Round 8 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship is underway from Spring Creek. Check back here for recaps and highlights from the 250 Class throughout the day.

QUALIFYING

For the fourth time this season, Justin Cooper was the top qualifier in the 250 Class thanks to a 2:13.729 lap time in the second practice session. After a hot start to the season, Cooper’s best finish in his last five motos is just seventh place. Still third in the 250MX point standings despite the recent downturn, he’ll try to get back on track today.

For the first time, his teammate Aaron Plessinger saw his name near the top of the leaderboard. Entering the day with an average qualifying position of 9.3, the points leader came out and set the fastest lap in the first session, then followed it up with another good time in the second session. As a result, Plessinger was the No. 3 qualifier, which could aid him in his quest for another sweep.

Another name in a surprising spot on the lap charts was Alex Martin. Despite his familiarity with the track his parents own, he was just 11th quickest in practice.

250 Combined Qualifying Results
1. Justin Cooper, 2:13.729
2. Joey Savatgy, 2:13.966
3. Aaron Plessinger, 2:14.977
4. Austin Forkner, 2:15.913
5. Dylan Ferrandis, 2:16.306
6. Colt Nichols, 2:16.481
7. Shane McElrath, 2:17.346
8. RJ Hampshire, 2:17.534
9. Chase Sexton, 2:17.633
10. Jordon Smith, 2:17.675
11. Alex Martin, 2:17.750
12. Jordan Bailey, 2:18.332
13. Michael Mosiman, 2:19.666
14. Mitchell Harrison, 2:19.955
15. Enzo Lopes, 2:20.145
16. Challen Tennant, 2:20.247
17. Cameron McAdoo, 2:20.444
18. Jimmy Decotis, 2:20.456
19. Hayden Mellross, 2:21.116
20. Sean Cantrell, 2:21.530
Full Results

MOTO 1

After getting good starts, Joey Savatgy, Jordon Smith, Austin Forkner and Justin Cooper emerged with the top four spots, but Savatgy’s time out front was short-lived. He tipped over in a turn, which allowed Smith to take over the lead. Meanwhile Cooper got around Forkner on the opening lap to move into second place behind Smith.

Within a few laps, Aaron Plessinger joined the fray. Having already made a couple passes to move into third, he battled his teammate Cooper for second and finally took the position about eight and a half minutes into the race. Cooper then gave up third place to Forkner shortly after.

After getting around Cooper, Plessinger quickly caught and passed Smith to become the new race leader. There was no one left to challenge him at that point, so Plessinger cruised to his third straight moto win.

WIth Plessinger checking out, the second half of the race featured a good battle between Smith and Forkner for second place. Though Forkner managed to get side-by-side with him, Smith was initially able to hold him off. The battle went on for a few laps until, with seven and a half minutes left on the countdown clock, Forkner went outside of Smith to grab second place. Forkner finished the moto in second with Smith in third. Cooper and Shane McElrath rounded out the top five.

Not only did Plessinger win the moto, he was able to boost his championship lead by 11 more points thanks to Alex Martin’s seventh-place finish.

250 Moto 1 Results
1. Aaron Plessinger
2. Austin Forkner
3. Jordon Smith
4. Justin Cooper
5. Shane McElrath
6. RJ Hampshire
7. Alex Martin
8. Chase Sexton
9. Colt Nichols
10. Joey Savatgy
11. Dylan Ferrandis
12. Mitchell Harrison
13. Jordan Bailey
14. Sean Cantrell
15. Cameron McAdoo
16. Jimmy Decotis
17. Enzo Lopes
18. Michael Mosiman
19. Dakota Alix
20. Challen Tennant
Full Results

MOTO 1 EXTENDED RECAP

MOTO 1 HIGHLIGHT: SAVATGY GOES DOWN AFTER TAKING HOLESHOT

MOTO 1 HIGHLIGHT: PLESSINGER PASSES SMITH FOR LEAD

MOTO 2

The second moto immediately produced a battle with championship implications after Alex Martin took the holeshot with Aaron Plessinger right behind him. Plessinger moved into the lead on the opening lap after getting past Martin on a downhill section of the course, and though Martin kept it close at first, Plessinger started to open things up after a few laps.

While Plessinger was sitting in good shape for the overall win, battles materialized that would determine the rest of the overall podium. Justin Cooper, Jordon Smith and Austin Forkner were all running in the top five early, but Joey Savatgy was on the charge. He made the move on Forkner for fifth place about seven minutes into the moto, then worked his way around Smith shortly before the race’s midway point.

Then it was Forkner’s turn to make a charge. After displacing Smith for fifth place, Forkner caught back up his teammate Savatgy and took over fourth place. That tentatively put Forkner in position for a second-place overall finish, but for the third week in a row, a crash knocked him off the podium completely. This time he went down on a jump because of a collision with a lapped rider, and he ended up with a bent radiator in the aftermath of the crash. That required Forkner to stop in the pits — as a result, he fell out of the top 20 before ending the race in 18th.

With Forkner out of the picture, it was Cooper who now sat in position for second place overall. With lapped riders becoming a factor, he caught up to Martin at one point and was applying pressure, but Martin made it through unscathed and put some cushion back between himself and Cooper.

The top three remained unchanged for the rest of the race. Plessinger took the victory to earn his fourth 1-1 sweep of the season and his second consecutive sweep, putting to rest — at least for now — all the questions about his inconsistent performances. Martin took second place in the moto and Cooper finished third. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Michael Mosiman set a career best with a sixth-place moto finish.

As the only rider aside from Plessinger to finish top five in both motos, Cooper (4-3) earned second place overall. Martin (7-2) edged out Smith (3-7) for third overall.

With four rounds left in the 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Plessinger now holds a 49-point lead over Martin in the 250 Class championship standings.

250 Moto 2 Results
1. Aaron Plessinger
2. Alex Martin
3. Justin Cooper
4. Joey Savatgy
5. Chase Sexton
6. Michael Mosiman
7. Jordon Smith
8. Dylan Ferrandis
9. Colt Nichols
10. Mitchell Harrison
11. RJ Hampshire
12. Jordan Bailey
13. Cameron McAdoo
14. Sean Cantrell
15. Hayden Mellross
16. Dakota Alix
17. Austin Root
18. Austin Forkner
19. Enzo Lopes
20. Challen Tennant
…
33. Shane McElrath
Full Results

MOTO 2 EXTENDED RECAP

MOTO 2 HIGHLIGHT: PLESSINGER TAKES LEAD FROM MARTIN

MOTO 2 HIGHLIGHT: FORKNER CRASHES WITH LAPPED RIDER

250 OVERALL RESULTS

1. Aaron Plessinger (1-1)
2. Justin Cooper3)
3. Alex Martin (7-2)
4. Jordon Smith (3-7)
5. Joey Savatgy (10-4)
6. Chase Sexton (8-5)
7. RJ Hampshire (6-11)
8. Austin Forkner (2-18)
9. Colt Nichols (9-9)
10. Dylan Ferrandis (11-8)
11. Mitchell Harrison (12-10)
12. Michael Mosiman (18-6)
13. Jordan Bailey (13-12)
14. Shane McElrath (5-33)
15. Cameron McAdoo (15-13)
16. Sean Cantrell (14-14)
17. Dakota Alix (19-16)
18. Hayden Mellross (33-15)
19. Enzo Lopes (17-19)
20. Jimmy Decotis (16-24)

250 POINT STANDINGS

1. Aaron Plessinger, 333
2. Alex Martin, 284
3. Justin Cooper, 239
4. Austin Forkner, 216
5. Shane McElrath, 214
6. RJ Hampshire, 201
7. Jordon Smith, 197
8. Chase Sexton, 195
9. Joey Savatgy, 177
10. Jeremy Martin, 176

(Story and photos from ProMotocross.com)