What a Difference a Year and a Day Make for Young Supercross Racer Jett Lawrence

Young Supercross Racer Jett Lawrence

Combine a child racer’s dream with 5,500 cubic tons of dirt spread across the playing field at Houston’s NRG Stadium and sometimes you get magic. That’s what happened at the inaugural SuperTuesday Monster Energy Supercross race on January 19, 2021.

Go back a day and a year, and Jett Lawrence was a sixteen-year-old rookie in his third American Supercross. He and his older brother were both chasing the American Supercross dream – though as Australians the journey had cost the family more in time, money, and sacrifice. In that third round of the 2020 season, Jett worked his way into the lead, but a late mistake allowed the defending class champion to catch, then pass Jett just three corners from his first victory. The wild Aussie rider let it all hang out…those stories are supposed to turn out great.

Young Supercross Racer Jett Lawrence

Jett got bucked in the section of consecutive small jumps appropriately called “whoops,” rode the front wheel at the balancing point of disaster, then fate and momentum tipped him the wrong way and he fell over the handlebars into the steep face of a jump. A broken collarbone meant the young, exuberant, and playful rider was out for most of that season.

But this is 2021. And in Jett’s eighth Monster Energy Supercross everything seemed to be on replay a year plus one day later. This time, he didn’t falter, didn’t allow his bike to buck, in fact, the young rider made it look easy as he stretched a fourteen second lead on the rest of the field and then notched his first Supercross win.

Young Supercross Racer Jett Lawrence

That win was made possible by his brother Hunter who challenged him, the brothers’ parents who uprooted their lives to chase the dream, and the Honda HRC team that took the brothers under their wing when the brothers’ 2020 support team folded without warning at the end of last year’s racing season. Was Jett excited? You bet, and he wasn’t hiding it a bit.

Might this be the young racer’s first title season? He stands in good company; anyone who knows the sport will recognize these past champions who each won their first race in their sophomore season: Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Travis Pastrana, Ryan Villopoto, Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, Kevin Windham, Justin Barcia, and Chase Sexton.

Jett Lawrence 1st win of the season

Jett Lawrence lines up again inside Houston’s NRG Stadium this Saturday for Round 3 of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross season. It will be exciting to see how young Jett Lawrence follows up his breakthrough ride. The answer will be revealed on January 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern, LIVE on Peacock and NBCSN.

450SX Class Results

  1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki
  2. Dylan Ferrandis, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Yamaha
  3. Justin Brayton, Charlotte, N.C., Honda
  4. Cooper Webb, Newport N.C., KTM
  5. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda
  6. Marvin Musquin, Corona, Calif., KTM
  7. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha
  8. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.Mex., Husqvarna
  9. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., GASGAS
  10. Zach Osborne, Clermont, Fla., Husqvarna

450SX Class Championship Standings

  1. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., GASGAS (40)
  2. Dylan Ferrandis, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Yamaha (39)
  3. Justin Brayton, Charlotte, N.C., Honda (38)
  4. Marvin Musquin, Corona, Calif., KTM (38)
  5. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda (37)
  6. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (36)
  7. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha (34)
  8. Cooper Webb, Newport N.C., KTM (33)
  9. Adam Cianciarulo, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Kawasaki (30)
  10. Zach Osborne, Clermont, Fla., Husqvarna (26)

250SX Class Results (Eastern Regional)

  1. Jett Lawrence, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Honda
  2. Colt Nichols, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha
  3. Christian Craig, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha
  4. Michael Mosiman, Menifee, Calif., GASGAS
  5. Jo Shimoda, Menifee, Calif., Kawasaki
  6. Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki
  7. Mitchell Oldenburg, Aledo, Tex., Honda
  8. Max Vohland, Granite Bay, Calif., KTM
  9. RJ Hampshire, Minneola, Fla., Husqvarna
  10. Joshua Osby, Valparaiso, Ind., Honda

250SX Class Championship Standings (Eastern Regional)

  1. Christian Craig, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (47)
  2. Colt Nichols, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha (44)
  3. Jett Lawrence, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Honda (43)
  4. Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki (40)
  5. Jo Shimoda, Menifee, Calif., Kawasaki (37)
  6. Michael Mosiman, Menifee, Calif., GASGAS (35)
  7. RJ Hampshire, Minneola, Fla., Husqvarna (32)
  8. Mitchell Oldenburg, Aledo, Tex., Honda (31)
  9. Max Vohland, Granite Bay, Calif., KTM (29)
  10. Joshua Osby, Valparaiso, Ind., Honda (26)