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Morning Report

Good morning race fans. Our 11th round of 450SX brings us to Detroit and, man, it's so cold in the D! The temperature will be a high of 44° Fahrenheit today, but we can expect some great racing inside Ford Field tonight! The home of the Detroit Lions National Football League team will host today's action in our second to last domed venue SX for the 17-round championship.

Unfortunately, in terms of the 250SX Championship, we are down a championship contender as Pierce Brown is out for the immediate future with a collarbone and wrist injury from his crash at the Birmingham SX East/West Showdown main event. Cole Davies enters in the championship lead with Seth Hammaker and Jo Shimoda close behind. Daxton Bennick is fifth behind injured and out Brown, but there are other riders in this deep field that will be competing for top five finishes. In other 250SX injury news, Jalek Swoll is out indefinitely with a torn Achilles tendon (his previous two Achilles injuries was his left leg, this one is his right leg). That is three Achilles tendon injuries since January 2025, which is just downright brutal. Cullin Park is also out with a shoulder injury. On the flip side, Gavin Towers is making his return after an Indianapolis SX injury and Casey Cochran is making his season debut following his pre-season collarbone injury about a month ago.

Read our full injury report for more updates.

In 450SX, Hunter Lawrence continues his hot streak with a slight gap (nine points) over Eli Tomac. Ken Roczen has also been damn good lately, despite only one win on the season. Could he strike tonight? Chase Sexton and Dylan Ferrandis are both returning from injuries, which is great for race fans. Aaron Plessinger, however, is out with injuries from last weekend's Birmingham SX crash. How much of an impact with Sexton have in his return today?

Take a look at the track via an Insta360 POV video courtesy of Luke Neese.

And here is today’s race day schedule, plus the broadcast schedule.

Track walk is completed, as well as a great message from SMX chaplain Jake Venada. Bikes will be on track soon!

Seth Hammaker Note

Seth Hammaker is looking to better average of 19th between his first two 250SX races in Ford Field! After a fourth at the 250SX East season opener, he has three straight podium finishes. Can Hammaker turn his Detroit luck around today? 

First Qualifying Sessions

250SX

DBD KTM teammates Marcus Phelps and Jace Kessler were going back and forth for P1 in the 250SX Group C first session before Hamden Hudson topped the board.

In 250SX GROUP B, Nick Romano and John Short led the field around the track but it was Evan Ferry who topped the board. A good bit of fast guys in this one with Gavin Towers leading the field on the results page initially, plus Casey Cochran was in this session in his season debut.

In 250SX A, it was championship leader Cole Davies out front with his red-background number plate #37 machine. Davies was P1 but Seth Hammaker bumped Davies to P2. Davies came back with another great lap to move back into P1. Caden Dudney, who was putting together another solid qualifying session here in his rookie season, had a crash just as time was expiring. The Yamaha rider’s rear end kicked left, clipped a Tuff Blox, and then his front wheel caught the tenth and very inside whoop, causing an endo. He got up and got back on his bike, which was a good sign. Davies was the fastest in the whoops—shocking—as his 6.601 was the fastest lap in the sector that session, over Hammaker’s 6.846, Dudney’s 6.934, and Coty Schock’s 7.028. In terms of full laps, Daveis’ 52.151 topped Hammaker’s 52.429, Dudney’s 53.619, Jo Shimoda’s 53.795, and Davein Simonson’s 54.323.

450SX

In the first 450SX group A session, it was some heavy hitters out front as Hunter Lawrence, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb, and Ken Roczen were the top five riders on track. Once the times started counting, Dylan Ferrandis had the fastest first lap! Then, Roczen went into P1 and a few laps later, Ferrandis’ top time was 12th. Hunter Lawrence was 14th in the session. Jordon Smith was up to ninth with a solid lap and Justin Hill moved into P4 with a great lap of his own. Roczen’s 51.803 was the top time as only him, Sexton (51.896) and Justin Cooper (51.945) were sub-52. Hill’s 52.274 was fourth, then Jorge Prado’s 52.415 was fifth. Malcolm Stewart was sixth (52.480), as Tomac was seventh (52.659, followed by Lawrence (52.685). Smith was ninth, then Webb tenth.

In 450SX B, Justin Bogle topped Cade Clason.

Second Qualifying Sessions

250SX

In 250SX group C, Marcus Phelps and Christopher Blackmer were both penalized their fastest lap. Jace Kessler topped the field over Phelps and Gage Stine.

In 250SX group B, Nick Romano and Casey Cochran were out front when the gates dropped on the fake/practice start. Cochran jumped around Romano to lead the field around. Romano had a huge case and near crash in the endzone rhythm section when he wheelied going on-off and came up short on the landing. Somehow, he saved it and stayed up. Evan Ferry was rolling in the session, putting down a 53.285 to top the field over Cochran, Gavin Towers, Romano, and CJ Benard. Ferry and Romano were tested for sound afterwards, with Romano failing his test and losing his fastest lap.

In 250SX group A, it was Caden Dudney and Daxton Bennick out front of the fake/practice start. Cole Davies was third but rolled around and let the field pass him before going to work. Bennick was rolling out front, but it was Coty Schock who had the fastest first lap, with a 54.563. Then, Derek Kelley put in a great lap, a 53.935 of his own to move into P1 briefly. Jo Shimoda put in a 51.837 to move into P1. Davies then got into P1 ahead of Hammaker and Nate Thrasher. Schock had a slight bobble that held up Hammaker, who was right behind the ClubMX rider, slightly on his heater lap. Davies’ 51.637 topped the session and overall qualifying, topping his 52.151 from the first session.

After the session, Shimoda and Davies were tested for sound.

In terms of overall qualifying, some strong laps by Devin Simonson (third overall), Derek Kelley (sixth overall), Evan Ferry (seventh overall), Henry Miller (eighth overall), Coty Schock (ninth overall).

Shimoda qualifies 12th overall, then Bennick 13th.

450SX 

Jorge Prado, Vince Friese, and Justin Cooper were out front off the fake/practice start in 450SX group A second session. Joey Savatgy, Hunter Lawrence, and Garrett Marchbanks were rolling out dead last behind the field. Vince Friese and Mitchell Harrison were two riders repetitively jumping from section to section and cutting the turn going into the endzone rhythm section. Harrison hit the pole the AMA officials had put in after yesterday’s press day riding session and knocked it over. This opened the floodgates for a handful of other riders to try this line, too…

Jordon Smith was up to third with a great lap as Ken Roczen sat P1. But late in the session, Hunter Lawrence dropped a 51.546, which topped Roczen’s 51.803 from the first session. Eli Tomac did not have a great session but it would not be fair to count him out, similar to Cooper Webb, when the racing starts tonight.

Malcolm Stewart and Chase Sexton were tested for sound afterwards.

Update: Davies Penalized for Failed Sound Test, Hammaker Now P1

Update to the Detroit SX qualifying: Cole Davies was penalized for failing sound test after the second session (as was Jo Shimoda).

Now, Seth Hammaker is officially P1 overall in 250SX qualifying.

There were a handful of sound penalties in the second sessions, including Marcus Phelps, Nick Romano, Cole Davies, Jo Shimoda, Chase Sexton, and Cade Clason.

Hammaker's 51.762 now stands as the top 250SX time for the day.

Meanwhile, Hunter Lawrence's 51.505 stands as the top 450SX qualifying time.

Update: Davies' mechanic came back to the track to test sound again

Davies' mechanic, Lachie Mills, came back to the track to retest sound. He, and another member of the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team, had a backpack full of four extra pipes. And I can confirm, they went through the entire bag testing the pipes!

Night Show

Heat Races

250SX Heat Race One

Caden Dudney got the holeshot and was leading the race. Just a few laps to go and Dudney went down, giving the lead to Nick Romano. A lap later, Cole Davies tripled and bumped Romano out of the way to take the lead. Jo Shimoda ran into trouble early and was back off the start, although he moved his way forward to finish third. Dudney remounted and finished fourth to still make it well into a qualifying spot. Casey Cochran finished fifth in his first heat race win of the season in a strong ride.

250SX Heat Race Two

Nate Thrasher struck first in the second 250SX heat race, getting the holeshot and checking out. Seth Hammaker was bobbled back off the start, similar to Shimoda in the first went heat. He then went down! He had to fight back and even had two other close calls. Great ride by Coty Schock to get second and his teammate Devin Simonson got fourth. Daxton Bennick makes it two straight fifth place finishes for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna riders.

450SX Heat Race One

Jordon Smith leads early but crashes once Chase Sexton got into the lead.Sexton checked out and Smith had to fight back into the transfer position but did so. Ken Roczen charged to second and Eli Tomac got into third. Smith had to circle back on the track not to cut it and even got an approval from AMA's John Starling after the #20 machine did the right thing. Great to see Smith still qualify (eighth place) and cool to see that interaction between him and Starling!

450SX Heat Race Two

In the second 450SX heat race, Hunter Lawrence took the holeshot over Justin Cooper. Lawrence would check out as Cooper Webb battled his teammate Cooper. Malcolm Stewart, Jorge Prado, and Dylan Ferrandis were all together but eventually started to separate. Joey Savatgy brought home a seventh-place finish. Shane McElrath charged up to eighth after being out of a transfer position. He got around Kevin Moranz and Vince Friese, who took the final transfer spot over Moranz, who came through tenth.

Hand and Clark Penalized - Hand to 250SX LCQ

Jeremy Hand and Izaih Clark were both penalized for jumping on red cross in sector four in the first heat race.

Last Chance Qualifiers

250SX LCQ

Derek Kelley, who had a great run in qualifying earlier this afternoon, bounced back after his tough heat race. He rebounded to take the race win. Jeremy Hand, who again, was forced to the LCQ after his penalty, came through second and still qualified for the main event. CJ Benard and Kyle Peters rounded out the final two transfer spots as John Short came up...well, just Short.

450SX LCQ

After a crash in his heat race, Garrett Marchbanks was forced to the LCQ. He had a bad start and was shuffled towards the back of the top ten early, but somehow managed to charge up into a transfer spot…and eventually into the lead. Marchbanks took the lead from Kevin Moranz and took the race win. Moranz came through second as Tristan Lane and Justin Bogle rounded out the final transfer spot. Zack Williams came up just short of transferring. Bogle hit the finish line jump with a celebratory no-footer and then a no-hander! That is two straight main events for the #891 machine in his return to racing.

Main Events

250SX Main Event

The gates dropped and Nate Thrasher picked up right where he left off in his heat race and got the holeshot and early race lead. He was looking good until he had a crash in the whoops that ended his night. Seth Hammaker took over the race lead. Cole Davies did not have a good start as he was outside the top five. He charged forward though. Davies made a pass on Hammaker to take over the race lead. Coty Schock was running third when he crashed in the whoops. That gave Jo Shimoda third place and somehow, Schock only lost that one position. He would finish fourth. Davies would take the race win by 12.196 seconds over Hammaker. Shimoda rounded out the podium as Schock and Henry Miller rounded out the top five. It was Miller's first top five 250SX finish in a big career best. Daxton Bennick and Nick Romano were sixth and seventh, respectively. 

450SX Main Event

The gates dropped on the final race of the night, the 450SX main event and it was Jorge Prado and Chase Sexton out front going into turn one. Ken Roczen snuck into second by the second turn. Cooper Webb was going for a pass on Prado and took both the #26 and himself down, significantly impacting their results. Hunter Lawrence was going after Sexton for second when the #96 had a costly, costly crash in the whoops! Not only did he lost a ton of time and positions, but his bike was damaged. His front wheel looked like it was locking up due to a brake issue. Out front, Roczen had checked out for the race win over Sexton, who rode home a great P2 in his return to racing for the first time a sixth at the Arlington SX over a month ago. Malcolm Stewart brought home his first podium finish of the season, which was extremely impressive considering he was involved in that first lap crash at the season opener. He had a gap back to Justin Cooper, who got by an off-looking Eli Tomac, who came through fifth. That is two not ideal nights in a row for Tomac, whose Birmingham ride was a very distant third. This go round he was only 17.135 seconds back compared to last weekend's more than 30 seconds, but still. The positive of the night for Tomac has to be that he now takes over the points lead.

Lawrence got up and rode his mangled bike home to an 18th-place finish, his worst since he was 11th at Anaheim 1 in 2025. It was his first finish outside the top five since that Anaheim 1 '25 race, too! Webb came through sixth, Dylan Ferrandis a new Ducati best seventh, Justin Hill eighth, Joey Savatgy ninth, and Garrett Marchbanks tenth. Prado came through 13th.