In the 250SX Class things aren’t close in points, with Haiden Deegan enjoying a 17-point lead over Cole Davies. There should still be plenty of excitement in this class, however, as Deegan has a chance to clinch the title tonight. If he wins and Cole Davies finishes fifth or worse, it’s lights out on the championship. For an in-depth look at 250SX championship scenarios, check out this piece we did earlier this week regarding Deegan’s path to a 250SX west title. It doesn’t seem likely though, as Davies has been riding incredibly well lately. He’s won the last two races he entered, with one of them being an East/West Showdown, and he’s not showing any signs of slowing down. Julien Beaumer could also be a factor tonight. His shoulder, which he dislocated in Arlington, is much better and the track here in Denver is typically dry and hardpack, which is right in Beaumer’s wheelhouse. Also of note, Drew Adams, who suffered a collarbone injury in Glendale, is returning to action today.

The track here in Denver has a long start that runs nearly the whole length of the stadium before funneling into a lefthander that leads into a rhythm lane. There’s also a long rhythm that runs the length of the stadium. The whoops are right out of a 90-degree righthander and are followed by five small jumps. It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of jump combos form up in that section. It's already warm here, and a high of 75 degrees is forecasted, which means it's going to be tough to keep moisture in the dirt. Expect the track to get hard and slick as the day plays out.

Practice is set to begin shortly, so check back soon for a look at who’s putting in hot laps in Denver.

Qualifying – First Sessions

250SX

The first 250SX qualifier kicked off with a bang when sparks flew between Cole Davies and Haiden Deegan. Four turns in, Davies went to go around the outside of Deegan in a berm, Deegan shut the door, and Davies ended up on the ground. There was no further drama after that, however, and Deegan got busy setting a fast time, a 50.380, on just his second lap.

From that point the qualifier was pretty uneventful until Julien Beaumer came alive. On his sixth lap Beaumer took over the top spot with a 50.354. He later spun a 50.147, which would stand as the fastest lap of the session. Deegan made an attempt to put in a heater on his last lap, but it wasn’t quite fast enough to match Beamuer.

450SX

If this qualifier was any indication of how Chase Sexton will do tonight, then his fans have reason to be pumped. Sexton was on fire! He was fastest early with a 50.615, but that didn’t last long. On his fifth lap Sexton became the first (and only) rider to dip below the 50-second mark, recording a 49.606, then promptly cut that down to 49.576. He still wasn’t done, however, and sliced his time to 49.224 on his ninth lap. He looked good doing it too—he was razor sharp, smooth, and we didn’t see any sketchy moments from him. Malcolm Stewart was second-fastest with a 50.373, over a second slower than Sexton. Cooper Webb was seventh-fastest with a 50.785.

There was a scary moment in this one when Freddie Noren somehow got ejected from his bike as he was cresting the finish line jump. Noren went over the bars and landed on the top of his head and laid still for a few moments, prompting a red flag. Fortunately Noren was able to shake it off and finish out the qualifier.

Qualifying – Second Sessions

250SX

Haiden Deegan and Cole Davies came out of the gate swinging in this one, with Deegan shooting to the top with a 50.606, followed closely by Davies with a 50.778. As the session wore on Julien Beaumer started turning up the heat, and after holding second-fastest for a few laps, threw in a heater to take over the top spot with a 50.070. Deegan busted out a fast lap on his last circulation (50.366), but it was just off the pace of Beaumer.

450SX

The track had dried out quite a bit and looked hard and slick, especially by the time the 450s came out, but that didn’t stop the guys from pushing the limits of speed and recording some seriously quick laps. And just like in the first session, Chase Sexton was extremely fast, getting into the 49-second range about halfway through, and ended up fastest with a 49.634.

Cooper Webb was much better in this one than he was in the first. He was on the gas hard from the get go and throughout the session was turning times that were consistently faster than the first. He ended up second-fastest with a 50.404, although Malcolm Stewart's time from the first session was good enough for second overall in combined qualifying. 

250SX Heat One

It looked like Haiden Deegan was going to nab the holeshot, but Garrett Marchbanks snuck up the inside to steal the early lead. Marchbanks looked great and was starting to gap Deegan a little bit, but he washed the front in a turn after about a lap and went down. That handed the lead back to Deegan, who took the opportunity to check out.

Back in the pack was Josh Shimoda, who hadn’t gotten a good start and wasn’t even in a transfer spot for the first few laps. Not surprisingly though, he was able to ride himself into fifth after having some good battles with Gavin Towers and Max Sanford.

Deegan took the win, with Enzo Lopes, Drew Adams, Marchbanks, Shimoda, Sanford, Towers, Derek Kelley, and Brad West filling the remaining transfer spots.

250SX Heat Two

Cole Davies holeshot the second 250SX heat race, but he had Michael Mosiman all over him in the opening stages of the race. The track crew had put a lot of water down before the night show to combat the dry conditions, and Davies seemed like he was having a hard time with it, as he was making a lot of little mistakes. Mosiman was also applying a lot of pressure, which probably didn’t help. Davies eventually got away from Mosiman, only to have Mosiman close back up toward the end. It looked like Mosiman might make the move on the final lap, but Davies held on.

Back in the pack was Julien Beaumer, who’d gotten a horrible start. He was riding himself forward and was up to ninth by the third lap, but was only able to get to sixth by the end of the race, which means his gate pick won’t be stellar for the 250SX main.

Jordon Smith went down early in this one. He later made another mistake and went off the track. Despite all that, and riding without a visor, he passed into ninth on the final lap to qualify for the main event.

Davies won, followed by Mosiman, Coty Schock, Robbie Wageman, Hunter Yoder, Beaumer, Dylan Walsh, Avery Long, and Smith.

450SX Heat One

Malcolm Stewart jumped out to the early lead and when Aaron Plessinger, who was almost right beside him, started making mistakes, Stewart took control and checked out. Plessinger, meanwhile, dropped a few spots back after making a couple more mistakes and coming up short in a rhythm lane. He regrouped though and started moving back forward. Several laps later he’d passed Mitchell Oldenburg for second. Stewart was gone at that point, however, and Plessinger settled in for second.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful, with Stewart, Plessinger, Oldenburg, Justin Hill, Shane McElrath, Dean Wilson, Benny Bloss, Justin Starling, and Jeremy Hand filling the transfer spots.

450SX Heat Two

Cooper Webb barreled out of the gate and grabbed the holeshot, but Justin Cooper wasn’t too far behind in second. Chase Sexton overtook Cooper on the first lap though with mind blowing speed through the whoops. Sexton then wasted no time in going after Webb, and he quickly closed up on his rear wheel. At that point the battle was on. Sexton was all over Webb in every section of the track, but Webb stubbornly refused to give up the lead. Finally Sexton made the move in the whoops when Webb made a mistake and lost drive entering them. Sexton quickly sprinted away, leaving Webb to fend off the attacks from Justin Cooper, a task he was successful in completing.

Sexton won, with Webb, Cooper, Dylan Ferrandis, Kyle Chisholm, Christian Craig, Freddie Noren, Cade Clason, and Colt Nichols filling the transfer spots.

Joey Savatgy went down early in this one and was way, way back. He was almost able to pass into ninth in the final turn of the final lap, but came up just short and finished tenth, which sends him to the LCQ.

250SX LCQ

CJ Benard did himself a favor by jumping to the lead and running by himself for the opening laps of this one, but Lux Turner was inching up on him. Turner was jumping a quad in a rhythm lane that Benard wasn’t, which allowed Turner to make up quite a bit of time every lap. On the fourth lap Turner was all over Benard, and used a great drive through the whoops to leap past Benard in the jumps right after the whoop section. Turner took off for the win, with Benard holding off Cole Thompson for second, and Parker Ross filling the final transfer spot in a lonely fourth place.

450SX LCQ

No surprises on the start of this one, as Joey Savatgy holeshot and ran away with the win. Michael Hicks and Kevin Moranz held second and third, but there was a tremendous battle for fourth shaping up between Marshal Weltin and Tristan Lane. Lane was all over Weltin but Weltin was doing an excellent job of guarding the inside. Finally Lane came in extremely hot in the righthander leading into the whoops, banged off Weltin, and took over fourth. Lane immediately put a few bike lengths between himself and Weltin, but Weltin kept Lane in sight. Unfortunately for Weltin he wasn’t able to close back up on Lane, and he missed the 450SX main by one spot. Savatgy, Hicks, Moranz, and Lane all transferred to the main.

250SX Main Event

Cole Davies took the holeshot, with Michael Mosiman and Haiden Deegan in tow. Julien Beaumer didn’t get a good start and ran about tenth early, but was making moves on the first lap, rounding the finish line in sixth. Up front Davies and Mosiman started getting away from Deegan, who was all by himself in third, with Jo Shimoda and Beaumer about four seconds behind him.

Beaumer was able to get by Shimoda with an excellent run through the whoops, but he had his work cut out for him, as Deegan at this point was nearly six seconds ahead of him. Speaking of Deegan, he’d turned up the heat and was catching back up to Mosiman. When he caught up to his rear wheel he wasted no time and running him wide in the bowl turn before the finish line to take over second. At this point Deegan was a little over three seconds back of Davies, and after a couple laps Deegan really started cutting into Davies’ lead. The two got into lappers, which complicated matters, but Davies did a great job of responding to Deegan’s pressure. Deegan kept at it though, and with a minute left in the race Deegan was all over his rear wheel. Corner after corner, Deegan was shoving a wheel in on Davies, but Davies stubbornly hung on and defended the lead successfully. Then Deegan got tired of waiting, came in hot in a lefthander, and punted Davies off the track, causing Davies to drop back to fifth. Deegan won, with Beaumer, Garrett Marchbanks, Jordon Smith, and Davies rounding out the top five.

Coincidentally, with Davies finishing fifth after being assisted off the track by Deegan, it gave Deegan the points swing he needed to clinch the championship.

450SX Main Event

What a race! Malcolm Stewart nabbed the holeshot, but he had Cooper Webb all over him. Webb was in no mood to play games and instantly made the pass on Stewart, who then found himself under fire from Chase Sexton. Also in no mood to play games, Sexton snuck up the inside of Stewart in a short rhythm lane and slipped by. At this point Webb was about two seconds ahead of Sexton, but Sexton was flying and it wasn’t long before he was within striking distance. Sexton wasted no time in making a move either, and threw it in on Webb in the bowl turn before the finish line. It was an aggressive pass, contact was made, but it wasn’t dirty. After the pass Sexton put his head down and set sail, putting a big gap on Webb very quickly.

Stewart continued to run third, a little over two seconds behind Webb, but he was slowly catching back up to Webb. Behind Stewart was Shane McElrath, who was riding incredibly well and holding off an onslaught from Aaron Plessinger. Lap after lap the two went at it, with Plessinger pouring tremendous pressure on McElrath, who was doing a great job defending. The inevitable finally happened though when Plessinger was able to edge McElrath in the long rhythm lane. Justin Cooper went by McElrath shortly after that, and then made the pass on Plessinger. Plessinger’s pace dropped off a little after this and all of a sudden McElrath was right back all over him.

At the halfway point Stewart had cut the gap down to a little under two seconds, but he wasn’t taking big chunks out of Webb, either. Webb did a great job of responding to Stewart’s charge, and lap after lap the two were almost in a stalemate, with neither one of them able to best each other’s lap time by significant margins. With about five minutes left Webb put on a bit of a surge and started inching back away from Stewart, who later found himself under fire from Justin Cooper. With a minute left he was really putting the screws to Stewart. Then all of a sudden the duo found themselves on the rear wheel of Webb! With two laps left Cooper went around Stewart, and was all over Webb. He didn’t make a move though, despite Stewart absolutely hounding him. On the final lap Stewart had a fantastic run through the whoops and was almost able to squirt by Cooper, but he just couldn’t make it happen. Webb was in real danger of losing valuable championship points on the final lap, but was able to hang onto second. Sexton won the race by a mile, with Webb, Cooper, Stewart, and Plessinger rounding out the top five.