You know the main storylines in the championships: Cooper Webb leads Chase Sexton by 11 points in the premier class as 2024 250SX East Champion Tom Vialle leads 250SX West RJ Hampshire by ten points in the 250SX East Division Championship as we enter round six. Webb and Sexton have been the class of the field lately, but again, with weather expected to impact tonight, you never know what could happen.

And for Vialle, there has been five different 250SX East winners in the first five rounds, but his name is missing from the list. His season-best is a second (twice) but he is the only rider to score inside the top five at every round so far this season (his main event finishes entering today are 5-4-2-2-3). Vialle wants to make it sixth different winners in the first sixth rounds and end the night at the top of the podium. Will he? Or will someone else step up?

Again, tarps are still on the track as of this morning, but they should be coming off here very soon. Stay tuned into this post, as well as our social media pages for more updates throughout the entire day. 

Racer X

X — @racerxonline
Instagram — @racerxonline
Facebook — @racerxonline
YouTube — Racer X Motocross & Supercross News

Update: April 5 at 9:15 a.m. Eastern

Okay, as of 9:15 a.m. Eastern we are now onto a second revised schedule. Track viewing will start at 1:30 p.m. Eastern and there will only one qualifying session for each group today. -Bikes on track at 3 p.m. Eastern. This means there will be an extra emphasis on qualifying today.

11:30 a.m. Eastern - Light Rain

Light rain started while I was wandering around the pits. We learned the SMX Track Crew would not be taking the tarps off until 1 p.m. ahead of the 1:30 p.m. track viewing. 

1 p.m. Eastern - Tarps Started Coming Off

At 12:255 p.m., the SMX Track Crew began pulling off the tarps. For the next thirty minutes, they pulled the tarps off via quads. Then, they began adding Tuff Blox to the track as the SMX Track Crew worked on moving water and putting extra dirt onto specific parts of the track.

3 p.m. Eastern - Bikes on Track!

SMX Next - Supercross Qualifying

Finally, at 3 p.m. Eastern, we got to see bikes on the track! The SMX Next - Supercross rider waited in the tunnel and then was the first group to hit the track for our first and only qualifying sessions this afternoon. Enzo Temmerman, Luke Fauser, and Alex Fedortsov led the session early. Grayson Townsend had a wild ride in the whoops but stayed up. Landen Gordon was one of the many riders to go down in the whoops, including Leum Oehlhof, too. Eventually, Fedortsov topped the field, followed by Fauser, Klark Robbins, Ryder Malinoski, and Landon Hartz.

250SX Class Qualifying

Mark Fineis topped the overall 250SX, coming out of the group B session with a 1:11.762 to top the overall 250cc field. Dayton Briggs (fastest out of group C) was second overall, ahead of Ayden Shive, Bryce Shell, and Ricci Randanella.

The 250SX group A qualifying session gate dropped, and it was Tom Vialle, who did a burnout to clean his rear tire while waiting for the session to start, who got the fake holeshot and led the field around the track. Vialle led Gage Linville, Nate Thrasher, Daxton Bennick, and Maximus Vohland. But then Vialle came up short on the first triple and then went down. He went to get up but gave too much gas on the slip plywood and went down. He did get going again, but never got in a clean lap, scoring 31st on overall qualifying. Seth Hammaker went to the top of the board in the session with a 1:18.280. By the checkered flag, Hammaker’s time was the top of the session, over Thrasher, RJ Hampshire, Lance Kobusch, and Vohland. Fineis’ 1:11.762 stood for the top overall time!

Watch an interview I did with him this afternoon during the weather delay, where we talked about his split from the ClubMX Yamaha team, joining the PRMX squad, his expectations for today, and more.

Some track changes were made after the 250SX qualifying session, specifically in the whoops. They were adjusted to three rollers, similar to the changes the SMX Track Crew made at the 2024 San Francisco SX and the '24 Birmingham SX. Up next is the 450SX group A qualifying session.

450SX Class Qualifying

The 450SX group A qualifying session got underway and it was Aaron Plessinger who got the fake holeshot and led the field. Ken Roczen did only two laps and then pulled off the track and into the mechanics' area with what looked like an issue with his body. He was hunched over his bike and eventually got back on his bike, with his mechanic, and they rode off through the tunnel, ending his session early.

Chase Sexton pulled off the track and looked to be leaving the floor as well but then waited a minute, went back onto the track, and put in another muddy hot lap. He was P1 until Justin Barcia snuck in late and took the top spot with a 1:14.827! Then, he gave a great interview.

Sexton was second, then Plessinger, then Cooper Webb and Dylan Ferrandis.

That is a wrap on qualifying today. Bikes will be back on the track for the night show: opening ceremonies starts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern and the night show racing starts at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Update on Ken Roczen

We have learned Ken Roczen is dealing with an ankle injury, which is why he pulled off the track early during the qualifying session earlier today. However, he is in fact going to race tonight.

Night Show

Heat Races

250SX Heat 1

In the first heat race of the night, Max Vohland burst out and into the lead and he checked out. He took the race win by over 30 seconds! Henry Miller bested Dayton Briggs for second as RJ Hampshire and Justin Rodbell rounded out the top five. Gage Stine got a great jump but crashed in the first rhythm section, which ended his race right there. Hampshire ran into trouble but got back up to fourth. Romano went down and did not make it into a transfer spot.

250SX Heat 2

Tom Vialle got out to the early race lead and was challenged by Seth Hammaker. Vialle stalled, Hammaker got by but in the next turn, Vialle bumped Hammaker, and the Kawasaki rider went down! He remounted and went after Vialle but the #1 held strong. Chance Hymas rode great and made a last-lap pass on Mark Fineis to take third as Lance Kobusch rounded out the top five. Austin Forkner and Nate Thrasher both went down on the opening lap and had to go to the LCQ. Forkner scored 12th and Thrasher pulled off late in the race after three crashes, heading back to regroup for the LCQ.

450SX Heat 1

Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb got out to the race lead early, but Sexton checked out and won by 30+ seconds. Webb scored second as Malcolm Stewart scored third over Mitchell Oldenburg. However, Sexton was penalized two positions, bumping him back to third behind Webb and Stewart.

450SX Heat 2

Shane McElrath holeshot the second heat race and took off with the race win. Aaron Plessinger charged to second as Dylan Ferrandis, Benny Bloss, and Ken Roczen rounded out the top five.

SMX Next - Supercross Main Event

Kade Johnson, Luke Fauser, and Landen Gordon all traded for the lead. Eventually, they all had mistakes. Johnson rebounded to take the race win as Gordon and Fauer rounded out the podium. 

250SX LCQ

450SX LCQ

250SX Main Event

After a wild day so far, it was time for the main events. Although shortened, there was no doubt they would still be difficult. The gates dropped on the 250SX main event and right from the first turn, the chaos began. RJ Hampshire cut over from outside of the doghouse but he washed the front end and collected a handful of other riders! Privateer Dayton Briggs, who was second overall in qualifying, got the holeshot over Cullin Park, Trevor Colip, as Change Hymas swung into the mix from the very far outside gate. Briggs led the first two laps of the race and had some room out front but then came the problems. First, he slid out in the turn by the mechanics' area. Hymas, who got into second ahead of Park, Colip, and Justin Rodbell, inherited the lead, then Briggs' race took a turn for the worst when he went down and got stuck going up the face of the (former standard triple, not a double) before the cut down whoops section. Championship leader Tom Vialle ran into trouble, going down a few times and eventually standing on the side of the track gassing his bike with a clumped up front wheel that was going nowhere. The KTM rider's name dropped down the live timing and scoring, but it was truly impossible to tell who was who and which position they were in. Eventually, Vialle came through the finish line and accidentally ghost rode his bike into the team manager's tower. Unfortunately, he came through in dead last, 22nd unofficially, after being lapped more than once. Out front, Hymas pulled away from Park and took his first career race win as Park and... Gage Linville, who was down in the first turn (!), somehow made his way up to third place! First career 250SX podiums for all three riders in what was one of the wildest races I have ever seen. Justin Rodbell came through fourth in an unbelievable ride for the Maryland native as Daxton Bennick rounded out the top five. Hampshire scored 15th and Seth Hammaker scored ninth. Mark Fineis, P1 in overall qualifying, scored eighth in his first ride with PRMX Kawasaki.

450SX Main Event

One final gate drop, and this chaotic day was over. The 450SX main event got underway, and it was Justin Cooper and Shane McElrath once again with a great start! The two traded positions before Cooper ran into trouble and dropped back. Aaron Plessinger made his way into the lead, but McElrath rode strong, scoring his first career 450SX podium. I believe Cooper Webb was about sixth on the final lap, but somehow, Ken Roczen and Chase Sexton both ran into trouble, got stuck, and Webb’s YZ450F kept plugging and he just kept going! Plessinger took the checkered flag and celebrated on the top of the jump with a lapped Benny Bloss as McElrath came through second. Slow and steady, Webb came through third! Sexton was ahead of the #2 machine most of the race and it looked like it would be a points swing in the #4’s favor, but a few bobbles—and getting stuck once on the finish line landing—allowed Webb to do Webb things. Webb’s final lap was a 1:47.567, compared to a 1:51.796 from Plessinger, a 1:55.079 from McElrath, a 2:39.581 from Roczen, a 2:07.823 from Justin Barcia, and a 2:48.656 from Sexton. Roczen stalled on the final lap but going again and came through fourth as Barcia, the fastest overall qualifier in the afternoon session, rounded out the top five. Sexton came through sixth—the last rider not to get lapped by Plessinger—then Bloss was seventh one lap down. Shout-out to Logan Leitzel, who scored his first 450SX main event start AND put his #208 Kawasaki KX450 into the top ten with a ninth-place finish. Alas, the wild, chaotic, wet, cold, and muddy day was over.