2020 Arlington Supercross | Qualifying Report
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2020 ARLINGTON SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE
We’ve figured out who will fill the 22-rider gate for the night’s Triple Crown racing at the 2020 Arlington Supercross, round eight of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Series. Through the course of the afternoon, riders got a feel for the track built inside AT&T Stadium and by the final round of qualifying, we could tell that the pace will be very close and hard to predict in both classes. Will one-lap speed carry over into the night’s set of races?
The practice sessions determined the best lap times and the top-18 riders in both classes were seeded into the night show, while the final four spots were determined by the LCQ races.
Some updates from the track…
Jimmy Decotis limped his way through the Tampa race with a hip injury, but things have gotten worse for the JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing rider. He attempted to ride the free practice, but he did not turn a lap in either qualifying session and is a scratch for the night.
250 CLASS QUALIFYING REPORT
Shane McElrath’s win last weekend in Tampa proved that he is one of the fastest riders in the East Coast and the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider further reinforced that point during the qualifying sessions in Arlington, as he was the only rider in the 250 Class to post a 45-second lap time (45.406-seconds, to be exact).
The pace between second place to fourth place in the 250 Class was much closer, with Chase Sexton/Jeremy Martin/Jordon Smith all within roughly a half-second of each other. Sexton’s best lap was a 46.331, Martin’s a 46.570, and Smith’s a 46.871. These three were the only riders in the 250 Class in the 46-second range.
RJ Hampshire was fifth fastest in the field, as the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider posted a 47.006 time.
54 riders signed up for the 250 Class in Arlington, a very high number considering only 22 will have a spot on the starting line tonight.
250 LCQ
Arlington was Darian Sanayei’s career-first Supercross and for a while, it looked like he would make the night’s race in just one attempt. Mistakes mid-race by Sanayei allowed Lorenzo Locurcio, Kevin Moranz, and Jordan Bailey to get by the Monster Energy/Seven MX-backed rider, but he was still in contention for a transfer spot until a last-lap run-in with Chase Marquier put both riders on the ground and allowed Curren Thurman to snatch away fourth place.
450 CLASS QUALIFYING REPORT
Justin Hill had the top spot on lock through both of the afternoon qualifying sessions. The SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda rider set the tone early with lap times in the 46-second range during the first round of qualifying, then improved even more in the final moments of the second session. His 45.958 lap made him the only rider to break the 46-second barrier in the entire field.
Now that Eli Tomac has the championship lead, will we see the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider assert himself as the top rider in the 450 Class? With a 46.097 lap time in qualifying, Tomac was ranked second overall in the qualifying results.
Martin Davalos was somewhat of a surprise in the qualifying results, as the Team Tedder/Monster Energy/Lucas Oil/KTM rider was among the top-10 riders in the first session and then found even more speed the second time out. A 46.319 time put Davalos third overall in the afternoon.
2.177 seconds separated top qualifier Justin Hill and 18th-ranked Vince Friese, the last rider to make the cut for the night show directly from qualifying.
450 LCQ
Justin Weeks led the early laps of the short sprint to secure a spot in the night show, but midway through the race, he was overtaken by HEP Motorsports Suzuki teammates of Kyle Cunningham and Ryan Breece. Cunningham, a Texas native that lives within a half-hour of the stadium, went on to take the win with Breece in second and Kyle Chisholm third, while Weeks hung on to the fourth and final transfer.
