MOUNT MORRIS, Pennsylvania: Jett Lawrence and Chase Sexton put on a show in the middle stages of Moto 2 until Sexton had a rut crumble beneath him. Jett pounced to take the lead and Round 4 of the Pro Motocross season at High Point Raceway. Jett is still sore from his Hangtown injury, but found a way to go 1-1 for the second time this year.
This is Jett’s 13th overall victory in 14 career motos in the Motocross 450 division.
“Chase had some good lines,” Jett told Peacock’s Jason Thomas. “It was a bummer to see him go down; that was his race for sure. He was ripping and had some better lines. I didn’t feel like myself. My shoulder was fatigued more today. We were struggling there for a bit. A little bit of Lady Luck”
Sexton finished second with a third in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2.
Sexton snapped Jett’s perfect record of moto and overall victories, but wanted to make a statement by beating Jett in a head-to-head contest. That seemed to be a likely result until the accident. He rode a determined race in Moto 2, battling both Jason Anderson and Jett in the opening laps, but little mistakes allowed Jett to keep the pressure on near the end.
“I felt a lot better in [Moto 2],” Sexton told Katie Osborne on the podium. “I made too many mistakes. I’m riding like a hack out there sometimes and I just need to be better.”
Hunter Lawrence was second in the first race and third in Moto 2 to finish third overall on the tiebreaker.
“It was pretty gnarly out there for sure,” Hunter said. “The second moto I just didn’t have that explosive fire from the first one and you saw that. The second one was tough but I tried to minimize the damage.”
Hunter carries the red plate into the off week by six points over Sexton and eight ahead of Jett.
Aaron Plessinger missed the podium by one position with fifth-place results in both races.
Justin Cooper was fifth with a 4-6.
Click here for complete 450 overall results
In the 250 division, Ty Masterpool held off a determined charge by Haiden Deegan on the last lap of Moto 2 to earn his first SuperMotocross victory and give Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit Kawasaki team their 300th win. He finished second in the first moto and won on the tiebreaker.
“It’s been a very gnarly three years, but keep your head down and hard work pays off,” Masterpool told Peacock’s Jason Thomas. " I believed in the team around me and God’s plan and timing.”
Deegan was forced to come from the back in both motos after crashing on the opening laps of each. In Moto 1, he remarkably made up a 15-second deficit to win. As he charged through the field, he nearly erased an 18-second lead in Moto 2 but could not complete the pass on Masterpool on the final lap. He won the first moto after a late-race pass on Masterpool and finished second in the second race.
Deegan’s perfect streak of overall wins ended with three, but even he could not be upset by Masterpool’s win.
“That was dope,” Deegan said. “I’m super-proud of Masterpool. That kid’s had a lot of highs and lows and to see him win that race — it’s respect. That was sick.”
In the post-race news conference, Deegan said he picked up the pace in the later laps in part because he was forced to find different lines as he made his way through traffic.
Finishing fourth in the first moto and third in the second, Chance Hymas finished third overall.
“I felt good on the bike; I just struggled with line choice,” Hymas said. “That was where I was losing time to these guys all day. Second moto, I found some things. I’ve just got to be better, but I’m super-glad to be on the podium again.”
Hymas scored his first moto win last week in Thunder Valley and finished second to Deegan.
Click here for complete 250 overall results
In-Race Notes
It simply doesn’t get much better as far as weather is concerned. Highs in the upper 70s and clear skies are forecasted for Round 4 of the Pro Motocross season, Round 21 of the SuperMotocross World Championship at High Point. It rained overnight, so the track will start off tacky and develop some deep ruts.
One of the previous three red plate holders will likely walk away with it after today’s race and Jett Lawrence, Chase Sexton, and Hunter Lawrence each have a strong chance to be the one.
The track always looks so pristine before the first group starts tearing it up.
In Qualification 1, the 250 riders used the smooth surface to go faster than the 450s.
Features
450 Moto 2
Phil Nicoletti gets the holeshot. He falls back quickly, but he’s making noise as a starter. He won the holeshot in Moto 1 as well.
Jason Anderson takes over the top spot with Jett settling into second.
Hunter is fourth behind Nicoletti.
Hunter gets Nicoletti and Sexton on Lap 2, but Sexton hangs tight and repasses Hunter.
On Lap 4 the battle heats up between Anderson, Sexton, and Jett.
After swapping the spot a couple of times, Jett emerges with the lead over Sexton. Anderson is third.
Hunter is within five seconds in fourth and Aaron Plessinger is fifth.
Hunter catches Anderson, who makes his bike as wide as possible. These two do not like one another.
At the halfway point, Hunter finally gets into third.
Up front, Jett has a 1.6 second lead over Sexton with 12 minutes remaining.
Sexton takes the lead with 10 minutes on the clock. This is the battle we’ve waited for all year.
The top two are playing a game of cat and mouse.
Hunter and Anderson remain third and fourth respectively. Plessinger is in fifth.
Sexton rides off course going up hill. We’ve seen penalties for this.
Almost immediately, Sexton crashes when a rut crumbles under his front tire. Jett was waiting for that and takes the lead.
With three minutes remaining, Hunter has caught Sexton as well.
Sexton closed the gap marginally in the final laps but could not get around Jett, who has another perfect round and wins both races.
Hunter held off Anderson for third with Plessinger rounding out the top five.
Click here for complete results from 450 Moto 2
250 Moto 2
There is a crash on the start in the middle of the pack, but Deegan is inside of it.
ClubMX’s rookie Mark Fineis has the lead at the end of Lap 1.
Deegan tips over in the first lap and will have to come from the back again; he’s 18th this time. He was 14th at the start of Moto 1.
Tom Vialle is second with Masterpool having another strong run in third.
Hymas and Jo Shimoda round out the top five.
On Lap 3, Deegan is up to ninth. We’ve seen this before.
Vialle hits the ground with 21 minutes to go.
Masterpool gets the lead on Lap 4.
Masterpool tips over and gives the lead to Fineis. Two turns later, Fineis tips over and hands it back.
Now Hymas has the lead with 15 minutes to go.
All of this has allowed Deegan to close his gap to 10.6 seconds. He rides fourth.
Fineis has a mechanical failure and drops out of the contest.
Two-third of the way through Moto 2 and it’s Hymas, Masterpool, Vialle, Deegan and Shimoda in the top five.
If Deegan is going to surge, he needs to do it soon. He’s nearly 12 seconds behind.
Six minutes on the clock and Deegan gets around Vialle. As they run, Deegan would have the overall ahead of Masterpool.
But on the next lap, Hymas gets his feet kicked off the pegs and Masterpool takes the lead. Now he leads overall.
As time runs off the clock, Masterpool has the lead over Hymas. Deegan is 11 seconds back in third.
Masterpool gets held up by traffic. Hymas and Deegan have caught him.
Deegan makes a charge into the final turn but Masterpool keeps his composure and wins his first moto and first SuperMotocross overall victory.
Click here for complete results from 250 Moto 2
450 Moto 1
The Lawrence brothers get the jump with Hunter over Jett into Turn 1.
Hunter holds the lead over Jett into Lap 3 with Justin Cooper riding third.
Dylan Ferrandis and Sexton round out the top five with five minutes off the clock.
Sexton passes Ferrandis on Lap 3; Jett passes Hunter on Lap 4.
Cooper loses two spots on Lap 5, allowing Sexton and Ferrandis to pass.
Near the halfway mark, Sexton stalls his bike but maintains third.
With four minutes on the clock, Hunter closes to a half second of Jett. They have 24 seconds over Sexton.
Cooper and Ferrandis are still in the top five.
Cooper tips over with two minutes to go. He had a big enough lead to maintain the position.
The white flag waves over Jett and Hunter. It will take about 30 seconds for it to wave over third-place Sexton.
Cooper finishes in fourth.
In the closing laps, Plessinger moved up to fifth.
For the fifth straight moto, Malcolm Stewart finished ninth or better; he was ninth.
Click here for complete 450 Moto 1 results
250 Moto 1
Ryder DiFrancesco gets the best start.
Hymas takes the top spot from DiFrancesco with Masterpool coming with him.
Deegan has some ground to make up. He is 14th on Lap 1. By Lap 2, he’s up to 10th.
Casey Cochran has a big off and his bike almost takes out a flagger.
Shimoda moves up to third by Lap 4. Vialle is close behind.
DiFrancesco gets push back to fifth.
Levi Kitchen also got a bad start and is only 16th on Lap 4. This is going to hurt in the points.
Lap 5 and Deegan is knocking on the door of the top five. He’s sixth.
Deegan moves around DiFrancesco to minimize the damage, but he is more than 15 seconds behind Hymas.
Hymas bobbles in a rut and Masterpool takes the lead. Shimoda gets him as well as Moto 1 nears the halfway mark.
Vialle falls back to seventh, so even with the poor start Deegan is now ahead of two of his closest competitors. Hymas is only one position ahead.
Deegan is closing the gap. He may run out of time to catch Masterpool, but Hymas in third and Shimoda are in easy reach.
As time runs off the clock, Deegan gets by Hymas for third.
Incredibly, Deegan gets Shimoda - going from a 14th-place position at the start of the race to second.
Masterpool is only two seconds ahead.
Deegan takes the lead as the white flag waves.
Masterpool won’t let Deegan get away, but he bogs down in a rut with two turns remaining and can’t make the pass.
Deegan wins over Masterpool.
Shimoda hangs on for third.
Hymas and DiFrancesco round out the top five.
Click here for complete 250 Moto 1 results
Deegan to the lead! 😤
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 15, 2024
What a ride 💪 #ProMotocross #SMX #HighPointMX pic.twitter.com/GB61x5DHSX
Last Chance Qualifiers
450s
Zack Williams narrowly edges Tristan Purdon by 0.367 seconds.
Bryton Carroll and Gage Stine also advance.
Click here for complete 450 LCQ results
250s
Jorgen Talviku wins wins the four-lap race by 10 seconds over Slade Smith.
Marcus Phelps and Slade Varola also advance.
Click here for complete 250 LCQ results
Qualification
450s
The Lawrence brothers top the Group A chart in Qualification 1 with Jett (2:26.941) fastest over Hunter (2:27.368).
Justin Barcia (2:27.658) was third fastest.
Christian Craig and Sexton round out the top five.
Click here for complete 450 Qualification 1 results
The track is tricky. Jett tips over in Qualification 2.
Sexton put up a heater and took two seconds off the fastest time. His time is 2:24.906. Earlier in this session, Sexton jumped into Justin Rodbell.
After the session, Sexton apologized to Rodbell and suggest the AMA put fewer riders on the track.
Jett answers with a lap of 2:22.029.
Jett’s time holds up till the checkers. He’ll be fastest overall and in Qualification 2.
Sexton remains second.
Jason Anderson vaults into third with a 2:25.978.
Fourth-place Shane McElrath and Hunter round out the top five.
Click here for complete 450 Qualification 2 results
Click here for complete combined 450 Qualification results
250s
Deegan picks begins his quest for perfection through four rounds with the fastest time in Qualification at 2:24.178.
Hymas (2:24.370) proves last week was not a fluke with the second fastest time and Vialle (2:24.756).
Kitchen and Dylan Schwartz round out the top five.
Click here for complete 250 Qualification 1 results
In Qualification 2, Masterpool is making some noise. He posts the fastest lap at 2:24.607. Times from Q1 were better, but Masterpool uses this time to move up to third.
Deegan is second in this session with Jalek Swoll in third.
Joey Savatgy and Tom Vialle round out the top five.
Shimoda is still searching for speed on his Honda after joining the team at the start of Supercross. He landed sixth in Q2.
Click here for complete 250 Qualification 2 results
Deegan’s Q1 time was fastest overall with Hymas hanging on for second. Jason Weigandt on Raceday live points out this is Hymas’ best career result.
Masterpool moved up to third over Vialle’s Q1 time and Kitchen rounds out the top five.
Crockett Myers and Max Sanford take the final two spots directly into the motos.
Evan Ferry and Talviku will need to go through the LCQ.
Click here for complete 250 combined qualification results
More SuperMotocross News
While we wait for this afternoon’s motos, check out some recent news you may have missed:
Malcolm Stewart climbs in Motocross
Carson Mumford joins Firepower Honda
High Point betting odds: Lawrence, Deegan favored
5 Things to Watch for in High Point
450 Results from Thunder Valley | 250 Results
Jett Lawrence responds with Thunder Valley win
Michael Mosiman out for remainder of MX
Nate Thrasher out with collarbone injury
Chase Sexton sweeps Hangtown, snaps Lawrence’s streak
AMA explains Deegan, Vialle discrepancy
