Cooper Webb leads Chase Sexton (450SX) and Haiden Deegan leads Julien Beaumer (250SX West Division) both by 15 points each, as Seth Hammaker and Tom Vialle enter the day tied in the 250SX East Division points lead with RJ Hampshire just three points back. Luckily, those championship leaders and contenders are not the only riders capable of wins. If the conditions are anything like they were last week, who knows what will happen today! 

In order to stay up to speed on what does happen today, stay tuned into this post, as well as our social media pages for more updates.

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Again, tarps are still on the track as of this morning, but they should be coming off here very soon.

Tarps Pulled Off

At about 8 a.m. the tarps were pulled off the track. 

First Qualifying Sessions

250SX

With the track uncovered and track walk done, it was time to get bikes on track for the first time. We had some puddles in the transitions, but the jump faces looked to be in better shape than expected! Trevor Colip (55.418) topped the 250SX overflow first qualifying session over Bryton Caroll (56.740). RJ Hampshire topped the 250SX East Division with a 52.736 over Seth Hammaker’s 53.095 and Chance Hymas’ 53.103. Tom Vialle’s 53.298 was the fourth fastest time in the session. Daxton Bennick’s fastest time (a 53.581) was canceled out after he stopped on the track, therefor the AMA docked his fast lap. Bennick’s new fast time of 55.538 was 13th in the session. Hardy Munoz had a crash but got up under his own power.

By the time the 250SX West Division field got onto the track, it continued to get better and less muddy. The early sessions soaked up a good bit of the mud and water in between transitions. The 250SX West riders got onto the track and got rolling. Haiden Deegan topped the field with a 51.976 over Garrett Marchbanks’ 52.045 and Cole Davies’ 52.514. Julien Beaumer’s 54.276 was sixth fastest in the season. Gavin Towers had a get off in the whoops while navigating a few riders. Jo Shimoda got stuck in a puddle off the track before the finish line, but he got going again after a minute. Hunter Yoder was docked his fastest lap time (a 55.076) for stopping on the track, just as Bennick did. Yoder's new time was a 55.664—13th fastest just as Bennick in his session! Most of the turns are in good shape, however the flat turn going back down on the starting straight are the worst sections of the track. Everything else is in a good spot so far. It is cold here 40 ° Fahrenheit but it is not raining now, and the track seems to be in pretty good shape!

450SX

Dylan Ferrandis was leading the 450SX class session early on before Justin Hill moved into the top spot. Chase Sexton took over the top spot with a 51.228, which was the top time at the end of the session. Justin Cooper’s 51.358 was second, then Ferrandis with a 51.903. Aaron Plessinger was eighth with a 52.347. In his first qualifying session on his fill-in ride with Honda HRC Progressive, Dean Wilson topped the 450SX group B. After the final first qualifying session, the SMX Track Crew got to work on some of the jump faces, turns, and the starting straight. Again, the track is in much better shape than initially expected after it down-poured all day yesterday.

Second Qualifying Sessions

250SX

Aydin Shive down in the first rhythm section and he got up quickly, went and got new gloves from his mechanic and got back onto the track. Two laps later, Shive had the fastest lap! Bryton Carroll took the top spot before Trevor Colip eventually got into P1 again. Colip topped the session with the top time—a 53.679—coming on his seventh and final lap.

The gates dropped on the second 250SX West Division session and it was Michael Mosiman leading the field as Haiden Deegan, Coty Schock, Lux Turner, Cole Davies, and Jordon Smith were right behind the #93. Gavin Towers had a bike issue right from the gate drop and he pulled off halfway through the first session. He was visibly frustrated as walked up through the tunnel after talking to his mechanic, who began pushing his bike. TJ Albright went down and favoring his right knee/lower leg badly. He got back onto his bike and did two sections without his foot on the peg and realized he couldn't go anymore. He rode off through the tunnel without getting in one full lap. Garrett Marchbanks moved to P1 with a 49.865 but Julien Beaumer snuck to the top spot with a 49.205. On the final lap, Deegan had a big crash in the whoops where he went face first into the puddle of the finish line jump! He got up okay though and rode off without any problems, although extra muddy and without goggles and gloves. In the 250SX East session, Gage Linville crashed and caused a red flag. Seth Hammaker topped the field with a 50.366, besting Tom Vialle’s 50.390. Word from the Dirt Bike Depot team is Linville has a concussion and a shoulder injury and is going to the hospital for further evaluation. Bummer for the #75 after his incredible ride in the Massachusetts mud last weekend.

450SX

Teammates Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb lead the 450SX field around. Cooper put in a 51.057 early but Chase Sexton started cooking. Sexton was going 3-3-4-1 in the long rhythm section, which was fast. He moved to the top with a 48.803, then he put in two laps even better than that! At one point there was a train of Sexton, Cooper, Webb, Malcolm Stewart, Justin Barcia, and Joey Savatgy all on hot laps together. Stewart and Cooper were two of the riders getting the triple after the whoops clean, which looked fast.

Night Show

250SX West Heat Race

In the first heat race of the night, it was Cole Davies with the early race lead out of turn one as he led Julien Beaumer, Haiden Deegan, Michael Mosiman, Garrett Marchbanks, and the field. Lux Turner had an issue and pulled off after the first turn (looked like lower left leg issue). Deegan caught Beaumer and passed him then Deegan caught Davies! Deegan made a pass for the lead as they came through the first turn as Davies went to the second-most inside rut and Deegan nailed the very inside rut! Deegan took the race win as Davies, Beaumer, Garrett Marchbanks, and Jo Shimoda rounded out the top ten. Michael Mosiman, Gavin Towers, and Avery Long all had separate crashes and will have to go to the LCQ.

250SX East Heat Race

the 250SX East heat was up next and it was Seth Hammaker holeshotting over Tom Vialle, RJ Hampshire, and Chance Hymas. Vialle had a big get off early in the race, landing on a Tuff Block alongside the track, which slammed him to the ground. Vialle got up and remounted but immediately went alongside the track in the wrong direction. He went straight up the tunnel, ending his race early. Vialle’s crash opened up Hammaker’s lead to a few more seconds over Hampshire with Hymas still on the rear wheel of the #24. Henry Miller and Hardy Munoz were battling over the final transfer spot, which ended up going to Miller. Hammaker took the race win in front of his home crowd, just as he did last year.

450SX Heat Race One

The first 450SX heat race got underway and it was Cooper Webb and Shane McElrath out front early on! Aaron Plessinger was doing the triple after the whoops, which was fast, and he used that line to close in on Cooper Webb. Webb made a mistake, Plessinger jumped up alongside of the #2 and the two came out of the turn and into and down the long rhythm section side-by-side! Plessinger had the inside and took over the lead once they got to the double that followed. Malcolm Stewart was able to get the triple after the whoops as well, which allowed him to pass McElrath and take over third. Dean Wilson rode a solid sixth in his first heat race of the season in his season/Honda HRC Progressive fill-in ride debut. After a crash, Christian Craig brought home ninth, scoring the final transfer spot.

450SX Heat Race Two

The second 450SX heat race got underway and it was Justin Cooper with the holeshot, giving Monster Energy Yamaha another holeshot. Chase Sexton looked like he had the race position exiting the first turn, but Cooper went wide and took away the #4’s line. The top five riders started to break away some (Cooper, Sexton, Justin Barcia, Benny Bloss, and Ken Roczen) as battling continued throughout the race. Joey Savatgy nailed the triple after the whoops, which allowed him to catch an unexpecting Mitchell Oldenburg off guard, giving the #17 a position after a perfectly executed, clean, block pass. Out front, Sexton caught up to Cooper as they both caught up to some lappers. Cooper got caught up in the back of Hunter Schlosser as the bunch went into the turn taking riders down the starting straight! They both stayed up, but Sexton swung wide and took over the lead! Sexton took the checkered flag about two laps later. Plessinger and Sexton made it a KTM sweep in the 450SX heats. Fastest qualifier, check; heat race win, check. Sexton has been on form today, could he score the race win tonight? Barcia, Bloss, Roczen, Nichols, Oldenburg, Savatgy, and Fredrik Noren scored the final transfer spots. Jeremy Hand was going after Noren late in the race and it was a drag race through the rollers and to the checkered flag, but Noren barely came through first! Just 0.042 seconds separated the two!

The heat races are done and after some track maintenance, we will have the LCQs as riders look to get a spot in the top four in order to qualify for their respective main events.

250SX LCQ

Tom Vialle was on the very outside gate, and he needed to execute the start, get into the top four, and transfer to the main event in order to keep his championship hopes alive. Luckily, he executed it perfectly, exiting the turn second behind Gavin Towers. Towers took the race win as Vialle avoided any troubles as he needed to. Michael Mosiman and Hardy Munoz executed and scored the final two transfer positions.

450SX LCQ

Grant Harlan holeshot and checked out in the 450SX LCQ, taking the race win as Kyle Chisholm, Kevin Moranz, and Jeremy Hand all transferred to the main event.

250SX East/West Showdown Main Event

The second 250SX East/West Showdown main event got underway and it was Seth Hammaker with the holeshot as RJ Hampshire and Coty Schock ran into trouble and collected one another in the first turn! Hammaker looked like things were about to go his way until a red flag came out for a downed rider: Daxton Bennick. Bennick was placed on a backboard and taken off on the Alpinestars medical cart. You hate to see anyone go down like that, so hopefully the SX sophomore will be okay.

The big questions were: could Hammaker get another good start? And could Hampshire get a better start than his first-turn pileup? Well, both actually! Hampshire holeshot just ahead of Hammaker! A couple of turns in and it was Hampshire led Hammaker, Coty Schock, Haiden Deegan, Cole Davies, Vialle, Hymas, and Jo Shimoda. Deegan quickly jumped to third but then he made a mistake and got passed by Davies! Deegan pulled the trigger on the triple after the whoops and he almost T-boned Hammaker to the ground after clipping the landing! Davies got around race leader Hampshire and into the lead, then pulled away. The #100 took his second straight win in two races, which is huge for the New Zealand supercross rookie. Deegan got by Hampshire and the two would finish second and third, respectively, behind Davies. Hammaker came home fourth in his home race and Jo Shimoda bested Tom Vialle after battling back and forth and finally making a late race pass on the #1E. unofficially, Hammaker and Hampshire are tied in the points lead with Vialle two points back.

450SX Main Event

The 450SX main event got underway and Shane McElrath came in hot, sending himself, Aaron Plessinger, Justin Cooper, and a few other riders to the ground. Chase Sexton got bumped wide and sneaking up the very inside of the turn was Justin Barcia! Barcia got the holeshot and looked like he had the speed to lead laps, a good sign from the #51, but suddenly he went off the track in the turn after the finish line! He was picking up his bike as it faced the wrong direction in the turn back onto the starting straight! Ken Roczen inherited the race lead and started to build a four-second lead. Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb engaged in a battle as they charged from about fourth and sixth. Eventually, Sexton tracked down Roczen and made a pass. Roczen ran second before Webb finally got around the #94 machine. Webb was trying his all to stay with the #4 but Sexton got some breathing room and pulled way for the win. Webb and Roczen rounded out the podium. Sexton gains a few points on Webb in the championship standings, but Webb continues to lead.