The two went at it for a while, but Sexton had the edge in speed and Tomac ended up surrendering the spot. Tomac would later lose more spots to Stewart and Dylan Ferrandis. 

At the halfway point Jett had caught Hunter and went up the inside in a righthand bowl turn and took over the lead. Behind him there wasn’t much action, as the guys had gotten pretty spread out. Sexton eventually caught Webb and rode behind him for a few laps before making the pass, but as soon as he got by him he crashed and dropped back to eighth. Back in seventh Stewart had caught Justin Cooper for sixth, but went down before he could make a move. He didn’t lose any spots, but it killed his forward progress. Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot going on, and Jett Lawrence took the win by about two seconds over Hunter Lawrence, with Jason Anderson rounding out the podium.