In terms of the 450 championship, things just got interested. After Jett Lawrence got to that 24-0 mark after the second moto at the opening round, the #1 crashed hard on the opening lap of the first moto in northern California last weekend, which opened up the doors for a new 450 race winner for the first time since 2022. Enter Chase Sexton. The #4 went on to go 1-1 in a career day aboard his KTM 450 SX-F machine. Sexton enters today in the 450 class lead over Hunter Lawrence, Aaron Plessinger, Justin Cooper, Jason Anderson, and Jett Lawrence, respectively. Jett Lawrence (2023) is the only active rider to win a 450 overall at this venue, as Ken Roczen (2022, 2021, 2019, 2016, and 2014) and Eli Tomac (2020 and 2018) are not racing at the moment. And Sexton is the first KTM rider to have the 450 Pro Motocross points lead since Marvin Musquin had it halfway through the 2018 season (which was eventually won by then-Kawasaki rider Eli Tomac). The big question from last Saturday’s crash is how will the Honda HRC rider respond this weekend? Will he be banged up or was he able to get healed up? As for Sexton, can he keep his momentum from last weekend rolling? How about Plessinger and the 450 rookies in Hunter Lawrence and Cooper—how will that trio fare today?

In the 250 Class, Haiden Deegan enters today in the points lead ahead of Levi Kitchen and Tom Vialle, Deegan having won the first three motos of the season until he crashed late in the fourth moto, giving the race win to Vialle. Kitchen has done well here in the past, could he—or Vialle—steal some points from Deegan? Chance Hymas, Jo Shimoda, Jalek Swoll, Joey Savatgy, Ty Masterpool, and more look to get into the mix as well as these riders find their outdoor legs. Remember, Masterpool did well here last year on his 450F, finishing 5-4 for sixth overall. Now on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250. How will Masterpool do in Colorado this go round? There are lots of storylines to follow in both classes (read our staff's race preview for a few of them!).

Missing from this weekend will be Nate Thrasher (250) and Phil Nicoletti (450). Read the Thunder Valley National injury report for more updates.

And here is the TV schedule for today. Riders will be on track shortly.

First Qualifying Sessions

450 Class

In the first qualifying session of the day (again, 450 Class first today), Hunter Lawrence (2:11) and Justin Cooper (2:12) were the top two on the board until the sixth and final lap of the session when 2023 450 Champion Jett Lawrence put down a 2:10! While Jett Lawrence is still pretty banged up, he did not miss a beat so far today in terms of having the spring speed. We will see how he holds up come the long, brutal motos. The track is not tilled as deep today and appears be more hard-packed and might be a little bit faster than its usual technical and rutty conditions.

250 Class

In the first 250 A session, Haiden Deegan led most of the session—his fastest was a 2:16.290—until Ty Masterpool took the top spot with a 2:16.262. Jason Weigandt spoke with Levi Kitchen before practice, who said he was looking forward to the ruts but now says he will have to adapt as the track is not as deep as it was last year. We are expecting some rain later during the motos, so we will see if that has an impact on the race.

Second Qualifying Sessions

450 Class

In the second qualifying session, Hunter Lawrence’s 2:13.356 bested Jason Anderson’s 2:13.362, Jett Lawrence’s 2:13.81, Chase Sexton’s 2:13.911, and Justin Cooper’s 2:14.713, but it was Jett Lawrence’s 2:10.342 from the first session topped the overall 450 qualifying. Not surprising to see the faster times coming from the first session here in Pro Motocross as the tracks are smoother first thing in the morning.

“I think it helps a lot," Jett Lawrence said on his P1 overall today as he looks to bounce back. "At least I can still put in somewhat of a good lap. So, we’re happy with that. And having a good gate pick is pretty key. Hopefully that gives us a good start for the first moto and we’ll go from there.”

Thinking about his past results here, it would not be surprising to see Justin Cooper land a moto, or even overall, podium here as he has seemed to do well each time he has visited this track before. He has two 250 overall wins here and five total overall podiums, so maybe today we see the #32 earn that maiden Pro Motocross podium in the 450 class.

250 Class

In the final 250 A session of the day, Jo Shimoda topped the board with a 2:17.300 over Joey Savatgy’s 2:17.391 and Jalek Swoll’s 2:17.534, but it was Ty Masterpool’s 2:16.262 from the first session that takes the top overall 250 qualifying spot on the day. Again, Masterpool did really well here last year on a KX450, with another week of testing on his KX250 bike—the already great machine it is—could he earn a moto podium or win today? Haiden Deegan was jumping a ridiculous wall jump today, showing why he is the championship leader, qualifying second overall, just 0.028 seconds behind Masterpool. Shimoda and his teammate Chance Hymas look to get into the mix today as well.

“The biggest thing is just getting used to this bike,” Masterpool said. “It’s fantastic: I’m loving it! best handling bike I’ve ever ridden. Just huge thank you to the whole Pro Circuit team…everything is just awesome. …Felt like I could have done a lot better in that second one [session] but saving the energy. And, yeah, just having fun here. Yeah, thankful. God is good.”

Motos

Weather Delay

Right as riders were heading to the starting line for the first moto of the day, there was a lightning strike, which forced the AMA to delay the start of the first moto by 30 minutes, bumping the start from 1 p.m. local time to 1:30 p.m. local time. 

Remember, during the 2019 event here there was a lightning strike that caused the first 250 Class moto to be red flag/checkered flagged a handful of minutes early while Justin Cooper was leading Adam Cianciarulo. The two would swap positions in the second moto as Cianciarulo's 2-1 earned the Kawasaki rider his third straight overall win to start that season. 

450 Class Moto 1

When the first moto got underway, it was Justin Cooper who got the holeshot over Justin Barcia, Aaron Plessinger, Jason Anderson, Max Miller, and Hunter Lawrence. Jett Lawrence and Chase Sexton were eighth and tenth, respectively. Cooper started to blast away as the riders behind him shuffled and battled around early. Hunter and Jett Lawrence both got around Barcia and Anderson, moving into second and third, respectively, as Cooper had a seven-second lead at one point. At the halfway point, Cooper was still leading, with about a 4.45-second gap over the battling Lawrence brothers. With about 2:30 on the clock, right before the completion of the 12th lap, Hunter Lawrence made a pass on Cooper to take over the race lead! Jett Lawrence got around the #32 as well and was all over the rear fender of his older brother. The #96 cruised in to take an 8.057-second win to earn his first ever 450 Pro Motocross race win as his little brother came through second. Cooper came through a solid third, then Barcia and Plessinger rounded out the top five.

“Yeah, more comfortable,” Hunter Lawrence laughed. “The race day is not over. We’ll focus on the next moto.”

Jett Lawrence said to pit reporter Jason Thomas he backed it down late in the race in order to conserve energy for the upcoming second moto.

Sexton and Anderson each had separate crashes that saw them lose positions. Sexton eventually came through sixth without goggles as Anderson came through tenth.

Unofficially, Hunter Lawrence leads Sexton by one point heading into the second moto of the day.

450 Class Moto 2

The gates dropped on the second 450 moto and it was once again Justin Cooper who got the holeshot and put himself in the early race lead. The Lawrence brothers and Chase Sexton, who quickly passed both Honda HRC riders to move into second! The KTM rider used a nice double line Kitchen was using in the first 250 moto and Sexton jumped to the inside of H. Lawrence to take over P2. Then he went at Cooper. After Cooper fought off a charge from Sexton, Sexton regrouped and went at the #32 again. But right before the finish line—where Deegan passed Vialle in the first 250 moto to retake the race lead—Sexton jumped to the inside of Cooper but crashed in the process! He remounted in seventh behind Anderson, Justin Barcia, and Dylan Ferrandis. Cooper clicked off half of the moto in the race lead as Hunter and Jett Lawrence were not going anywhere any time soon. On the sixth lap, Jett Lawrence put in his best lap of the race (a 2:17.476) while Hunter Lawrence put in his best lap on the seventh lap (2:17.660). then, out of nowhere, Jett Lawrence put on the afterburners as he blasted around both his brother and Cooper! The #1 would take the race win, holding off his older brother at the checkered flag for both the moto and overall win!

“Yeah, the little shit got me!” laughed Hunter Lawrence. But Hunter Lawrence leaves as the new points leader as Chase Sexton went 6-5 on the day.

250 Class Moto 2

Rain started to fall right before the start of the second 250 Class moto, the final moto of the day. As the 30-second board went up, the rain ended and the gates dropped! Chance Hymas got the holeshot over Haiden Deegan, Levi Kitchen, Jalek Swoll, and Tom Vialle. Kitchen went down and lost a few positions, then a few laps later, Vialle had a mistake that dropped him behind Swoll and Jo Shimoda, who took over third and fourth, respectively. Out front, Hymas was rolling, and Deegan was running a lonely second, about five seconds back of the Honda HRC rider. Shimoda made a pass to take over third at the halfway mark. Vialle got Swoll back in the same spot where he passed him a few laps prior. Ty Masterpool got around Kitchen late to take over sixth place. Hymas held on to take his first ever Pro Motocross moto win as Deegan came through second to get the overall win. The #38’s 2-1 finished gave him the overall win over Hymas’ 4-1 and Vialle’s 2-4. Deegan gets his third overall win to start the season as he leaves with a 23-point gap over both Hymas and Vialle.