JETT LAWRENCE

Without question, was Jett Lawrence one of the fastest athletes in practice. His persona that was synonymous with victory, then translated into heat number two thereafter...where he quickly made his way into second, after passing opponents, Vince Friese and Benny Bloss. Once into the runner-up standing, he stalked the rear wheel of Ohio’s Aaron Plessinger. “AP” would lead, but Lawrence seemed to close rapidly when beneath the two minute mark. His speed after the finish line was remarkable, as well as timing through the rutted and cupped rhythm lanes...which set the stage for the Honda athlete to storm amongst the whoops with one minute on the clock. Plessinger simultaneously countered, but neither were budging as they crested the wall jump there after and barreled into the corner that followed. At this point, Lawrence had made the pass and nullified the rebuttal of the KTM athlete — taking command of the field, en route to a notable heat race victory. Both Lawrence brothers had secured wins in their respective heat races, creating the perfect scenario for gate choices as the thirty-second board would go sideways in the main event. And as gates crashed to the ground, Jett’s starting position (which was in the latter portion(s) of the top-ten) wasn’t ideal for the series leader...but he quickly made his way forward via brilliant line selection, and an unbelievable leap in the sand section that was arguably “James Stewart-esque.” Just as the former number seven would do, Lawrence found a way to leap from the smallest roller over the anthill of sorts, gaining substantial time and making passes on that of Justin Barcia amongst countless others after his initial standing of eighth had been nullified. Once into fourth place, after seemingly omitting the gap that Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen had created (passing them within minutes of one another) Lawrence’s brilliance on the motorcycle then equated to third. It was only a matter of time before he and Cooper Webb would converge amongst the same path, and as Lawrence attempted to pass Webb in the sand section (with just under fourteen minutes left on the clock), Jett’s front wheel would collide with the chassis of the Yamaha rider! Crashing into the sand, he would lose a position to Ken Roczen and Jason Anderson, (and briefly Aaron Plessinger) but quickly passed all three in the minutes that followed. Now all alone in third, a series of issues ultimately prevented him from returning to the battle for second, which he once aspired for. A stalling of the motor, along with getting stuck behind a lapped rider over the wall jump, seemed to stun his momentum per se when viewing the race in its entirety. A veteran-like decision was then made, where Lawrence decided to remain steady in the third-place standing, while the other two opponents (i.e. Webb and Sexton) broke away from the field. Though actually rivaled at the finish line by Plessinger (who was fourth) Jett’s solid performance in Seattle, despite the mistakes, kept him within the points lead as the series moves to St.Louis.