PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: Nicholas Romano scored his first heat race victory in Heat 1 by putting his bike in the front of the field early. He did not have to deal with muddy goggles.
Luca Marsalisi scored a solid second-place finish in the first heat.
Cole Davies started Heat 1 in sixth before climbing onto the bottom rung of the podium.
Pennsylvania native, Seth Hammaker, won the second heat, giving local riders the sweep.
Second-place Daxton Bennick and Izaih Clark rounded out the podium
Heat 1
Romano got the early jump. This would help keep his goggles clear of mud.
Last week’s overall winner, Thrasher, is cautiously giving chase. He was five seconds down on Lap 3.
Marsalisi slotted into third.
Davies got a poor start and was outside the top five in sixth, but the most important factor was to stay out of trouble.
Surprisingly, Schock was on the outside looking in until Lap 4. And as soon as he cracked the top nine, he lost the position again.
Thrasher crashed on Lap 5 with time running off the clock. He lost a position while picking his bike off the ground.
Davies moved up to fourth on the white flag lap.
Romano scored the first heat win of his career by 21 seconds over Marsalisi.
Davies recovered for third.
Thrasher survived to finish fourth with Devin Simonson rounding out the top five.
Gordon (sixth) Derek Kelley (seventh), Hamden Hudson (eighth) Bryton Carroll (ninth) also advanced.
Heat 2
Hammaker pulled out to a quick lead and moved away from the field.
Izaih Clark slotted into second with Ryder Floyd in third.
Fourth-place Henry Miller and Daxton Bennick rounded out the top five.
In the closing laps, Bennick took second from Clark.
Fourth-place Miller and Floyd remained among the top five.
Jeremy Hand (sixth), Marshal Weltin (seventh), Gavin Towers (eighth), Luke Neese (ninth) also transferred.
Last Chance Qualifier
Schock had difficulty with his roll-offs in his heat race and was pushed into the LCQ. He took the long way to the feature, but he qualified for the main.
Russell Buccheri (second), Landon Hartz (third) and Jonathan Getz (fourth) also advanced.
