Welcome to the SuperMotocross Playoffs. The post season is here with the first of three Playoff rounds taking place at zMAX Dragway in Concord North Carolina. Haiden Deegan and Justin Cooper hold the red plate advantage coming into race day but it was Seth Hammaker and Hunter Lawrence who qualified best on Friday’s free practice.
After an ongoing weather delay with lightning in the area, the second motos have been cancelled. This means all first moto finishes will stand as the overall results for the day.
450 MOTO 1
Jett Lawrence led every lap of the first 450 moto. Lawrence is again the defending SMX champion and showed everyone why he’s got the number-one on his machine. The rest of the field kept him at bay as Eli Tomac continuously applied pressure for the first half of the race. Lawrence was never more than two seconds ahead of second place until Tomac slid out and hit the deck.
“It’s getting to the point where it’s just close to the limit, because right now you can’t really push the track at all,” said Lawrence after the race. “It can catch you really quickly if you compress the suspension too hard, and [if you] clip those ruts, especially. So, you’re just trying to play it smart and run the risk versus reward. So [I was] just really trying to get a flow and keep my laps as consistent as possible.”
Once Tomac fell from second Chase Sexton took over the second spot and finished one position behind Lawrence. Tomac remounted and still salvaged third place in the opening moto. He had a fight on his hands with Hunter Lawrence challenging for third but Tomac maintained the position.
“I thought I had the holeshot, and I just blew the first turn,” Sexton said. “Jett got underneath me, and I was probably fourth or fifth behind Ken [Roczen] and just had to work my way up. Eli went down, which gave me a gift, but I felt pretty good actually. I felt like I was gelling with the track. I’m not gonna lie, it’s probably one of the sketchiest tracks I’ve ever ridden, just with the kickers and all these weird things, and the dirt is so soft. So, I was trying to not be conservative, but try and be safe as well. Jett rode awesome. I reeled him in a little bit, but he’s pretty smart, and we were gauging each other.”
“I’m not sure if it was acceleration or if it was the front end that tucked there; either way I was maybe a little impatient,” Tomac said regarding his fall. “I moved out [to a different line] after that, I should have been using the cushion. Try to live and learn. Overall, felt really good… The back motocross section is something like I’ve never seen. It’s fun, it’s technical, but at the same time it is gnarly.”
Hunter Lawrence held on for fourth with RJ Hampshire rounding out the top five. Hampshire battled with Ken Roczen for most of the race before securing a pass late in the moto.
450 SMX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Jett Lawrence | (Hon) | 12 Laps |
| 2. | Chase Sexton | (KTM) | 3.865 |
| 3. | Eli Tomac | (Yam) | 7.531 |
| 4. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 9.868 |
| 5. | RJ Hampshire | (Hus) | 25.590 |
| 6. | Ken Roczen | (Suz) | 31.054 |
| 7. | Cooper Webb | (Yam) | 52.072 |
| 8. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Hon) | 57.003 |
| 9. | Joey Savatgy | (Hon) | 1:02.075 |
| 10. | Justin Barcia | (GG) | 1:13.131 |
250 MOTO 1
Haiden Deegan dominated the opening race with a come from behind win. The defending SMX champion started well outside the top five but slowly chipped away at the front runners and found himself in second place right at the halfway mark. As Deegan slotted into second, Seth Hammaker held a 12-second advantage out front. With two laps to go, Deegan passed for the lead and held on for the moto win.
“If they want to send us in the mud, that’s cool,” Deegan said during the weather delay. “Either way, we’re chillin’. I’m a racer, we’ll figure it out. I mean, I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about the track today, which I think is BS because we’re professional athletes and I think you got to figure it out. So, no problem with the track and if we gotta race, we gotta race, and if we don’t then I’ll take the dub. I’m not gonna say it was an easy dub, because it was a hard race.”
Hammaker led nearly all of the first moto but fell victim to Deegan in the final two laps. The number-56 took a huge crash in qualifying but still rebounded with a strong ride in moto one. He starts the day with a second place finish and puts himself in a great position for an overall podium.
Levi Kitchen finished third in the first moto. The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider followed Deegan to the front in the first half of the race but got held up behind the likes of Austin Forkner and company. Kitchen was fast in the morning qualifiers and put that pace to work as he grabbed a podium in moto one.
Jo Shimoda had strong pace in the opening laps and ran second for the first part of the moto. He crashed hard while going for the pass on Hammaker but remounted and passed his way into fourth.
Update* – After the race both Seth Hammaker and Levi Kitchen were penalized for their actions under a red cross situation. Hammaker was penalized five points for jumping while Kitchen was docked one position and five points for passing under red cross conditions. To add insult to injury, these penalties came as their teammate Garrett Marchbanks was the rider down.
250 SMX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 12 Laps |
| 2. | Seth Hammaker | (Kaw) | 3.368 |
| 3. | Jo Shimoda | (Hon) | 6.767 |
| 4. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 5.064 |
| 5. | Austin Forkner | (Tri) | 22.989 |
| 6. | Ryder Difrancesco | (GG) | 24.485 |
| 7. | Tom Vialle | (KTM) | 25.550 |
| 8. | Cole Davies | (Yam) | 26.691 |
| 9. | Nate Thrasher | (Yam) | 27.665 |
| 10. | Ty Masterpool | (Kaw) | 31.199 |
EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS
450 SMX QUALIFYING
Chase Sexton is back on the grid and he means business. The Red Bull KTM rider made a statement today as he qualified fastest overall in the 450SMX division. His time from session one held up as the best of the day, just under two-tenths better than the number one of Jett Lawrence. Eli Tomac posted the third best time with Hunter Lawrence and Ken Roczen rounding out the top five.
450 SMX OVERALL QUALIFYING (Top 10)
| 1. | Chase Sexton | (KTM) | 1:55.592 |
| 2. | Jett Lawrence | (Hon) | 1:55.720 |
| 3. | Eli Tomac | (Yam) | 1:56.824 |
| 4. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 1:57.689 |
| 5. | Ken Roczen | (Suz) | 1:57.885 |
| 6. | Justin Cooper | (Yam) | 1:58.043 |
| 7. | RJ Hampshire | (Hus) | 1:58.250 |
| 8. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Hon) | 1:59.118 |
| 9. | Cooper Webb | (Yam) | 1:59.387 |
| 10. | Valentin Guillod | (Yam) | 1:59.441 |
250 SMX QUALIFYING
Times were close in the 250 qualifiers as riders prepare for the first gate drop of the Playoffs. Ty Masterpool grabbed the fastest time of any 250 rider even though he is not seeded in overall points. Masterpool will have to race the Wild Card Race later today if he wants a shot at the win. Haiden Deegan was fastest of the seeded riders and topped the first session. Levi Kitchen showed his cards with the best time in Q2 and was third overall. Update* Masterpool secured his spot after winning the 250 Wild Card Race.
250 SMX OVERALL QUALIFYING (Top 10)
| 1. | Ty Masterpool | (Kaw) | 1:56.957 |
| 2. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 1:57.973 |
| 3. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 1:58.579 |
| 4. | Max Anstie | (Yam) | 1:58.641 |
| 5. | Daxton Bennick | (Yam) | 1:58.910 |
| 6. | Seth Hammaker | (Kaw) | 1:59.069 |
| 7. | Cullin Park | (Hon) | 1:59.178 |
| 8. | Tom Vialle | (KTM) | 1:59.272 |
| 9. | Ryder Difrancesco | (GG) | 1:59.441 |
| 10. | Garrett Marchbanks | (Kaw) | 1:59.628 |
Pre-Race Press Conference
SMX Notes:
- Jorge Prado is out for all three SMX Playoffs
- Chase Sexton is back on the gate after a crash at the Ironman Pro Motocross
- Malcolm Stewart opted not to race today after injuring his back during Friday’s practice
- Round one is a single points payout
