The weather here today is perfect. A high of 61 degrees Fahrenheit is forecasted, but it already feels warmer than that if you’re standing in the sun. We’re in for an excellent day here in San Diego!

Qualifying – First Sessions

In the 250 B Group it was, not surprisingly, Ty Masterpool who was leading the charge early. Masterpool didn’t race last week, but after Levi Kitchen pulled out of 250SX west due to illness, Masterpool got the call to help represent Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki out west. He was fastest with a 55.863, with Talon Hawkins close behind with a 55.941.

When the 250 A group rolled out it was Haiden Deegan shooting to the top of the board immediately with a 54.475, but one lap later Julien Beamuer, last week’s fastest 250SX qualifier, displaced Deegan by recording a 53.858. This would prove to be a back-and-forth battle, as Deegan immediately retaliated with a 53.355. Several laps later Beaumer threw down another heater, a 53.426, but it wasn’t quite enough to edge Deegan. Undeterred, Beaumer kept it rolling on his final lap and somehow busted out an incredible 53.167 to set the fastest time of the session. Not everyone is doing the triple-quad option in one of the rhythm lanes, but most of the faster 250SX guys are. The top five of Beaumer, Deegan, Jo Shimoda, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Jordon Smith all ended up in the 53-second range.

In the 450 ranks things got about as close as they could possibly get between Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence, and Chase Sexton. Eli Tomac dipped into the 52-second range first, recording a 52.946. Several laps later Jett Lawrence put in a hot lap and came about as close as possible to knocking Tomac off without actually doing it—Lawrence’s time was .001 slower (52.947)! Then Chase Sexton also recorded a 52.947, on the nose! It didn’t end up mattering though because Sexton had even more heat on tap and unleashed it on the final lap to log a 52.861, the fastest lap of the session.

The whoops don't look like they're breaking down too badly, at least not from the press box, but a fair number of guys have opted to jump through them, instead of skimming, and when done right, it looks pretty fast. Cooper Webb looked like he had a great jump line dialed. We'll see what lines the guys choose in the second session after they've checked out image overlay footage. The track itself seems to be holding up well. On track walk our first impression was that it felt a little soft and might break down and get rutted, but that hasn't happened. Yes, there are ruts in the turns, but the jump faces look like they're holding up pretty well.

Qualifying – Second Sessions

In the second 250 B group it was, yet again, all Ty Masterpool. Dylan Walsh was fastest at first with a 55.215, but when he decided to twist grip he was about two tenths of a second faster, and a lap later he lowered his own time down to 54.809. By the end of the session he’d shaved it down to 54.279.

Billy Laninovich had a huge crash in a rhythm lane in this one and looked like he was in some serious pain afterward. He got up and was standing under his own power, but ended up leaving the stadium on the tailgate of the Alpinestars Medical Mule.

In the 250 A group Jordon Smith snuck up the inside to take the holeshot on the practice start, but it was Haiden Deegan who got things rolling on the clock, setting a 52.848 on his third lap. Beaumer gave chase, setting a 53.142, and kept continuing to hammer out fast laps. Just when it looked like he was going to close out a blistering lap, he washed out just two turns before the finish line. On his final lap he was on another heater, but for some reason he slowed up about halfway through and cruised out the remainder of the lap to end the session. Deegan’s time would earn him fastest overall 250SX qualifier of the day.

Stilez Robertson didn’t participate in this qualifier after overjumping a jump in the first qualifier and hurting his wrist. 

Jo Shimoda left this qualifier early after hitting a pit board with his hand. He's currently getting it checked out. We're working on getting more information right now. [Update: Jo Shimoda sustained two broken fingers on his clutch hand in the incident. We were told by HRC Honda he would attempt to race tonight, although that information is subject to change.]

In 450 action Chase Sexton dipped down into the 51-second range on lap four, setting a 51.683. Jett Lawrence was turning fast laps, but he wasn’t able to quite match Sexton’s times until his seventh lap when he recorded a 51.634. Then, on his tenth lap, Sexton was able to edge Lawrence with a 51.566, the fastest lap of the afternoon. Eli Tomac was third-fastest  with a 52.169 in the closing stages of the qualifier, and he even busted out his famous wheel-tap line through the whoops a few times.

The B group was dominated by Colt Nichols, who closed it out with a fast time of 54.329. Grant Harlan wasn’t far behind though, with his fastest lap being a 54.676.

250SX Heat One

The first holeshot of the night went to Jett Reynolds, but Jordon Smith was quick to zip by, with Garrett Marchbanks following suit, then taking over the lead from Smith. Jo Shimoda, who was racing with two broken hands after an unfortunate collision with a pit board during qualifying, held down eighth. At the halfway point Marchbanks and Smith were way out front, with Ty Masterpool in third, but Julien Beaumer, who’d gotten a lousy start, was on the move. Beaumer caught up to Masterpool with about a minute left, and blew by in the whoops for third, which is where he’d finish the race.

Up front Smith had caught back up to Marchbanks on the last lap, but ran out of room to make a move. Marchbanks, Smith, Beaumer, Masterpool, Reynolds, Cole Thompson, Jo Shimoda, Hunter Yoder, and Parker Ross all transferred to the main.

250SX Heat Two

Cole Davies holeshot this one with teammate, Michael Mosiman, in hot pursuit. Haiden Deegan started about sixth, but quickly started moving forward. After three laps he was up to third and giving chase to Mosiman and Davies, who’d already gapped the rest of the field.  Mosiman was all over Davies, but every time it looked like Mosiman might be able to show him a wheel, Davies would shoot out a bike length or two on Mosiman. Deegan, meanwhile, was catching them, and with about a minute left on the clock was on the same sections as they were. Deegan then got bucked in the whoops and went off the track and was ejected from his bike, landing in the next lane. Mosiman had to go wide in the next turn just to avoid contact with Deegan. Deegan didn’t lose any spots though and rode it home for third. Davies took the win, with Mosiman, Deegan, Ryder DiFrancesco, Lux Turner, Anthony Bourdon, Coty Schock, Gavin Towers, and TJ Albright joining him in the main event.

450SX Heat One

Jett Lawrence pulled a Jett Lawrence on the start and took the holeshot. Cooper Webb was all over him for a moment, but that didn’t last long, as Lawrence started stretching it out as the race started to unfold. Jason Anderson and Dylan Ferrandis battled for third a little ways back, with Malcolm Stewart and Justin Hill going at it hard for fifth. As things started to settle in, however, Anderson would get away from Ferrandis, and Stewart would motor away from Hill, who found himself giving up a spot to Aaron Plessinger. Suddenly, there was very little going on inside the top nine (transfer spots), as all the guys got a little spread out.

A battle for fourth would materialize with about thirty seconds left on the clock, as Stewart closed on Ferrandis and started applying pressure. Stewart was able to make a move stick by cutting to the inside after the quad, but Ferrandis got him back! The crowd was loving it, but when Stewart, who’d pulled back to side by side with Ferrandis, bobbled in a rhythm lane, the battle was over, with Ferrandis taking ownership of fourth. Lawrence won, with Webb, Anderson, Ferrandis, Stewart, Plessinger, Hill, Mitchell Oldenburg, and Colt Nichols all transferring to the main event.

450SX Heat Two

When the gate dropped the crowed roared as Eli Tomac shot out to the lead and took the holeshot. Vince Friese was second, Joey Savatgy third, and Chase Sexton lurked right behind them in fourth. Friese soon found himself getting freight trained by the likes of Savatgy, Sexton, Ken Roczen, and Justin Barcia.

Up front it was all Tomac, who’d taken advantage of his good start to build a gap on the field. Sexton had moved into second though and set the fastest lap of the race up to this point. It didn’t matter though—in a race this short  you can’t give Tomac four-five seconds right away and hope to catch him. Sexton was definitely chipping away at the lead, but Tomac would take the win, with Sexton, Roczen, Barcia, Savatgy, Hunter Lawrence, Justin Cooper, Friese, and Shane McElrath joining him in the main.

250SX LCQ

Josh Varize took the holeshot in this one, but he had company in the form of Max Sanford and Dylan Walsh, who lurked about a second-and-a-half back. Varize maintained a small gap, but with about two minutes to go he was under intense fire from Walsh. Unfortunately Avery Long went down hard, prompting a red flag, and they had to line the riders back up for a staggered start.

On the restart the top four of Varize, Walsh, Sanford, and Brad West managed to hold onto their spots, but West made his way by Sanford. Nico Koch took advantage and also went by Sanford and into the final qualifying spot. Sanford did his best to get him back, but there just wasn’t enough time. Varize, Walsh, West, and Koch took the final four spots in the 250SX main event.

450SX LCQ

Jorge Prado started this one out right by taking the holeshot and checking out. Behind him was Kyle Chisholm, who maintained a safe gap over Kevin Moranz and Benny Bloss. Moranz soon gave up third to Bloss, and before he know it, Grant Harlan was all over his rear fender. Moranz dealt with the pressure well though, and Harlan just couldn’t put a move on him. Harlan kept plugging away, but when he was about to pull alongside Moranz in the whoops he got out of control and went down. Bloss was able to eventually get Chisholm, and when the checkers flew it was Prado, Bloss, Chisholm, and Moranz transferring to the main event.

250SX Main Event

Jordon Smith Snuck up the inside to holeshot, but Cole Davies snatched the spot away, and Julien Beaumer quickly went around Smith too. Haiden Deegan got a bad start and found himself in about tenth early on. As the race started to unfold Davies and Beaumer slowly started to gap Smith. Beaumer was all over Davies and was looking for a spot to get by. Beaumer was trying absolutely everything, but Davies was brilliant, fending off every attempt. Beaumer seemed to take a moment to regroup then went back after Davies. Once again Davies deftly defended the lead, but there was only so much he could do before the inevitable happened. Beaumer jumped to the inside of Davies in a righthander, stood him up, and roosted off. A lap alter Davies made a mistake and went off the track, giving up spots to Smith, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Haiden Deegan.

At this point there were six minutes left in the race, and Deegan was in fourth and moving forward. He was about nine seconds back of Beaumer though, and Beaumer was riding great. Deegan still had to go through DiFrancesco and Smith too. Deegan made the move on DiFrancesco in a rhythm lane and set his sites on Smith, who was about five seconds ahead of him, with two-and-a-half minutes to go. Try as he might, Deegan just wasn’t able to take meaningful chunks out of Smith’s lead, and up front, Beaumer was still setting incredibly fast laps. Beaumer was not to be denied his first win, and would finish out strong three seconds ahead of Smith. Deegan took third, with Davies and DiFrancesco rounding out the top five. The win puts Beaumer in the lead by five points over Smith.

Jo Shimoda, who was riding with two broken fingers after hitting a pit board in qualifying, took seventh. Ty Masterpool crashed hard in this one and DNF’d.

450SX Main Event

Vince Friese snuck in for a holeshot but Cooper Webb went by right away. Then, about half a lap in Chase Sexton made a mistake in a lefthander and went down. He got going again in dead last. Up front Webb continued to lead, but the battle the crowd was watching was for fifth between Eli Tomac and Jett Lawrence. The two were going back and forth, with the crowd absolutely going crazy watching it. Tomac finally passed Lawrence for good, went around Malcolm Stewart, then made quick work of Hunter Lawrence to take over third behind Ken Roczen. The crowd was deafening with each pass Tomac made.

Behind Tomac the Lawrence brothers battled, with Hunter leading Jett. Jett was showing Hunter a wheel everywhere, but Hunter held strong until Jett was able to get the advantage in the sand section and take over fourth.

In the meantime Tomac had closed on Roczen’s rear fender and was patiently waiting for the right time to make a move. It finally came in a rhythm lane just before the finish line, when Tomac came up next to Roczen and used the advantage to make it stick in the following turn. Next up? Webb. Tomac didn’t have time to waste here, as Jett Lawrence had gotten himself sorted out and was applying heavy pressure to Ken Roczen. Tomac couldn’t afford to stay behind Webb, it was only a matter of time before Lawrence got by Roczen. Sure enough, Lawrence forced the issue on Roczen and went by in the whoops.

Next thing you knew, Jett was all over Tomac, forcing Tomac to make a move on Webb. As soon as he did, Jett immediately followed suit, and a battle of epic proportions seemed imminent between the two supercross titans. Tomac didn’t have the advantage of a clear track, either, as the two were into lapped traffic. Tomac couldn’t shake Jett, but Jett couldn’t seem to get close enough to show Tomac a wheel anywhere. Who would blink first?

Behind them the battle for the final podium spot raged between Webb and Roczen, with Webb doing a great job in fending off the attacks from Roczen. After a while, Webb was able to stretch it back out on Roczen and take ownership of the spot.

Up front, with about seven minutes to go, Tomac slowly started to stretch it out on Jett, but Jett wasn’t done. With two minutes left Jett closed back up on Tomac, about half a second back. He was just barely out of striking range, but Tomac had zero room for error. To call this battle intense would be a gross understatement! On the last lap it seemed Tomac would have enough breathing room to get it done, he just had to ride mistake free the whole time. The crowd could sense the win and was going crazy, and as Tomac entered the final rhythm lane they lost their minds. When he crossed the line with the win, peoples’ heads exploded in the stands. It would seem Tomac is officially back.

Sexton would finish the night in sixth, salvaging points after going down on the first lap. Sexton's misfortune, combined with Tomac's win, slides Sexton to second in points, one point back of Tomac, with Roczen one point back of Sexton in third.