The Conversation: Title Fighters

Jett found his groove, got to Tomac and found a quick opening when there were riders down in the sand.

“Kind of bit by bit just closing in on Eli and he also had a few bad runs with lappers and that stuff," Lawrence said. “Able to capitalize in the sand with some yellow flags, or well, with someone down [in the sand]. Was able to kind of get going and keep that flow going. I felt good all day and it was good to get those good laps in the main.”

Honestly, there’s not much to say about Lawrence’s ride, it was almost drama free and that’s what he needed.

“With these type of tracks and condition it’s [about] getting a smooth lap and linking all sections together,” he said. “It makes a big difference just because if you just push the front a little bit and then try stabbing it with the gas, you can spin the rear and lose so much more time. So I think I just ended up getting a pretty good flow, pretty good rhythm and it kept on hitting my marks and I felt good.”

On the other end of the scale, Cooper Webb was on the gas last weekend at Foxborough, but it wasn’t there this time.

“I think for me, honestly, I saw today from practice, I think Jett had a point to prove,” said Webb. “And he did that. You know, to me he was to me the best all day. So, and for me, I didn't really gel all day. I was just a little bit off all day. I think it's easy to look at, ‘Hey, it's four to go,' [and you must win] but you also gotta take it race by race and anything can happen as we've been seeing these last few weeks. So I think as important as it is to win, it's also important to be in the fight, especially these last ones. So I think it's just you regroup and you take it to the next weekend. I feel good on the bike, feel good with my riding. Just gotta, you know, be a little better next weekend, and, luckily with Eli, we hope maybe we can get a sandwich in there, you know, get some points [back].”

Lawrence had one wild moment early in the race in the sand while he was trying to stay out of the main line and avoid the roost.

“The first few laps is always pretty hectic in the sand section because it's not really a certain line,” said Lawrence. “And, well, there kind of was the outside, outside [line] but then obviously you don't want to follow through there just because the roost goes straight to your eyes and kind of blocks you. So you're trying to take different lines that aren't there, your rear can go, your front can go. So we had a bit of a few of hectic moments in a couple laps.”

“Yeah, I saw that too,” said Webb. “I was behind him the first few and I was like, oh boy, he was holding on tight. But I think he figured it out. And he got that 3-3 after the whoops from the inside. That was really fast early and then the sand, I mean, obviously we saw this summer he's good in the outdoor conditions and he was really flowing through that section really well. That's definitely where, I was losing a bunch of time. But it was a tough, tough section.”

The sand is where Cooper feels he lost touch with Lawrence the most.

“I don't know [if it was my] short legs or what it was, but I just made mistakes, couldn't really flow through there very well,” he said. “Just like Jett said, I think I tried a little bit too hard at the beginning and was making a lot of mistakes. And finally, once I just settled down, I actually rode a lot better, times started coming down and stuff like that. And it was a tough track. You wanna push. Jett was right there. So I'm trying to go his pace and he was able to do some things that I just simply couldn't. Sometimes you gotta just learn and go, okay, maybe he can do it and I need to adjust a line or whatever the case is. Once I stopped forcing it, I felt better. But, it's one of those things where you're not gonna feel great every weekend and ride your best every weekend. So it's minimizing those mistakes when you can.

“You know, you see the guys creeping away and I think that's what I'm saying is, I tried to then follow what Jett was doing,” Webb said. “But I just couldn't make it work, right? So I kind of went back to the lines that work for me. Our riding style is different, the way we do things is different. So once I kind of hit the lines that worked for me, it came around but too little, too late. And I think at that point it was something where I was like, all right, I'm just gonna put my head down, click the laps. And honestly, at that point, you're just kind of hoping for a mistake from the two in front of you.”

This time, no mistakes from Jett, and Webb lost five points. Will he get that Foxborough feeling back this weekend in Philadelphia? He going to need it, because for Jett, Nashville was the great reset.