Hunter Lawrence took advantage of poor start by his younger brother Jett Lawrence to win the first moto at The Dome in America’s Center in St. Louis and scored the overall victory after finishing third in Moto 2.
“It’s a weird — it’s like a coincidence winning the second round over and over, but it’s nice,” Hunter told Peacock’s Will Christien. “We’re trying to build a house. If that [win] bonus could hit on Monday, it would be wonderful. Extra money always helps. We like nice things and they cost money.”
Hunter won Round 2 of the 2024 450 championship at Texas Motor Speedway and Round 2 in the 250 division the previous season at Chicagoland Speedway.
After getting a poor start in Moto 1, Jett earned the holeshot in Moto 2 and held the advantage for the duration of the race, but he was forced to hold Eli Tomac at bay in heavy traffic on the final two laps. With the white flag in sight, Tomac surged onto Jett’s back wheel, and the contest between them brought Hunter into the battle.
A pass for the lead would have handed Tomac the overall win, so Hunter had no option except to pressure him hard in turn.
Jett scored the moto win by 1.375 seconds over Tomac, with Hunter another 0.782 seconds back in third.
“I was pretty calm, and then in the sand section, there was a lapper on the inside, and it’s just as bad following in the sand because it goes everywhere,” Jett said. “It just blinds you, so I thought I’d go outside and there was another lapper there. ... I got screwed in that and the three seconds I had shrunk really quickly — and then those last like, lap or two, were hectic. I was gassing. I was flying in certain spots. It was a wild last laps.”
Finishing fourth in Moto 1 and winning Moto 2 gave Jett five points and handed him second-place overall by the tiebreaker of a better Moto 2 finish.
Tomac finished third in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2, also earning five points in the Olympic-style scoring system. Only one point separated the podium.
Ken Roczen finished second and fifth in the two motos for fourth overall.
Cooper Webb finished eighth in Moto 1 and fourth in Moto 2 to round out the top five.
Sexton dropped from a top-five position to 10th on the final lap of Moto 2, scoring him seventh overall. That dropped him to seventh overall, and he will enter Las Vegas with a 23-point deficit to Jett.
- Jett earned the holeshot.
- Hunter needed a third-place finish to score the overall. He passed Chase Sexton for the position on Lap 3.
- Tomac kept the pressure on Jett on Lap 7 with a 1.9-second gap.
- Hunter caught Tomac on Lap 11 as they battled for second.
- Jett was slowed by lapped traffic with two laps remaining, bringing Tomac and Hunter into contact.
- Jett narrowly won over Tomac and Hunter with less than two seconds separating them.
In Race Notes
Jett redeemed himself from the poor Moto 1 start with the holeshot in the second race.
Tomac settled into second with Sexton third.
Hunter was fourth on the opening lap. He needed to get to third to challenge for the overall win.
At the halfway mark, Jett led Tomac by 2.4 seconds.
Hunter held onto third with Sexton fourth and Cooper Webb rounding out the top five.
Ken Roczen continued to ride strong and was just outside the top five in sixth on Lap 12.
Jett’s victory secured second in overall points.
Tomac finished second with Hunter landing third.
Sexton had trouble on the final lap and finished 10th.
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