Key Highlights:

• Whoops Define Races: In the 450s, Chase Sexton averaged 0.25 seconds per lap faster through the whoops than Cooper Webb, and 0.33 seconds faster than Justin Cooper. The trend held in the 250s, where Cole Davies was 0.16 seconds per lap quicker than Deegan, who was second-fastest in the class. Bottom line? Whoops make a difference nearly every week.
   
  
• The Key to Winning Races: Sexton may have topped just two sectors, but he backed it up with four 2nd-place sector ranks. Sexton's average sector rank was 2.0 compared to Webb’s 3.1 and Cooper’s 3.3. Sexton isn’t winning everywhere on the track, he's just putting together "complete" laps with no clear weaknesses.
  
  
• Undeniably Fast: Davies Was the fastest 250 rider on the track. Period. He laid down the fastest single lap of the race: a 50.38. That’s quicker than both Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb in the 450s, and nearly a full second faster than Deegan. Let that sink in. 0.9 seconds faster than the guy who won.
  
  
• Undeniably Consistent: Deegan scored a 93.2 consistency score, compared to Davies' 83.0. That’s how Deegan contends for wins late in the race. He locks into a pace and holds it like a metronome. Lap after lap. Pressure or not. 

  
  

450 Analysis:

We all saw it. Chase Sexton grabbed the holeshot, laid down ten straight fastest laps, and disappeared into the distance. But as much as his sheer speed stood out (again), there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface of this race. Focusing only on Sexton's dominance, especially just two weeks after his performance in East Rutherford, risks missing the real story: how he’s did it, and what everyone else is missing.

Let’s dig into the data, and uncover the action we didn’t quite catch on camera.

Track Breakdown:

Check out the track map above. It highlights which rider had the fastest average sector time over the course of the race — and two big things jump out:

1. Only three riders appear on the map (hint: it's the podium).
2. Sexton was fastest in just two sectors, but arguably, the two most important ones.

Why? Because without a sand section, the whoops and long rhythm lanes became the largest separators. These are the sections where the fast get faster, and the sloppy get passed. Blitzing the whoops cleanly lap after lap typically is a huge advantage over jumping. And the long rhythm? Brutal to nail for 20+ laps without a bobble. Thus, this is where we see some separation. 

Coincidentally enough, this is exactly where and how Sexton beat the next best riders on the tack. 

• In the whoops (S5), Sexton averaged 0.25 seconds/lap faster than Webb, and 0.33 faster than J. Cooper.
• In the long rhythm (S3), he had 0.17 seconds/lap on Webb, and even squeaked 0.02 seconds/lap ahead of J. Cooper.

So yeah, Sexton was only fastest in two sectors, but it was the two sectors that count the most towards a lap time. And he was just as good everywhere else. Looking at sector ranks:

• Sexton only clocked the best time in two sectors, but he was 2nd fastest in four additional, and never ranked lower than 4th in any section — with an average sector rank of 2.0.
• Webb dipped to 7th in S3 and averaged 3.1 across all sectors.
• Cooper struggles in the whoops, ranking 8th there, and averaged 3.3 across all sectors.

Sexton isn’t winning everywhere on the track, he's just putting together "complete" laps with no clear weaknesses.  

Lap Time Breakdown:

Glancing at the lap time histogram, nothing dramatic jumps out. Once we hit Pro Motocross in a few weeks, we’ll start to see bigger gaps emerge both between riders and across the two motos. But for now, one detail is hard to ignore: that spike just before the 52-second mark? That’s our podium. Sexton, Webb, and J. Cooper were the only riders to average under 52 seconds per lap.

Malcolm Stewart was just behind them, keeping pressure on J. Cooper and Webb all the way to the checkered flag.

Still, no one could touch Sexton. He laid down the fastest lap of the night at 49.97 seconds, nearly a full second quicker than the next-best at 50.93 (J. Cooper). Sexton may have only hit that speed once before setting his cruise control, but the message was clear: he had more in the tank and could’ve stretched the lead even further than his 10-second margin.

Over 25 full laps, here’s how the fastest laps were distributed:

• Sexton: 13
• Cooper: 8
• Webb: 1
• Stewart: 1 
  
• Plessinger: 1
• McElrath: 1
  

Denver marked a return to the west coast and with it came hard packed dirt, the kind that rewards rhythm and punishes mistakes. But typically rewards high consistency across the board compared to soft east coast dirt.

• Average consistency score: 87.7
• Median score: 89.4

450 Main Event:

We’ve kept median lap time in the mix again this week — it’s a great way to cut through the noise. Riders are sorted by fastest median lap time.

Top Performances:

Unlike East Rutherford, where Chase Sexton went all out wire to wire, Denver saw a more strategic approach. Sexton opened a gap early, then backed it down and managed the race. Meanwhile, J. Cooper kept the throttle on, pushing hard all 20 minutes. In fact, his median lap time was 0.01 seconds faster than Sexton’s. With a better start the race dynamic would have been different for J. Coop. 

But when everyone keeps their race clean, the average pace still tells the bigger story. Sexton was:

• 0.3 seconds/lap faster than J. Cooper
• 0.4 seconds/lap faster than Webb

And we already know where he was pulling that time, the whoops and long rhythm section.

LITPro 10-Lap Consistency:

Despite a night that might’ve felt off for Webb, the numbers tell a different story. He finished second and delivered the most consistent performance of anyone on track, with a LITPro 10-lap consistency score of 94.2, the best of the night.

What’s more impressive? Denver featured some of the highest consistency scores all season.

• 10 riders scored above 90
• The rest were all above 80, except for one outlier

This track rewarded rhythm and precision, and of course the seasoned 450 field delivered.

Lap 99 Analysis:

*Lap 99 takes each riders' best segment time regardless of lap and combines them as a theoretical best lap time.

Taking a look at theoretical bests, here’s what we found:

• Sexton’s actual fastest lap in the race (49.97) was faster than any other rider’s Lap 99 time.
• And not by a hair, but by nearly 0.2 seconds.

So while Sexton could have gone even faster, he didn’t need to. He built the lead early, then played chess while everyone else was still sprinting.

250 Analysis:

If the 450 race felt like a snoozer with Sexton checking out early, the 250s more than made up for it. Haiden Deegan’s pass on Cole Davies has Moto Twitter in meltdown mode. Whatever side you’re on, one thing’s clear: Deegan brings drama. Here are a few other things we noted:

I had the opportunity to watch Denver in person. I saw Davies dance through chaos, especially with lapped traffic, like a seasoned vet. If the cards had fallen just a little differently, we might be talking about his third win in a row. His rookie campaign is already turning heads, and he’s showing he can run up front with authority.

Once Deegan got within striking distance, it was game over. He was going to win, bar bang, block pass, whatever it took and he doesn't care if you're a teammate (just ask Jordan Smith). Love it or hate it, that’s racing. And let’s not pretend we haven’t celebrated riders like Barcia, Anderson, or even J-Law for doing the exact same thing.

Track Breakdown:

Looking at fastest average sector times, it’s no surprise that Deegan and Davies made up most of the track map, but it was a pleasant surprise to see Beaumer make an appearance after his mid-season lull. Davies was flying before he hit lapped traffic, especially in the whoops. Get this, he was even faster than Sexton through the whoops.

In fact, the whoops were his secret weapon. That stretch, and the straight just before, was where Davies clawed back 0.41 seconds per lap on Deegan. Everywhere else? Deegan had the edge. But in those two sectors, Davies was dominant. 

Using LITPro consistency scoring, S6 stood out as the trickiest sector across both classes (lowest median score). Why? Constantly changing lines and a on/off tabletop made the fast line unpredictable lap after lap.

Lap Time Breakdown:

If you squint at the histogram above, two "humps" stand out before things flatten: the front-runners and the mid-pack. And that separation says a lot. The 250 West field just isn’t that deep right now. While a few riders can throw down heater laps, very few can do it repeatedly across a full moto.

But guess who could? Davies. He was the Fastest Rider on the Track. Period. He laid down the fastest single lap of the race: a 50.38. That’s quicker than both Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb in the 450s, and nearly a full second faster than Deegan. Let that sink in. 0.9 seconds faster than the guy who won.

Deegan’s strength isn’t necessarily raw speed, though. It's his uncanny ability to close races strong. We saw it all last year in Pro Motocross, and it’s clearly still in the toolkit. When it counts, he finds another gear.

Out of 19 timed laps, here’s how the fast laps stacked up:

• Deegan: 8
  
• Davies: 7
• Beaumer: 2
  
• Marchbanks: 1
  
• Schock: 1

The 250 West field has struggled with consistency all year, and that's a trend that continued in Denver.

• Average consistency score: 81.3
• Median score: 82.7

Those aren’t terrible numbers, but they reflect a class where just a handful of riders can truly keep it clean and fast from gate drop to checkers.

250 Main Event:

Sorted by top 5 median times.

Top Performances:

We haven’t talked much about Garrett Marchbanks yet, but he earned his podium. Sure, some will argue he benefited from Davies getting stuck on the tuff block after the Deegan pass, but you have to be there to take advantage. And Marchbanks was.

He didn’t exactly get a golden start either. He crossed the line in 8th at the end of Lap 1. From there, he had to work his way through a stacked crew, passing riders like Schock, Smith, and Beaumer to snag third. Quietly effective, undeniably solid.

LITPro 10-Lap Consistency:

Remember how we said Deegan always finds something extra late in the race? That “extra” is consistency. Looking at our consistency metric, Deegan scored a ridiculous 93.2, compared to Davies' 83.0, and that’s after throwing out Davies' worst lap.

That’s how Deegan does it. He locks into a pace and holds it like a metronome. Lap after lap. Pressure or not.

For context, only two riders broke the 90-point mark:

• Haiden Deegan: 93.2
• Jordan Smith: 91.1

Lap 99 Analysis:

*Lap 99 takes each riders' best segment time regardless of lap and combines them as a theoretical best lap time.

Davies smoked the field. His theoretical best lap was over a half a second faster than Deegan’s. Once Davies finds that consistency he's lacked all year, he will become even harder to beat.