Saturday Night Live: Seattle

Sexton, of Red Bull KTM, quickly maneuvered into the early lead and led much of the race. Webb made a few early passes on the likes of Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson and Adam Cianciarulo to get to second, and he was making up a ton of time by doubling over a wall jump at the end of the sand section. But Lawrence, who started about eighth, was also moving forward and catching the leaders at an alarming rate, nearly two seconds per lap. He got to Webb and tried to make a run up the inside, but when they made contact Lawrence ended up hitting the deck. He tried to mount a comeback but got held up by a lapped rider, made a few more mistakes, and ultimately decided to settle for third. Read more about the Sexton/Webb battle in their own words in The Conversation.

“I had a good charge at the start [of the race], had a really good flow, and I think I just came in the sand here and was a little bit committed,” said Honda HRC’s Lawrence. “I knew I was going to hit Cooper, I could have been mean and hit him harder and just committed to it, but I didn't want to hit him, and then in that sand you don't want to – it's very hard to pull up. So yeah, I ended up kind of being nice and checking up, but I [ended up] clipping the back [of Cooper’s bike], got off balance [and crashed]. And then I stalled it here once, and also had a lapper stop on the wall jump in front of me [and hold me up]. So, I'm like, ‘You know, that's enough signs that tonight’s not the night, so we'll just try and bring it home in third.’”

Up ahead, Sexton still led but Webb got to him, and they traded the lead numerous times. Sexton at one point appeared to have all the counter attacks ready, but then he stalled his bike, which let Webb retake the lead. But then Webb found the sand wall jump had become too difficult to jump, and with his biggest advantage gone, Sexton put on an incredible final surge to get back to Cooper on the final lap. He got alongside the Yamaha rider in the last two turns, but Webb simply hugged the inside and blocked any attempt at a pass at the line.

“To be honest I didn't even look at the pit board, so I had no idea [Webb was jumping the wall after the sand section]. I had [a] line late in the race where I was doubling into the pocket, but I never even thought of going outside [in the sand], so that's on me not looking at the pit board,” said Sexton. “But overall, minus a few mistakes, I rode a really good race, even through[out] the whole race. I came back towards the end. I felt like I had really good speed. We made a change going into the heat race with my bike and it showed. I was really comfortable the whole night on such a gnarly track. And I gotta give it up to the team; they put a lot of work in to get me happy and we're climbing that ladder… [when asked about stalling the engine during the night’s racing] …I got actually clipped that hay bail on this rhythm over here and bent my rear brake out, and I think that's what happened when I stalled it over there. I caught my rear brake. So, just a few small hiccups, but overall it was a lot better race from me. This is the most I've fought all year, as far as [battling] close to the front, so we're getting better.”

Aaron Plessinger didn’t start well but followed Lawrence through the pack, and he closed back up to Lawrence’s fender by the end of the race, with a strong fourth. Roczen’s race was filled with plenty of adversity, including a crash in his heat race that sent him to the Last Chance Qualfier, but somehow he pulled off a second-place start with the 19^th gate pick. He didn’t quite have the mojo on this night, though, and settled for fifth. Eli Tomac started 16^th and finished sixth.

The Western Regional 250SX Class passed its season midpoint with Seattle marking Round 6 of 10 rounds. To the delight of his homestate fans, Levi Kitchen made the technical track look almost easy with a win margin of over twenty seconds. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's RJ Hampshire fought back from a mediocre start to claim second place. Team Honda HRC's Jo Shimoda was blazing fast, recovering from a crash to lock down the third-place spot.

“I've been waiting for a night like this for a long time… I just finally rode like myself and, you know, to do that in front of the hometown is awesome,” said Kitchen. “Man, I just felt good on my dirt bike, like finally completely myself… it wasn't a pretty race, actually, if you were me; I got really frustrated a few times and just tried to stay with it and I just kept telling myself, ‘stay with it,’ and I find myself again. It was crazy, but yeah I can't give it up [enough] to all my friends and family for coming out, and shout out to my sister and my newborn nephew and niece, and just everybody, man, I'm going to really enjoy this one. Yeah, I'm stoked, extending the points a little bit.”   

Kitchen, of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki, now pushes his lead to eight points over Hampshire.

“I said in the beginning of the day [to] just kind of take what the night gives me,” said Hampshire. “I had nothing for Levi all day, I mean, you've seen in the heat race – like, that was embarrassing… I didn’t have the speed, that's just what it was. I had to settle down and then, I don't know what happened off the start there; I felt like I had a really good jump, and [then] I must have spun or something. And those first couple laps are hectic. I made some good passes but, man, the track is brutal. I rode Indy a few times [but] I don't think I rode a track like this. So coming from the East Coast, it's definitely technical tonight… We said we want to be solid tonight, and that's all we had, so we'll take a second on the night and look forward to St. Louis.”

Shimoda started poorly and then crashed when he cased a rhythm lane, but somehow came all the way back for third.

"Oh my God, it was the gnarliest track I ever rode,” said Shimoda. “Honestly, like, from the heat race, I just kept dragging my foot pegs, and that threw me off. I actually crashed on the rhythm [section in the Main Event] – same thing, just [coming] out of the rut [it] caught my peg and it threw me off to the side…. I just needed to really, really focus, I guess. But I'm stoked to be on the podium, and I just want to shout out my mechanic [and team]. Thank you so much, and it was tough one.”

It was a tough blow for Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Jordon Smith,  who was running in a podium spot but crashed three times and found himself taking 14^th, a severe blow to his championship hopes. Read more about Smith's ride in The Moment.