The numbers, as they say, never lie. Jett Lawrence has won plenty of 250SX races but none of them in a Triple Crown format. At about same time that the world started to discover this, he went out and crashed early at the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown, thus ensuring he probably wouldn’t win that one, either. Sure enough, he went 3-6-1 to finish second overall that night behind Levi Kitchen.
Jett won every other race this season. To make this whole Triple Crown thing even stranger, Jett’s brother Hunter has also won every race this year in 250SX East, except for the one Triple Crown race, in Houston, won by Nate Trasher. So, yeah, this Triple Crown thing had become “a thing” for Jett coming into Glendale, which would be his last chance to win one on a 250.
Now some riders might try to ignore these stats and pretend they hadn’t even noticed, but the unfiltered Jettson couldn’t help but lean right in. As soon as he spoke after topping the first 250SX timed qualifying session of the day, he acknowledged that he hoped tonight would be the night to snap the Triple Crown curse.
“Yeah, I already know you guys are going to ask me about it,” he laughed.
Something else was also in the works. Word got out that Jett was wearing old gear, gear he had worn for previous race wins, instead of the fresh new stuff designated for that race. Okay, maybe there was even a little superstition in his weekend plan.
“The tactic was maybe if I wear some gear I’ve won in before it might give us an extra boost or something,” he said after the race.
Jett, as you know, finally got that Triple Crown win, going 1-3-1 to seal the deal, his 12th career 250SX victory. Credit to RJ Hampshire and Kitchen for holding Jett off in race two, but with Jett’s speed and ability, it wasn’t really surprising to see him snag the overall.
“In the first one, it [the old gear] worked,” he said. “But in the second one, RJ and Levi just got ahead of me, I didn’t have my stuff sorted out that early in the race. Those guys started creeping away a bit. Then the last one was the gear I was actually supposed to run for this round. Maybe it worked out a little. Maybe I just actually finally sorted my stuff out at a Triple Crown, like my starts. We’re gonna go with maybe it’s the gear. Hopefully.”
Yes, there’s very little left for Jett Lawrence to accomplish on a 250, but at least he got this Triple Crown thing finished for good.
“It feels great. It’s also really cool cause Hunter won here last year, I’m pretty sure, in a Triple Crown. Yeah, it feels good. I’m super pumped to finally get one done and lift that curse.”
What’s left? Well, wrapping a 250 West Championship. If Jett hangs on, he will join just Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart and Ryan Villopoto as the only riders with four 250F (or 125) titles (Jett will have two 250MX crowns and two 250SX titles).
Jett will go to a 450 for this summer’s AMA Pro Motocross Championship. He was asked after Glendale that, if he wraps up the 250SX Title early, would he try a 450 this year in supercross?
“We haven’t discussed it yet much,” he said. “If we do get it early, I think I’ll most likely head onto outdoors, focus on that. That’s kinda the bigger picture, right now, for me.”
There’s also a looming Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown against the East riders in New Jersey, which would include Hunter, who is the points leader there. When they met up in supercross last year, Jett crashed in Atlanta and Hunter emerged with the win.
So far, no bets between the brothers.
“Not yet, so far,” Jett says. “I know both of us just want to make sure we’re 1 and 2 I think that’s the main goal for us. We won’t know until we get there. Anything can happen. East/West Shootout, a lot of carnage can happen. We’ll just have to wait and see. I get a weekend off and Hunter’s had some time off. We’ll come back and bang some bars with some lads and just have a good time.”
