2020 Salt Lake City Seven Supercross | Race Report

250 Heat One (EAST)

The first race of the final day in SLC was off and Colt Nichols was off to the early lead, with Shane McElrath just behind in second place. As the group shuffled into the second corner, Jalek Swoll entered third place, as Chase Sexton sat outside of the top-10. Before the end of the first lap, McElrath dove to the inside of his teammate and took the lead away from Colt. Chase Sexton wasted no time in advancing his position as he climbed up to fourth place, after passing Swoll. TLD KTM’s Pierce Brown now sat in front of Sexton in third place. With less than two-minutes left on the clock, Sexton pulled off a better rhythm and made the pass on Brown for third place. Back in the pack, Enzo Lopes and Chris Blose entered transfer positions. Back up front with two laps to go, Sexton made a jab at Nichols for second place but was unsuccessful at completing the pass. One lap later, Sexton goes for the pass in the same section and lands on Colt, sending them both off the track and down. Sexton got up in time to remain in second place, as Nichols barely rolled around the track in time to grab the final transfer spot. Meanwhile, Shane McElrath took the heat race win and moved onto the Main Event. 

250 Heat Two (WEST)

As the West Coast fleet of racers left the gate, Mitchell Oldenburg took the early lead with Cooper and Craig alongside. As the group entered the second corner, Dylan Ferrandis went down and got stuck on a TLD KTM. Back up front, Justin Cooper entered the lead after passing Oldenburg and Christian Craig followed as he moved into second. Austin Forkner began challenging Oldenburg for fourth place and tripled past the number-40 Honda and into the position. Back in the pack, the Lawrence brothers sat outside of transfer positions and began battling through the pack. Michael Mosiman latched onto the rear of Craig and began pressuring for second place, just as Forkner closed in on the duo. Back to the Lawrence brothers, Hunter made another mistake and dropped even further outside of the top-10, as brother Jett passed into eighth place. Back up front, Austin Forkner made the pass on Mosiman for third and began working on Craig. With a lap to go, Forkner dove to the inside of Craig but Christian was able to cut back under him. However, the two both had to double the triple, allowing Mosiman to triple between them but Forkner then takes Mosiman down in the corner as Craig gaps the two and remained in second. Justin Cooper took the heat race win, as Dylan Ferrandis finished just one spot shy of transferring out of the heat. 

250 LCQ

As the final 250 gate before the Main Event dropped, Dylan Ferrandis was off to the early lead with Jace Owen just behind. Brandon Hartranft then passed Owen and entered second place, Alex Martin followed Hartranft around Owen. Meanwhile, Hunter Lawrence and Pierce Brown sat outside of transfer positions. As time on the clock ran down, Ferrandis continued to lead Hartranft while Lawrence and Brown continued to run out of time to pass into a transfer position. With one lap to go, Pierce Brown got ejected off of the bike through the end of the whoops and hit the dirt hard. As the checkered flag flew, Ferrandis took the LCQ win and looked onto the Main Event. 

250 East/West Showdown

As the gate for the final 250 SX race of the year dropped, Shane McElrath was off to the early lead, with Jalek Swoll and Austin Forkner just behind. Justin Cooper went down hard entering the second corner. Back up front, Austin Forkner tripled past Swoll and into second place. Then, Christian Craig blitzed by Swoll through the whoops and entered third. McAdoo and Jett Lawrence followed Craig and also made the pass on Swoll. As Chase Sexton made the pass on Swoll, Austin Forkner went down hard off of the dragons back, ending his night and the 250 West championship. A lap later, the red flag came out and ended the race. 

– Restart

As the 250 main event gate dropped for the second time, Jett Lawrence took the hole shot and the early lead, with Shane McElrath and Chase Sexton just behind. Cameron McAdoo sat just behind Sexton and applied some pressure early on. Up front, Shane McElrath took Lawrence wide for the lead but then Lawrence returned the favor in the next corner and regained the lead. However, this allowed Sexton to get in the mix and then Sexton took the lead in the following corner. Cameron McAdoo and Jett then began battling for third place and swapping lines. Rather than getting taken out by Shane, Chase Sexton pulled to the side and let McElrath by but then Shane did the same just a few corners later. The leaders slowing up bunched up the group behind them, leading to a great battle for third that included Lawrence tipping over in a corner while trying to take McAdoo wide. Dylan Ferrandis then went down while trying to make a pass on McAdoo but was able to remount quickly. Chase Sexton continued to lead with a comfortable gap on McElrath in second. Michael Mosiman closed in on McAdoo and made the pass for third, but after Mosiman, McAdoo, and Ferrandis having to roll the triple, Jett Lawrence jumped by and into the battle. Ferrandis and McAdoo swapped positions a few times, but ultimately Ferrandis was able to secure the position. With two minutes left on the clock, Sexton remained up front with a large lead on McElrath. As the checkered flag flew, Chase Sexton took the final race win of the season and earned the 250 East Coast Championship, as Dylan Ferrandis crossed the finish line in fourth and took the 250 West Coast Championship. 

450 Heat One

The first 450 start on Sunday afternoon was off and Broc Tickle was off to the other lead with a broken right hand. Vince Friese sat in second, just ahead of Davalos but not for long as Martin made an early pass and immediately pressured Tickle for the lead. As they entered the second lap, Davalos became your new race leader. Jason Anderson then began charging through the pack and made the pass on Tickle for second place. After a not so great start, Cooper Webb passed Friese and began charging toward Tickle. After about a lap of waiting, Webb passed Tickle through the whoops and entered third place. Jason Anderson jumped to the inside of Davalos through the rhythm lane and took the lead. Cooper Webb then passed Davalos and advanced into second place. As the checkered flag flew, Jason Anderson took the heat race win. 

450 Heat Two

As the second fleet of 450 racers left the gate, Zach Osborne took the hole shot, but Ken Roczen immediately took the lead with a better rhythm. Eli Tomac blitzed by Reed at the end of the first lap and moved into fifth place. Tomac then began working on Barcia and pressuring for fourth place. Back up front, Roczen continued to lead but Osborne continued to pressure Ken for the lead. Blake Baggett then began challenging Osborne for second place, but then made a mistake and let both Barcia and Tomac by. While trying to hold off Tomac, Justin Barcia made a huge mistake and cased a triple-on hard. He managed to stay on the bike and re-enter the track, but let Tomac by. With one lap to go, a lapper held up Roczen and nearly allowed Osborne to make a pass for the lead. However, Ken Roczen was able to cross the checkered flag just ahead of Osborne and take the heat race win. 

450 LCQ

As the last gate before the main events dropped, Gardner was off to the early lead with Kyle Chisholm just behind in second place. Chisholm then dove to the inside of Gardner but didn’t jump the triple and allowed Noren to make the pass for second. Ryan Breece lost the front wheel while trying to pass for third and went down, and just a lap later he went down before the whoops, ending his night and season. Meanwhile, Alex Ray entered the final transfer position just behind Chisholm. Kyle Cunningham began reeling in Ray but then made a mistake in the whoops and stalled, ending his night and season. As the checkered flag waved, Gardner took the final LCQ win of the year.

450 Main Event

As the final race in SLC and of the 2020 SX Season went off, Zach Osborne was off to the early lead, but Dean Wilson immediately moved into the lead. Ken Roczen made an early pass for second but then slid out before the triple and went down. Eli Tomac crossed the finish line in tenth on the first lap, with Webb in thirteenth after crashing in the first corner. Up front, Jason Anderson passed Osborne for second place and then began chase on Wilson in the lead. After laps of following, Jason Anderson finally made the pass on Wilson for the lead and then Osborne passed Wilson for second just after. Further back in the field, Eli Tomac passed Broc Tickle for sixth place and set his sights on Malcolm Stewart in fifth. Benny Bloss made a mistake while running in fourth that allowed Stewart to make the pass for the position. Just a lap later, Eli Tomac also capitalized on Bloss’s mistake and made the pass for fifth. As the laps continued to click off, Eli Tomac seemed to be cruising to his first 450 Supercross Championship. Jason Anderson continued to lead, despite having lose his seat. However, this allowed Zach Osborne to close in and take the lead with less than a minute left on the clock. As the checkered flag waved, Zach Osborne took the main event win at the season finale, as Eli Tomac crossed the finish line in fifth place and took the 450 Monster Energy supercross championship.