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Image: Octopi Media.

250SX qualifying:
Current points-leader Christian Craig was comfortably quickest in both of this afternoon’s timed sessions, ultimately setting the benchmark at 56.813s late in Q2 – a full second clear of the field. Behind him, Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) dipped into the 57s with just minutes remaining, a couple of tenths up on Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas), who in turn was closely followed by Craig’s Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha teammate Nate Thrasher and winner of last week, Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC). The top 10 was completed by Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Vince Friese (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda), Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), then AEO Powersports KTM duo Carson Brown and Derek Kelley.

450SX qualifying:
A lap in the closing moments saw Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson take the top spot with a flying 56.700s lap-time, which placed him 0.072s ahead of Eli Tomac. Red plate-holder Tomac was first into the 56s before Anderson struck, the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha rider ending the session in P2, ahead of Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC), Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), courtesy of his time atop the leaderboard in Q1 earlier. Next up came Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), with seventh a solid result for Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), the top 10 completed by Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), Shane McElrath (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS) and Justin Brayton (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda). Notably outside of the top 10 was defending champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) in P12, with Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) one spot further back in 13th.

250SX heat one:
It was Marchbanks who held on for the win in the first 250SX heat of the night, his winning margin being 19.731s, however, it was much closer than that on-track. After working his way by Brown early, Marchbanks came under pressure from Shimoda in the closing stages, only for the latter to go down heavily while scrubbing in an attempt to make a last lap move for P1. That enabled Marchbanks to cruise to the victory ahead of Thrasher, with Robbie Wageman (Team Solitaire Nuclear Blast Yamaha), Kelley, Brown, Jerry Robin (GasGas), Ryan Surratt (Team Solitaire Nuclear Blast Yamaha), Maxwell Sanford (Honda) and Tre Fierro (Kawasaki) transferring directly to the main event. Meanwhile, Shimoda was assisted off-track by the Alpinestars medical crew for further observation.

250SX heat two:
After dominating qualifying earlier, it was expected that Craig would be the man to beat and, so far, following heat race two, he is with a race time five seconds faster than Marchbanks just managed. Craig had both Mosiman and Lawrence try to track him down, but in the end he was too strong, inching away to win by 3.802s over Lawrence, with Mosiman – his momentum halted by a bobble before the whoops – third and Friese fourth, despite a crash mid-race. Swoll, Dominique Thury (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Chris Blose (AJE Motorsport Motul GasGas), Logan Karnow (Kawasaki) and Dylan Woodcock (Husqvarna) going straight through.

450SX heat one:
The first turn of 450SX heat one saw Yamaha teammates Ferrandis and Tomac come together, the former ruled out altogether, but expected to return for the LCQ later tonight. At the front, Brayton led initially, before Barcia took control and rode to a 4.413s victory ahead of Musquin, as Tomac worked his way back from P8 on lap one to third by race’s end. That meant Brayton had to settle for fourth place, still ahead of the likes of Webb, Twisted Tea Suzuki teammates Justin Bogle and Brandon Hartranft, plus Justin Starling (GasGas) and Cade Clason (SGB Unlimited Honda) – each heading to the main event. Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha rider Alex Martin was also out early, caught up in the Ferrandis/Tomac incident and injuring his hand in the process.

450SX heat two:
Top qualifier Anderson owned heat two of 450SX, stretching a 5.176s advantage to top Plessinger, who in turn was comfortably in front of Sexton as the checkers flew. It was a relatively quiet outing from there, McElrath fourth, while Stewart climbed his way to fifth, followed by Roczen, Max Anstie (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS), Mitchell Oldenburg (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) in his final ride before switching to 250SX East next weekend and Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha) the last rider to transfer directly into the main event, benefiting from Wilson going down in the whoops and ending up 11th. In between them was Fredrik Noren (Brown’s RV Superstore Cole Racing KTM), also heading to the last-chance.

250SX LCQ:
Team Tedder Monster Energy KTM newcomer Kaeden Amerine won the 250SX LCQ after coming under pressure from Mitchell Harrison (AJE Motorsport Motul GasGas), the pair finishing in formation and Australian Geran Stapleton (GasGas) cruising to third. It was the rider in fourth who took much of the spotlight, early leader Devin Harriman (KTM) making it through despite going down twice in the whoops.

450SX LCQ:
There wasn’t really any doubt that Ferrandis and Wilson would go through in the 450 class LCQ, finishing 1-2, but as usual it was still an action-packed affair behind them for those final tickets to the main event. Twisted Tea Suzuki rider Adam Enticknap crossed the line third after fending off Oakland nemesis, Ryan Breece (Yamaha), who was caught up in Noren’s late fall at the end of the whoop section – both riders being denied transfer placings tonight. Instead, the fast-starting Kevin Moranz (KTM) was fourth, coming under attack and bumping Joan Cros (Kawasaki) out of the way when he came under attack toward the end.

250SX main event:
Another decisive victory from runaway points-leader Craig saw him claim his fourth win in six rounds prior to the western region heading into the break, but the storyline was the non-finishes in the field. With Shimoda already out following the heats, Lawrence crashed out of P2, plus both Swoll and Thrasher went out early. Instead, it was Craig who powered to a commanding 25.423s win ahead of Friese in his first podium of the year and Mosiman, who recovered from a crash on the opening lap and again in the latter stages, this time in the whoops. Behind him, Marchbanks charged from last to fourth place, with Brown claiming an impressive fifth ahead of Blose, who was yet another to go down in the whoops tonight. The top 10 was rounded out by Wageman, Kelley, Karnow and Surratt. In terms of the point-standings, Craig now has a massive 28-point buffer over Mosiman, who is now second and a single point up on Lawrence.

450SX main event:
The battle we all wanted to see was delivered as Anderson and Tomac led the field out of the first turn, setting up an intriguing dual at the front. It was Anderson, however, who was composed enough to stay there, coming under attack in the opening laps, before building an advantage and going on to win by 3.481s. Second was still another solid finish for Tomac to maintain the red plate coming out of the west coast, with Barcia riding to third following a mid-race error of Musquin. Fourth was Stewart in yet another consistent effort from Musquin, overcoming Ferrandis – who transferred through the LCQ – and Sexton in the closing minutes of the main event. It was a quiet outing again for Red Bull KTM duo Webb and Plessinger for eighth and ninth positions, while Brayton brought it home in 10th. Next in line was Roczen, another disappointing night as he was forced to recover from an off-track excursion in the first turn that put him at the rear of the pack. Points-wise, Tomac carries a lead of 12 points heading into Minneapolis ahead of tonight’s winner Anderson.