Four weeks ago, Jason Lawrence won his first supercross in San Francisco, but when I went to write 250 Words, I could only think about Ryan Dungey. Lawrence went out and did what we all knew he would do eventually, which is win a race. But Dungey did something that we didn’t expect, which was make a bunch of mistakes and finish out of the top five. For the first three rounds of racing last year, Dungey looked incredibly smooth, calm and collected. At and after San Fran, though, it was all different.
Now what we have is another episode in the Jason Lawrence Show, which has already been running for a few seasons now. We remember the episodes about eating Otter Pops on the starting line, or jacking with Ryan Villopoto last year (around the outside, around the outside). Now he’s onto Dungey, with J-law playing schoolyard mind games with his rival. As much as you may love him or hate him, you can’t argue with the results. Dungey has crashed his points lead away, while Lawrence has mounted an impressive comeback and can now taste the title—even if the meal won’t be served for two more months.
So this 250 words is about Jason Lawrence, who has run this title fight like he has been in one before. But hey, do you really think the kid that once ate candy between motos at the nationals really feels any pressure?
Oh, and just like making Lawrence the second story when he won his first race in San Fran, the same thing has happened to Austin Stroupe. The big picture of Lawrence and Dungey is stealing headlines, but Stroupe was faster than both of them in Houston and won. Just like Lawrence’s San Francisco triumph, this Stroupe win was really just something we all expected anyway. And don’t be surprised if it puts this kid on one heck of a roll, too.
Houston Results:
1. Austin Stroupe (Kaw)
2. Jason Lawrence (Yam)
3. Jake Weimer (Hon)
4. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
5. Brett Metcalfe (Kaw)
6. Dan Reardon (Hon)
7. Robert Kiniry (Hon)
8. Wil Hahn (Yam)
9. Michael Lapaglia (Suz)
10. Matt Lemoine (Yam)
11. Kyle Cunningham (Hon)
12. Thomas Hahn (Kaw)
13. Billy Laninovich (KTM)
14. Michael Blose (Suz)
15. Chris Blose (Suz)
16. Jeff Northrop (Hon)
17. Adam Chatfield (Suz)
18. Brad Graham (KTM)
19. Brady Sheren (Suz)
20. Michael Willard (Hon)
21. Zach Osborne (Yam)
22. Davide Esposti (Suz)
