In an eventful night of racing, Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence notched an inspired victory in Nashville for round 14 of the AMA Supercross series, building a five-point buffer over series rival Cooper Webb. Meanwhile, Hunter Lawrence was also on top form, but unfortunately, a collision early in the main event halted his momentum from an earlier heat-race win, limiting him to a seventh-place result. In the first 250SX East-West Showdown of the season, Team Honda HRC riders Jo Shimoda and Chance Hymas both fought hard to finish second and eighth, respectively.
When the gate dropped for the 450SX main event, Jett Lawrence rocketed his CRF450RWE into the first turn just behind Eli Tomac. Hunter Lawrence also enjoyed a good start and was running in fifth on the opening lap before a collision with another rider dropped him to the back of the pack. Meanwhile, Jett slipped back to third on the first lap before settling into his pace and closing on the riders in front. The 20-year-old Australian made the pass on race-leader Eli Tomac just before the halfway point, and from there, he built a sizable gap on his competitors before winning by nearly 10 seconds—his sixth victory of the season. Despite his early incident, Hunter Lawrence put in a valiant effort to come home in seventh.
For the first time this season, teammates Jo Shimoda and Chance Hymas were on the track together in Nashville. Shimoda nearly grabbed the holeshot aboard his CRF250R, and settled into second position. The Japanese racer logged consistent laps throughout the main event and notched his second runner-up finish in a row. Hymas was just inside the top 10 early in the race, and he worked his way into sixth. The Idaho native lost two positions late in the race and crossed the line in eighth.
Jett Lawrence 18
“The bike’s been handling great, and I’ve been feeling good the last few weeks; I just couldn’t put myself in good positions. From the first session today, I felt like I had a good flow with the track. I had a great start, which was exactly what I wanted against these guys. I was able to capitalize on some of the mistakes of the guys in front and get into my flow. It was good to get those solid laps in the main.”
Hunter Lawrence 96
“It was a good day of riding. My heat race was really good and our bike was really good, so there were a lot of positives. We really focused on starts this past week to give ourselves a better shot in the main, and it paid off with a pretty sweet start in the top five in the main. Unfortunately, I got together with another rider early on and had to claw my way back from what felt like dead-last and then some. We’ll take a seventh on the night from that.”
Jo Shimoda 30
“I struggled a lot during the day and wasn’t really sure where we would be during the night show. We made a big change before the heat race, and I spent that race getting used to it. It was good to see my start was dialed in and I could be up front early in the main. From there, we just rode our race to a podium. It’s been great having these good results lately.”
Chance Hymas 48
“The showdown was a little chaotic for me—it was crazy having all those guys on the track! Two poor starts on the night, but a good learning experience for my first Showdown. I’ll be able to use this for Salt Lake.”
Lars Lindstrom – Team Manager
“Nashville seems to really shake things up, and the racing tonight was pretty wild. We were lucky to come out unscathed, while having some great results. Our 250 boys made some good progress, with good starts and riding, and it was great to see Jo get second. Hunter is really starting to hit his stride, winning his heat and then setting himself up to have a podium opportunity in the main until he was taken down by ‘the Picasso of racing incidents.’ What can you say about Jett that hasn’t already been said? From qualifying, to the heat, to dominating the main, it’s just awesome to see a special rider do special things.”
Words and Images by HRC
