Things are much, much tighter in the 250SX East Division, where Tom Vialle leads Seth Hammaker by a single point, with RJ Hampshire sitting three points back of Vialle in third. The way the tiebreakers play out, we’re looking at a winner-take-all situation in this class. To make matters even more exciting, tonight is an East/West Showdown, so we’ll have all the talent from the 250SX West Division in play while the East Division is battling for a championship. What more could you want? And if you’re wondering about the 250SX West Division, that championship was decided last week when Haiden Deegan wrapped it up in Denver. For a closer look at how the different championship scenarios might play out, go here.

The track itself looks great, as far as design goes. If you had to pick one word to describe it, it’d have to be, rhythms. There are three super long rhythm lanes. Two of them run the entire length of the stadium, while the third takes up about 90 percent of the stadium length. The whoops looked pretty big on track walk, and even the finish line jump is a booter! The track was pretty muddy on track walk, but that won’t last. The forecast is calling for the temperature to reach 85 degrees and it already feels like it’s getting close to that. The sun is going to bake the track all day, so expect things to get hard and slippery.

It won’t be long before qualifying is underway here in SLC, so check back soon for a report on who’s setting the bar in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Qualifying – Session One

250SX West Division

Haiden Deegan immediately started putting down fast laps, with his first heater measuring in at 48.869. Cole Davies would follow it up with a 47.632, but unfortunately the session would get red flagged shortly after. Davies made a mistake in a rhythm lane and rolled the next few jumps, not knowing Jordon Smith was airborne and right in line behind him. Smith simply had nowhere to go and his front wheel center punched Davies in what looked like the lower back area as he landed. It was ugly, to say the least, and Davies was motionless for quite a while on the track. However, when the medics finally loaded him on to the Asterisk Medical Mule, they didn’t put him on a stretcher, which makes a back injury seem unlikely. Later on Peacock they announced Davies had been transported to a local hospital with an arm injury. We also heard he may have some injured ribs. That’s a blow to Davies and the finale, but it could have so, so easily been much worse.

When practice resumed Davies’ fastest lap held strong for a few laps, but Deegan would eventually top it with a 47.312. Jo Shimoda was third-fastest with a 47.775, while Julien Beaumer and Jordon Smith rounded out the top five. Smith has a bruised back and road rash. He'll skip the second qualifier but still plans on racing the main event.

250SX East Division

Fortunately there was less drama in this session. RJ Hampshire turned a hot lap on his fourth lap, a 48.451, but a few laps later Seth Hammaker topped it with a 47.415. A lap or two later both Hammaker and Hampshire were on a hot lap together but they both had to cut short when a slower rider accidentally got in their way exiting a rhythm lane. Tom Vialle never looked great in this one and spent most of the time outside the top five. Then, in his final lap, he threw down a heater to vault himself into second fastest behind Hammaker with a 48.277. Hammaker is significantly faster than the competition right now, and it’s going to be extremely interesting to see what happens in this group in the final set of qualifiers.

450SX

Justin Cooper and Macolm Stewart were the first riders to dip into the 47-second range in this one, but on Chase Sexton’s fifth lap he rocketed to the top, turning a 47.451. A few laps later Sexton uncorked a 47.193, and he looked good doing it! He was smooth, had no sketchy moments, and didn’t even look like he was pushing it. He might not have been pushing it, actually, because two laps later he recorded an astounding 46.764, and he looked just as smooth on that lap too. The whoops seemed especially strong for Sexton. Most guys weren’t able to consistently get through them cleanly, but Sexton was straight as an arrow, and just as swift, every single run.

Qualifying – Second Session

250SX East Division

Seth Hammaker picked up right where he left off first session by coming out hot in the second and shooting to the top of the board. Hampshire would take over a few laps in though with a 47.756, and at this point the top three consisted of the title contenders, Hampshire, Vialle, and Seth Hammaker. Vialle briefly displaced Hammaker for second, but then Hammaker quickly blasted his way back to the top with a 47.651. Hampshire made an attempt to answer back, but wasn’t able to dethrone Hammaker, who ended the session fastest. Check out the fast laps between the title contenders. They’re less than two tenths of a second apart!

250SX West Division

No surprises to kick off this one, as Deegan was immediately fast, busting out a 47.913 in his second lap. He and Julien Beaumer were the only 250SX riders we saw exiting the shorter rhythm lane quadding out of it, a line Deegan later used to lower his own time to a 47.569. A few laps later though Beaumer put in a scorching lap to notch a 47.035! That would stand as the fastest of the session, too, as nobody was able to get near it. Drew Adams, who is racing just his second race back since injuring his collarbone in Glendale, had a good outing. He put in a fast lap, a 47.829, about halfway through the session to take third fastest.

450SX

Just as this session was starting to open up, Mitchell Oldenburg crashed in a rhythm lane. He was down hard too and the session was red flagged as medics tended to him. Oldenburg eventually left the stadium sitting on the tailgate of the Alpinestars Medical Mule.

When things got going again Chase Sexton’s time, a 47.150, was the benchmark, but Sexton himself was the only one who could beat it when he recorded a 46.781 in his seventh lap. It would stand as the fastest lap of this qualifier when the checkers flew. Cooper Webb was fourth-fastest in this one with a 47.711. There was enough time on the clock for him to get in another lap at the end, but he opted to instead collect his mechanic, Alex Campbell, and rode back to the pits. Benny Bloss had a crash toward the end and looked pretty shaken up. He got up and walked off the track, then promptly laid down on the side of the track for several minutes.

250SX East Division Heat Race

The start of this heat race got off to be best possible start for the fans, with all three title contenders up front. Seth Hammaker holeshot, with RJ Hampshire and Tom Vialle right behind. At first it looked like there might be a big battle right out of the gate in preview of the main event, but as the laps wore on Hammaker started getting away from Hampshire, who was inching away from Vialle. Behind them the guys were pretty spread out too, and the only battle to watch was between Cullin Park and Austin Forkner, with Forkner eventually taking the spot with two laps to go.

About the same time Forkner made the pass, Hampshire made a mistake and went down all by himself. He got up and tried to get back going, but his rear wheel was tangled in what looked like a TV cable and it took him quite a while to rejoin the race. By the time he was back in it, he was out of a qualifying spot. He’ll head to the LCQ, where he shouldn’t have a problem getting into the main event. If he doesn’t, he won’t even have the chance to race for the title.

Hammaker took the win, with Vialle, Hymas, Nate Thraser, Forkner, Park, Hardy Munoz, Max Vohland, and Jack Chambers filling the remaining transfer spots.

250SX West Division Heat Race

Haiden Deegan kicked this one off with a big holeshot, but Julien Beaumer had no intention of letting him  check out. Beaumer gave chase and was catching Deegan, but then Beaumer blitzed the whoops so hard his exit speed made him slam into the rollers after the whoops and lose valuable time. But then Deegan made a mistake in a rhythm lane, and just like that, Beaumer was back on him and block passed his way into the lead. The two went back and forth, throwing block passes on each other, and the crowd roared their approval. Deegan eventually relented and stopped going for it, which allowed Beaumer to get away and take the win by a comfortable margin.

There was a second-turn pileup in this one involving Joe Shimoda, Garrett Marchbanks, Hunter Yoder, and Derek Kelley, but Shimoda rebounded to qualify, and Marchbanks passed into a qualifying spot, then zapped Shimoda for eighth, on the last lap.

The top nine consisted of Beaumer, Deegan, Drew Adams, Michael Mosiman, Coty Schock, Enzo Lopes, Lux Turner, Marchbanks, and Shimoda. Jordan Smith had planned on coming back for the heat race after a nasty crash with Cole Davies during qualifying, but he didn't end up making it.

450SX Heat Race One

The crowd erupted when Aaron Plessinger ripped the holeshot with Malcolm Stewart in tow. Justin Cooper ran third, with Christian Craig and Dylan Ferrandis rounding out the top five. As the race wore on Plessinger, Stewart, and Cooper separated themselves from the field, but none of them were close enough to each other to make a move. Cooper had good speed, but he was jumping through the whoops, and Plessinger and Stewart were killing him there by skimming. On the final lap Stewart put in a ridiculous run through the whoops and nearly put a pass on Plessinger, but Plessinger held him off and took the win by .271 seconds over Stewart. Once again the crowd roared approval. 

Transfer spots were filled by Plessinger, Stewart, Cooper, Ferrandis, Justin Hill, Craig, Colt Nichols, Kyle Chisholm, and Cade Clason.

450SX Heat Race Two

Both Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton were in this heat, but it was Webb who exploded out of the gate to take the holeshot. Sexton was several spots back, but he started moving forward quickly. After a couple laps he’d passed Dean Wilson for second and started going after Webb. Sexton’s whoop speed was far superior to Webb's, and he used that section to close up to Webb’s rear fender in less than a lap. As the two approached the end of a rhythm lane Sexton was coming in hot, and Webb, wanting no part of it, simply surrendered the spot. Sexton then checked out for the win.

With a minute to go Shane McElrath was closing in on Wilson for third, but Wilson refused to let him get close enough to make a move. Wilson was also better in the whoops, which helped him stretch it back out on McElrath a little bit every lap. When the checkers flew it was Sexton, Webb, Wilson, McElrath, Joey Savatgy, Benny Bloss, Jeremy Hand, Anthony Rodriguez, and Justin Starling filling the final transfer spots.

250SX LCQ

RJ Hampshire shot out for a holeshot, while Hunter Yoder, Devin Simonson, and Trevor Colip initially filled the transfer spots. Yoder and Simonson held pace well early, but Colip soon found himself fighting off Gavin Towers. Try as he might, Colip was powerless to prevent Towers from sailing by in a rhythm lane. Avery Long went by Colip next and tried to go after Towers, but he just didn’t have the pace to catch him. Hampshire won, followed by Yoder, Simonson, Towers, who filled the final transfer spots.

450SX LCQ

Kevin Moranz got the start, followed by Grant Harlan. After a few laps Harlan was feeling some serious pressure from Mitchell Harrison, who was bringing Freddie Noren with him. Harrison eventually cut inside Harlan and made the pass, and Noren didn’t take long to follow suit. On the final lap the four of them were spread out enough that there wasn’t going to be any battling, and they had plenty of room over Joan Cros in fifth. Moranz took the win, with Harrison, Noren, and Harlan filling the remaining transfer spots.

250SX East/West Showdown

Haiden Deegan grabbed the holeshot, followed by Tom Vialle and Seth Hammaker. RJ Hampshire, who had a horrible gate pick from having to go to the LCQ, was buried way back early. Credit to Hampshire though, he started making moves immediately and in the blink of an eye was somehow up to seventh, and still rolling. After less than five minutes, Hampshire was already into fifth and was only a few seconds back of Hammaker!

Back up front Deegan still leading and Vialle was second, but Beumer had passed Hammaker and was going after Vialle. It wasn’t long before he was on his rear wheel, but he was very careful in trying to set up the pass. Lap after he lap he tiptoed behind Vialle, and finally, set up a pass in a rhythm lane when he had the inside exiting the section. After that Hammaker was all over Vialle and made the pass on the inside of a righthander. At this point Hammaker had the championship in hand. Things took another bad turn for Vialle a couple laps later when Hampshire tripled past Vialle in a rhythm lane. Vialle had nothing for Hampshire, and Hampshire motored away in the hopes of hunting down Hammaker.

Hammaker must have noticed Hampshire coming because he turned it back up and went back after Beaumer. He passed him, but then Beaumer threw a hard pass on  Hammaker, which slowed him up a bit. A couple laps later Hampshire came in extremely hot on  Hammaker, tried to put a block pass on him, but ended up taking them both out! They dropped multiple spots, putting Vialle back into the championship lead.

With the white flag out Hammaker needed to make up about two seconds on Vialle, and he was doing everything he could to close the gap. He made decent progress, but it looked like he lost the drive entering the whoops, which was his best shot at making the pass. Deegan won, with Beaumer, Vialle, Hammaker, and Michael Mosiman rounding out the top five. With third, Vialle takes home the 250SX East Division Championship.

450SX Main Event

Aaron Plessinger scored the holeshot in this one, and right behind him were Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton. In fourth was Shane McElrath, who’d gotten another good start. Webb, meanwhile passed Plessinger on the first lap and tried to make a break for it. Sexton had other ideas though, and moved into second and started laying down heat. After a few laps Sexton was on Webb’s rear wheel, but he didn’t push the issue right away. Sexton eventually made the pass by jumping by in a rhythm lane and slowing a bit at the exit to make sure Webb couldn’t cut underneath him. Webb kept him in sight for a while, but it wasn’t long before Sexton was all by himself up front.

Webb continued to hold down second, and soon he had Justin Cooper behind him. Cooper wasn’t going to do anything to endanger Webb’s championship though, and Cooper never made any moves that even remotely resembled  a pass attempt on Webb. Behind Cooper was McElrath, but just when it seemed like he might have something for Cooper, he made a mistake and went down. Malcolm Stewart was the next rider to challenge Cooper, and with about six minutes left Stewart was all over Cooper and shoved it up the inside in the 180 bowl turn following the finish line jump. Stewart then went after Webb, using his superior whoops speed to close to Webb’s rear wheel. Stewart then cut to the inside of Webb and passed him aggressively, preventing them both from clearing the next triple. At that point Cooper got tired of politely riding behind Webb and went around him. That put Webb in fourth, so his championship still wasn’t threatened.

From that point there was no championship drama to speak of. Chase Sexton took the win, with Stewart, Cooper, Webb, and Joey Savatgy rounding out the top five. A fourth for Webb was more than enough to wrap up the title, and Webb leaves Salt Lake City with his third Monster Energy AMA 450SX championship.