American Honda Motor Co. Inc.
04/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/22/2024 19:36
Jett Lawrence Back on Top at Nashville Supercross
April 22, 2024
- With an impressive victory, young Australian retakes sole possession of points lead
- Hunter Lawrence wins heat race, finishes seventh in premier-class main event
- Solid runner-up result for Jo Shimoda in 250SX East-West Showdown
- Chance Hymas earns eighth-place finish in 250SX main event
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.
NOTES
- A pop-up activation booth was once again hosted in the Team Honda HRC pits in Nashville and staffed by employees from Nashville dealership Mid Tenn Powersports.
- A group of American Honda associates made the four-hour drive from the Alpharetta, Georgia, campus to attend the race.
- The Nashville event saw the Supercross organizers and squads team up to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Many of the bikes wore special graphics, and riders donated gear to be auctioned off this week.
- As has been the norm of late, media day was canceled due to rain during the week, but Jett and Hunter Lawrence spent part of Friday participating in a meet-and-greet at Nashville's Gibson Garage. In addition, race day saw Jett wearing special Alpinestars gear celebrating Gibson and legendary guitarist Slash.
- Free practice was canceled on Saturday, and Jett Lawrence took the top times in both 450SX qualifying sessions, over half a second quicker than the next-best rider. Hunter Lawrence was sixth-fastest. In the 250SX ranks, Jo Shimoda was sixth-best among the West Region riders, while Chance Hymas was 13th fastest in the East Region.
- For the second time this season, the Lawrence Brothers both won their 450SX heat races, with Hunter topping the first one and Jett best in the second outing. The other CRF450R riders to qualify included SmarTop/MotoConcepts Honda riders Vince Friese and Mitchell Oldenburg, Fire Power Honda's Dean Wilson, and Valley Automotive's Jeremy Hand.
- The 250SX East-West Showdown was preceded by separate heat races for each region, with Shimoda finishing fifth in the West race and Hymas seventh in the East race. Other Red Riders to qualify for the main included Fire Power Honda's Max Anstie and TiLube Honda's Henry Miller.
- This was only the third time that AMA Supercross has visited Nashville. With Jett Lawrence's win, Honda has now topped the premier class on two occasions, one more than Kawasaki.
- Jett's win gives him a five-point edge over premier-class title rival Cooper Webb (286-281), with three rounds remaining. Hunter Lawrence is 10th, while Jo Shimoda and Chance Hymas are fourth and ninth in the West and East points standings, respectively.
- AMA Supercross now heads to Philadelphia for round 15, set to take place this coming Saturday.
Jett Lawrence
"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
"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
"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
"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."
Media contact:
Danny Gonzalez // Jonnum Media // [email protected] // +1 (805) 915-7889
450SX Results
- Jett Lawrence (Hon)
- Eli Tomac (Yam)
- Cooper Webb (Yam)
- Jason Anderson (Kaw)
- Justin Barcia (Gas)
- Justin Cooper (Yam)
- Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
- Benny Bloss (Bet)
- Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
- Vince Friese (Hon)
-
11. Dean Wilson (Hon)
15. Mitchell Oldenburg (Hon)
19. Jeremy Hand (Hon)
450SX Championship Points (after 14 of 17 rounds)
- Jett Lawrence: 286
- Cooper Webb: 281
- Eli Tomac: 253
- Chase Sexton: 246
- Jason Anderson: 224
- Ken Roczen: 223
- Aaron Plessinger: 198
- Justin Cooper: 177
- Justin Barcia: 166
- Hunter Lawrence: 163
-
13. Dylan Ferrandis: 107
18. Dean Wilson: 57
19. Vince Friese: 48
250SX East-West Showdown Results
- R.J. Hampshire (Hus)
- Jo Shimoda (Hon)
- Tom Vialle (KTM)
- Jordon Smith (Yam)
- Jalek Swoll (Tri)
- Haiden Deegan (Yam)
- Max Anstie (Hon)
- Chance Hymas (Hon)
- Julien Beaumer (KTM)
- Phil Nicoletti (Yam)
-
18. Henry Miller
250SX East Region Championship Points (after 7 of 9 rounds)
- Tom Vialle: 136
- Haiden Deegan: 123
- Cameron McAdoo: 120
- Pierce Brown: 116
- Coty Schock: 105
- Max Anstie: 94
- Jalek Swoll: 89
- Daxton Bennick: 88
- Chance Hymas: 84
- Henry Miller: 74
-
19. Trevor Colip: 23
250SX West Region Championship Points (after 8 of 10 rounds)
- R.J. Hampshire: 166
- Levi Kitchen: 164
- Jordon Smith: 148
- Jo Shimoda: 138
- Garrett Marchbanks: 121
- Julien Beaumer: 106
- Anthony Bourdon: 96
- Nate Thrasher: 89
- Carson Mumford: 88
- Phil Nicoletti: 77
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13. Mitchell Oldeburg: 67
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