The Birmingham AMA Supercross saw Honda HRC Progressive rider Hunter Lawrence continue the upward trend he has shown all year. One month after taking the first premier-class Supercross win of his career, he grabbed his third victory and his second in a row, extending his title-fight lead to nine points. Teammate Jo Shimoda also rode well in the year’s first East/West Showdown, narrowly missing the podium.
In the 450SX main event, Lawrence executed his strategy to perfection, launching inside the top three, quickly moving into the lead in the opening corners, and controlling the race from the front. Demonstrating improved early-race intensity, the CRF450RWE rider established a comfortable gap and maintained composure, eventually securing the win by 2.4 seconds over Ken Roczen. Quad Lock Honda’s Shane McElrath and Christian Craig finished in 12th and 17th, respectively.
Shimoda sat eighth after turn 1 in the 250SX East-West Showdown but quickly advanced into podium contention. He took over third at the halfway point, passed Levi Kitchen for second soon after, and began closing in on the leading Cole Davies. Shimoda briefly took the lead, but a small mistake opened the door for both Davies and Haiden Deegan to get by. A last-lap, three-way battle saw Shimoda make an attempt to take over second, only to lose traction on the slippery track and allow Seth Hammaker by. The Japanese rider was fourth at the finish line, but he remains in contention for the East Region crown, just nine points off the lead.
Jo Shimoda: “I almost had a good race, but the last-lap situation didn’t work out. I tried to make a pass, but I wasn’t close enough, and I also didn’t want to tangle with the lappers. After the whoops, I kind of wanted to go outside, get that speed, maybe have an opportunity to pass, but I knew Seth [Hammaker] was right behind me; if I went outside, maybe he could just come in pretty hard and take me out, which would be a lot worse. I think I didn’t race to be second tonight; I wanted to make a lot more attempts instead of just giving up on the last lap.”
Hunter Lawrence: “The track layout was rather simple, but the conditions made it tricky, and we did a lot of laps. Kenny [Roczen] had a really good pace; when he got around Eli [Tomac], he put in some good laps, and I’m like, ‘Alright, this is his really good sprint speed, so I need to kind of push at the beginning.’ I was trying to push as much as I could. That’s one of the things I find the coolest: a high-pressure moment or high-stakes scenario, and you’re able to deliver. You’ve got to be consistent, precise and just push the whole main. I don’t really want to think about the title, because it’s still seven races away and so much racing left to be had. I’m just trying not to be an idiot, and focusing on the week-in and week-out.”
Lars Lindstrom: “Another solid weekend for the team. I was really excited to see how Jo was riding in the main event; he showed me that he’s back to having the kind of speed he had last year, especially in those SMX races before becoming the champion. Even though his result doesn’t show it, I think he was really close to winning that race. Hunter rode his race like a veteran, making great moves in the first lap to get a solid lead, and then knocking off ridiculously consistent, fast laps, to never be challenged for the win. Many times, I’ve been nervous when our guys get the lead that early—maybe stressed is a better word—but when Hunter had the lead on the first lap, I felt super confident that he would be rock-solid the entire main event, which he was. I’m really excited for the rest of the season with our two guys; we’ll do whatever it takes to stay up front.”
