• Mature race performance extends Australian’s points lead
• Sexton turns in steady 450SX ride for fourth place

Jett Lawrence continued his rule over the 2022 AMA Supercross 250SX East Region during the Indianapolis round, where he put together his third win in a row and his fourth in five events. This one was in some ways particularly special, as the young Australian had to overcome a stiff challenge from Cameron McAdoo, who overtook Lawrence on lap 5 and led for five laps, even building a slight margin. After regrouping and making some midrace adjustments to his lines and technique, the Team Honda HRC rider recovered the top position and competently managed lapped traffic through the remaining 11 laps, notching the victory with a margin of nearly six seconds. Fellow CRF250R-mounted riders Mitchell Oldenburg (SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda), Jordon Smith (Fire Power Honda) and Cullin Park (Phoenix Racing Honda) finished fifth, eighth and 10th, respectively.

After strong showings in premier-class qualifying and his heat race, Chase Sexton completed lap one of the main event in sixth place and latched on to the leading freight train. He capitalized on crashes by Jason Anderson on lap 11 and Malcolm Stewart on lap 23, then held off Cooper Webb to collect a solid fourth place, less than 10 seconds off the leader – not his objective but a nice recovery following a hard crash out of last week’s Detroit main event. Also collecting a top-10 result was MotoConcepts Honda rider Vince Friese, in ninth.

NOTES

• Chase Sexton considers the Indianapolis Supercross to be one of his home races, as his native La Moille, Illinois, is three and a half hours northwest. The same is true of Sexton’s mechanic Brandon Zimmerman, who originally hails from about three hours north in Michigan. Both had several family members and friends on hand for the race.
• Also attending were brothers Matt and Robert Davis, owners of Team Honda HRC sponsor Throttle Jockey, which is about an hour north in Kokomo.
• On Friday, Sexton sat down with Feld for an interview that included a status update following his crash in Detroit. The interview aired during RaceDayLive.
• While warmer than the previous round in Detroit, race day was still chilly in Indianapolis, with a high of 56º Fahrenheit and intermittent rain. The temperature was 40º when the night program started. Indianapolis is often much colder in March. Team Honda HRC pitted outside, but they put up the awning walls and used heaters to warm the space. A good number of fans braved the chilly temperatures and precipitation to check out the pits during the FanFest.
• For the second week in a row, a short track meant low lap times, with Jett Lawrence topping 250SX East morning qualifying thanks to a 43.826” lap in the final session (making him the only rider in the 43-second range). SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda’s Mitchell Oldenburg was sixth-best, Fire Power Honda’s Jordon Smith was eighth, SGB Unlimited’s Luke Neese 13th, TiLube/Storm Lake Honda’s Grant Harlan 14th, SGB’s Jeremy Hand 16th, Moto Academy’s AJ Catanzaro 17th, Fire Power Honda’s Jarrett Frye 18th, Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cullin Park 24th, STR’s Lance Kobusch 27th, TiLube Honda’s Hunter Yoder 28th, and Jones Powersports’s John Short 33rd. Of the 40 riders to qualify for the night program, 12 were CRF250R-mounted.
• In 450SX daytime qualifying, Sexton tallied the fourth-best time of 43.459”, with MotoConcepts’ Vince Friese 10th. SGB riders Cade Clason and Alex Ray were 15th and 17th, with STR Racing’s Cheyenne Harmon 38th.
• MotoConcepts rider Justin Brayton was forced to sit out the evening program after suffering a qualifying crash and failing the concussion protocol.
• Lawrence turned in what may well be the heat-race performance of the year after crashing in turn one of the second 250SX East heat, getting his arm run over and ending up separated from his bike, on the outside of the track. Lawrence ran to and leapt over his downed bike, remounted and rejoined the race in second-to-last place, then charged through the pack to a dramatic victory, eliciting roars from the crowd with each pass. Also advancing from the 250SX East heats were Red Riders Smith, Oldenburg, Park, Frye, Yoder, Kobusch and Neese.
• In the first 450SX heat race, Sexton recovered from seventh place to finish a solid second, with Friese taking fifth. Heat 2 saw Clason finish ninth.
• Lawrence’s Indianapolis win was particularly gratifying considering that he struggled during last year’s three-round residency at the same facility (he went 4-23-5). Asked if he had thought maybe the venue just wasn’t his stadium, Lawrence laughed, “No, it was probably more ‘I’m going to make this my stadium.’ As soon as you think it’s not your stadium, it kind of defeats you mentally. Last year sucked a lot here, but hey, you’ve got to have those lessons. They’re harsh, but it just shows that I wasn’t ready for a championship last year, where Colt [Nichols] and Christian [Craig] were. I was just a kid trying to go all-out each race, which wasn’t smart. I think this stadium is special, because it really showed that I’ve learned from last year.”
• Lawrence participated in the post-race press conference on Saturday evening.
• Indianapolis marked the seventh 250SX victory of Lawrence’s young career, and the 11^th podium result.
• Lawrence’s victory extended his lead in the 250SX East title chase to 11 points, while Sexton sits seventh in the 450SX rankings, two points out of sixth.
• Next up for Team Honda HRC is the Seattle round on Saturday, when Hunter Lawrence will return to action in the 250SX West region, while brother Jett takes a one-race break from 250SX East.
• During the week before Seattle, team manager Lars Lindstrom, 450 crew chief Shane Drew, Sexton mechanic Brandon Zimmerman and test rider Trey Canard will meet with Sexton in Florida for some testing.

Ken Roczen 94 Did Not Attend Race - Recovery Break

Chase Sexton 23 "Overall, Indianapolis was a nice race for me to build on after Detroit, especially because I had good speed throughout the day. It was also fun to race close to where I'm originally from, and to get to see some family and friends. The lap times were super-short, so the track got to be pretty tricky over the course of the day, but I handled it well and stayed on two wheels. A podium would've been good, but I wasn't far back at all. Now we'll take what we've learned, do some testing this week and come back ready in Seattle."

Jett Lawrence 18 “Cameron [McAdoo] was on a lot faster pace after the start, and every turn I could feel him there. I was like, ‘Okay, he’s obviously doing something,’ and it was pretty clear he was skimming the whoops; I was very scared and was jumping the whoops at the beginning. Cameron got me and gapped me a little bit, and I didn’t like that; I followed his line through the whoops and then started skimming. We had a really good battle, and I had fun with that because we both had the respect for each other to race clean. The lapped riders were pretty gnarly tonight, and I think we both had some good luck and bad luck with that. The track was so rutted, and we were following each other in a couple of the turns. I think going down in my heat race earlier and coming through kind of helped me find different lines and learn the track more. I like it with the track changing like that because it makes you think a little bit. Cameron rode phenomenal, and I think I’d have had fun even if I’d gotten second.”

Hunter Lawrence 96 Did Not Attend Race - West Coast Series

Lars Lindstrom - Team Manager “It was another cold race for us working out in the truck, but it was nice at least having the canopies usable again and not having to contain everybody inside. The track was super-soft and rutty like we kind of know Indy to be, and it broke down a lot, which made it very difficult for the guys to ride. Feld and Dirt Wurx were well-prepared – they had more tractors than ever – and they did their best. Even then, the track was really short again, and lapped riders were a big issue for the top guys; Jett lapped up to fifth place. He was incredible tonight – winning his heat race was unbelievable after he crashed in the first turn of a seven-minute race. He got a holeshot in the main, which is something he’s been wanting, and he decided to play it safe and not take too many chances. Cameron McAdoo knows he needs to win right now, so he pushed Jett into a great, exciting race. It was impressive that Jett was able to come back and pull out another win. I think Chase had the speed to win all day. In the main event, he was right there with the freight train of the top five, and it could have gone any way. The track was deteriorating every single lap, and it was just really hard for him to pass on. He ended up losing his rhythm a little bit, and then Malcolm [Stewart] went down. Fourth is not a bad night, but we’re definitely looking to improve next weekend.”