Follow the 16th round of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Championship with direct updates from Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250SX East qualifying:
As the 250 East championship got back underway after 10 weeks off, Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) topped the timesheets with a 47.564s lap from the first qualifying session of the day. Crashing in the second session, Craig was carted off the track by the Alpinestars medical team, his status still unknown ahead of tonight’s racing. Second place was TLD Red Bull GasGas rider Michael Mosiman who returned from injury for this round. Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) topped the final qualifying session, landing him third overall, with Colt Nichols (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) rounding out the riders inside the 47s range in fourth place. Fifth was Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) with a 48.332s lap. Thomas Do took sixth place on his privateer KTM, ahead of Josh Osby (Phoenix Honda) who was the first rider in the 50s range. Eighth went to Logan Karnow (Kawasaki) with John Short (Suzuki) and Joshua Varize (KTM) rounding out the top 10.

450SX qualifying:
Reigning 450SX champion Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) set the benchmark time in both qualifying sessions today and was the only rider to fall in the 46s range, with his 46.980s lap from the first session topping the timesheets. Red-Plate holder Cooper Webb was second place after setting his fastest lap in the first session as well. Third went to Joey Savatgy who clocked a 47.171s aboard his Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM, besting Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) in fourth by just 0.001s. Malcolm Stewart (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) ended the afternoon in fifth place, also setting his fast lap in the opening session. He was followed by Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) in sixth, with his teammate and championship contender Ken Roczen behind him in seventh with a 47.284s lap. Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) was eight fastest with Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) and Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) rounding out the final spots inside the top 10.

250SX West heat 1:
Nichols grabbed the first holeshot of the night while Mosiman hit the deck in the opening section. Nichols was trailed in the opening lap by Simonson, Do, Karnow, and Dylan Schlosser in the top five. Do got by Simonson into second in the early stages, while Nichols checked out by over five seconds. Mosiman made his way back inside the qualifying positions, getting into seventh with two minutes to go. His charge continued, carving his way into fourth place with two to go, setting after Karnow in third. Nichols took the win, with Do in second and Mosiman rounding out the top three. Fourth was Karnow, with Geran Stapleton (Honda) in fifth. Sixth went to Schlosser, as Devin Simonson (Kawasaki), RJ Wageman (Yamaha) and Brian Marty (Husqvarna) rounded out the final transfer spots. 

250SX West heat 2:
Lawrence grabbed the lead early ahead of Osby, Shimoda, Maxwell Sanford (Honda), and John Short (Suzuki). Craig lined up but pulled off after the opening sections favoring his left leg from the crash in qualifying. Shimoda worked his way into second quick, while Lawrence had already sailed to a five-second lead. Short and Osby battled for the third with two minutes to go, exchanging passes with Short coming away with the position. Out front, Lawrence’s lead ballooned to eight seconds over Shimoda with a lap to go. Lawrence grabbed the win by nearly 10 seconds over Shimoda, Short, Osby and Sanford in the top five. Alexander Nagy took sixth on his privateer KTM ahead of LAne Shaw (KTM), Justin Rodbell (Kawasaki) and Wilson Fleming (Honda) took the final transfer spot.

450SX heat 1:
Marvin Musquin grabbed the early lead but it was Webb with the holeshot ahead of Musquin, Plessinger, Barcia, and Sexton. Webb was chased early by his teammate as he received a ton of pressure from Plessinger. Barcia hit the ground, doing damage to his bike, and is off to the pits to prepare for the LCQ. Sexton took over the four spot allowing Anderson into the five spot. Musquin made a mistake in the whoops nearly costing himself big, allowing Plessinger and Sexton to close up while Webb maintained a one-second gap. Musquin hit the ground in a corner just moments later, dropping down the order to fifth. With two laps to go, Webb had a three-second gap, with Sexton beginning to pressure Plessinger hard. The duo swapped positions in a few corners, allowing Anderson to reel them in. Sexton capitalized on a mistake in the whoops by Plessinger to make the pass, with Anderson doing the same two corners later. Webb grabbed the win from Sexton, Anderson, Plessinger, and Musquin in the top five. Sixth was Broc Tickle (MotoConcepts Honda) with Tyler Bowers (Kawasaki), Justin Starling (KTM), and Brandon Hartranft (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) taking the final transfer spots. 

450SX heat 2:
The final heat race holeshot went to Tomac followed by Stewart, Wageman, and Savatgy. Roczen had a solid jump but was pushed wide into turn one dropping him to sixth behind Wilson. He made quick work of Wilson and Savatgy to take fourth and began to chase Ferrandis for third. Tomac continued to lead and was shadowed by Stewart just over a second behind him with three minutes to go in the race. With two minutes to go, Roczen caught the back of Ferrandis and began to work on making a pass. Playing it patiently, he made the pass a lap later through a rhythm lane. Out front on the final lap, Stewart had reeled in Tomac but would come up just short, finishing second while Tomac grabbed the win. Roczen took third with Ferrandis and Savatgy rounding out the top five. Sixth was Wilson with Benny Bloss (MotoConcepts Honda) taking seventh. Eighth went to Cade Clason (Kawasaki) with Max Anstie (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) taking the final transfer spot. 

250SX West LCQ:
Luke Neese (Kawasaki) grabbed the holeshot ahead of Jonah Geistler (KTM), Joshua Varize (KTM), and Mason Kerr (Kawasaki). Varize made his way out front early getting past Neese, while Kerr grabbed third ahead of Geistler. After a fairly uneventful race, Varize made a mistake nearly going down in the whoops and allowing Neese to catch up on the final lap. Varize held on for the win ahead of Neese, Kerr, and Geistler in the final transfer positions. 

450SX LCQ:
Barcia grabbed the holeshot ahead of Joan Cros (Kawasaki) Dylan Raper (Kawasaki) and Fredrik Noren (Kawasaki). Cros crashed hard at the end of the opening lap allowing Miller into the fourth and final transfer spot. Miller quickly got around Raper as Jeremy Smith closed in fifth. Raper missed a triple, surrendering two spots allowing Smith and Joshua Cartwright (Kawasaki) to get by. Cartwright made a solid move on Smith to take the final spot with just over a minute to go. Barcia cruised to the win by 13 seconds over Noren, Miller and Cartwright in the final transfer spots. 

250SX West main event:
Shimoda grabbed the holeshot from Do, Mosiman, Varize and Lawrence, while Nichols checked up and slotted into 10th. Lawrence got by Varize on lap two as Nichols made his way to sixth place. Mosiman made a quick pass on Do and set out after Shimoda who was just over one second ahead. Lawrence and Nichols then jumped past Do, Lawrence making a mistake and allowing Nichols to close up quickly. Meanwhile, out front Mosiman caught Shimoda and the duo began to battle for the lead. Mosiman made a pass around the outside on Shimoda, but Shimoda quickly grabbed the inside and put himself back into the lead. Mosiman again attempted a pass but was forced to miss the triple and again dropped back nearly a second. All the while, Lawrence worked his way toward the leaders with Nichols just two seconds back while setting the fastest lap, over a half-second quicker than those in front of him. Mosiman again closed the gap to Shimoda, now with Lawrence just behind. Lawrence grabbed second from Mosiman and set out after Shimoda. Nichols then closed up on Mosiman, taking third place with Mosiman making a mistake over the triple. With one minute to go, Shimoda had a two-second lead over Lawrence with Nichols a second further back from that. Shimoda in lap traffic allowed Lawrence to close with two laps to go. In the end Shimoda grabbed the first win of his career ahead of Lawrence and Nichols on in the final podium spots. Mosiman took fourth ahead of Do. Sixth went to Varize, with Karnow, Stapleton, Schlosser and Short taking the final spots in the top 10.

450SX main event:
The final holeshot of the night went to Ken Roczen ahead of Musquin Savatgy Ferrandis and Anderson. Red plate holder Webb was deep in the pack working up to seventh on the opening lap. Barcia hit the ground hard in the opening lap dropping him to 22nd place, just moments later Savatgy hit the ground as well. As it settled out on lap two it was Roczen, Musquin, Anderson Webb, and Stewart. Sexton circulated in sixth with Tomac in ninth, hitting the ground moments later dropping down the order to 10th. With 15 minutes to go, Roczen had stretched out a three-second lead over Musquin, with Anderson another three seconds back from that. Just then, Stewart closed the gap to Webb for fourth with Sexton in tow. Webb closed on Anderson as Stewart began to show him a wheel here and there. With 10 minutes to go Musquin closed a bit on Roczen while Webb missed a rhythm allowing Stewart to attempt the pass. Webb pushed the issue on Anderson nearly making a pass, instead making the move a few sections later. Webb found clear air in third and set out after Musquin in second. At that point, with eight minutes to go, Roczen hit the ground sliding out before the whoops and dropping to fifth place. Musquin maintained the lead by 2.5 seconds over Webb with Stewart in third after a mishap by Anderson. Webb caught Musquin for the lead with just over four minutes to go, as Barcia had another big crash. In the end it was Musquin winning his first race in over two years, with Webb in second and Stewart in third for his first career 450SX podium. Fourth was Ferrandis with Sexton rounding out the top five. Roczen ended the night in sixth, with Anderson just behind in seventh place. Wilson continued his run of top 10 finishes as Tomac took the final spot in the top 10.