It didn’t end in a win, but at one point in the Seattle round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Jett Lawrence was making an even bigger statement than usual. He was ripping through the pack. He was jumping over the sand wall that gave most riders fits, he was consistently getting the triples in the rhythm lanes. His best lap was nearly two seconds faster than anyone else. He is getting scarier every week. He’s still a rookie though, and this time he made a costly miscalculation. He was too far behind Cooper Webb when he tried to make a move in the sand. They hit in the sand, and Jett found himself on the ground, kind of the opposite of when Webb hit him in a heat race two weeks ago in Birmingham.
“I kinda caught up to Cooper and Chase. Just kind of got too confident at one turn and ended up clipping the back of Cooper,” said the 450 SX series leader in Monster Energy Supercross.
“Most of the first half, I was definitely charging,” he said. “I had a really good flow and I ended up bending the rubbers in my triple clamp pretty good [in the crash]. And riding on a track this rutted with a kinda bent triple clamp ain't the best. So yeah, just kind of was trying to get going again, trying to get a flow back again and I had a lapper stopped in front of me in a rut. I got stuck in a rut behind him and then I also stalled it. I think I stalled it before I crashed…yeah, I stalled it one time too and I'm like, ‘You know what, that's enough signs for me. Tonight's not the night and we're just gonna go with a third place and just bring it home.’”
With that, Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton, two riders that badly needed to make up some points on Lawrence, were in position to do so. But which rider would grab the biggest gain? Well, they rode to their max and took it down to the final corner, with Webb emerging with a win by 0.5 seconds. He’s now 16 points down on Lawrence.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 351 |
| 2 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC  | 336 |
| 3 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL | 307 |
| 4 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 282 |
| 5 |  Jason Anderson | Edgewood, NM | 282 |
You can see Jett’s learning process both on and off the track. The mistakes are coming far less frequently. Hard to believe he still has room to grow, but this is still his first 450 Supercross campaign. The tracks change so much more in this division, so he gave the veterans a nod with their experience in changing conditions. Also, he was sure to keep it respectful, and not frame this as a win he threw away. He’s probably learned some lessons in how he approaches the answers to questions. He was sure to say his competition earned it.
![Lawrence getting going after after his fall by clipping Cooper Webb.]()
Lawrence getting going after after his fall by clipping Cooper Webb. Align Media ![]()
Align Media ![]()
Align Media
Would he have won if he didn’t fall down?
“I mean…I'm not sure,” he said. “Obviously you can't really predict this. I mean, if I didn't crash in the first place, yeah, I could say I could have won, I felt like I had the speed. But obviously the track changed so much after that, I could have got around the guys and then all my lines could have gone away and then I could have gone and started doubling stuff and they could’ve got back past me. So, yes and no. You just don't know with this track and especially with these guys, they're so good, and obviously I'm still learning with that, they're fast at picking different lines and getting adapted to it very quickly and making that new line work. So, yeah, you don't know.”
No win this time, but a couple lessons learned for the 20-year-old. That might be just as important.
