At Saturday’s Denver Supercross, Hunter Lawrence led half the 450SX main event before getting passed by his younger brother and finishing second. Yes, that’s right, the same Hunter Lawrence who failed to qualify for his first Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX main event ever at the Anaheim 1 season opener just four months ago, lead half of the latest race. Well, same #96 Honda HRC CRF450R and athlete on top of the machine by name, but by nature, an all-new version of Hunter Lawrence. It was not easy to get here, and it came later than he would have liked, but he will take it.
Back at the A1 event, the then-fresh face to the 450 class at the top of the sport, never having raced a 450cc bike in an AMA Supercross or Motocross event yet, was about to learn the hard way just how difficult the premier class of supercross was. He learned with a 17th in his heat race and a damn close fifth in the LCQ. But he soaked it all in like a sponge. And he got back to work.
Hell, by the next weekend, the #96 machine came through tenth in the main event in San Francisco. From then, it was on. The highs and the lows both came. The highs—top seven finishes and top five finishes were checked off. The lows: a hard crash at the Daytona SX that left him with a busted-up shoulder blade. He returned after missing only the Birmingham SX and got back into the mix. Even with the injury lingering and still hindering him a little, he continued to progress and kept building—and checking more boxes. Through it all, more highs came. Heat race win(s): check. Fastest qualifier: check. First career podium: check (at the St. Louis SX with some help, but still). Then, after three straight seventh-place finishes, the #96 put together his best ride of the season in Colorado.
Fourth in overall qualifying led to a close second in his heat race behind Cooper Webb. But it was not a “I’m rolling over for this guy” P2. The veteran rider got the best of the fast rookie. Then in the main event, aided by a terrific jump from right outside the box, the Austrailian nailed his start and first turn line, exiting in the race lead. From there, it was really go time. Right behind the #96 was the #18, little brother!
The older brother rode a fantastic race, although around the halfway point he would get passed by his more-than-likely 2024 450SX Champion brother. Then, older bro kept little bro honest with some great laps, not letting him run away with the lead. In the final turn with the checkered flag in view and win secured, Jett looked back to see where Hunter was and made a gesture showing he was pumped. First and second for Jett and Hunter Lawrence, respectively, becoming the first brothers to land on a premier class AMA Supercross podium together.
“Yeah, I was screaming in my helmet the first lap when it was him and I out front, I was so pumped,” Jett Lawrence said on the podium afterwards. “He was riding awesome that one. And it’s so awesome to go one-two in the 450 class. It’s the top of the class, it’s awesome feeling, awesome accomplishment for our family. But no, super pumped. Excited to go to last round, hopefully we can repeat it.”
“Yeah, unreal,” Hunter said moments later on the podium. “I think that was history for brothers going one-two, so yeah. Big night for Jett as well, points wise, so yeah, awesome.”
Jett said settling for second to let Hunter run away with the win did cross his mind, but he knew three more points would help his championship lead.
Read: Jett and Hunter Lawrence Make History at Denver Supercross
What was Hunter’s approach? Even though he wanted the win, he knew the big picture as well.
“Yeah, it’s pretty easy to see obviously I’m not going to race him pretty hard, even though [to win] tonight would have been awesome, this championship’s not about me right now,” Hunter Lawrence said. “I’ll have my time next year as well, or maybe even next weekend so. Yeah, just great night overall. Cool to lead some laps. The start was really good, that’s something we’ve been struggling to execute in the main events the past few weekends. So, happy to just put it together.”
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | 23 Laps | 54.428 | Landsborough, Australia  | Honda CRF450R | |
| 2 |  Hunter Lawrence | +1.802 | 54.561 | Landsborough, Australia | Honda CRF450R | |
| 3 |  Jason Anderson | +5.404 | 54.437 | Edgewood, NM  | Kawasaki KX450SR | |
| 4 |  Justin Barcia | +12.175 | 54.707 | Monroe, NY | GasGas MC 450F | |
| 5 |  Cooper Webb | +22.017 | 55.201 | Newport, NC | Yamaha YZ450F |
Are there now raised expectations for Hunter?
“I mean, I wouldn't say I have expectations, there's more things I want, you know,” said Hunter moving forward. “I want to win, I want to be on the podium every weekend, the same goals I set for myself, the same little checklist I made for in the 250 class, you know, I have things that I need to accomplish on the way to get to my goals and where I wanna be. So, yeah, just another box ticked off tonight and, you know, inching closer and just logging more data and getting ready for outdoors and next year.”
Better late than never, Hunter’s breakout ride comes at round 16—his 14th 450SX main event start. With the upcoming AMA Pro Motocross Championship and next year’s sophomore season in the 450SX Class of supercross, this ride might just be what takes Hunter Lawrence to the next level.
“Yeah, I mean, sure, better late than never, right,” he said on his podium but true break out ride. “I mean, glad to get it done in the rookie season for sure, would have loved it to be a little earlier, but, yeah, just had to learn more, build more confidence on the bike and in myself and work on a few things. And we had a few little setbacks but just bounce back and keep working and, yeah, the results will be whatever it will be. Even, you know, my riding tonight I felt was really good and has been really good the past few weekends, just the result wasn't quite there. I was seventh for three weekends in a row. I was over seventh place, man. [Laughs] I couldn't get away from it! So yeah, I’m pumped.”
For most 450SX rookies, getting through the 17-round season is a tall order. Luckily, Hunter’s shoulder injury at the Daytona SX round only kept him out for one round.
“Flashback to Daytona, super grateful I was able to come back as fast as I was, you know,” said the wise beyond his years 24-year-old. “Obviously being healthy and lining up every weekend is the first big box you have to tick if you wanna have a shot at a championship or, you know, be in the fight. So, that's obviously got a big emphasis on it and just being there lining up every weekend, getting in that 20-minute main every Saturday night, it helps. It helps build and carries on, you know, when you're not racing, I think it's hard to keep up with the level of competition. So, that’s like one of the main things and, just learning how the 450 is on supercross, you know. I didn't forget how to ride supercross from last year, just the bike acts different and stuff like that and go, you know, sack up [Laughs] and trust it and, and just go with it and learn.”
Learning and building. One more round to go then it’s an all-new experience on the 450 in Pro Motocross. And Hunter Lawrence is ready for the task at hand.
