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Morning Report

Good morning race fans. For the third consecutive year, we are back at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Monster Energy AMA Supercross. Today’s 15th round could serve as a pivotal round, especially when you consider we are expected to be in for some rain during the night show. It looks like for the second straight week, weather will play a factor here on race day. How much? We will see tonight. Will the City of Brotherly Love be kind to us race fans with another exciting round? Hopefully!

Again, we are in the final stretch of the season here, so all eyes are on the championship battles at the very top. Cole Davies has the opportunity to clinch the 250SX East Division title at the ninth round of the 250SX East Division. But Seth Hammaker does not want that to happen because today is his home race! If Davies wins tonight—like he did last year in this venue—Hammaker will need to finish second in order to keep the title fight going down to the final round.

In 450SX, Hunter Lawrence enters the day with a lead of just one single point, as Ken Roczen somehow dug himself out of a 31-point deficit just a handful of rounds ago. Despite Eli Tomac being out for today’s round (now two straight races ending his title hopes), this title fight is really good. And not too far back is Cooper Webb, who will keep fighting to the end. You never know what will happen in racing, as we have seen!

Justin Barcia is back in action this weekend for the first time since his big crash with Malcolm Stewart at the Anaheim 1 SX opener. It is good to have Barcia back, especially at a race not too far from where he grew up here on the East Coast.

Read our full injury report if you missed it

And one more rider to watch today in 450SX will be Kyle Chisholm. Yup, Chizz is back! Will he Chizz this weekend in his first race of the season?!

We also have the SMX Next – Supercross Championship today, so it will be an exciting day all around. Tough to say who will take the race win—especially in the winner-takes-all format for tonight’s main event—but Kayden Minear, Ryder Malinoski, Kade Johnson, Deacon Denno, Wyatt Thurman, and crew sure will put on a show tonight. Give us your three winners tonight in 250SX, 450SX, and SMX Next.

After Friday’s press day riding, the SMX Track Crew covered the track in case we got rain overnight.

Tarps were pulled this morning, and the track is in really good shape! Track walk is wrapped up and we will have bikes on the track soon.

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

Watch as Pennsylvania native Seth Hammaker heads into Lincoln Financial Field for qualifying. 

SMX Next Free Practice

SMX Next

When riders got onto track for the first time, it was in really good shape! They watered the track some following track walk, but it was not even muddy. 

The SMX Next free practice and the field was led by Jeremy Fappani, Kade Johnson, and Ryder Malinoski. Kayden Minear and Jesson Turner rounded out the top five as this session will not count for overall qualifying.

First Qualifying Sessions

250SX

CJ Benard topped the first 250SX group B qualifying session over Luca Marsalisi.

In 250SX group A, it was local Seth Hammaker who had the best lap (a 48.679), followed by Cole Davies (49.122). Those two were the only sub-50-second laps, as Daxton Bennick (50.066) was third fastest. Nate Thrasher (50.124) and Luke Clout (50.389) rounded out the top five. 

1-2 in the championship, 1-2 going out for qualifying... Mechanics for Hunter Lawrence and Ken Roczen roll their rider's race bike down to the tunnel ahead of qualifying.

450SX

In 450SX, Hunter Lawrence topped the field with a 48.284 as a the top six riders were all sub-49 second! Garrett Marchbanks had a crash late in the session but got up and back on his bike. Jorge Prado (48.384) and Ken Roczen (48.707) were second and third fastest, respectively. 

Cade Clason topped the 450SX group B first session with a 50.388.

First SMX Next Qualifying Session

Jesson Turner had the top spot with a 50.914 but then Kayden Minear went 50.565 to take over P1. A lap later, Ryder Malinoski put in a 50.517 to take over the top spot. McKayden Fitch went down before the whoops, but he was up and going again. He sat 11th in the session. Cole Timboe moved into the top five in timing, with a 51.188.

Malinoski’s  50.517 topped the session, followed by a 50.558 by Kade Johnson on the final lap. Then Minear, Turner, and Wyatt Thurman. Landon Gibson was ninth fastest.

Second Qualifying Sessions

250SX

Russell Buccheri topped the second 250SX group B qualifying session.

In 250SX group A, Coty Schock had a great jump when the gate dropped but it was Daxton Bennick with the fake holeshot. Rookie Landen Gordon and championship leader Cole Davies rolled out very last. Bennick started attacking the track immediately and his 50.306 was the fastest first lap. Gavin Towers clipped a Tuff Block jumping out of the split lane turn and almost went down but stayed up, although coming to a complete stop on the very right part of the lane. Luckily, the riders behind him all saw him and avoided him.

Seth Hammaker went 49.301 to take over P1 as Bennick’s 49.854 was second fastest. Davies jumped to third with a 50.345. Then Hammaker went 48.862 to improve his time as Davies’ 49.195 jumped to P2 over Bennick. Marshal Weltin’s 50.062 was fourth fastest, although Nate Thrasher jumped him before the checkered flag.

Nick Romano went down coming across the first turn after the finish line jump and couldn’t get his bike into neutral again. Track crew members helped him get his KX250 off the track. After a few minutes of tinkering with the bike, they pushed Romano and got it bump started, for him to ride off the track. By that point, the session had ended anyway though, so he rode straight back to the tunnel.

Hammaker lost his fast lap for cutting the track, bumping Davies to first in the session.

In terms of overall qualifying, Hammaker’s 48.679 from the first session topped the 250SX field.

450SX

Jorge Prado with the fake holeshot in 450SX group A, followed Cooper Webb then Joey Savatgy, then Hunter Lawrence. Ken Roczen and Garrett Marchbanks went out last. Joey Savatgy had a big crash on his own in the section after the finish line. He was trapped under his bike for a second before a track crew member quickly helped him. He got up and stopped in the mechanics’ area before going back out again. Savatgy would later have a big crash in the whoops that resulted in him being slow to get up.

Hunter Lawrence’s 47.952 was the fastest lap early, then a 48.030 by Prado. Justin Barcia was 12th before Savatgy bumped the #51 back to 13th. Rain started to come down during the session, which helped with some of the dust on the purposefully dry track. Justin Cooper put down a 47.260 on the tenth lap to take over P1 in the session. Lawrence’s best lap—a 47.537—sat second. 

Cooper's time topped the Q1 results, giving him P1 overall on the day.

Night Show

Time to go racing!

Heat Races

250SX Heat One

Nick Romano and Nate Thrasher were out front off the start. Thrasher had the lead in the second turn, but Romano quickly jumped into the lead by the time they got to the whoops! Romano had a nice lead, but Thrasher wasn’t done. Thrasher started to close up on Romano late in the race. Behind them, Marcus Phelps and Luca Marsalisi were running good as Cole Davies had to work through a bad start and goggle issues, as his tear-off was running across his body like a purse strap. He pushed forward. Late in the race, Thrasher down in the whoops while trying to blitz past Romano! Romano took the race win over Marsalisi! Then Davies was third, Thrasher fourth, Devin Simonson fifth, Landen Gordon sixth, Derek Kelley seventh, Hamden Hudson eighth, and Bryton Carroll night. Coty Schock came up short, finishing tenth, and having to go to the LCQ.

250SX Heat Two

Ryder Floyd grabbed the holeshot over Izaih Clark and Seth Hammaker when the second 250SX heat race began. Landon Hartz went down in first rhythm section. Hammaker jumped by Floyd over the big double after the mechanics’ area. Daxton Bennick moved up to second, getting around Floyd and Clark. Hammaker took the race win by 30 seconds over Bennick, Clark, Henry Miller, Floyd, Jeremy Hand, Marshal Weltin, Gavin Towers, and Luke Neese. CJ Benard came up short finishing tenth and Hartz came back to finish 11th. Luke Clout (12th) will have to go to the LCQ.

450SX Heat One

Ken Roczen with the holeshot over Hunter Lawrence and Cooper Webb, as our top three in the championship were all in this heat race. Webb jumped by Lawrence and into second over the big double, but Roczen had already checked out. Roczen, Webb, Lawrence, Malcolm Stewart, Dean Wilson, and Vince Friese were the top six early. Lawrence came up short on the finish line jump in the middle of the race, but he stayed up despite the big case. Webb had a big swap sideway in the rhythm section after the finish jump on the final lap, but he somehow stayed up! Roczen took the race win, but Webb closed the gap on the final lap, with Roczen winning by just over six seconds. Lawrence, Stewart and Garrett Marchbanks rounded out the top five.

450SX Heat Two

Jorge Prado holeshot the second 450SX heat but Joey Savatgy jumped into the lead in the first rhythm section. Savatgy led as Justin Barcia slotted into second in turn two, then Justin Cooper jumped into third in the second rhythm section. The running order was Savatgy, Barica, Cooper, Prado, Justin Hill, Tristan Lane, Shane McElrath, Chase Sexton, and Cade Clason. Barcia put a block pass on Savatgy in the turn before the whoops and took over the race lead! Savatgy stayed close though! When Barcia couldn’t double the double, Barcia came back! Then the next lap, Savatgy jumped the double when Barcia couldn’t! White flag came out and it was Barcia with a block pass heading into the finish line turn. He took the lead, but immediately after the turn that followed, Savatgy fought back! Savatgy took the race win as Barcia held off Cooper for second! What a fun race to watch!

And for those wondering, Kyle Chisholm did, in fact, Chizz. He took the ninth and final transfer spot!!

The rain continues to fall here at the stadium. Conditions are tough but riders are giving it their all. For the most part, the riders are jumping the doubles in the rhythm sections, and several riders are jumping the big double after the mechanics area. Whoops are not blitzable like usual and have forced a lot of the riders to sit down and paddle with their feet. With continuous rainfall on a wet, soggy, and slippery track, these are some challenging conditions for everyone. Several 450SX riders were jumping the table over single in the first rhythm section and Roczen was even going on-off-in his heat. As more rain falls, the dirt will continue to stick to these guys, making their bikes even heavier. Come the main events, the championship contenders will have their hands full.

Up next is the SMX Next championship finale! Good luck to all involved.

SMX Next Championship Finale

The gate dropped on the SMX Next Championship main event/winner-takes-all finale. Deacon Denno got the holeshot as Kayden Minear crashed in turn one! Denno led Kade Johnson and Jeremy Fappani. Ryder Malinoski went down and his teammate Jesson Turner crashed into each other! Malinoski moved forward but then then went down in the same turn two laps later! He remounted in 14th. Denno took the race win as Johnson and Fappani rounded out the podium. Turner came back to finish fourth as Landon Gibson landed fifth. Ale Carminati came through sixth, then Minear in seventh, followed by Wyatt Thurman, Seth Dennis, and tenth-place Will Canaguier.

Ahead of the LCQs, the final few whoops were worked on and turned into a semi roller/small straight away section.

LCQs

Coty Schock (250SX) and Mitchell Harrison (450SX) took the race wins in their respective races. Shout-out to Russell Buccheri for finishing second to make his first pro 250SX main event! The New England native celebrated with a big hug with his Dad Mike on the side of the track, which was a cool moment to witness!

And props to Dylan Ferrandis, who crashed in the 450SX race and was as low as 18th place (!) before remounting and charging up to finish in the fourth and final transfer position. Colt Nichols came up short in fifth.

Update: Main Events Shortened

The Philadelphia SX main events have both been shortened three minutes each. The 250SX main event will be 12 minutes plus one lap; the 450SX main event will be 17 minutes plus one lap.

Main Events

250SX Main Event

The 250SX main event got underway, and it was local hero Seth Hammaker who got the holeshot…and crashed big in the first rhythm section! He got up dead last, covered in mud, and having to remount in dead last! Out front, it was Derek Kelley who inherited the race lead. Cole Davies quickly made a pass but on the third lap, Izaih Clark had a big crash in the first rhythm section that need medical attention, causing the race to be red flagged.

Clark was taken off on a backboard and gave the crowd a thumbs up as he was carted off on the back of the medical cart. The riders were lined up on the starting straight—in staggered formation—picking up where they were before the red flag came out.

Davies had the lead over Kelley and Daxton Bennick. Hammaker had made his way up to 12th by the time the red flag came out. The green flag waved and Bennick quickly made a pass on Kelley! Hammaker also got by the #77, putting himself into third. Hammaker needed one more position to keep Davies from clinching the title—at his home round—but he crashed on the final lap pushing to get by Bennick! Davies took the race win—and clinched the title—as Bennick and Hammaker rounded out the podium.