00:00It's the championship leader and a guy who just has the momentum on his side.
00:06Is this a different Hunter Lawrence that we are seeing from previous years?
00:11You could argue yes.
00:12You could say, hang on a minute, he's a 250 champion.
00:14Of course, there's no surprise that he's at the top.
00:17But in the 450 class, riding the way he has, and even some of his peers have commented on it,
00:23that they have seen a different version of Hunter Lawrence.
00:26Yeah, I mean, when you talk to Hunter and you listen to him, I mean, he's just so advanced.
00:31And his approach and his demeanor, I think, really suits this 450 class.
00:36You know, the highs aren't too high, the lows aren't too low.
00:39He's very even.
00:41And I feel as though that's what you need to have to be a Supercross champion at the elite level.
00:47We were just welcoming Chase Sexton back.
00:49Look who else is back.
00:50Red Bull, Troy Lee Design, Ducati Rider, Dylan Ferrandez.
00:54And you wouldn't think that this guy's a divisional champ.
00:56In the 250, and he's a 450 pro motocross champion.
01:01So he's back from that thumb injury.
01:03And also returning, let me say welcome back, to Joey Savace.
01:08He had a broken left foot.
01:10So recovering from that, but recovered well enough to be back on the bike.
01:14Yeah, great to see Joey back.
01:16And this is a guy who has had a lot of success across the years and had some great momentum
01:21going before he had that little hiccup at Indy and hurt his foot.
01:25So a great start from his quadlock Honda teammate in Christian Craig earlier in heat one.
01:31Let's see what they can do here.
01:32Hey, let's not forget the champ either.
01:34Cooper Webb is in this one.
01:36Sandwiched in between Hunter Lawrence and Dylan Ferrandez.
01:46Oh, you're going to love the sound of that gate drop.
01:49Good start.
01:5196.
01:52Justin Cooper under Lawrence.
01:54Cooper Webb on the inside.
01:56Jorge Prado has a look around.
01:59So easy for these guys if you get in too hot in the first corner to fade to the outside.
02:04Hunter Lawrence, you have to think, anticipating that to happen.
02:08It sneaks up there.
02:09And what happens if you're able to go up that inside like that?
02:12It sets you up perfectly for that next right-hander.
02:15Oh, Justin Cooper coming up short.
02:17And Prado did too as well.
02:20He was kind of all out of his rhythm.
02:23Malcolm Stewart is right there with Justin Cooper.
02:25It's Cooper Webb.
02:26Chases down the points leader.
02:28I had a nice conversation with Cooper Webb earlier this week.
02:31He was talking about everything.
02:34He had a great offseason and felt like he was in a good spot.
02:39He just, you know, was a little discouraged.
02:41I'm like, man, just go back to the basics.
02:44Do what you know how to do and don't overthink it.
02:47You're still a three-time Supercross champ.
02:49And you can do this.
02:51But while saying that, it's an important weekend, I believe, for this man.
02:56Cooper Webb sitting in second.
02:57He is in fourth in points.
03:00He's been on the podium five times this year.
03:06As they had to scramble there and take a basic action.
03:09But Cooper said, look, my points position, he told us this yesterday, my points position doesn't really reflect how well
03:17I've been going.
03:18And I've just missed out a few times, not by much, but it's been enough to deny me a win
03:23or a better podium position.
03:25And he's like, I'm not counting myself out of this thing yet.
03:28There's still seven races to go.
03:30Right.
03:30I mean, listen, anything can happen.
03:32And like you said, mathematically, he is still there.
03:34And he's frustrated.
03:35He's doing everything.
03:36He's working on the whoops.
03:38He's working on that intensity early on in the race.
03:41It's kind of eluded him this year.
03:43And it's definitely not from the lack of effort.
03:45He's just off a small little tip.
03:50Justin Cooper, Malcolm Stewart, and then Jorge Prado.
03:54But let's go back to the 32 of Justin Cooper, JT.
03:58Yeah, just watching him there in the whoops.
04:00I kind of think this is the most challenging time for Justin Cooper that he will face.
04:04Because the whoops are in a condition where you still need to blitz.
04:08They haven't deteriorated enough where he can fall back to what he wants to do, which is jump through them.
04:13He's an expert at that craft.
04:15And in the main event, I think they will come in.
04:17But right now, blitzing is the way you have to go.
04:20And it's not his proficiency.
04:22So you see him struggle there.
04:23And if Malcolm Stewart can get a run, it might be a place he can make a pass.
04:26Well, and right here, you can see how he loses the time.
04:29Now he's reverted.
04:30Like Jason was saying, that was a good run.
04:32I feel that the whoops, they get to a certain spot to where you have to blitz.
04:37And jumping is slower.
04:39Now I think that Justin Cooper has recognized that.
04:42I think it's good to go to jump.
04:44So this next lap is going to be interesting to see what he's able to do from a speed comparison
04:49to what it was the lap before.
04:51A little further back, Joey Savace, Vince Friese, Kevin Morant, all in transfer positions.
04:58So Hunter Lawrence has had an interesting day.
05:01Check this out from earlier.
05:02This was a close call and a lucky escape.
05:05What do you make of what happened here?
05:07Well, let's see here.
05:08He does that rhythm.
05:10Yeah, just opens, just overjumps that triple there after the tabletop.
05:14And as he does that, the bike rebounds back up.
05:18He isn't able to stop.
05:20Goes into the catch fence there.
05:23Tell us more, Will.
05:26Well, that crash a little unusual.
05:27We're not used to seeing those kind of mistakes from Hunter, but what we are used to seeing, and I
05:31spoke about at the top of the show, is the consistency that he has.
05:35And that has been, while he's still kind of gone through these 10 rounds, sort of developing the motorcycle.
05:41And they haven't been making huge swings by any means, but just week by week, they've been making improvements and
05:46trying to get Hunter the sort of comfort feel that all these riders are chasing.
05:50Well, talking to Cameron, his mechanic here last weekend, he looked at me and said, hey, we found it.
05:56And then I checked back in with him today, and he said, yeah, we're in the same place.
06:00And Hunter's been able to put in just a week of regular motos, which he's really enjoyed.
06:05So bad news if you are the rest of the field to know that this is him now coming into
06:09his good spot, Ricky.
06:10Well, I think when you watch right here, Hunter, it doesn't look like he's taking a lot of chances, and
06:17his lap times are phenomenal.
06:19And that is a sign, kind of like what Will is alluding to, the comfort in the motorcycle.
06:24It doesn't look like he's over trying, and he's just clicking off those laps.
06:28I want to remind you, tickets to the 2026 SMX Playoffs are now on sale at supermotocross.com.
06:34Be there in person, that would be unreal, for the three historic playoff races in Columbus, Ohio, in LA, and
06:41the beautiful venue, Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri.
06:47Supermotocross.com, that's where you need to go.
06:49Best destination for SMX news, schedules, and content, and of course, your tickets to be part of the playoffs, where
06:55you can see this guy race for an SMX world title.
06:59I almost feel like this heat race right here is probably a little bit better for these guys, because the
07:08track would be a bit more realistic.
07:10Oh, whoa.
07:12McElrath.
07:12Big move on Vince Friese.
07:14That was for eighth place.
07:16Yeah, that was a transfer position.
07:19Oh, Vince is looking back.
07:21He needs to be racing in front of him, not behind him.
07:23That's Kevin Moran's right behind, and it was Kevin's teammate, Grant Harlan, who went down earlier in this heat.
07:29So that's going to force Grant to the LCQ.
07:34Kevin's going to try and push his way past Vince Friese, so he can just automatically go through to the
07:40main event.
07:43Boy, McElrath's brave.
07:46Putting a move on that, like, to Friese.
07:49And champion tool storage, KTM.
07:53Moran's and Harlan, by the way.
07:55We were talking about the Club MX boys earlier having a great intra-team battle.
07:59Well, Kevin and Grant Harlan, the new combination for this year, they, too, are really close in points and their
08:04results.
08:05And about how many mains they've made and points they've scored.
08:09So, pretty cool battle going on between those two teammates this season as well.
08:12Well, and that whole story with Kevin and what he's been able to create with his own team is a
08:18pretty remarkable last lap.
08:22Transfer position on the line.
08:24If I'm Kevin Moran's, I'm going to absolutely send it through the whoops.
08:27Here we go.
08:28Here we go.
08:29This is to go straight through to the main, the simplistic way?
08:32Or do you have to race even harder through the LCQ?
08:36Well, considering who, again, who he's racing against.
08:39Oh, he stalls the bike.
08:42Bottom box.
08:42What a bummer.
08:43He had it, too.
08:44He was so close.
08:46Race leader, race winner, Honda Lawrence over Cooper Webb and Justin Cooper, the star Yamaha teammates.
08:57And then Malcolm Stewart and Jorge Prado.
08:59But for Kevin Moran's, unfortunately, he's going to get pushed into the LCQ with his teammate Grant Harlan.
09:04There's your race winner.
09:05He's done it again.
09:06He is in a very special place in his career is Hunter Lawrence.
Comments