One rider who will miss the action is Austin Forkner, due to a fractured hand sustained last week at press day. Joey Savatgy has a broken toe, also sustained in Houston, but he’ll still line up to race. For a full look at who’s in and who’s out, check out our Injury Report.

As far as the track goes, it’s typically pretty hard and dry here. We haven’t been down on track walk just yet, but just from walking along the edge of it earlier this morning and taking a look, it seems like typical Glendale dirt. They’re busy hosing down the track surface right now to help combat the dryness that will want to appear later today. The track itself is big, thanks to the large floorspace here in State Farm Stadium. The start straight is very long and gets incorporated into the track lap after lap, and there are several long rhythm lanes. There’s also a long, sweeping righthand sand section that looks as though it’s meant to have a working inside and outside lane.

Update - On track walk we noticed one of the turns, a near 180-degree lefthander, is made from deep, soft mulch, which should be interesting when guys start blasting through it. There's also a fair amount of it mixed into the rest of the dirt.

Qualifying is set to begin shortly, so check back soon for a report on who’s throwing it down in Glendale.

Qualifying – Session One

Not many surprises in this first qualifying session. Haiden Deegan was fast initially, but Ryder DiFrancesco took over with a 58.507. Not to be outdone, Deegan immediately ripped off a 57.616. DiFrancesco fired back, setting a 57.644, but it wasn’t quite quick enough. In the end DiFrancesco was still credited with the fastest lap, however, because Deegan and Hunter Yoder were both penalized their fast laps due to failing sound requirements.

Deegan pulled off an interesting line several times in a rhythm lane, going double-double-triple-double. The difficult part was the final double. The transition from the landing to the takeoff is short, the gap that has to be cleared isn’t small, and precision was required. It remains to be seen if it’s the fastest line, but it’s always good to have as many tricks in the bag as possible come race time. Multiple riders were doing it later in the 450SX session, but Deegan was the only 250SX rider we saw doing it.

Speaking of the 450SX guys, it was an absolute war in the first 450SX qualifier! Lap after lap the times just kept dropping, with a host of riders briefly spending time on top of the board. Justin Cooper was up top first, then Eli Tomac with a 58.504. Then Ken Roczen put in an extremely impressive looking lap and recorded a 58.405. Things would continue like this, with Cooper, Tomac, Roczen, Chase Sexton, and Aaron Plessinger all playing king of the lap-time-mountain. It was exciting, but in the end it was Tomac whose 57.481 would hold as the fastest time of the session.

After this session RJ Hampshire pulled out of competition for the day. He'd been dealing with a head cold and was extremely ill. For more details, go here.

So far inside line in the sand seems to be the line of choice for riders on a hot lap. We’ll see if they rework it between sessions to try to even it up.

Qualifying – Session Two

The second 250SX qualifying session was a dogfight between Levi Kitchen and Haiden Deegan, as the two were slugging it out on the stopwatch the entire time. Kitchen kicked it off with a scorching 57.888. Deegan immediately went for a heater after that but made a couple of very small mistakes in a rhythm lane that cost him, and he ended up with a 58.102. He knew he was capable of going much faster than that, and he proved it immediately, clicking off a 57.712. Kitchen, meanwhile recorded a 57.793 on the same lap!

It would continue like this, with Kitchen and Deegan besting each other over and over. When the clock started winding down neither one backed off, bringing heat all the way to the end. For a moment it looked like Kitchen would win this battle, but on his final lap Deegan switched up his line in the sand, going inside instead of outside, and posted a sizzling 56.638.

In 450SX action it was Jorge Prado who was up front first with a 57.940, but it wouldn’t take long for Ken Roczen turn in a 57.729. Prado looked great out there though and retaliated with a 57.548. Roczen took it back, logging a 57.216, but out of nowhere Joey Savatgy threw down a 57.146. It wouldn’t last though, because Eli Tomac was absolutely ripping in his sixth lap and busted out a 56.863.

Tomac had a line in this lap we didn’t see anyone else doing. The end of the longest rhythm lane bends left, and there are a series of smaller jumps there that most riders are triple-doubling through. Tomac took it a step further by going four-one, and it looked awesome. He shorted that same section and blew off the track doing that quad a lap or two later, ruining a seriously fast lap, but don’t be surprised if he uses that line again later today.

Elsewhere in this session, Prado came roaring back toward the end with a 56.451. Nobody else would be able to beat, securing Prado’s status as the fastest qualifier in Glendale.

250SX – Heat One

Plenty of action right off the bat in the first race of the night. Max Anstie came screaming into the first turn but he was too hot and went in deep, going off the track. He hit a Tuff Block but managed to keep it together. He started in last place though. Up front was Lux Turner, with his teammate, Parker Ross, close behind, but then Ross threw it away in a rhythm section! Levi Kitchen, meanwhile, hadn’t gotten a stellar start but was moving through the pack, and fast. After a lap he was all over Max Vohland for second. Vohland hung in there though, deftly handling the pressure from Kitchen.

As the race unfolded Anstie was charging through the pack, moving up to ninth, the final qualifying spot, in just a few laps. He kept moving forward too, eventually finishing fifth. Ross eventually charged back into a qualifying spot too after going down on the first lap.

Up front Vohland and Kitchen had caught Turner, and with just over a lap left they zipped past him. That set up a fight for the win between Vohland and Kitchen, but Kitchen was never able to get close enough to pull the trigger on Vohland. Vohland took the win with Kitchen, Turner, Avery Long, Anstie, Cole Thompson, Robbie Wageman, Ross, and Preston Masciangelo filling the transfer spots.

250SX – Heat Two

Haiden Deegan rocketed to the holeshot in the second 250SX heat and started gapping the field pretty quickly. Carson Mumford held second, but he had Michael Mosiman all over him. Credit to Mumford for holding Mosiman off for a bit, but Mosiman was able to make the inevitable pass happen in a turn right after the whoops. It looked like Hunter Yoder would make a move on Mumford next, but Yoder made a big mistake in a rhythm section when he shorted a jump, which killed his momentum. Yoder regrouped and a couple laps later he’d closed back up on Mumford, but it was Cameron McAdoo who would make the pass on both Yoder and Mumford. Yoder was able to finally make the move on Mumford for fourth in the closing stages of the race.

Ryder DiFrancesco got a bad start in this one and had to come from the very back. He charged and was able to get into eighth.

Deegan won, with Mosiman, McAdoo, Yoder, Mumford, Josh Varize, Justin Rodebell, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Crockett Myers filling the transfer spots.

450SX – Heat One

Eli Tomac got a huge jump in this one and came into turn one way ahead of everyone. Christian Craig held second, and Hunter Lawrence was doing his best to get around him early. Craig held on though, and soon Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb were on Lawrence’s rear wheel. This quickly turned into a battle royale, with Lawrence having to play defense while doing everything he could to get around Craig, which was proving to be a difficult task. Finally Lawrence cut to the inside entering the sand section and jumped deep into the section to cut Craig off. Somehow Craig was able to hang on, but Lawrence passed him a couple turns later.

Webb and Cooper were next to go around Craig, with Cooper gaining an advantage on Webb. By this time Tomac was gone up front, and Lawrence was all alone in second. Cooper was able to close on Lawrence on the final lap, but he ran out of time to get close enough to make a move. Tomac took the win with Lawrence, Cooper, Webb, Craig, Garrett Marchbanks, Colt Nichols, Justin Hill, and Grant Harlan filling the transfer spots.

450SX – Heat Two

Jorge Prado got the early lead in the last heat race of the night and immediately started stretching it out. Chase Sexton, meanwhile, had gotten a bad start and was forced to start picking his way through the pack. After a few laps Joey Savatgy was starting to close the gap on Prado, but Prado responded and stabilized the gap.

As the race wound down Vince Friese, who’d started well, started getting freight trained. With a lap-and-a-half left he was in the final transfer spot with Shane McElrath all over him, but McElrath went down in the sand section, taking the pressure off Friese. Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen had a fierce battle for third, with Roczen trying like crazy to get by, but Anderson hung tough and held on for third.

Prado took the win with Savatgy, Anderson, Roczen, Sexton, Aaron Plessinger, Malcolm Stewart, Dylan Ferrandis, and Friese filling the transfer spots.

250SX – LCQ

Reven Gordon took ownership of the early lead after bouncing off Ayden Shive in a rhythm lane. Shive stayed on him though and blew by him in the whoops. Colby Copp ran third, but then a rider went down hard and red flag came out, halting the race. On the restart Gordon got another good start and it looked like he might holeshot, but it was Shive who took command of the lead. Kai Aiello gave chase in third but Copp and Hunter Schlosser freight trained him. It looked like Aiello’s hopes of making the main were gone, but he regrouped and went by Copp in a rhythm lane, only to have Copp blitz back by in the whoops. Shortly after that the wheels came off for Aiello when he got out of shape in a rhythm lane and went down. At that point Shive had a commanding lead, but Gordon was under fire from Schlosser, who was able to squirt by. Shive won, with Schlosser, Gordon, and Copp filling the transfer spots.

450SX – LCQ

Romain Pape holeshot this one but he was almost instantly passed by Mitchell Harrison and Josh Cartwright. Harrison and Cartwright started gapping the field while Pape tried to hold off Shane McElrath. It was a losing endeavor for Pape, and as soon as McElrath got around Pape he took off after the leaders. Kevin Moranz was next to put a move on Pape, but Moranz went down when he tried to come in on the inside of Pape.

Tristan Lane and Freddie Noren had managed to go by Pape by this point, which set up an intense battle between Lane and Noren for the final transfer spot. Just when the battle was heating up Lane made a mistake and went down hard in a rhythm lane, handing the spot to Noren.

Up front McElrath had taken over the lead and checked out, with Harrison, Cartwright, and Noren riding into the final transfer spots of the night.

250SX – Main Event

Haiden Deegan shot out to a holeshot in the 250SX main event followed by his teammate, Michael Mosiman. Ryder DiFrancesco held third, but he had Cameron McAdoo all over him. DiFrancesco held on, however, and was able to start inching away from McAdoo. Levi Kitchen and Max Anstie, meanwhile, got horrible starts and were buried.  

As the race progressed McAdoo had closed back on DiFrancesco and the two would yo-yo in different sections of the track. McAdoo had better whoop speed and on a particularly good time through he used it to come up the inside of DiFrancesco and put a block pass on him for third.

With nine minutes to go Kitchen had jumped past Hunter Yoder for sixth and set his sights on Max Vohland. Just like McAdoo, Kitchen had superior whoop speed and used a strong drive to blow by Vohland and motor away. A few laps later Kitchen made the same exact move on DiFrancesco for fourth. With four minutes left he was now only a couple seconds behind McAdoo, a gap that Kitchen erased very quickly. Then McAdoo made a mistake and came up short on a double and just like that, Kitchen zipped by.

Kitchen was absolutely ripping, and he quickly caught Mosiman and blew by him in the sand section. McAdoo would pass Mosiman a few laps later for third, and that’s where they’d end up. Deegan took the win with Kitchen, McAdoo, Mosiman, and DiFrancesco rounding out the top five.

After Deegan crossed the line he stopped, looked back at the finish and cocked an imaginary bow and arrow. When Kitchen came over the finish line and rode up to where Deegan was, Deegan let his pretend arrow loose.

450SX – Main Event

Hunter Lawrence emerged with the early lead in this one, but the biggest news was a first-turn pileup involving Eli Tomac, Christian Craig, and Colt Nichols. Tomac took a while to rejoin the race and was in dead last. Up front Lawrence led but he had Ken Roczen all over him, and suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Roczen had gone by for the lead! Few riders can match Roczen’s pace early in a race, and it showed after Roczen took the lead. He instantly started gapping Lawrence and soon had a few seconds on him.

Back in the pack was Chase Sexton, who’d gotten a horrible start and was buried. After about nine minutes he’d worked up to seventh, but he was unable to make up any further ground before the end of the race.

Just past the halfway point Roczen had about four seconds on Lawrence, with Cooper Webb all by himself in third. Lawrence has been extremely strong late in the races this season, and the crowd waited for him to start eating back into Roczen’s lead. But that didn’t happen. In fact, Roczen started stretching it out even more on Lawrence. With under two minutes left, Roczen had over five seconds on Lawrence, which was more than enough of a gap to bring it home for the win. Lawrence, Webb, Justin Cooper, and Jorge Prado rounded out the top five. Tomac brought it home in 12^th.