Ryan Nitzen | January 18, 2025
Stay classy San Diego! We’re live from Snapdragon Stadium for round two of the Monster AMA Supercross Series which is also the second round of the SuperMotocross World Championship. There’s a whole lot to see in this thread, including qualifying results, pit photos, and a full press day video. Scroll through to make sure you don’t miss a bit of the action.
At the end of two exciting races, both Julien Beaumer and Eli Tomac crossed the line as the big winners in San Diego.
Cooper Webb leads the way into turn one of the 450 main. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
Main Events
450SX
The most action-packed race of the year. Well so far that is. Cooper Webb grabbed a crucial holeshot to kick things off and led the first half of the race while the rest of the field jockeyed for positions in the early stages. Amongst the first lap drama, points leader Chase Sexton fell towards the end of the opening lap and crossed the line in dead last.
Webb led the first half with Roczen closely in tow.
The crowd came alive as Eli Tomac made his way through the field. After a few laps, he continuously improved and found his way to the back of then leader Cooper Webb. Tomac made a fast charge through the whoops and forced a pass on Webb in the bowl corner just before the finish. On the next lap, Jett Lawrence followed suit and the race was on between Tomac and Lawrence.
Tomac and Lawrence were never more than this far apart.
The fans were then treated to a “mono e mono” battle as the two stayed less than a half-second apart for the remaining laps. Tomac kept things under control late into the race despite dealing with lappers. An incident with Vince Friese late in the race saw Tomac nearly collide with the Honda rider as Friese drifted over in the rhythm before the whoops. This allowed Lawrence to close but he was ultimately unable to make a pass. Tomac crossed the line with a big win and was greeted with the stadium’s approval.
Eli Tomac celebrates a big win in San Diego.
Cooper Webb still finished third after leading nearly half of the race early on. The former champ battled with Ken Roczen late in the main but maintained the final spot on the box.
A first lap crash for Sexton saw him salvage a sixth place result.
Sexton fought his way to sixth at the line. In the process he loses the points lead to Tomac, who now leads by one.
450 Podium.
450SX Main Event (Top 10)
| 1. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
24 Laps |
| 2. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
1.518 |
| 3. |
Cooper Webb |
(Yam) |
18.518 |
| 4. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
19.632 |
| 5. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
21.041 |
| 6. |
Chase Sexton |
(KTM) |
21.631 |
| 7. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Hus) |
32.915 |
| 8. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
37.015 |
| 9. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Hon) |
42.720 |
| 10. |
Joey Savatgy |
(Hon) |
44.148 |
250SX West
An exciting 250 main unfolded for the San Diego crowd with the rookie, Cole Davies, taking the early lead. Julien Beaumer quickly moved to second with Jordon Smith slotting into third place. Haiden Deegan again faced trouble in the first few turns, tagging wheels and crossing lap one in eighth.
250 Start.
Davies led the first seven laps of the main event and looked comfortable out front with Beaumer closely in tow. The KTM rider, Beaumer, finally had enough and ran Davies high in turn two to take the lead. From there it was all Beaumer as he rode up front for the remaining laps. This marks his first career win and he now takes the points lead going into round three.
Davies led early on with Beaumer hot on his heels.
Julien Beaumer earned his first career main event win.
Jordon Smith continues to improve, finishing second at San Diego. The Triumph pilot started in third and made the pass for second after a mistake from Davies on the landing of the triple. Smith continued to hit the big triple-quad line late into the main event but never got close enough to make a pass on Beaumer. Another podium for Smith is Triumph’s best finish and moves him to second in points.
Jordon Smith earned another PR for Triumph with second place.
Deegan once again fought from the back, crossing lap one in eighth place. The Star Racing Yamaha rider picked off riders as the laps wore on and finally passed Ryder Difrancesco in the waning stages of the main. Difrancesco missed the crucial rhythm lane and Deegan launched the quadruple line over his head and into third place. This is Deegan’s first podium finish of the year and bumps him to fourth in points.
Deegan landed on the podium in third.
Jo Shimoda came into the night with two broken fingers after hitting a pit board during qualifying. He toughed it out in the main event and salvaged a seventh place result. This keeps him third in the overall points standings.
Tough night for Jo Shimoda as an injury to his hand in practice forced him off the podium.
250 Podium.
250SX West Main Event (Top 10)
| 1. |
Julien Beaumer |
(KTM) |
18 Laps |
| 2. |
Jordon Smith |
(Tri) |
3.087 |
| 3. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
5.773 |
| 4. |
Cole Davies |
(Yam) |
7.949 |
| 5. |
Ryder Difrancesco |
(GG) |
8.732 |
| 6. |
Coty Schock |
(Yam) |
16.374 |
| 7. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Hon) |
27.838 |
| 8. |
Garrett Marchbanks |
(Kaw) |
30.020 |
| 9. |
Michael Mosiman |
(Yam) |
35.403 |
| 10. |
Hunter Yoder |
(Kaw) |
37.571 |
QUALIFYING
450SX
Chase Sexton looks good with the red plate. He posted the fastest times in both qualifying sessions. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
Chase Sexton claimed the fastest laps in both of the day’s qualifying sessions. After a big A1 win, the points leader looks comfortable with the new red plate and jumped to the front of the field at the end of the final qualifier. His time of 51.566 makes him the fastest rider of the day. Jett Lawrence was fastest for most of the second session but clocked in just one-tenth back from Sexton. Eli Tomac was the final rider on the 51-second mark and claimed third fastest in practice.
Jett Lawrence was much closer to Sexton this week, only a tenth off the pace.
Tomac was third, the last rider on the 51-second mark.
450SX Overall Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Chase Sexton |
(KTM) |
51.566 |
| 2. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
51.634 |
| 3. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
51.986 |
| 4. |
Cooper Webb |
(Yam) |
52.291 |
| 5. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
52.462 |
| 6. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
52.595 |
| 7. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
52.724 |
| 8. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Hus) |
52.757 |
| 9. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
52.813 |
| 10. |
Dylan Ferrandos |
(Hon) |
53.081 |
250SX West
Deegan made a statement by setting the fastest lap in the 250’s.
Haiden Deegan answered the call and came out swinging in the second 250 qualifier. The Star Racing Yamaha rider was the first 250 rider to uncork the big quad rhythm lane and made the rest of the field respond. Deegan’s early laps proved to be his fastest as he was the only rider in the 52-second range. Julien Beaumer, the fastest from session one, still clocked second but was a few tenths off from Deegan’s time. Michael Mosiman jumped to up on the time sheets and grabbed the third fastest overall time.
Note that Jo Shimoda made contact with another rider’s pit board and suffered two broken fingers in the final qualifier. He still clocked fourth and will attempt to race the night show.
Julien Beaumer was the fastest in session one but clocked second overall.
Michael Mosiman was the third fastest 250 rider.
250SX West Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
52.848 |
| 2. |
Julien Beaumer |
(KTM) |
53.142 |
| 3. |
Michael Mosiman |
(Yam) |
53.229 |
| 4. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Hon) |
53.725 |
| 5. |
Ryder Difrancesco |
(GG) |
53.912 |
| 6. |
Jordon Smith |
(Tri) |
53.957 |
| 7. |
Cole Davies |
(Yam) |
54.043 |
| 8. |
Ty Masterpool |
(Kaw) |
54.279 |
| 9. |
Coty Schock |
(Yam) |
54.410 |
| 10. |
Garrett Marchbanks |
(Kaw) |
54.456 |
PRESS DAY VIDEO
Pics From The Pits
Chase Sexton is rocking the red plate after his big win at A1. Photos: Ryan Nitzen
As is Jo Shimoda. Something about the all-red.
Speaking of Shimoda, he’s got a new drink deal with Drink Weird. They’re an organic tea and yerba brand.
Aaron Plessinger won San Diego a year ago. He could be one to watch.
Ty Masterpool is making his Supercross debut with the Pro Circuit team. Levi Kitchen will now race the east coast series.
Anything to get more air.
Honda updated their line of Pro Honda sprays and lubricants.
Look closely for the sparkles on Vince Friese’s bike.
Ride Engineering split clamps on Colt Nichols’ ride.
While Kyle Chisholm looks to be running the OEM units.
Custom paint on the Leatt helmets for the Twisted Tea riders.
Standard blue and yellow plates for Jett Lawrence this weekend.
Jason Anderson looked good at the season opener.
What side plate? The FMF muffler on Mitchell Oldenburg’s Beta is fully exposed.
Scott Burnworth’s RM is on display under the Legends and Heroes tent. RIP Burner.
Vented number plates on the BarX Yamaha bikes. Yay or nay?
The Quad Lock Honda team is essentially the FirePower Honda team from last year. Both Joey Savatgy (17) and Shane McElrath (12) are racing the 450 class.
Check out the WP fork warmers on Justin Barcia’s air forks.
Also spotted on Malcolm Stewart’s Husqvarna.
1st Phorm is a well-known supplement brand sponsoring the Club MX Yamaha team.
And here’s a treat if you made it this far! Let’s go racing.
