It wouldn't be a Seattle Supercross round without a threat of rain, now, would it? The good news is this would be much more akin to San Diego, with most of the rain happening on Friday but leaving a wet track for Saturday. The sub-optimal conditions are not kind to 450 Championship leader Jett Lawrence. Would this be the break that everyone behind him was waiting for?
In addition, the 250 West Regional is now back after a month-long layoff, and as a refresher, things were highly contested after the last round they ran. Levi Kitchen, Jordon Smith, and R.J. Hampshire, the lead guys for their respective teams, are all just five points apart. And oh, by the way, this is a home race for Kitchen. Could he put on a show for the hometown folks?
Daytime Program/Injury Notes:
- Michael Mosiman was making his season debut with Star Yamaha, which had been anticipated for some time.
- 250 Fastest Qualifier: No. 76 Michael Mosiman (51.803) (Most of this was based on the fact he wasn't with the 250A group, but very impressive nonetheless)
- 450 Fastest Qualifier: No. 18 Jett Lawrence (52.115) (significantly better than anyone else in the second 450 session)
Heat Racing Roundup
250 Class
Washougal, Washington's Levi Kitchen paced things off the gate drop, much to the delight of about 50,000 strong at Lumen Field. The clean air right away helped, but Kitchen looked super smooth on what, at surface level, looked like a rough track. He gapped the field sans R.J. Hampshire in a matter of laps. Writing in real-time, hopefully, the racing here wouldn't carry over through the rest of the night, but this was a very impressive home game outing from Kitchen.
At least off the start, Heat 2 was a bit more competitive with Jo Shimoda and Jordon Smith out front, but they, too, left everyone else in short order. This Heat wouldn't be as static as Heat 1, as Shimoda wrecked out of the lead coming to the white, causing the second-to-last rhythm before the whoops, giving the win to Smith. Shimoda then went down a second time trying to get back going, but he had such a big gap back to third that it didn't matter.
450 Class
450 Heat 1 was as about as chaotic as any in recent memory. In about three minutes, Hunter Lawrence had a massive case but kept it upright despite the shoulder injury; Ken Roczen went down on his own after working over Eli Tomac, then had a kickstart issue force him to the LCQ. Then Chase Sexton, who was gone on the start, had a starter issue which cost him the lead to HLaw, but he and Tomac were able to run down Lawrence, leading to a fun battle to the end with Lawrence and Tomac, with the win going to the former. The shots of Jett cheering for Hunter on the gate were pretty cool, too.
I might as well skip into the meat and bones of Heat 2 because the AP-Jett battle was sensational. I can't recall the last time someone took the fight to Jett like that after getting passed, and Plessinger was in that race until the drop of the checkered flag. Seeing both guys never really get a clean run through those two rhythm lanes was great, and these two 450 races were much more entertaining than the 250 ones. Also, cool for the Lawrence brothers that they got to sweep Heat races for the first time. (An all-time bad crowd shot, by the way).
250 West Class Recap
1st - No. 47 Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki)
I've seen some popular hometown wins before, but Seattle was loud all night long for the fighting pride of Washougal, and he raced the part of a Superstar on home turf. There was not a soul on a 250 four-stroke in that entire state who was touching him on Saturday. Now, with four rounds to go, including multiple showdown rounds, this 250 West title is Kitchen's to lose.
3rd - No. 30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC)
Shimoda couldn't avoid the mistakes that hurt him in the Heat races, but with significantly more time to work with, "our" agenda prospered as Shimoda sliced his way into a podium spot. He was definitively faster than everyone who wasn't named Kitchen. Even Hampshire didn't have the raw pace Shimoda had in the middle of this one.
7th - No. 929 Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM)
I don't have much to say about Beaumer, but he's impressed me a ton so far in 2024, including this weekend. He was probably always going to slide down the batting order, but he showed some good fight and defensive prowess in the process. Once it all clicks, I think Beaumer will be for real.
14th - No. 31 Jordon Smith (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)
Beyond that, his title hopes are gone now; I don't know why Smith was allowed to keep riding after he initially went down. Just by reading his body language, I could tell he looked out of sorts, and that second crash and his reaction after felt like confirmation. Hopefully, Smith is no worse for wear, but he didn't look 100 percent to me in the back half of that Main.
250 Class Seattle Top 10
1st No. 47 Levi Kitchen
2nd No. 24 R.J. Hampshire
3rd No. 30 Jo Shimoda
4th No. 26 Garrett Marchbanks
5th No. 41 Carson Mumford
6th No. 76 Michael Mosiman
7th No. 929 Julien Beaumer
8th No. 100 Anthony Bourdon
9th No. 57 Nate Thrasher
10th No. 71 Cole Thompson
250 Class Point Standings after Seattle
1st No. 47 Levi Kitchen (131 Points)
2nd No. 24 R.J. Hampshire (123 Points)
3rd No. 31 Jordon Smith (110 Points)
4th No. 26 Garrett Marchbanks (105 Points)
5th No. 30 Jo Shimoda (94 Points)
6th No. 100 Anthony Bourdon (79 Points)
7th No. 929 Julien Beaumer (78 Points)
8th No. 41 Carson Mumford (75 Points)
9th No. 55 Mitchell Oldenburg (67 Points)
10th No. 57 Nate Thrasher (63 Points)
450 Class Recap
1st and 2nd - No. 2 Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) and No. 1 Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM)
Combining last night's top two feels warranted because that may have been one of the best flag-to-flag Supercross races of the last decade. An absurd amount of things happened between these two alone, and somehow, some way, this finish came down to a matter of bike lengths coming to the checkered flag.
Based on the points coming into the weekend, a win would've done more for Sexton, which makes this sting, but here's the upside for him and Webb moving forward. On top of the mistakes he made, both of these guys forced Jett Lawrence to tap out early on raw pace. It's hard to say if a track like tonight will present itself down the line, but to have that from a mental standpoint now is astronomically big. On another note, remember what Webb did around this time a year ago? He got red hot before he got injured and was making a real push at what would've been Championship No. 3. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for him to do that this year, but he needs more nights like last night with just a half-dozen rounds left.
3rd- No. 18 Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC)
The saying goes that patience is a virtue, and the Jett's lack of it last night cost him a fourth consecutive win. I have no idea why he thought he needed to go for the jugular on Webb, in the sand section, of all places, with 13 whole minutes to go. He's lucky that he was still able to get a podium. Had Lawrence not rushed into a bad pass attempt, though, he would probably have won, and easily at that.
5th- No. 94 Ken Roczen (Progressive Ecstar HEP Suzuki)
Another surprise in last night's Main Event was Roczen's start despite being buried on the outside since he was in the LCQ. Not to mention that he qualified outside the top 10, to begin with, so this was an excellent night for No. 94, kickstart issues aside. (Gonna be the furthest outside Suzuki here for reference)
450 Class Seattle Top 10
1st No. 2 Cooper Webb
2nd No. 1 Chase Sexton
3rd No. 18 Jett Lawrence
4th No. 7 Aaron Plessnger
5th No. 94 Ken Roczen
6th No. 3 Eli Tomac
7th No. 96 Hunter Lawrence
8th No. 32 Justin Cooper
9th No. 51 Justn Barcia
10th No. 21 Jason Anderson
450 Class Point Standings after Seattle
1st No. 18 Jett Lawrence (230 Points)
2nd No. 2 Cooper Webb (216 Points)
3rd No. 1 Chase Sexton (207 Points)
4th No. 94 Ken Roczen (192 Points)
5th No. 3 Eli Tomac (190 Points)
6th No. 7 Aaron Plessinger (180 Points)
6th No. 21 Jason Anderson (177 Points)
8th No. 32 Justin Cooper (134 Points)
9th No. 51 Justin Barcia (122 Points)
10th No. 27 Malcolm Stewart (115 Points)
Seattle Lit Kit Recipient - Jo Shimoda (Fox) (Slide No. 2)
Next Up: Dome at America's Center (St. Louis, Missouri) (7:00 EST gate drop exclusively live on Peacock)
Main Image via Feld Motor Sports