The SuperMotocross World Championship Finals are in the books and for the third year in a row, Jett Lawrence took home the title. And for the second year in a row, it came down to Jett and his brother Hunter Lawrence at the finale (though for 2025 Eli Tomac had also asserted himself into the mix). Jett struggled with starts both motos, while Hunter put himself up front early. Jett was able to dig deep the first moto and get around both Hunter (who was suffering from lack of energy due to being sick earlier in the week), and Tomac who was in the lead. In the second moto Jett once again had to come from behind and once he found himself in third, struggled to catch Eli in second, while Hunter led. With Olympic style scoring, and winning the first moto, Jett needed to pass Eli to get the overall with a 1-2 to beat Hunter’s 3-1.
It was not until the end of the race with only a few minutes left on the clock that Jett was able to make the pass. He explained in the post-race press conference what was going through his mind during that second moto:
“A lot of doubt to be honest, HJ and Eli were riding really well and honestly, I had a good few laps of trying to catch them like halfway through the moto and I caught them a smidge and I made one mistake and lost all that ground. So, I kind of, not give up, but I am like, ‘Dude I honestly don’t think I can catch them.’ And I got three or four laps to go, and I am just like, ‘I am just going to go as hard as I can and if I crash it's going to hurt and if I don’t hopefully, we can get close enough to make a pass.’ Thankfully put a few laps together and was able get close and as soon as I got behind Eli, I tried to make a pass straight away and I was able to make it stick. And I am super happy so yeah.”
Though Jett’s words said he was happy to make the pass, his body language immediately after the race told a different story. One would expect someone who just won a million dollars to be celebrating, but instead Jett stood on top of the podium looking conflicted. Happy for himself, and yet disappointed for his brother.
When the brother’s joined Adam Cianciarulo and Justin Brayton on SMX Insider immediately following the race, Jett spoke on the roller coaster of emotions he felt stealing the win from his brother: “Basically, I went over the finish line, and I was like, ‘Yeah sweet’ and then I look forward and just see the 96, see HJ and it just kind of sets in and it's like, ‘Ugh.’ Because as a brother I want to see him do well and it's difficult to swallow that because I’m the a-hole that’s beating him. So, I beat myself up on that because I want to see him do good and he deserves it. For sure there is no lucking into this and stuff like that. Obviously, he worked hard but he’s one person that deserves getting one of these and I mean, I think next year he’s probably going to kick my butt.”
The respect and admiration Jett has for his older brother is unmatched, and while he knows Hunter has not lucked into the success he has had in racing, Jett admitted he himself got lucky in Las Vegas with Hunter being under the weather: “Obviously HJ going through it with a cold this week, I honestly think if he didn’t have that cold, he would be wearing this [number 1 jersey]. He had his starts dialed this whole weekend and I was slacking on them. Yeah, I honestly think if he was 100 percent, it would have been a different story.”
The SMX Playoffs are built for maximum drama with its escalating points scale and unprecedented prize money. We have already seen that the 250 riders will literally do whatever it takes to take home the title. But the 450 class brings its own kind of drama these last two years pitting brother against brother. So, the question remains, if Jett’s prediction comes true and Hunter wins in 2026, will Jett be even happier for Hunter to win an SMX World Championship than he was after his own win Saturday night?
