On press day, unfortunately more riders were taken off the active list. RJ Hampshire had a crash and hurt his wrist, and Garrett Marchbanks found himself involved in a pileup involving Christian Craig and Shane McElrath. Marchbanks reaggravated the thumb he’d injured during supercross, and had to get stitches on it.

There is, however, a silver lining to all of this. Ty Masterpool is back on factory equipment, this time with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, acting as a fill-in rider, as the squad is currently down a whopping four riders (Hammaker, McAdoo, Austin Forkner, and Max Vohland). The last time Masterpool was on this level of machinery was when he was with Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha, and he did pretty well. This story is definitely going to be a good one to follow.

Stay tuned, qualifying is just about to get going here at Fox Raceway!

Qualifying - First Sessions

In the 250 Class Honda HRC's Chance Hymas ruled Group A's first outing of the day. Haiden Deegan was extremely close, and even topped Hymas at one point, but Hymas would fire back, posting a 2:24.780 to edge Deegan's 2:24.804. What's even more exciting, however, is just how close the top ten riders in the class are. A look at the full results shows that Casey Cochran, all the way back in tenth, is less than a second off Hymas' pace. That's ten riders all within one second in the very first qualifier of the season! 

If the numbers from the first 450 (Group A) session are any indicator of what we’ll be seeing this summer, we’re in for another season of Chase Sexton and Jett Lawrence way up front. Malcolm Stewart initially topped the board with a 2:28.798, but when Sexton decided it was time to throw down, he obliterated Stewart’s time, recording a 2:23.699. Lawrence would also twist the throttle, but the time produced was a 2:25.378. A few laps later both riders would bang out heaters again, with Sexton lowering his time down to 2:20.988, which was more than enough to stay ahead of Lawrence’s 2:21.379. Dean Wilson, a late entry to this one, and riding out of the back of his truck, was 23^rd with a 2:30.979.

Qualifying – Second Sessions

The track has broken in and has more lines available, which immediately translated into faster lap times for the second round of qualifiers. In 250 action it was Levi Kitchen initially, but Jordon Smith took over pretty quickly. Tom Vialle briefly nudged Smith off the top of the board, but Smith retaliated quickly, retaking the spot with a 2:23.748. The time held for a while, but as the session started winding down things started going nuts.

Chance Hymas, who was fastest in the first session, shot to the top with a 2:23.525, but then, out of nowhere, Joey Savatgy, who hasn’t competed in a 250 national since 2018, bested Hymas by more than a second, posting a 2:22.492! It didn’t look like anyone was going to beat it, but Kitchen put in a valiant effort on his final lap to get the job done with a 2:22.285.

Elsewhere, Ty Masterpool improved steadily throughout the session. It’s his first race aboard the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, and after coming off a 450, it’s obvious he isn’t used to the different power delivery of the 250. He’ll only get better from hear on out. If you’re wondering about Haiden Deegan, who was extremely fast in the first session, he wasn’t ever really a factor up front in this one and ended up seventh-fastest, nearly four seconds off Kitchen’s pace.

In the second round of 450 Qualifying Jett Lawrence, to the surprise of nobody, posted a fast time right away, then lowered his own time again, going down to a 2:20.951. Chase Sexton was undeterred, however, and went out and recorded a 2:19.692 to take over the top spot. He then made a stop in the mechanics area, where it appeared as though they were making a wheel/tire change. It wouldn’t help him improve his time any more though, which was unfortunate for Sexton because Lawrence, at the end of the session, would turn the fastest lap of the day thus far, a 2:18.467. Check out the time drop-off behind Lawrence and Sexton in the results below. It’s pretty steep!

Some of the riders seem like they’re struggling to hold lines in some sections at speed. Plessinger made a mistake and shot off the track but saved it, and Dean Wilson made a mistake in a righthander that caused him to drift wide as he went off the ensuing jump. Lawrence was passing him on the outside at the time, and as Lawrence sailed past Wilson, Wilson drifted into him in the air. Somehow neither rider crashed, which is fortunate because it could have been pretty ugly for both of them. Even if you're not a Lawrence fan, you don't want his streak to get broken that way.

250 – Moto One

Tom Vialle kicked the first race of the season off by nabbing a holeshot, but he had Levi Kitchen all over him in the opening stages of the race. The two were absolutely flying, with Kitchen wheelieing out of corners while grabbing tear-offs with one hand and steering with the other. At first the duo was distancing themselves from the pack, but Haiden Deegn was able to close on them. He was able to somewhat hold their pace, but wasn’t able to get close enough to put any pressure on them.

About eight minutes in, Kitchen took advantage of a small mistake from Vialle, knifed inside, and took over the lead. To be fair, the pass probably would have happened anyway, as Vialle’s outside line was inferior to Kitchen’s inside choice. Kitchen started getting away with about twenty minutes to go, and Deegan closed on Vialle, who proceeded to make a mistake in a roller section and go off the track. He saved it and didn’t seem to lose any time, but nevertheless, Deegan sliced by on the inside shortly after and took off after Kitchen.

Behind the top three, Chance Hymas held fourth, but a charging Joey Savatgy was closing and threatening to make Hymas’ life difficult. But when Savatgy got close to Hymas his forward progress seemed to stop, and the two yo-yoed a little bit. Savatgy would do this with Hymas all moto, eventually taking fifth right behind Hymas.

At the halfway point the best battle on the track was for eighth, held by Nate Thrasher, who was under assault from Jo Shimoda and Jordon Smith. As the battle played out Smith seemed to lose the tow, but Shimoda was putting pressure on Thrasher before his foot blew off the peg and he had to slow up ever so slightly. Then Smith was back in the fight suddenly, and zapped Shimoda! Smith would go on to pass Thrasher and ride it in for seventh.

Up front, meanwhile, Deegan had caught Kitchen and was all over his rear wheel. The battle raged for several minutes, then Deegan made a small mistake and went inside a track marker. It was barely an infraction but it seemed to rattle Deegan just a little bit, and he put his hand up in the air as if to say, “Whoops, sorry!” That gave Kitchen a bit of breathing room momentarily, which he took advantage of by maintaining it and burning up as much of the clock as possible. Then Deegan made another mistake, going wide in a corner and shooting off the track. He didn’t crash, but it made life a bit easier on Kitchen, again.

Just before the two-lap board came out Deegan had closed back on Kitchen and was all over him, applying heavy pressure. The crowd was set for a monster battle, no sponsor-pun intended, but then Kitchen had to let off the gas and reach down to dislodge a track marker that had gotten stuck to his boot! Haiden took advantage and zoomed past, threw down a killer lap, and made sure Kitchen wasn’t able to close back in. Deegan took the win, followed by Kitchen, Vialle, Hymas, and Savatgy.

Ty Masterpool went down early in this one, worked his way up to 13^th, and then crashed again, violently, when he got sideways in the rollers.

Update - Tom Vialle was docked one spot for a "Track Cut."

450 – Moto One

Jett Lawrence kicked this one off in the same way he’s done so many times in the past—by getting the holeshot and disappearing. His brother, Hunter, was right behind him but Aaron Plessinger, aware of how important it is to not let Lawrence get away immediately, went around Hunter almost immediately in an attempt to chase Lawrence. Credit to Plessinger for not letting Lawrence get away immediately, but as the laps wore on Lawrence slowly but steadily started growing the gap.

Just before the halfway point the top trio had separated themselves from the pack, and Justin Cooper held a lonely fourth. A terrific battle was raging for fifth though between Justin Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis. Barcia held the spot, but Ferrandis was all over him. The two were side-by-side over jumps and in turns, and it sure seemed like things were going to get physical a few times. No sparks flew, however, and Ferrandis was able to eventually make a move and sprint away with fifth. Ferrandis would go on to zap Cooper for fourth, but that’s as far as he would climb. He must have had some sort of problem out of view after that because Cooper got him back, and then he would drop a few more spots before finishing seventh behind Barcia.

With ten to go Hunter Lawrence was all over Plessinger, showing him a wheel over and over. Plessinger was doing a great job blocking the lines, but Lawrence was patient and the inevitable pass eventually came, and when it did Plessinger wasn’t able to fight back. Plessinger settled in and took third in the moto.

Chase Sexton was running seventh early but went down when he got into Dylan Ferrandis, losing a bunch of spots. Later he had another problem, with a lap time about fifteen seconds longer than normal. Still, he refused to settle in and put in a wild charge that saw him climb through the pack and get by Cooper, with a little help from a lapper, for fourth  on the final lap.

Jason Anderson didn’t have a great moto. He went down in a pileup on the start and found himself fighting outside the top ten for almost the entire moto. He’d eventually cross the line in tenth.

Afterward Jett Lawrence, despite a seemingly easy moto win, seemed unhappy and said he wasn't comfortable and wasn't able to go quite as fast as he wanted to.

250 – Moto Two

Moto One winner, Haiden Deegan, kicked this one off with holeshot, but Levi Kitchen was right behind him and quickly started trying to make moves happen. The two yo-yoed a bit for the first few laps, but Deegan, for the most part, was able to maintain a small gap on Kitchen. He didn’t put Kitchen away though, and Kitchen continued to hang around deep into the moto. As the race wound down Kitchen was still only one-two seconds back of Deegan, leaving the fans to wonder if Kitchen would mount a charge  once the two-lap board came out. Instead it was Deegan who seemed to turn up the heat, but then made a mistake and went off the track. Kitchen got the gap down to a second-and-a-half after that, but Deegan quickly stretched it back out. Try as he might, Kitchen just could not cut back into Deegan’s gap and was forced to take second, both in the moto and the overall.

About five seconds behind the lead duo, early in the moto, a battle royale was unfolding between Jalek Swoll and Tom Vialle. Swoll was doing a good job holding third, but Vialle was hounding him like crazy. Then Vialle lost the front end and slid out as he was flying around a sweeping lefthander. He only lost one spot (to Nate Thrasher), but it allowed Swoll to get away. With about 11 minutes to go Vialle had caught back up to Thrasher and was really putting the screws to him. Credit to Thrasher though, who threw up fierce resistance, again and again shutting the door on Vialle. Finally Vialle was able to make a move stick, and with about six minutes to go, he could see Swoll again not too far ahead of him. Vialle had company though, in the form of Chance Hymas, was absolutely ripping and applying the same pressure to Vialle that Vialle had previously been dishing out to Thrasher. Despite the stress, Vialle was able to focus on getting past Swoll, and did so with just under two minutes left on the clock. Hymas also passed Swoll, but couldn't pass Vialle, who would cross the line in third, taking third overall despite getting docked a spot in the first moto for an off-track excursion.

Joey Savatgy got caught in a first-turn pileup in this one unfortunately, and after a fantastic first moto, had to charge from the back in moto two. He brought it across the line in 13^th.

450 – Moto Two

Just like in the first moto it was the Lawrence Brothers getting out front early, with Jett gaining the advantage and sneaking away. Phil Nicoletti had gotten a good start too, and went after Hunter Lawrence, making the pass and moving into second. Lawrence fought to get second back, but Nicoletti held strong for about half a lap. Chase Sexton was next to try to shuffle Nicoletti back, but again, Nicoletti held strong, not making it easy on Sexton. Of course, the inevitable finally happened, with Sexton making the move and rocketing off after Hunter Lawrence.

Sexton caught up to Hunter Lawrence pretty quickly, but after unsuccessfully trying a few moves to get by, seemed to back off slightly, allowing Hunter to put about two seconds on him. Jett Lawrence, meanwhile, wasn’t getting away, and about twelve minutes in Hunter was all over him! Sexton had regrouped too, and was lurking in third, inching back up on the Lawrences. It looked like we were going to see a tremendous, three-way battle for the win, but not surprisingly, Jett responded and starting slowly getting away from Hunter.

Perhaps sensing some urgency, Sexton lit the burners with about ten minutes to go and was all over Hunter, eventually making a brilliant move to knife to the inside with precision on a lefthander and squirt by. Sexton then went after Jett, and what followed was a lot of what we saw last summer. Sexton would get right on Jett’s rear fender, Jett would withstand the pressure, then inch back away. Sexton would reel him back in, and the process would repeat. This happened several times until Sexton made a mistake and went off the track and had to coast down a downhill before getting back on the track. Jett had five seconds on Sexton at that point, and it seemed like it was all over. Credit to Sexton though, who put his head down and staged a ridiculously intense charge that saw him come close to Jett on the final lap, forcing him to dial the speed back up to avoid getting passed. When it was over, Sexton finished just 1.349 seconds behind Jett. 

Hunter Lawrence fell out of the fight when Sexton went after Jett and rode to a lonely third in the moto. Jason Anderson rebounded after going down early in the first moto and took fourth. Aaron Plessinger, who was so good in the first moto (he ran as high as second and finished third), got caught up in a first-turn pileup and charged back up to 12^th.