For a few weeks, everyone—fans, industry personnel, and media included—hyped up the Jett Lawrence vs Christian Craig rivalry we might see at the 250SX East/West Showdown at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But when the gate dropped, it was Jo Shimoda, RJ Hampshire, and Hunter Lawrence leading the field! Jett Lawrence was right behind his older brother when he tucked the front end early in the race as he then rounded the first full lap in 15th. Eventually, Hunter Lawrence got the better of Shimoda and clicked off the final nine laps of the race to take the race win as Christian Craig claimed second and Jettson charged through the field to finish third and join his brother on the podium. After the race, all three podium finishers talked to the media in the post-race press conference.
Hunter, I spoke to you yesterday about this race and asked you a pretty specific question: who would you rather beat? Christian Craig, or Jett Lawrence. You beat them both and they’re both sitting here, so you have the chance to explain yourself, but you did choose your little sister.
Hunter Lawrence: Yeah, I did. I said Jett, for sure. There’s not really much for me to say. You kind of put me on the spot there.
Jett Lawrence: I’m going to speak for Christian and I. We both washed the front, so lucky you.
Congratulations. What was it like for you? A lot of build up for this race. We do it. It’s fun for everybody, this East/West Showdown. You’re hearing about that for a month, a week, and then to be here to do it and get the win… What did it feel like when you crossed the finish line after just hearing that all week and the last few months knowing that this race was coming?
Hunter Lawrence: Really good. Any time you win is cool, so East/West is really good. Everyone is hearing about the East/West deal. Who’s going to win, this and that? But, I feel like it's the same for any opening round or any race after some controversy or whatever. It’s always like that. So, it’s not really anything new that you have to change your approach and stuff. We just come here to race. That’s just what I did. Got a good start and went from there.
You’ve actually won two in a row, three this year. Are you starting to look back at Anaheim with the crash in the whoops and think how the title might be different? You’re really coming on strong here.
Yeah, for sure. But I think I speak for everyone when I can say there’s so many things we’d change in the past to better us now, but it’s just part of it. It was in a kind of do-or-die position. Christian was obviously really strong in the whoops and I was doing everything I could to stay with him and try to pressure him and just keep being right there. I think Vince was in third and he was quite a ways back. So, the easy thing was obviously to settle for second, but I was fighting for a win. It sucked how it turned out, but it is what it is. Christian has put the pieces in the puzzle really well this year. He’s a strong guy and his starts have been awesome. At the moment, he’s got the red plate for a reason. I’m just trying to learn and stuff like that and be the best version of myself.
How have you been able to turn the page from a guy who… your body language on the bike, you seemed very new to supercross, obviously because you were, but now you’re winning races.
Like in 2020, it’s not even the same person that I am now. My body was so jacked up. Two-thousand-twenty-one was already way better. My body has been just getting better and better health-wise. In the GP’s, I was still so young, but I was still pretty good. Then come to America and the whole supercross thing was super new. I was super young and just green to it all. We’ve just been working hard. It’s no different to our whole career. It’s not a matter of if we can, it’s just when we can. Our work ethic is just second to none, and the team we have around us are unbelievable. We love every one of our guys that we work with. It’s cool. It’s just putting those pieces in the puzzle. We’re enjoying it, having fun, and just believing in yourself, even more now. You struggle with your health stuff, you’re not fit, you’re not strong… Every time you just hit the ground, even if it was a small crash, you break. You were fragile. You just start to doubt everything. Now all that’s out the window. So, it’s good. We’re running now. We were crawling in the start of supercross, I guess you could say.
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hunter Lawrence | 12 Laps | 1:22.163 | Landsborough, Australia  | Honda CRF250R | |
| 2 |  Christian Craig | +04.055 | 1:21.641 | Temecula, CA  | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 3 |  Jett Lawrence | +08.069 | 1:20.850 | Landsborough, Australia | Honda CRF250R | |
| 4 |  Jo Shimoda | +09.630 | 1:23.838 | Suzuka, Japan  | Kawasaki KX250 | |
| 5 |  Nate Thrasher | +17.294 | 1:23.148 | Livingston, TN | Yamaha YZ250F |
On the combined East/West events, would you like to see more of these? Do you feel it maybe bridges the gap going from the 250 class to the 450? Or does it bring extra pressure because it’s all the top guys in one race?
Jett: I like it. I think it’s good because we don’t race each other all year. Even the practices, it’s not like we have an A group, B group. It’s kind of our one coast. So, it feels normal until you get to the main event and then it’s like, “Hey, you’ve got to race these guys that you haven’t raced all season.” I think it throws a big curve ball. You obviously watch the guys on TV to learn and you kind of have an idea of how they race, but you don’t know what it’s like being in that situation when you’re behind the goal. So, you never know what it’s actually truly like. You just see it on TV, which is I feel like a good thing. It makes it more fun, I feel like. Our season is pretty long, but the 450 is even longer. So, I think it’s a good setup with just riding fast guys every single race. I feel like it sets you up almost good for the 450. So, I wish we could do it more often, which would be cool. But we’re slowly getting back to it with two this year.
Hunter: I agree. Obviously, the 450 is the premier. That’s why there’s two [250] coasts, because they obviously want to leave something to the premier class, the premier championship. So, I think it’s good. Having two shootouts is cool. If it will ever merge into just being a full 250 supercross championship, I’m not sure just due to the fact of there’s kids, there’s families going to these races that can’t afford to do the full season of a 450 class where there’s a little more money and funding in the 450 class, I believe. So, I’m not sure. I’m not educated enough to really say.
Christian Craig: I think it’s cool. I think having two is good, but if one of them was a little earlier in the year, I think you would get obviously more guys in it because less people hurt this late in the season. Then you wouldn’t have the guys worrying about the title also. So, that would be the only thing is a little bit earlier in the year, you kind of get a little bit more parity. I’m all about it. Maybe in the future that will merge. Who knows?
There’s a huge age gap between you and Jett, like maybe the Stewart brothers, for instance, that didn’t really get to race each other. So, you guys have that opportunity, however Jett is quite a bit younger and seeing a level of success at a younger age. If you had to go back in time, would you take his success at an earlier age to be moved on with your career? Or would you not trade it for the moments and memories you’re having right now, stuff like this and getting to race on the same track together and be able to work together week in and week out, kind of chasing the same level of championship?
I didn’t know four years was a significant age gap. I wouldn’t say it’s a massive age gap. I couldn’t change my past what I did when I was his age, because if we change that then Jett wouldn’t have ever been here in America, and he wouldn’t have had the success he had. I was more or less the guinea pig. So, it's actually more or less common sense that Jett would have a bit more success than me just because everything’s set in place, the road has been paved. We know what not to do, what works, what doesn’t, to an extent. So, that’s probably why. When I was 17, I was still podiuming in the MXGP MX2 class world championship. So, just a little more out of the spotlight obviously from the American spectators and viewers. I can’t really say I could change what I did, because it would either hinder one of us. If I said I wanted to be the younger one, then I would have more fame at a younger age than he did if he was paving the way. But, it is what it is. My family is good now. Everything we sacrificed, so we could care less about who had more fame at a younger age. We’re doing it together now. Our family is in the best place we’ve ever been.
Jett, do you know where Hunter is throughout the race and you’re looking over and seeing he’s still in the lead and you’re kind of cheering inside your helmet but you’re still battling yourself? Hunter, when you’re out front, are you able to tell where Jett is and what’s going on? Can you guys touch on that? Do you know what’s going on until you meet each other at the end? What’s that like going through the race?
Hunter: We have telekinetic soundwaves that just communicate without us even talking, so I knew exactly where he was and when he crashed. Like, “Jett, don’t crash. What are you doing, man?” Send that wave, and then he was pushing a little harder. Then when Craig got in behind me, he was sending me waves. “Just keep doing your thing, doing your thing.” Just kind of a little bit like that, but not everyone has that.
Jett: I’m going to be the mature one. [Laughs] After I crashed, obviously I knew I was right behind Hunter. So I’m just like, “Just go for it.” I was always looking at that screen after the flat turn going into the whoops there. Those next doubles, there was a screen right there and I always seen Hunter’s name. Once he got around Jo, he was P1 and then I seen Christian behind him. I’m like, okay, just keep it together, keep doing your race. Every time I would look up to see what it was. I could see the gap. I seen Christian was right there and pretty close. When I seen him have a little front wash-out it was kind of a good bit of relief. Like, “Hunter, you should have this sealed. Don’t do anything stupid like I would do.” I’m always looking out him because obviously he’s my brother, so I’m always kind of keeping an eye on him, where he is, where obviously I could have been. I keep an eye on him. I keep an eye on a lot of the riders a lot more than you guys probably think. I’m always trying to see who the next guy is, where is this guy, am I catching him? My brain is always kind of turning trying to see where everyone else. I was definitely cheering inside my helmet. When I see Hunter P1 and I knew Craig was right behind him. The wash-out, I wasn’t cheering for the wash-out, but I’m like, “Okay, be smart, Hunter. Just bring it home.” I was still working on my stuff. So, it was nice that we both got one and three.
Hunter: It’s funny. Right before the heat race, I was sitting on the thing watching and I just felt so, not sick in my stomach, but I wasn’t feeling good. My heart rate was getting high and stuff. I always get so nervous watching Jett race. I watch him like, Why do I feel so bad? And then of course he went into the first turn and crashed. I’m just like, what the hell? It was so weird.
Watch the full 250SX post-race press conference below:
