Coming off his Rookie of the Year campaign in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Deegan took that momentum and brought it to the outdoors. He qualified sixth to start the day and readied himself for the longer 30-minute-plus-two-lap format. At the Moto 1 gate drop, he squeezed inside the top 10 but made a mistake on Lap 2 that sent him to the ground and back to 14th. He quickly remounted and pushed his way to the front, making it up to sixth by the checkered flag. For the second moto, Deegan had his start dialed and filed into third on the opening lap. He maintained the speed with the front pack for most of the moto and took over second when a rider went down on Lap 9. The Californian kept pace and finished five seconds ahead of third at the finish to secure second overall, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Cooper found himself in familiar territory as the top qualifier in the morning practice sessions. He had a solid start in eighth but wasn’t able to make it through as quickly as he would have liked, ending the first race in fifth. The New Yorker aimed for a better start in the second moto, but with riders going down around him in the opening turn, he was pushed back to 20th. Undeterred, he put in a hard charge to the front, making an impressive run to fourth - giving Cooper a top-five finish overall.
Farres returned to the team after making a brief appearance in 2022 with two impressive runs late in the season as a fill-in. The Spaniard looked comfortable in California’s rutted and rough Fox Raceway, starting the day ninth in qualifying. In the opening moto, he didn’t get going as he’d hoped and was 16th. Farres used the entire moto to make up as much ground as possible, finishing eighth. He got a much better start in Moto 2, coming around in fourth after the first lap. Farres was shuffled to fifth but maintained good speed and was able to hold on to the finish, scoring eighth overall.
Kitchen was coming off an impressive double podium finish to the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season and was eager to run up front at the opening round of the Pro Motocross Championship. He qualified with one of his best results in fourth, but unfortunately, starting outside the top 10 hindered the result he was looking for. In the opening moto, Kitchen started 13th and moved his YZ250F into the top 10 before the end of the race. The second moto was slightly better off the start in 11th, with Kitchen making up additional ground to finish the race in seventh for ninth overall.
The gate drop for Smith had been a long time coming, with his last motocross race being almost exactly four years to the day on June 1, 2019. He worked his way into comfort in the qualifying sessions, where he logged the 13th-fastest time. Smith found himself in 12th off the start in the opening moto and ultimately finished 13th. In the second moto, he would have to work hard to make up position after starting 17th, but he found his way by several riders to end the day 14th for 13th overall.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads north to Rancho Cordova, California, outside Sacramento for the Hangtown Classic on Saturday, June 3, for Round 2 of the Pro Motocross Championship and the 19th round of the SuperMotocross World Championship.
2023 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 250MX Results
2023 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 250MX Results Championship Standings
