Stat of the Week: Jettson Strikes First
Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence claimed the first 250SX East Region main event win at the opener. The win was Lawrence’s fourth career 250SX main event win, which came in his 15th main event start. In his 15 total starts, Lawrence has only finished outside of the top ten once: an 11th in 2020 (he qualified for a main event in Indianapolis last year but did not start the race and officially finished 23rd). Lawrence’s win was the seventh 250SX main event podium finish in his young career (he will be 19 in August). So, he now has four main event wins, and also just four finishes outside the top five.
Today's #Supercross stat of the week: In the 15 250SX main events Jett Lawrence has started, he has finished inside the top 10 in all but one: the 2020 SLC 4 SX he finished 11th. Lawrence has:
— Mitch Kendra (@mitch_kendra) February 23, 2022
-4 wins (1 E/W Showdown)
-7 total podiums
-4 finishes worse than 5th#SXHistory#SX2022
PC Podiums
Entering the 2022 season, Austin Forkner has an active class-leading 11 250SX main event wins to his name. The Missouri native finished second in the 250SX main event, which was his 19th podium in 34 career main event starts, meaning he has podiumed in 56 percent of the races he has started. Forkner’s teammate Cameron McAdoo was also in his 34th start. He finished third, which was his ninth career podium finish (one of which was a win in 2021).
El Hombre is First to Three
When Chase Sexton crashed out of the lead late in the race, Jason Anderson became the first 450SX rider to earn three main events. The New Mexico native was also the first rider to earn three main event wins the year he won his maiden 450SX title with Husqvarna in 2018. In 2018, Eli Tomac was the first to two wins (at round four), but Anderson became the first to three wins at round six. In 2022, Anderson’s third win of the season came at round seven. Tomac leads Anderson by three points as we enter round eight in Arlington, Texas.
Win-Less Webb Continues
Without a win at round seven, Cooper Webb is now in his longest win-less streak since his maiden 450SX main event win in 2019. Webb won the '21 finale but has yet to win in the first 7 rounds of '22, meaning there are at least 7 main events between wins for Webb (Note: I pointed this out last week in this Redux feature although my math skills were slightly off). His second longest win-less streak was six. #Supercross #SX2022
Check these Videos out
A-Mart’s wild ride in the whoops:
Tanner Ward’s wild qualifying crash:
Jerry’s Kit of the Week
Jerry Robin is primarily racing in the 250SX West Region, but he lined up in Minnesota in the 450SX class and brought with him Minnesota Wild (NHL team) inspired gear.
GoPro Videos
GoPro: Pierce Brown - 2022 Monster Energy Supercross - Minneapolis - 250 Heat 1 Highlights
GoPro: Justin Barcia - 2022 Monster Energy Supercross - Minneapolis - 450 Main Highlights
Rider Vlogs
And his second vlog.
The Collective Experience
Injury Updates
250SX
Jett Reynolds
The long-awaited pro debut of Reynolds will once again be put on hold due to a broken wrist suffered during media day on Friday. An expected return to racing has yet to be determined.
Brian Hsu
Hsu signed with the Rides Unlimited Racing KTM team this off-season but did not attend the 250SX East Region opener because of a hematoma in his left leg. The team posted the following update early this week:
“Quick update on @theviolinrider
-
Brian Hsu had a crash a few weeks back which resulted in a soft tissue hematoma above his left thigh. The result of this injury is causing severe pain and numbness about 3-5 minutes in his left leg when trying to ride or workout. He is working everyday to get back to racing”
Jack Chambers
Chambers, also on the Rides Unlimited Racing KTM team, was making his AMA Supercross debut but suffered a shoulder injury during free practice and was out for the remainder of the day.
Max Vohland
Max Vohland suffered a crash on the opening lap of the main event and was accidently hit by several other riders. He got up and went to the mechanics’ area before riding back to the team pits. Since he did not complete a full lap, he finished 22nd. The post-race press release from KTM said the following:
“In the Main Event, Vohland got off to a mid-pack start and he ended up going down in the first-turn with multiple riders hitting him while on the ground. Banged up, Vohland made the decision to get checked out by the medical staff on-site, ending his race before the completion of the first lap. The initial X-ray did not show any broken bones but Vohland plans to get a second opinion when he returns home this week.”
Vohland just posted an update on Instagram:
450SX
Chase Sexton
Sexton is currently in concussion protocol ahead of round eight.
Vann Martin
Yesterday we had a breaking news post with updates on Vann Martin, who suffered broken T6 & T7 vertebrae in his spine. He has undergone two surgeries so far as he remains in the hospital.
Max Anstie
Anstie suffered a crash in the 450SX main event. He posted the following on Instagram:
“Alright so I went down In the main on Saturday (pushed the front and slid out on the ramp of a little double and face planted the next jump)
Long story short & the main thing is I only broke 2 ribs. They are the top 2 ribs and I didn’t even realise how high up your ribs go! So my neck and shoulder feels the worst at the moment.
They kept me in hospital over night because I collapsed my lung and had air around my heart. Plus my heart was bruised and stressed 🤷♂️ anyway all that settled down and the collapsed lung was tiny so it fixed itself over night.
I’m still In Minneapolis, they won’t let me fly back to Florida until Tuesday (tomorrow) 😅
So in reality it’s only ribs so I’ll see how I am over the next few weeks but im pretty confident that I won’t miss many races. I’ll heal up and be back out on the SX track asap 👊🏻💪
It’s a bummer but it’s the name of the game. Had a lot of fun on track in Minneapolis, even did my first LCQ and led some laps. I know it was only an LCQ but still it was fun.
It’s all part of it - I still love riding supercross 😅”
Quote from the Paddock
450SX
Jason Anderson | 1st in 450SX
“The track broke down a lot by the Main Event tonight but, that’s something we kind of expect with some of the East Coast tracks. I’ve been doing my best to prepare for it while practicing in California by riding with the Pro Circuit team every Thursday to sort of simulate race conditions. That helped tonight but, this was still a tough track for pushing the pace, and you kind of just had to let the race come to you. It’s awesome to have three wins already in the season but, we will keep taking it one race at a time as we go forward from here.”
Cooper Webb | 2nd in 450SX
“It’s nice to be back up here and back in the fight – a chance at running up front again. I have to give it up to the team, they found some good stuff this week. I’m still not where I want to be but it was a great night - we got a holeshot, led laps and a few crashes put me into second but I’ll take it. It’s been a rough start to the season and there’s light at the end of the tunnel, so we’ll take it.”
Marvin Musquin | 3rd in 450SX
“These podiums don’t come easy this year so I want to enjoy it, even though I’m a little bit disappointed because I was right there and I lost some ground at some point. It took me a while to figure out what to do in the whoops and I was faster on the rest of the track. It doesn’t feel like I got third with the way the race went but this is racing and the competition is tough, so third tonight is great.”
Malcolm Stewart | 4th in 450SX
“It was a good day today. I got my first heat-race win of the year, I’m really thankful for that one, and I felt real good all day. I got a really good start in the main and I felt like I was adapting to the track. I was riding my own race and I just made a big mistake with a few minutes to go, but that’s part of racing. I’m happy though, it’s another top-five and we were so close again! We’re going to take what we’ve learned from this race and move forward.”
Justin Barcia | 5th in 450SX
"It’s cool to have the east coast guys back, I had a lot of fun with PB in the truck today! I was riding well in the heat, making a comeback and got a little whiskey throttle and ended up crashing, so that put me back pretty far. I had a bad gate pick from the heat race but I made the most of it in the main and put in a fight, it was definitely difficult! I struggled a lot, it was one of the harder nights riding-wise but all-in-all I salvaged a fifth, which was crazy because the ride didn’t feel that well at all. I’ll take the fifth and move on from here and keep on grinding.”
Eli Tomac | 6th in 450SX
“Well, it was not the result that we wanted, but it was a good recovery for what happened and the position I was in on the first lap. So, after that, it was just fighting for a position and trying to move forward. It was a really tough track, as usual, but even more tough tonight because it was a mix of ruts and a little bit of a dry surface. That was it; It was unfortunate what happened, and I was just trying to do my best to come forward.”
Said Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing 450 team manager Jeremy Coker:
“We were having a good day in Minneapolis. The guys rode well in practice and qualified great, but our starts were not excellent in the main, and unfortunately, it put the guys in bad spots with other riders. They both fought hard and rode well. We will come back stronger next week.”
Aaron Plessinger | 7th in 450SX
“Tonight was a step in the right direction. I had an alright start in the Main Event and I just felt a little stale the whole race. I couldn’t really push forward and I was just kind of riding - a few people got by me and I got by a few people. We made a lot of progress this week, even though my riding isn’t showing how good the bike is working. We’ll go back to Florida this week, work on myself a little bit and be back for Dallas.”
Ken Roczen | 8th in 450SX
“The first East Coast round was a tough night; the track was really difficult. The dirt was really tacky, especially in practice, where the track was super rutty and just really, really rough. I wouldn’t say I was the most comfortable, but this was the first time that I didn't make any changes to the bike; I just tried to get used to it. This was the best I've been in the whoops, so that was a big plus for us, too. I had a decent start in the main event but got passed by Marvin [Musquin] early on. I was behind him for quite some time, but we kept a fairly close distance to the leader. That was good until I tried to pass and jumped a little bit too far to the left after the triple. There was some loose dirt there, and as soon as I landed I washed the front end pretty bad and went down. My bars were tweaked quite a bit and we only had a few minutes to go, so there wasn’t much we could do from there. It might not be the result that we wanted but there are some positives to take away compared to the previous weekend, so we're going to build on that. It’s my first week back in Florida now, which I'm really excited for, and I think it will be a big help in the upcoming events.”
Dylan Ferrandis | 9th in 450SX
“The day started out well with another good qualifying, but unfortunately, I was in a lot of pain in the main event after my two big crashes at the previous races. I did what I could and finished ninth. We’ll keep working and try for better next week.”
Justin Brayton | 10th in 450SX
"I grew up three hours south of here, so pitting inside and away from the freezing cold brought back some memories of Arenacross. The day was solid again, I qualified 10th and finished 10th in the Main Event. I feel like I'm building because I'm getting more bike-time in during the week and am figuring out some settings, so it should get better every race."
Dean Wilson | 11th in 450SX
"The result is not what we want but I’m doing my best. In the Main Event, I didn’t have a great start but I just pushed as much as I could. Ninth-place was in sight and I pushed to the checkered and that’s all I had to give tonight. I just have to keep pushing and get that start and I know I can be inside the top-seven.”
Vince Friese | 12th in 450SX
"It started out tough, being in the B Group for practice and on soft dirt, but the track was like brand new for the Heat Race, and that was pretty sweet. I got the holeshot and led a few laps in the Heat Race, and that felt nice. I tried to be steady throughout the whole race in the Main Event, which got me a 12th place finish. I've been on the 250 so much, it's been my focus, so jumping back on the 450 and feeling like this gives me something to build on."
Brandon Hartranft | 13th in 450SX
"I qualified eleventh, which was my best qualifying position ever in the 450 class. I'm definitely getting better and showing more speed. The night went well, I got a thirteenth. I still feel like I have more in me. I've just need to work out some kinks and nail some better starts."
Adam Enticknap | DNQ for main event
"In the LCQ I started in seventh and ended up getting fifth. After last weekend, making the main…. I just need to get that one spot, which shouldn't be very difficult especially with the team I've got behind me. Dallas is a Triple Crown event so for practice this week I'll ride some more 12-minute motos in a row and practice my sprints."
Said Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki team manager Dustin Pipes:
"The team managed Minneapolis well. It’s not always easy having to deal with such extreme weather conditions and having to pit in a different location than normal. Brandon continues to improve, qualifying in eleventh, which is a season best for him. The main event was filled with what-ifs. He should have been battling for a top ten, but some racing errors relegated him to thirteenth. Justin is still searching and continuing to build his fitness finishing in seventeenth. We have some different parts for him to try during the week and hopefully we’ll find the right formula."
250SX Class
Jett Lawrence | 1st in 250SX
"Today was a great day of racing. I had so much fun being out here and riding; the bike was awesome, and the track was actually a lot of fun. In practice, I just took my time and tried to not do anything crazy. I got a decent start in the heat race but got caught up a bit in the first turn, so I had to make some good passes to get second in that. For the main event, I just put myself in a really good spot to get the win, and it all came together. Overall, it was a good day and I’m super pumped; hopefully we can do the same at the rest of the rounds.”
Said Honda HRC team manager Lars Lindstrom:
“This was an extremely bittersweet race. Jett rode fantastic and did everything correctly to win the first round of the 250SX East Coast series. Our 450 riders were great all day and proved that with a 1-3 finish in the first heat race, and then Chase was dominating the main event until his crash with just a couple laps to go. I was gutted for him and for the team because the victory was so close for all of us; it would’ve been incredible to win both the 250 and 450 main events. Kenny was riding great as well, and was in the mix for a podium until he landed in the marbles off the triple and crashed. I think we made good improvements with his bike this week, and I know we can get him back on top soon. The whole weekend was a pretty difficult one with sub-zero temperatures outside and the team shuffling between the indoor pits and the truck for food and other things. I want to give a shout-out to the truck drivers, who had to deal with the extreme temperatures, which brings new problems and can cause issues with the trucks. The drivers kicked butt and made sure that everything worked properly the entire time.”
Austin Forkner | 2nd in 250SX
“I didn’t quite have the pace at the beginning, but was able to match it during the middle of the race. Whenever I made up a few tenths, so would he, so I just couldn’t quite catch back up. Overall, I am really happy to start the season off like this, especially with a start like that. That start was how I remember 2019 and 2020, and probably what I’m most pumped about with the race.”
Cameron McAdoo | 3rd in 250SX
“It was definitely a great way to start the season. I struggled in qualifying and had a tough heat race. The track just changed a lot and I was focused on being locked in, hitting all my marks. There are a few areas where I know we could work on, which makes me excited to come out for the Triple Crown next weekend in Texas.”
Jeremy Martin | 4th in 250SX
“I’m leaving here, and I’m healthy. The track was good in the end. From media day to the main, I was like, ‘Wow, what a difference!’ Everything was pretty peaky and wasn’t very smooth, so it just felt very foreign out there, and I was struggling. For the main, though, I got a better start, and I was definitely riding better – driving into my rhythms and my turns – but it just wasn’t enough. I made some mistakes out there, and I’m not happy about that, but I also reflect on last year’s season opener, which was bad. I dislocated my shoulder and was out the whole season, so I’m glad to log a fourth tonight. We’ll get back to work this week and go from there.”
RJ Hampshire | 5th in 250SX
“We’re out of here pretty healthy and I feel good on the bike. All three of us were just kind of riding and we couldn’t really make up any time in the main. They were pulling me in the whoops and then I was gaining it back everywhere else. The mid-part of the main was my downfall, I had to back it down and figure some things out for five or six laps. I’m stoked on where we’re at and I know we can make a lot of progress moving forward.”
Pierce Brown | 6th in 250SX
“Today went pretty smooth for the most part. I got a heat-win under my belt, so that felt good. In the Main Event, I didn’t get the start I needed and I just had to play around with those guys back there, it was tough to make passes. That kind of dictated my night but I’m happy to come out with a sixth place. I’ve got some stuff to work on for next week but for the most part I’m stoked – I checked some things off the list tonight and I’m amped for next weekend!”
Levi Kitchen | 9th in 250SX
“Man, it’s chaos out there, and I don’t even feel like I was in that much chaos. I think today as a whole was really good for my first supercross. I had the speed; I just needed to be comfortable like I was in practice and apply that to the race. Also, as the track breaks down, I need to work on switching my lines up or just adapting to those rougher lines. I know what I need to work on so I’m happy and leaving here healthy. I saw a lot of guys down, and I know it’s a long season. I don’t like this result, but for sure, it’s something I can build on next weekend and the weekend after.”
Said Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing 250 team manager Jensen Hendler:
“It was a good opening round of the 250 East Championship in Minneapolis. Jeremy qualified second, and Levi kicked off his rookie season qualifying third. Jeremy fought his way to fifth in the first heat race, and Levi got a great start in the second heat race and battled to a third-place finish. In the main, Jeremy got off to a pretty good start in fifth and fought hard to advance but in the end, he finished fourth. Levi got pinched off and pushed around on the first lap and found himself in 11th. He battled back and forth, fighting first-race nerves, and finished in ninth.
“The team is very proud of both guys’ results. They showed speed all day, and we know what we need to work on this week to put us in contention for wins. We’re happy to leave here healthy and are going to go back to work and bring the heat to Arlington.”
Derek Drake | 12th in 250SX
“It was my first race back and I was chasing my tail on the bike setup all day because of how soft the dirt was. In the main event I rode way too cautiously, and it hurt my overall finish. But it was good to get the first one out of the way and we’re ready to go next weekend!”
Jordon Smith | 13th in 250SX
"It’s been a hard few years with injuries and setbacks but I am feeling strong, pre-season at MTF has gone well and the new team is prepared and motivated. I was happy with qualifying, and my heat race and I know what we need to work on ahead of round 2 this coming weekend in Arlington.
The heat race was all about hitting my marks, I still need to work on my starts and some race craft as it’s been a long time between races for me, but it was second was a solid result.
Overall, the main was terrible, my start created these problems and I know what I need to work on this week. Though, there are a lot of positives, and we won’t dismiss them. It’s good to be back racing.”
Jarrett Frye | 21st in 250SX
“It’s never fun trying to make the main from the LCQ as anything can happen. I am glad I won the LCQ and made it through but its not the way I want to do it.
Things didn’t feel right in the main, we have some things to work on and we have a big week ahead this week as I need to ride like I do when we are out practicing.”
Said Team Manager Martin Davalos:
“It was ok, not bad, not great. I know what both riders can do as I am with them every day. As a team it was a good weekend, everyone worked well together and we showed promise, but we need to build on this and improve our overall position.”
Mitchell Oldenburg | DNQ for main event
“As difficult as it was to have the race go like that, I'm not upset. The team put everything they had into getting the bike going, behind the gate before the Heat Race and in the pit as I waited for the LCQ, and I did what I could on the track. It would be easy to feel like this is over before it started, but we have put in too much work and feel too good to stop now. Next week is another chance to do what we know is possible."
Preston Kilroy | DNQ for night show
"My first round of supercross was an experience. I felt good in free practice and was excited for qualifying, but I got caught up in everybody else’s chaos. Unfortunately, I had a small crash and hurt my leg and wasn’t able to finish session one. In the second session there were people down and flags out everywhere. I was only able to get in two somewhat clean laps. It was very different than what I’m used to. The new experience of racing in a stadium was definitely a challenge, but I’m excited to keep learning and gaining supercross racing experience."