Free Practice Lap Times

250 Supercross Futures Qualifying 1

Drew Adams led the “fake start” of 250 SX Futures and held the top time early, but Cole Davies, who won the first Futures race of the year at Anaheim, took over the top time. Then Adams went for a ride in the whoops as his bike started to swap side to side, but he was lucky to escape with only a minor crash. Davies, though, held on for the top time in the session, telling us earlier in the day he’s gotten more and more comfortable in supercross as the season has gone on. Also Gavin Towers, who has been a contender in most of these Futures races but has crashed a few times too many, was sold in this practice, he was actually second to Davies in lap times, with Adams third.

First Qualifying Sessions

250SX

When the 250 West riders hit the track, everyone was vying for position. Jo Shimoda took the early lead and then Levi Kitchen laid down a fast lap only for Jordon Smith to set a faster one shortly after. RJ Hampshire started feeling comfortable, laying down fast laps with his two fastest laps faster than anyone else. Rookie Julien Beaumer was showing his speed with the second fastest time by the end of the session.

In the 250 East, Haiden Deegan took the early lead. While everyone else was struggling to lay down a fast lap, dealing with slower riders, Deegan was able to log a 53.2, even faster than RJ Hampshire in the West practice. Points leader Tom Vialle came in third over a second off the pace with a 54.5, behind Seth Hammaker in second.

450SX

After a practice start which saw Hunter Lawrence pull the holeshot, he took off in the early physical lead, on the track. But it was Cooper Webb who is dealing with an injured thumb, who laid down the first fast lap. However, Jett Lawrence did not wait, like he sometimes does, until the end of practice to turn up the heat, becoming the first rider to break into the 52 second range. Malcolm Stewart, who has been picking up the pace lately, and Chase Sexton soon broke into the 52’s as well. With less than a minute to go Sexton went to the top of the board with a 52.13. This is the first session that Sexton has found himself at the top of all season. Notably, Webb pulled off the track and headed back to the pits with time still left on the clock. In the 450 B group Anthony Rodriguez topped Grant Harlan and the rest.

250 Supercross Futures Qualifying 2

New Zealand’s Cole Davies went down at the beginning of the qualifying session, and lost his front number plate, but he was still able to come back and log the fastest time of the session. Drew Adams was right behind in second with Gavin Towers in third. These three are the favorites coming in, but as we have seen with the Futures races, anything can happen especially since these young riders are still learning to ride supercross, with the pressure of a championship on the line.

Second Qualifying Session

250SX

The 250 Overflow practice (normally B/C group) saw the track first. Julien Benek, Brad West and Preston Taylor finished in the top three. With only 40 riders making it to the night show, and both regions in the showdown, the pressure was on for the overflow session to get a fast lap. Next was 250 East which saw Coty Schock and then Chance Hymas swap the early lead before Haiden Deegan laid down a heater. Next, red plate holder Tom Vialle was able to jump to the top of the board, but Chance Hymas would not give up, logging a 53.8 and taking the lead. He was not able to hold it long before Seth Hammaker snagged it with a 53.4. However, even though Hammaker was the fastest of the session, Deegan’s 53.2 from the first session was the fastest overall (for the East) once they combined the two session times. This was Deegan’s first time finishing in pole position in supercross.

In the 250 West, Levi Kitchen got off to the early lead both on track and on the board. Again, Julien Beaumer must feel comfortable on the dry track, being from Lake Havasu, as he took over the lead from Kitchen. However, even though the track was slower for the East Region this second session, RJ Hampshire was able to not only get a faster lap than the first session, but he was also faster than the rest of the 250 class on either region with a 53.1. Jordon Smith was second and Beaumer was third.

450SX

Malcolm Stewart was the first to log a fast lap, only for Chase Sexton to better it soon after, again breaking into the 52 second range. Most of the riders were left scrambling, looking for traction but with a couple of minutes to go Jett Lawrence was able to get into second place with a 52.5. The only other rider to break into the 52’s was Justin Barcia with a 52.9. Cooper Webb, who finished seventh in the session, again pulled off early most likely to preserve his injured thumb. Chase Sexton looked good on the slippery track to get his first P1 in qualifying for the year, topping both sessions.

In 450 Group B it was a battle for the top position between Justin Starling, Devin Simonson, Grant Harlan and Austin Politelli. When the checkered flag flew it was Grant Harlan at the top of the board.

250SX Futures Championship Main Event

In the winner-takes-all SX Futures main event, Drew Adams got inside on Cole Davies in the first turn to grab the holeshot. Adams had a comfortable five-second lead but then he crashed in a turn near the mechanics’ area! Davies made his way around the downed #300 machine to take over the race lead and snag the win. Adams remounted in second, where he would finish. Gavin Towers, who was second for the early stages of the race, was passed by Davies before eventually finishing third. Parker Ross (fourth) charged into the top five after being 11th early in the race as Tyler Mollet rounded out the top five. Reven Gordon had a crash that knocked him outside the top ten. He would finish 18th. His brother Landen Gordon would make it up to eighth place behind Dylan Rempel (sixth) and Klark Robbins (seventh). Noah Stevens (ninth) and Landin Peppard (tenth) rounded out the top ten.

Night Show

250SX East Region Heat Race

Daxton Bennick led the field into the first turn, but Coty Schock was able to sneak around on the inside, only to lose control and go off the track and hit the stadium wall a few turns later. Bennick regained the lead, but it was short lived as his teammate Haiden Deegan passed him almost immediately. Deegan opened up a few second gap over Bennick, and Seth Hammaker in third, meanwhile red plate holder Tom Vialle rode very conservatively in eighth for most of the race until he let Chance Hymas by at the end, barely holding on to a transfer spot for the main.

250SX West Region Heat Race

The two red plate holders, Levi Kitchen and RJ Hampshire were one and two coming out of the first turn. Hampshire trailed Kitchen by less than a second for most of the race, while Nate Thrasher and Jordon Smith were not far off the rear tire of Hampshire. After losing a bit of ground, Hampshire was able to close the gap to under a second with a last lap charge. Meanwhile Julien Beaumer, who was fast in qualifying, was out of qualifying position until two laps to go, rounding out the top nine.

450SX Heat 1

Cooper Webb, who is 20 points behind Jett Lawrence in the championship, got a little aggressive with the young Honda rider in the first turn of the heat race. Lawrence was able to keep it up though and Justin Barcia was able to go by Webb to get into second. Maybe more surprising than Webb’s aggressive riding was how good Barcia rode in second place, keeping Lawrence honest until the end. Webb was able to get third and Dean Wilson came across the line in fourth at his last ever supercross heat race.

450SX Heat 2

Justin Cooper pulled the holeshot of heat number two, followed by Chase Sexton, who had to fight off Hunter Lawrence before he took over the lead from Cooper. Jason Anderson who got a bad start stormed through the pack, finding lines and places to pass where it didn’t seem possible. His teammate Adam Cianciarulo, had a harder time finding his way around riders, not making his way into qualifying position until the final lap when Freddie Noren went down, handing him the position. Meanwhile out-front Chase Sexton, (who was the fastest qualifier) dominated, winning just his second heat race of the year.

250 LCQ

After a rain delay, Lux Turner pulled the holeshot in the LCQ and then immediately lost traction and went down in the first rhythm lane. Coty Schock benefited from that fall and took over the lead, opening up a decent sized gap over Anthony Bourdon and Preston Boespflug. Behind them Max Miller, Marhsall Weltin and Brad West battled for the final transfer spot. Miller and Weltin swapped positions back and forth multiple times and it looked like Weltin was going to get it, until the last lap when Miller had a hero run through the whoops and went flying by Weltin just before the finish.

450 LCQ

Grant Harlan got off to the early lead in the very competitive 450 LCQ. Hunter Schlosser was up front early but quickly got shuffled out of qualifying position. On the bubble was Mitchell Harrison tailing Freddie Noren in fourth. Soon the duo caught “The Wall” Devin Simonson in second and Tristan Lane in third and it was a four-rider battle. Noren snuck by Lane and Harrison gave it everything he had in the whoop section on the last lap, went into the turn too hot and went down taking Lane down with him! Kevin Moranz was able to get by both downed riders and qualify for the main.

Main Events

250SX East/West Showdown

In the 250SX East/West Showdown, Tom Vialle who had an outside gate went into the corner first but drifted wide, allowing other riders to sneak underneath. Then Jo Shimoda spun out and held Vialle up further. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing boys were out front, Deegan in first then Jordon Smith followed by Nick Romano (who would quickly drift back). RJ Hampshire was the next rider in fourth, ahead of his championship rival Levi Kitchen who sat in seventh. With the West championship being a winner take all situation, it was imperative that Levi move up, but Nate Thrasher was not making it easy for him. Kitchen finally passed into fifth with seven minutes to go, and then set the fastest lap, but it was too little too late. Meanwhile upfront Smith was putting pressure on Deegan for the lead. Then with a minute and half to go Smith attempted a pass on Deegan after the whoops and went down. This moved Hampshire up to second, Shimoda to third. Shimoda then spun out again allowing Smith to get back by. Smith closed on Hampshire and Hampshire on Deegan, all crossing the finish line one after another. Hampshire beat out Levi Kitchen in fifth, winning the 250 West Region Championship and Tom Vialle was able to bring it home in eighth to wrap up the 250 East Region Championship by only four points over Deegan.

450SX Main

Justin Cooper pulled another holeshot with Chase Sexton close behind, making the pass a few corners later. The first couple of laps were crazy as usual, as Jason Anderson took Hunter Lawrence wide in the turn after the whoops, knocking him down. Jett Lawrence finally got into fourth behind Webb before almost throwing it away, falling back to sixth place. Closing in on the halfway mark, Jason Anderson set his sights on Webb in third, meanwhile Malcolm Stewart was able to get around Jett Lawrence who had settled into championship mode. Up front Sexton continued to lead, while Justin Cooper put in the ride of his 450 career, he was even the fastest rider on the track with about six minutes to go. In the end it was Sexton with the perfect day, P1 in qualifying, heat race win, and winning his second main event of the season. Justin Cooper in second, Webb in third and Jason Anderson in fourth, was unable to complete a pass on Webb after Hunter Lawrence, who was getting lapped, decided to retaliate against Anderson for his earlier take out move. Jett Lawrence rode home in seventh and wrapped up his seventh championship in a row, becoming only the third rider ever to win the premier class in supercross in their rookie season.