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In terms of the SMX Playoffs seeding, 2023 SuperMotocross World Champion and recently crowned 250 Class AMA Pro Motocross Champion Haiden Deegan comes into this weekend in the top qualifying spot. Chase Sexton comes in as the 450SMX top qualifier after his 450 Class Pro Motocross title. As for the rest of the qualifying positions and full entry list for both classes, check out our preview from Wednesday.

Qualifying will start at 9:20 a.m. local time (Eastern). View the full race day and TV broadcast/streaming schedules below.

The track is similar to last year's build (featuring the same dirt and split starts) but goes the opposite direction from last year.

Watch our First Look video preview of the SMX Playoff 1 round.

Breaking News: Barcia Out for Today

Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas has announced on Instagram that Justin Barcia will not race today. Barcia was making his return to racing after sitting out the second half of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship due to knee injuries in both legs. Rehabbing and doing everything he could to make it back for the playoffs, Barcia said Friday he was excited to get some gate drops in to finish out the season as he looks towards shifting and coming into 2025 fully healthy.

This morning, the team announced Barcia will sit out today’s race with hopes of racing next weekend’s second playoff round in Texas. 

First Qualifying Session

250SMX Class

In the first unseeded 250SMX qualifying session, Cameron McAdoo topped the field. In the seeded 250SMX first session, Ty Masterpool was leading the session with a 1:43.543 until Haiden Deegan put down a 1:43.412. Deegan thought he had the top time until Pierce Brown threw down a 1:43.339 on the final lap of the session to move into P1.

Nate Thrasher had a crash in the sand that saw him limping around for a minute before regrouping, grabbing his bike, and going back out on the track. About a minute later, Casey Cochran had a crash in the long rhythm section that resulted in a ride off the track on the back of the Alpinestars medical cart.

450SMX Class

As noted above, Justin Barcia is out for today after getting banged up yesterday. Jett Lawrence topped the first 450SMX seeded session with a 1:39.654 over Chase Sexton’s 1:40.646 and Eli Tomac’s 1:41.179 was third fastest. Still early in the day, but it looks like the #18 has not missed a beat in terms of raw speed.

Justin Hill topped the 450SMX unseeded qualifying session with a 1:43.841.

Second Qualifying Session

250SMX Class

Carson Mumford topped the second 250SMX unseeded qualifying session, looking solid so far in his first ride with the Fire Power Honda debut.

In the second 250SMX seeded session, Levi Kitchen’s 1:42.102 was the top time, then Haiden Deegan went 1:42.102, immediately followed by RJ Hampshire’s 1:41.618. Hampshire's time topped both the second 250SMX seeded qualifying session and the overall 250SMX qualifying. Great start to the day for Hampshire. Wonder if we will get that Hampshire vs Deegan battle we did not get to see in Pro Motocross.

450SMX Class

The second 450SMX qualifying session got underway and it was once again Eli Tomac leading the field around the track. Tomac's 1:40.796 was the top time until Chase Sexton put down a 1:39.779. Riders continued to find lines as the times improved. Justin Cooper put his name to the top of the board with a 1:39.574, which moved him into P1 overall as well. Sexton had a crash late in the session in the sand section, but he got up and was fine. Check out some awesome photos our guys at Align Media captured of Sexton's crash.

Colt Nichols’ 1:42.149 topped the second 450SMX unseeded qualifying session.

Breaking News: Anderson Also Out for Today

Racer X has learned that Jason Anderson will miss the motos today after lingering effects from his big crash yesterday during the final seeded free practice session.

LCQs

250SMX Class

Normally we would only see the top two riders qualify for the motos in this SMX format, but with Daxton Bennick and Joey Savatgy both out, we will take the top four.

Lux Turner holeshot the 250SMX LCQ race but was passed by Carson Mumford early. Cameron McAdoo battled Turner and eventually made his way into second after passing AEO Powersports KTM teammates Turner and Talon Hawkins. Jett Reynolds moved into fourth and had pressure from Hawkins. Mumford ran away with the race win over McAdoo as Turner came through third. At the finish line, Reynolds barely held off Hawkins for the fourth and final transfer spot! Hawkins banged his bike in frustration over the finish line jump.

450SMX Class

With Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson both out for the day with injuries, we will also take two extra riders from the LCQ to transfer into the motos. So again, top two transfer now turns into top four transfer. c

Jerry Robin snagged the race lead in the 450SMX LCQ. Robin would take the race win without much pressure as Justin Hill came through second. Romain Pape and Derek Kelley were both in a qualifying spot, but things happened quickly for both of them. First, a mistake from Kelley allowed Wilson by as Colt Nichols joined the party. With Wilson in third and Pape in fourth, Pape went wide in one of the 90-degree turns late on the final lap, which allowed Nichols to sneak into the final transfer spot. So, Robin, Hill, Wilson, and Nichols transferred as Pape finished fifth.

Breaking News: Casey Cochran is Out

Casey Cochran is out for the motos today after a big crash earlier this afternoon.

First Motos

250SMX Class

Opening ceremonies wrapped up and it is time to go racing! The gates dropped on the first moto of the day, and it was Levi Kitchen with the holeshot. Jalek Swoll clipped the rear wheel of Haiden Deegan and went down hard.

Julien Beaumer and Ryder DiFrancesco led when the gates dropped on the restart. Jo Shimoda and RJ Hampshire moved into second and third early as DiFrancesco was shuffled back a few positions. Chance Hymas was dead last early but moved up to 18th after one lap. Coty Schock had a crash in the sand on the second lap and was dead last. Haiden Deegan was around ninth off the restart but moved into fifth after about three laps. Hampshire and Deegan were battling but Hampshire had a huge crash! Beaumer had about a four-second lead but late in the race Deegan ran him down and cruised to the race win. Beaumer came through second over Shimoda. Hampshire finished tenth.

450SMX Class

In the first 450SMX moto, Eli Tomac got out to the early race lead. The Lawrence brothers shuffled into second and third, with Hunter ahead of Jett, followed by Phil Nicoletti. Tomac took off with the race lead and would eventually take the race win. Jett got around Hunter, which is where they would finish behind Tomac. Tomac would cruise to the race win with a 5.099-second gap at the checkered flag. Chase Sexton came through fourth as Ken Roczen rounded out the top five. Cooper Webb went down after the finish line but cut off a few sections of the track before reentering. I believe he got back into the same position he was in when he exited the track, but it looked a little excessive. There was an awesome four-way battle between Grant Harlan, teammates Fredrik Noren and Shane McElrath, and Dylan Ferrandis. Ferrandis bested the group and finished 12th. While it was Tomac’s first SMX moto after he missed last year, he rode a perfect moto. In his return to racing, Jett Lawrence does not look like he lost a beat either. Moto two should be exciting!

Update: Webb was penalized six positions for cutting the track. Instead of finishing eighth, he is credited with 14th.

Second Motos

250SMX Class

Nate Thrasher did not line up for the second moto and his spot on the gate was given to Cole Thompson. The gates dropped and it was Nick Romano and Julien Beaumer out front early. Quickly, Levi Kitchen made a pass to take over the lead as riders jostled for positions. Haiden Deegan got by Max Anstie and Beaumer to take over second behind Kitchen. Deegan's pass on Kitchen would give him 1-2 finishes and the overall win, taking Beaumer's 2-2 to a 3-2. Then Deegan went after Kitchen and made a quick pass to take over the lead. Deegan cruised to the race win and his 1-1 took the overall win. Kitchen would finish second as Anstie would get Beaumer later for third. Beaumer would finish fourth and his 2-4 finishes would still land him second overall (his first career podium) behind Deegan as Kitchen's 5-2 was third overall.

450SMX Class

The gates dropped on the fourth and final moto of the day and it was Justin Cooper who grabbed the holeshot ahead of Jett Lawrence and Eli Tomac. Moto one winner Tomac wasted no time trying to get into the lead as he passed Jett and went after his teammate out front. Tomac blasted past Cooper to get into the lead and set sail, little did he know Lawrence and Chase Sexton got into second and third after passes on Cooper as well. Fans we treated to the three riders we wanted to see battle, although Tomac and Lawrence started to pull away from the #4 KTM bike. Lawrence was the best rider in the sand section, and he used that line to finally pull off a pass on Tomac in the late stages of the moto. Tomac did not give up as he fought to the end but eventually Lawrence had enough breathing room to take the checkered flag. Lawrence’s 2-1 gave him the overall win over Tomac’s 1-2 as Sexton’s 4-3 gave him third overall. Despite finishing third, Sexton leaves with the red plates and SMX points lead after he came in as the top qualifier in combined AMA Supercross and Motocross points. Onto round two in Texas!