Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Christian Craig has been the best rider in 250SX West, but he carried only an eight-point lead coming into the sixth round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross due to the consistency of Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence. Then Lawrence crashed out of Saturday’s main event in Anaheim while Craig scored another win. Now Craig holds more than a one-race lead in the standings heading into the five-week break in 250SX West.
He spoke about a variety of topics in the post-race press conference.
Christian, extending the points lead tonight. You never want to see another guy in the field go down, but Hunter Lawrence suffered tonight in the points. For you to have that little bit of breathing room, are you going to sleep a little better at night?
Christian Craig: Yes and no. I’ve just got to keep the momentum going, just keep doing what I’m doing. It’s a bummer that that did happen. I felt like that was a good battle brewing. He was matching me in the whoops. We were only four laps in, so I felt like he was pushing. He was pushing the envelope. Unfortunately, it bit him. It bit a lot of riders tonight. After I saw him go down, I kind of checked up. I just focused on my laps, no mistakes. Was very cautious with lappers. I feel like it was pretty sketchy out there tonight. It’s a bummer that Hunter did go down, but it’s a good way to go on this little break we have and just keep the momentum going for Seattle.
You made the move to Florida over the break and now you’ve spent the last month and a bit in California. Are you excited to go home and get the kids and the family back home to a normal routine?
Yeah, get the kids back in school. They had a little nice seven-week break, but I get to drive the truck back in the morning to Florida, so that will be fun. Two-day trip. I’m excited. Get home. This still feels like home to me, California. Just a lot of good vibes here. Going to miss it, but get back to work in Florida and grind out some outdoors for a couple weeks.
Just going into what you have going in these next few weeks, like you said, going to do a little bit of 450 time, how does that transition when you go back to supercross, because it is such a bigger bike, everything going faster?
Yeah. Say I was going 450 to supercross and then back to 250, that would probably be tricky, but now that I’m going outdoors to 450 and then jumping back straight to supercross, so I don't think it will be too much of a problem. It will be short. I think it will be two weeks, maybe a little bit more, of outdoors and then we’ll get straight back to supercross. Our break is tricky. It's weird this year. Usually we get an eight-week break and then it’s two rounds. This year we get five and then we get two, and then another break, and then two. Got to just play it smart. Try to get some outdoor testing in, but then also stay on top of supercross.
Vince and Christian, after what happened last weekend, did you guys talk it through before tonight’s race? Did that bother you, or were you thinking of what happened last weekend tonight?
He sent me a note. Other than that, we haven’t talked.
I saw a hand-shake on the podium.
Yeah, a hand-shake. He sent me a note mid-week. Read that. It's a racing incident. I’ve completely moved on. I’ve got to focus on what was tonight. I can’t dwell on that too long. It was a bummer deal, but those things happen. You’ve just got to learn from it and move on.
Christian, I know that you’re not scheduled to do the 450 in supercross obviously on the east coast, but with the type of form that you’re in, especially a race up in terms of the points now, is there any real itch for you to get out there? Where are you at with that?
Yeah. Pre-season I actually mentioned it a couple times to the team. To be in this position, this is obviously my goal to win this championship or be in the position I am. It would be fun, but it’s a lot of risk. I wouldn’t be fighting for a championship there, but you never know. Who knows if I get a call one day to go race a round or something. I’m all about it. I want to keep going. I’m not all about these five-week breaks or any break. I want to keep racing and keep going every weekend. As long as I’m riding, I’m happy.
Anaheim 3 - 250SX West
February 12, 2022| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Christian Craig | 16 Laps | 0:58.056 | Temecula, CA  | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 2 |  Vince Friese | +25.423 | 0:59.437 | Cape Girardeau, MO | Honda CRF250R | |
| 3 |  Michael Mosiman | +30.169 | 0:53.085 | Sebastopol, CA | GasGas MC 250F | |
| 4 |  Garrett Marchbanks | +46.865 | 1:00.251 | Coalville, UT | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 5 |  Carson Brown | +49.789 | 1:00.697 | Ravensdale, WA | KTM 250 SX-F |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Craig | Temecula, CA | 230 |
| 2 |  Hunter Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 220 |
| 3 | Michael Mosiman | Sebastopol, CA | 197 |
| 4 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 162 |
| 5 |  Nate Thrasher | Livingston, TN | 152 |
Watch the full 250SX post-race press conference below:
