Chase Sexton maintained a tight grip on the fast time during qualifying at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Saturday afternoon.
At five minutes to go, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson knocked Sexton off the top of the timesheet with a 48.599-second lap time. However, with only a few seconds left on the clock, Sexton reset the fast time to 48.555 seconds — which held through to the checkered flag. It is Sexton’s sixth consecutive fast-qualifier award.
Anderson was relegated to second, while Star Racing Yamaha’s Eli Tomac took third with a 48.711-second lap time.
Anderson’s teammate Adam Cianciarulo was on the gas in both qualifying rounds, settling into fourth place during the final session of the day. Tomac’s teammate Justin Cooper, who made his 450cc class debut last week in Texas, qualified fifth.
450SX Qualifying 1 Results
It was Sexton and Tomac who traded times on the chart early in the day, with Sexton setting a fast lap of 50.390 seconds in the opening minutes.
Cianciarulo had a strong run, briefly holding the lead with 49.051-second lap time. However, Sexton reclaimed first position by the end of the nine-minute qualifying session with a 48.771-second lap time. He was the only rider in the 48-second range.
Notably, several riders were caught up in the sand section on the track, including Anderson and Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger. Known to be an equalizer on the track, the sand will likely claim a few more victims during tonight’s main event.
250SX Overall Qualifying
For the second consecutive week, Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence dominated qualifying in the 250cc class with a 49.380-second lap time. As last week’s main event winner, Lawrence will be defending his slim points lead during tonight’s program in Tampa.
Jordon Smith, Max Anstie, Nate Thrasher and Chance Hymas completed the top five.