Nine points. That’s the gap Hunter Lawrence has carved between himself and Eli Tomac after ten rounds of AMA Supercross, and the way the Australian is riding right now, it feels like it’s about to get wider.
Lawrence won Birmingham by 2.4 seconds over Ken Roczen on Saturday night at Protective Stadium, his third premier-class victory in a career that only produced its first one month ago. Back-to-back wins now. A nine-point championship cushion. And a composure on the bike that looks like it belongs to someone who’s done this a dozen times, not three.
The 450SX main event was clinical. Lawrence slotted into the top three off the gate, grabbed the lead in the opening corners, and never let anyone sniff his rear fender. Roczen pushed hard enough to keep things honest, but 2.4 seconds is 2.4 seconds.
Tomac, the man Lawrence needs to keep behind him in the standings, finished third. The math moved in the right direction.
What’s striking is how Lawrence described his week. He took two full days off during the series’ first break after nine consecutive race weekends. Felt terrible on Monday. Felt terrible on Tuesday. Riding was off. His takeaway? “I’m not taking two days off again.” Then he went out and won going away.
That’s the mentality of a rider who trusts his process more than his body’s complaints. And it’s showing.
Meanwhile, the Honda HRC Progressive operation is running on one cylinder in some respects. Jett Lawrence, Hunter’s younger brother and last year’s sensation, has been sidelined since the preseason with an ankle injury. He recently had hardware removed and isn’t expected back on a bike for another couple of weeks.
West Region rider Chance Hymas is out with a shoulder but was in Birmingham signing autographs, set to resume riding this week. Hunter Lawrence is carrying this team on his back, and he seems perfectly comfortable with the weight.
Teammate Jo Shimoda added a subplot worth watching in the 250SX East/West Showdown. The defending champion started eighth, carved his way to the front, and briefly led the race before a small mistake let Cole Davies and Haiden Deegan back through. A last-lap dice for second with Seth Hammaker went sideways on a slippery track, and Shimoda slipped to fourth.
He sits nine points behind Davies in the East Region standings with six rounds remaining. Fourth doesn’t look great on paper, but team manager Lars Lindstrom saw something he liked. “He showed me that he’s back to having the kind of speed he had last year,” Lindstrom said. “Even though his result doesn’t show it, I think he was really close to winning that race.”
Shimoda’s own read was more blunt: “I didn’t race to be second tonight. I wanted to make a lot more attempts instead of just giving up on the last lap.” That aggression cost him a position. It also reveals a rider unwilling to settle, which tends to pay off over a ten-round season.
The satellite Honda teams had a rougher night. Quad Lock Honda’s Shane McElrath and Christian Craig managed only 12th and 17th in the 450 class. Phoenix Racing Honda’s Gavin Towers and Quad Lock’s Joey Savatgy both sat out nursing injuries from Indianapolis. The depth chart is thin beyond the factory tent.
Seven rounds remain in the 450SX championship. Lawrence leads Tomac by nine, with Roczen 31 points back and Cooper Webb lurking at 34 down. The title is Lawrence’s to lose, though he’d rather not frame it that way. “I don’t really want to think about the title,” he said. “I’m just trying not to be an idiot.”
He’s being far more than that. Detroit is next Saturday. The gap could grow.
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