Hunter Lawrence puts in best ride of the season to win East-West showdown

2022 Monster Energy AMA Supercross
Round 14 – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Report by Trevor Hedge – Images by Jeff Kardas

450 Heat One

Jason Anderson entered turn one first, but Justin Bogle had the better exit to lead early on before being quickly overhauled by Anderson. It didn’t take long for Tomac and Barcia to also dispense with Bogle. 

Tomac then managed to chase down Anderson over the course of the next few laps and took the lead for the first time just under a minute into the race.  Anderson came back at him though and took the lead again before Tomac then had a huge moment while chasing.

Anderson eventually taking the win after Tomac had yet another huge rear end slide on the final lap. Barcia took third 12-seconds behind the leader. Bogle fourth and Hartranft fifth. 

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two

Alex Martin took the hole-shot ahead of Kyle Chisholm and Cooper Webb and that trio were chased by Justin Brayton, Marvin Musquin and Chase Sexton when the second 450 Heat got underway.

Webb went through to the lead 90-seconds into the six-minute plus one-lap contest. A minute later Sexton pushed Martin further back to third place and set about chasing down Webb. Another lap later Musquin and Stewart pushed Martin further back to fifth. 

Sexton caught and passed Webb at the halfway point in the race and left the defending champ in his wake as he streaked away on the CRF450R.  Stewart moved past Musquin for third place with a minute left on the clock. 

Chase Sexton the clear victor, eventually taking the flag ten-seconds ahead of Webb after setting a lap-time three-seconds faster than anyone else in the field.  

Stewart third ahead of Musquin, Brayton fifth, while early race leader Alex Martin claimed sixth. 

450 Heat Two Results

450 Main

Justin Barcia took the hole-shot ahead of Chase Sexton and Jason Anderson while Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb also started well. Musquin had got away okay but fell a few corners in which relegated him to the back of the field. 

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Sexton took the lead a couple of minutes into the race but Barcia came right back at him before Sexton eventually got the upper hand. Jason Anderson then pushed Barcia back to third and set about chasing down Sexton. 

Five minutes in and Sexton led Anderson by two-seconds before the Honda man then lost the front and went down.  That mistake gifted Anderson the lead, while Sexton was shuffled all the way back to sixth before he was back up and running.  Barcia was now second, Webb third, Tomac fourth and Stewart fifth. 

Barcia then went down and was passed by both Webb and Tomac. Sexton was working hard to make up for that earlier mistake and pushed past Stewart to take fifth before making another mistake which allowed Stewart to take that position back. Barcia then made another mistake which saw him shuffled back to sixth behind Sexton but ahead of Brayton.

With ten-minutes left on the shot clock Anderson led Webb by over five-seconds, while the KTM man was being chased hard by Eli Tomac. Malcolm Stewart fourth, Sexton fifth. 

Anderson continued to pull away from Webb, who with six-minutes remaining was started to come under attack from both Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton. Tomac got Webb with just over five-minutes to run but it took Sexton a little bit longer to eventually push Webb back to fourth. 

And that was how they finished. Jason Anderson the winner from Tomac with Sexton rounding out the podium from Webb. Stewart fifth, Barcia sixth and Brayton seventh. 

With three rounds remaining Eli Tomac enjoys a massive 53-point buffer over Jason Anderson in the fight for the championship.  Justin Barcia is 68-points behind Tomac in third place, with an eight-point buffer over fourth placed Marvin Musquin. 

450 Video Highlights

450 Main Results

450 Post Race Press Conference

450 Championship Standings (Round 14 of 17)

250 West Heat

Jo Shimoda got the best run out of the gate ahead of Michael Mosiman, Christian Craig and Hunter Lawrence on what was a fast track that had benefitted from some last minute work after serious rain overnight in Atlanta.  Hunter Lawrence was bouncing back off a quite brutal crash during the media day practice runs that he had been lucky to escape without breaking bones. 

Shimoda held onto the lead for the opening couple of laps before being overhauled by Mosiman and then Craig.  

It took Lawrence a fair bit longer to squeeze past Shimoda and just as he did the race leader Michael Mosiman went down in the whoops while enjoying a handy lead over Craig.  Mosiman’s demise saw Craig go through to the lead and also promoted Hunter Lawrence into second.

Craig went on to take the victory over Lawrence by more than five-seconds. Mosiman salvaged third. 

250 West Heat Results

250 East Heat

Cameron McAdoo was again missing from the gates as he recovers from a shoulder injury .

Jett Lawrence made life hard for himself as after what looked like a good launch out of the gates he got his front wheel taken out by RJ Hampshire as they both entered turn one, leaving Jett stuck under his motorcycle as the rest of the field disappeared into the distance. 

No such worries for Mitch Oldenburg and Jace Owen as the two tussled for the lead early on before Oldenburg managed to pull away from Owen.

Jett Lawrence was around 15-seconds behind that pair and with four-minutes left in the contest had worked his way back up to 11th. Two-minutes later he was up to seventh and ten-seconds behind the leaders, Oldenburg and Hampshire. 

With two laps to go Lawrence was now fifth and eight-seconds behind the leaders. He was five-seconds behind the returning Forkner at this juncture and that was a bridge too far thus Lawrence had to settle for fifth place. 

RJ Hampshire managed to overhaul Oldenburg late in the race, while Forkner had an ever stronger finish to the race. Forkner eclipsed Pierce Brown and then Mitch Oldenburg to move up to second, before then also passing Hampshire at the final juncture to steal the heat win. That was some return from injury for Forkner, who saved his best for the end, where he put in the fastest lap of the race on that final lap to take that victory.

250 East Heat Results

250 East/West Showdown

Jo Shimoda again took the holeshot, this time ahead of RJ Hampshire and Hunter Lawrence. Jett Lawrence fourth early on ahead of Vince Friese, Austin Forkner and Christian Craig. 

Hampshire lost the rear on the exit of a turn on what was a slippery track which allowed Jett Lawrence up to third, but the young Aussie then made a mistake and lost the front which pitched him off the bike. Jett rejoined the race way down in 15th with 13-minutes left on the shot clock.  At this juncture Shimoda was still leading from Hunter Lawrence, while Austin Forkner was now up to third, Christian Craig fourth. 

Christian Craig took third place from Forkner with just over 10-minutes remaining on the clock. Shimoda was leading Hunter Lawrence by two-seconds, with Craig equidistant in third. 

It looked as though Shimoda might have been able to run away with this one but Hunter Lawrence closed him down before the halfway mark and then proceeded to streak away from the Japanese rider. Christian Craig then pushed Shimoda further back to third and set about chasing down his championship rival Hunter Lawrence.   Jett Lawrence was up to tenth at this halfway point of the race but was still 15-seconds behind the leaders. 

Once he had a clear track in front of him Hunter Lawrence looked smooth and in control. Christian Craig was chasing real hard, stealing a tenth here and there, but Hunter managed to respond each time in what was quickly shaping up as his most impressive performance of the season.

With three-minutes remaining Jett Lawrence was still 15-seconds behind the leaders but was now up to fifth place. Mosiman was seven-seconds ahead of him at this stage but the GASGAS rider then made a mistake which gifted that fourth place to Jett.  

With 90-seconds left on the clock Hunter led Craig by just on two-seconds, but the Yamaha man then lost another five-seconds due to a small tumble, giving Hunter plenty of breathing space with two laps to run.

Jett Lawrence was chasing Jo Shimoda hard and managed to reel the Kawasaki man in and took that third place from his friend as they started the final lap. Shimoda though came back at him, hard, before Jett finally managed to stretch away and complete that run from 15th all the way to a podium finish.  Jett also claimed the fastest lap of the race during his fight back through the field.

Hunter Lawrence the clear winner in his bestr ride of the season. His brother embraced him on the cool down lap before Craig then also stopped to congratulate his championship rival. 

That win moved Hunter three-points closer to Craig in the 250 West Championship but the Yamaha man still has a significant 23-point lead up his sleeve with two rounds still remaining.

That third place extended Jett Lawrence’s lead in the 250 East Championship out to 47-points over RJ Hampshire, with a total of 52-points still up for grabs over the final two rounds. 

The 250 East competitors now move to Foxborough next weekend, while the 250 West competition next meets in Denver on April 30.  Then we have the second and final East-West showdown to decide both titles at Rice-Eccles Stadium at Salt Lake City on May 7. 

250 East/West Main Video Highlights

250 East/West Main Results

250 Post Race Press Conference

250 West Championship Standings

250 East Championship Standings