Rockstar/Makita Suzuki fill-in from the Rockstar/Canidae Suzuki team Ryan Morais was hoping to improve upon his top-10 performance from his 450cc debut last weekend in Daytona, but he landed on a Tuff Block in the first timed qualifying session and went down really hard. He's too sore to race tonight, but the hope is that he'll return next weekend.

However, with Morais out, the 23-rider 450cc field is already down to 22, and there are 22 gates on the starting line, so everyone who signed up qualifies for the main event, and they all get a starting spot somewhere on the gate, not on the second row, as was first reported.