The first Triple Crown race of the 2026 season, held at the domed NRG stadium in Houston, was a positive one for Honda HRC Progressive, as Hunter Lawrence earned his third consecutive runner-up overall result, finishing just one point shy of victory in a format that has not been friendly to him in the past. This is by far the best beginning to an AMA Supercross series of the Australian’s young 450SX career, and the Texas performance reduced his gap to championship-leader Eli Tomac by half, from eight points to just four. Lawrence continues to close in on his first premier-class win, with confidence building each weekend.
Hunter Lawrence: “It was a bit of a bummer in the first race—it was just a silly little mistake; it wasn’t really a crash, but then as soon as I went off the track where it meets the concrete, it’s just so slippery and it’s hard to save that. I just reset after that one, and I think we did pretty good. I’m happy with how the night went, honestly. This format is one of the tougher ones for me; those short-duration sprints don’t come easy. I find the short turnaround from the first to the second race easier than the last one, where you’re kind of waiting around a little bit longer. I feel like the longer you wait, the tougher it is because it’s like you’re starting fresh again.
“The start is everything—even in a normal main event, it just makes your night so much easier. You see the chaos that goes on and I’ve been on the other side of that, so I just try to give myself the best shot into that first turn. In the last moto, I didn’t get that one middle lane, and that gave Eli the inside; that was where that race was decided, I think. I still tried to push and get in a rhythm. I knew the night win was there, and I needed to get him, but I think that if I keep putting myself in the top five around the first turn every weekend and click off good laps, good things are going to start happening. I like my chances over the next couple races. From what it could’ve been, we did pretty good damage control, and we pulled four points back on the lead. We live to fight another day, and I’m looking forward to Glendale.”
Lars Lindstrom: “It was another great weekend for us as a team, although we’re definitely missing Chance Hymas and Jett—it was quiet under the tent! We’re looking forward to having our teammates back (hopefully Jo soon). In the meantime, Hunter is going above and beyond to represent the team solo, and I think we’re doing well as a team to focus on the big picture: the championship. This race was his to win, but unfortunately the first-race bobble didn’t allow that. To me, it doesn’t matter; we made up important points, and if he would’ve won the overall, then people probably would’ve said that it’s ‘only’ a Triple Crown, and that he still hasn’t won a 20-minute race yet. As long as we’re scoring more points than the rivals, I’m happy.”
