Lawrence and Sexton on Detroit
The Detroit round of the 2022 AMA Supercross series saw Jett Lawrence continue his dominance of the 250SX East Region, riding his CRF250R to his third win in four events, and his second in a row. After topping timed qualifying and the second heat race, Lawrence secured the lead on the first lap of the 250SX East main event and – apart from a bid by Pierce Brown when they hit lapped traffic about seven minutes in – was never challenged, winning by nearly six-and-a-half seconds. It was the sixth indoor 250 victory of the young Australian’s career, as well as the 10th podium. The win extended Lawrence’s lead in the title chase to nine, and Honda’s support-class win record in the Detroit-Pontiac area to 12. Also posting solid results in the class were Fire Power Honda’s Jordon Smith and SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda’s Mitchell Oldenburg, in fifth and sixth, respectively.
By the time the gate dropped for the 450SX main event, the short track was quite treacherous and, over the course of 27 laps, it would claim a number of top riders – Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton unfortunately among them. The Illinois native completed the first lap in sixth place and, after dropping back to ninth a few laps in, he set about improving his situation. He dispatched a number of riders, and by lap 16 he sat fifth, pressuring Cooper Webb. When Webb made a mistake in a rhythm section, Sexton had nowhere to go and plowed into him, sending both riders down hard. Sexton was taken to the Alpinestars Medical Unit where he received stitches to a cut lip, but amazingly, further damage was limited to general soreness and friction burns to his back. MotoConcepts’ Justin Brayton and Vince Friese were the top-finishing Red Riders, in fifth and sixth, respectively, with SGB Unlimited Honda’s Cade Clason also making the top 10.
Sexton: “Overall, the Detroit Supercross was a pretty rough race for me. I had a crash in the heat race trying to go around a lapped rider, and in the main event, Cooper and I got together, which ended my night. It was unfortunate, but thankfully I’m healthy apart from a few scrapes and bruises. I’m looking forward to Indianapolis, which I consider one of my home races, and I’m excited to get back out there and make up for it.”
Lawrence: ““That one was really tricky. The track’s pretty tight and basic, but it got chewed up pretty gnarly, especially in those rhythms; it would catch you off guard now and then. It was a lot more difficult than our last couple weekends. I felt like the times were really, really close, so the boys definitely kept me on my toes. Pierce [Brown] surprised me; normally every guy revs it in the air, but he was silent – scared the living daylights out of me on the inside [laughs]. The biggest thing was just making sure I clicked my lap times off and focused on myself, because you never know when I make a silly mistake and one of these boys capitalizes on that. I had fun in that one. I’m very grateful, and hopefully I can keep marching on.”
Lindstrom: ““Overall, the Detroit Supercross was a pretty rough race for me. I had a crash in the heat race trying to go around a lapped rider, and in the main event, Cooper and I got together, which ended my night. It was unfortunate, but thankfully I’m healthy apart from a few scrapes and bruises. I’m looking forward to Indianapolis, which I consider one of my home races, and I’m excited to get back out there and make up for it.”
Words and image: Honda
