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Morning Report

The pits are abuzz here at the Fly Racing Washougal National as the teams and riders prepare for what promises to be an exciting eighth round of Pro Motocross. The weather should be fantastic today. It's slightly chilly this morning, with a forecasted high of 78 degrees, so late-moto fatigue should be less of a factor than it’s been at previous at rounds with higher temps and suffocating humidity.

As far as the championship goes, in the 250 Class Haiden Deegan holds a 45-point lead over Jo Shimoda. There are still four rounds left, including today, so it’s far from over, but if Shimoda wants to give himself a fighting chance he needs to put in an outstanding performance today and hope Deegan has a so-so day at best. If that doesn’t happen Deegan, who is exceptional at this racetrack, can really go into management mode for the final three rounds.

In the 450s it’s all Jett Lawrence. The Honda HRC Progressive rider has yet to lose an overall this season, a fact that’s reflected in the points. Lawrence leads his brother, Hunter, by 51 points. Last week at Spring Creek Hunter put up a strong fight against Jett, winning the first moto and taking second in moto two. Hunter is going to win one of these things sooner or later, will it be today?

On the injury front we’re down more riders this week. Jason Anderson’s illness continues to be an issue, and it was announced earlier this week that he won’t be returning for any of the remaining rounds. Aaron Plessinger will also miss Washougal after having issues with illness at RedBud and Spring Creek. Joey Savatgy is also out with a leg injury. For a complete look at who’s out for Washougal, check out our Injury Report.

Qualifying is set to begin here momentarily, so check back soon for a report on who’s setting the pace.

Qualifying - First Sessions

Not a lot of surprises in the first 450 qualifier. Chase Sexton was fast initially, but it wasn’t long before Jett Lawrence would climb to the top of the board with a 2:12.572. His brother, Hunter, started inching close to that time, but it wouldn’t matter, as Jett would unleash a 2:10.869 late in the session. Nobody else would come close to that time. Afterward Jett described the Washougal track as one that’s hard to make up a lot of time on, but easy to lose a lot of time.

In the 250 ranks Garrett Marchbanks was unbelievably fast. He set a fast time early, a 2:15.421, which would stand for the entire session. Haiden Deegan looked fast too, but he was never quite able to match Marchbanks’ pace. Deegan would hover in second for most of the session until Jo Shimoda turned in a 2:15.716 at the end to take over the spot.

Qualifying - Second Sessions

It took a few laps for times to really start dropping in the second 450 qualifier, but when they did it was Eli Tomac who was initially fast with a 2:13.468. It didn’t stand though because all of a sudden Chase Sexton came blazing in with a 2:12.560. Jett Lawrence, for the most part was pretty quiet in this session. But then at the end he put it together and turned in a 2:11.079, which would stand as the fastest lap, although it wasn’t as fast as his fast lap from the first session. The final lap was really exciting to watch, as a lot of the guys were going for it on the last lap, and the times were dropping like crazy. Tomac added a little excitement for the fans too by wheelieing through the whoops before the finish line while he looked over at the fans. It was pretty impressive, and it’s not often we see Tomac showboat like that.

The action in the final 250 qualifier was fantastic. Dilan Schwartz was the first rider to post a meaningful time, but Seth Hammaker displaced him with a 2:15.773. It didn’t last long though, as Marchbanks, the fastest qualifier from the first round, roared to the top with a 2:15.537. This was at about the halfway mark, and at this point it almost seemed like the intensity went up a notch. Riders were absolutely hammering through the whoops section before the finish line, and the times continued to drop.

Hammaker would take back over with a 2:15.125 toward the end of the session, only to see Schwartz come storming through moments later with an incredible 2:15.080. Marchbanks was not to be denied though, and on his last lap he must have pulled out every trick he had because when he crossed the line for the last time he shot back to the top with a 2:14.412. It was pretty incredible watching the times drop that frequently, and that much. It was also interesting that Haiden Deegan wasn’t part of the battle. He’s usually at the front of these parties, and if he’s not he’s always in the fight. But in this one he was fifth-fastest with a 2:16.094. Buckle up, the 250 Class looks like it's going to be interesting this afternoon!

450 Moto One

Jorge Prado got the day going with a holeshot, but Chase Sexton quickly took over the lead. About half a lap later Jett Lawrence and Eli Tomac flew by Prado too, putting them in second and third, respectively. Sexton was trying to make a break for it, but there was no way Lawrence was going to let that happen. After about ten minutes Lawrence had distanced himself from Tomac and was all over Sexton, and the battle raged for what seemed like forever. Every time Lawrence would try something Sexton would answer back, frustrating Lawrence. Finally Lawrence made a mistake and washed out in a righthander. That allowed Tomac to get back past Lawrence. Lawrence would regroup and go after Tomac late in the moto, but Tomac dug deep and refused to let Lawrence by. Then Tomac got through a group of lappers a bit better than Lawrence, which gave Tomac all the room he needed to bring it home in second place. 

250 Moto Two

The Triumphs have been starting great lately, and that trend continued here in Washougal when Jalek Swoll exploded out of the gate with a big holeshot. Unfortunately he washed out after a lap and crashed. It looked like he took a hit to the head too because he didn’t move for a few moments. Swoll ended up eventually rejoining the race, but was black flagged out of a medical concern.

Ryder DiFrancesco was the benefactor when Swoll went down, and took over the lead. It wasn’t long before Haiden Deegan was all over him, but as the two battled their lines came together in the air. Deegan was able to save it, but Difrancesco went down. That put Deegan in the lead, with Jo Shimoda giving chase. At the halfway point Shimoda had closed to the tail of Deegan, but Deegan responded and stretched it back out. Shimoda wasn’t able to match the pace and Deegan would go on to take the moto win by a comfortable margin.

Dilan Schwartz, who was extremely fast in qualifying, had an incredible moto. He started well and ran third for most of the race before succumbing to a hard charging Garrett Marchbanks, who’d gotten a mediocre start. Fifth went to Austin Forkner, who had a great battle with Jordon Smith for what seemed like the whole second half of the moto. Max Vohland rode well in this one, running as high as fourth before dropping back to eighth.

450 Moto Two

Wild, crazy, insane. Pick any of those words and it accurately describes the first chapter of this moto. Hunter Lawrence shot out to a big holeshot with Jett Lawrence right behind him, but Chase Sexton was all over Jett, which forced Jett to go on the offense right away. Jett managed to find a way around Hunter, but Sexton wasn’t able to immediately follow. Turn after turn Sexton was looking for a way around, but Hunter expertly shut him down each time. They were even side by side a few times, but Hunter continued to frustrate Sexton. Finally Sexton found an outside line he was able to make work and he blazed into second. Eli Tomac, meanwhile was in fourth right behind all the action that was unfolding. It was amazing! Unfortunately a rider went down hard somewhere which prompted a red flag.

On the staggered restart Jett shot out to the lead with Hunter right behind him, but Sexton immediately went to work and zapped Hunter. With twenty minutes remaining Sexton kept Jett honest, but after a few laps Sexton seemed to settle in for second and Jett inched away. Tomac held third and pressured Sexton for a little while, but Sexton ultimately ended up in a lonely second place, which was good enough to beat Jett for the overall. Remarkably, that’s only the second 450 overall Jett has lost in his career!

250 Moto Two

Seth Hammaker nabbed the holeshot in this one but Jo Shimoda had zero interest in letting Hammaker hang on to the lead. Shimoda immediately started looking for a way around Hammaker, and when he found he zipped right by and took off. That as pretty much all we’d see from Shimoda all moto, as the Honda HRC Progressive rider checked out and on the moto by a huge margin, going 2-1 for the overall.

Haiden Deegan didn’t get a very good start in this one and ran around tenth early. He was charging forward and found himself in a tremendous battle with Ryder DiFrancesco and Garrett Marchbanks for fourth. Deegan would win out in that battle and go after Mikkel Haarup in third, but just when it looked like a battle would unfold Haarup went down all by himself. With a few laps left in the moto Deegan had caught Hammaker and second. After a few turns Deegan went around Hammaker and rode to a lonely second place. Marchbanks made a run at Hammaker with a couple laps left, but Hammaker turned it back up and held onto third.