Hunter is a perfect example. His first-moto starts have not been good, but he’s managed each scenario well to take the best finish he can get, and not force the issue. In Thunder Valley, he ran into a hard-riding rookie in Haiden Deegan, who started weaving and looking back to hold Hunter at bay. Calmly, Hunter stayed out of it until a perfect, safe inside line finally presented itself, and he took control of the situation. Instead of risk it all to try to catch race leader Justin Cooper, he took second and waited for better in moto two. There, he started behind Cooper again, then Cooper crashed, and Hunter was all alone to take it home.

Hunter spoke to the media in the post-race press conference.

Hunter Lawrence

Hunter, nice day today winning. Last year here you were 4-1, so you were second overall behind your brother. And then this week obviously you went 2-1 for the win. Tell us how your day went and talk about the track a little bit, too.
Hunter Lawrence: It was good. It was a really tricky track compared to last year with how much moisture is underneath the dirt. So, the bumps and all the ruts had a lot of just super soft, spongey areas which made it tough. It just grabbed the bike a lot. But happy to get out of here with a win. Can’t complain too much.

Third straight win overall. When are you going to get that 1-1? Is it even on your mind or you don’t even care how you get the overall?
For sure. Everyone wants a 1-1, right? But we take it. Just keep putting ourselves in good positions and it’ll be what it’ll be.

Last week it was pretty hard pack, dry, in the 90-degree temperatures. Came here unseasonably cool, I think. It was only mid-70s in the second moto there. The track is so much softer. Each year it seems to be getting softer and softer. I know they’re mixing in woodchips and horse manure, of all things. What is your thoughts of the direction that the dirt here is going at Thunder Valley?
I think it’s good we’ve got so much diversity in our series because a champion should be the best all-rounded rider. So, I think it’s good. Pala and Hangtown are similar but different in their own unique ways. The woodchips here definitely throw a curveball, especially in the morning when it’s wet. You look at the dirt and you’re like, “Oh, there’s so much grip,” but it’s actually quite slippery when there’s moisture in it. They’re doing what they can do to keep changing it up and stuff, but I’m sure it’s tough. They said they had a lot of rain the past few months to work the track and have any dry dirt to work the wet stuff into.

Next week we head off to Mt. Morris. Your feeling of the High Point track? Is it one of your favorite tracks? Where would you rate it in the eleven racetracks that we race on?
It’s definitely pretty high up there. The country club of motocross. It’s a beautiful place. First East Coast race, so it’s good. Someone asked me the other day, “What’s your favorite track?” It’s tough to pick a favorite track, because the outdoors are such a suffer-fest. A lot of them are like, “This track, it’s a cool layout but it’s always so hot and stuff.” But it’s definitely up there, for sure.

Jett Lawrence

Then there’s Jett Lawrence. It’s worth noting that this 450 field has been depleted by injuries, so he hasn’t had to deal with Chase Sexton or Eli Tomac much if at all. After round two, it looked like 450 contenders like Dylan Ferrandis, Cooper Webb or Aaron Plessinger might be stepping up. But it’s also worth noting, too, that Jett is a rookie to this class, so he is also going to be improving, and quickly. He spoke about that in the press conference.

Jett, tell us a little bit about your day. Could it have gone any better? It didn’t appear so. Two holeshots, qualified first, had comfortable leads immediately so you were just kind of able to manage your race from there. Tell us how it went from inside of your 100% goggles.
Jett Lawrence: It was a really good day. Another good day in the books. Now I’m just getting more and more confidence with my bike. My bike is getting better each week. During the week we keep making small touches to it just to try and get it better and better, so if I do need to go hard, it can handle it, but if I’m just trying to maintain my pace at a slower track kind of like this – this track is a little bit slower speed in a few sections, and it handles great. Another really great day. My first start was a little bit iffy. I just squeezed away with that. Then my second start was even better than that. So, I was pumped with that. I’m just glad I didn’t get roosted, man. That was my biggest motivation on that start. I didn’t want to get roosted. I was yelling at lappers. I was swerving left to right trying not to get roosted by lappers and that. The roost here hurts. I felt like I did not too bad dodging it. Good day.

Speaking of the dirt here, this place started out as a complete adobe track in the ‘80s. It was a total adobe. They’ve been mixing more woodchips in, and they’ve been mixing horse manure. Each year they keep adding a little bit more, a little bit more. Some of the riders said they could smell a little bit. Do you feel like it’s helping the track conditions, now that you’ve raced here three times?
Where they’ve added it, it actually makes it a lot more slippery, I would say. Then obviously when it gets a little bit of rain, like we got a little bit of a sprinkle in that second moto. It kind of made it even a little more slipperier. A little bit is not too bad. It still has that main clay dirt. I think more the top sections besides that very long straight, going up to the Thunder Valley sign. All the little S-bends there are really good because it’s still more mainly dirt, it feels like mostly. But then in spots it’s nice having the mulch. It just kind of changes it up a bit. Something different. Instead of just getting a single rut, it kind of changes the feel up a little bit.