The AMA Supercross Championship visited Birmingham, Alabama’s Protective Stadium for the first time, and for the second week in a row, riders faced treacherous track conditions due to inclement weather leading up to the race. The soft and rutted track didn’t stop Team Honda HRC rider Jett Lawrence from becoming the season’s first four-time winner and first back-to-back winner in the 450SX division.
In the 450SX main-event start, Lawrence snuck up the inside of turn 1 to grab a narrow holeshot aboard his CRF450RWE. From there, the 20-year-old rode a near-perfect race, maintaining a gap of 4 to 5 seconds for the entirety of the main event. Despite several charges from title-rival Cooper Webb, Lawrence maintained his composure and crossed the checkers with a 2.445-second advantage. The win added another three points to his championship lead, now 13 up on Webb.
Jett Lawrence 18
“I would say this was almost harder than last weekend at Daytona. Here, the rhythm sections were so tricky, and I was trying my best not to make any mistakes and knowing when to back out, where ‘old Jett’ would’ve tried to keep going for it and maybe lost more time. The track sort of had a limit, where if you pushed too much it could bite you. It was good to learn, and I felt like my focus was very good through the whole race. Cooper [Webb] was right there and didn’t give up the whole time, which helped me to stay focused.”
Lars Lindstrom – Team Manager
“These types of main events where your rider is leading from the beginning are hard on your heart, especially when you have Cooper Webb on your tail the entire race! I think I have some PTSD from previous years’ races, where he was behind us late in the main events, but luckily Jett is so strong in both body and mind that he’s able to control the race even in those situations. We’ll continue to try and get good starts and stay consistent while trying to increase our points lead for the rest of the series.”
450SX Results
1. Jett Lawrence (Hon)
2. Cooper Webb (Yam)
3. Ken Roczen (Suz)
4. Chase Sexton (KTM)
5. Justin Cooper (Yam)
6. Jason Anderson (Kaw)
7. Eli Tomac (Yam)
8. Aaron Plessinger (KTM)
9. Justin Barcia (Gas)
10. Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
450SX Championship Points (after 9 of 17 rounds)
1. Jett Lawrence: 185
2. Cooper Webb: 172
3. Chase Sexton: 165
4. Eli Tomac: 159
5. Ken Roczen: 153
6. Jason Anderson: 147
7. Aaron Plessinger: 146
8. Justin Cooper: 108
9. Dylan Ferrandis: 107
10. Justin Barcia: 95
—
Hunter Lawrence: 86
Words and Images by HRC
