It was another trademark Jett Lawrence performance, and we don’t mean that he won the race. Jett’s 250 career is about to end with four-straight titles spread through Pro Motocross and Monster Energy Supercross, a remarkable run of consistency. That’s actually the hallmark for Jett right there. Yes, he’s fast, flashy and popular, but he’s proven wise beyond his years. Most of the time. Yeah, there have been a few hiccups, but few phenoms have mowed through the small-bike ranks this effectively and efficiently. Jett has speed to burn, so he only uses it when needed. He goes only as fast as needed, which leads to races where the comp keeps him honest or even catches him at times. That’s okay because you don’t need to win races my minutes. In the long run, he’s scored a lot better by not testing his own limits with every gate drop.
That became the case in Denver, where it seemed a foregone conclusion that Lawrence would finish in the top ten and win the 250SX West Region Championship. His starts suffered all night, though, and as he was caught in the pack in his heat, he also got caught in a pileup. That sent him way to the back, and he’d only work his way to 4th. That led to a bad gate pick and another bad start in the main. It wasn’t Jett’s night, so instead of forcing it, he took a podium and with it a championship.
“Yeah, it didn’t go as planned in the heat race,” he said. “One guy went left so I went left also and ended up down. I think it was my worst qualifying of the year with eighth (gate pick for the main). And in the main event, all the gates were just wrecked. I found an okay one on the inside. I got, not a bad jump, but then I spun, and I was like “Well, we’re back here again.” I just took my time. I knew I only needed tenth to get the championship. I got to third a little over halfway, and both of these boys out front, I’m like “You know what, we’re gonna wrap it up here.” Track didn’t have that much traction. I’m happy with third. We didn’t quite equal Hunter (with wins in his championship) but I’m still happy to get the number-one plate.”
This weekend’s Dave Coombs East/West Showdown in Salt Lake City will be the last 250 race of Jett’s career. The last Showdown, held a few weeks ago in New Jersey, was a mega-hyped Jett Lawrence versus Hunter Lawrence brother battle. Then it rained right before the race, turning it into more survival that battle. As for this weekend’s rematch, Jett’s mind has moved on from the 250 class.
“I feel like I’ve done my job this year, who knows, we’ll see how the [Salt Lake City] track is and if we’re feeling it, but if not, I’m not going to push anything. Our focus right now is outdoors on the 450,” he said post-race Denver.
That’s it. The 450 is the big task. Jett checked another championship box and now the goal is squarely on his move to a 450 in the Pro Motocross Championship. Unfortunately, he will not be facing the defending champion. Eli Tomac is now out for the foreseeable future.
“Really, what I want to talk about next is losing one of the legends in Eli Tomac,” said Jett in the press conference. “I was really looking forward to racing him outdoors. I was very excited to get to race one of the legends. I was looking so forward to that. I’d give my right arm to race Ricky Carmichael or James Stewart in their last year. It sucks, hopefully Eli can come back next year or something. It would be an awesome experience to race a legend like himself.”
Wise words. Meanwhile, Jett’s own prospects keep getting better with every session on a CRF450R.
“I kinda did like max 10 minutes of riding a 250 on supercross on Wednesday,” said Jett. “We’ve just been so focused on outdoors. We realized the more time I had on a 450, the faster I got. After the Nations we did six weeks on 450s, Hunter and I, on 450s, and I’ve gotten even faster since then. We’ve been kind of focused on 450 ever since we got that bigger points lead after New Jersey.”
So, another Hunter versus Jett showdown looms this weekend, but it’s the Jett versus Eli duel that everyone really wanted to see, including Jett himself. Maybe someday. But for now, Jett can only focus on himself, and focus on a 450.
