Lawrence Takes 250SX Overall Win at Glendale’s Triple Crown

2022-02-14 12:52
Third overall in 450SX for Sexton, with win in final race
Roczen goes 4-6-7 and finishes fifth in 450SX class

The first AMA Supercross Triple Crown event of the season saw Team Honda HRC rider Chase Sexton finish third overall in Glendale, Arizona, helped by a first-place result in the last of three 450SX races, while teammate Roczen finished fifth overall. In the 250SX West class, Hunter Lawrence took his first win of the season with consistent 2-1-2 finishes.

Roczen ran in second early in the first 450SX race, but he slipped two positions before the finish. Meanwhile, Sexton suffered a couple of tip-overs and turned in an 11th-place result. Sexton and Roczen had their CRF450R race machines in the top five for the majority of the 12-minute-plus-one-lap second race. Sexton made smart passes for a third-place finish, while Roczen was sixth at the finish. Sexton secured the holeshot in the final race and built a four-second lead before eventually reaching the checkered flag with a 2.5-second margin. Roczen suffered a poor start and climbed to seventh by the finish.

Lawrence was impressive all day in the 250SX West class, topping daytime qualifying aboard his CRF250R and charging hard in the night program. The young Australian battled over second in the first race, eventually securing the position. In the second race he avoided a dramatic incident involving Vince Friese and points-leader Christian Craig to take the win. The final race saw Lawrence complete lap one in third and then race to a runner-up finish, which was enough for the overall victory.

NOTES

This race marked the first Triple Crown event of the season and the second time in a row that Glendale used the unique three-race format, which combines results from three races to decide overall positions and award championship points.
The last event in Glendale was in 2020, when Ken Roczen won all three motos – the only sweep that either class has witnessed in a Triple Crown event.
This was Chase Sexton’s first 450SX Triple Crown event, and it marked the sixth premier-class indoor podium result of his career.
Hunter Lawrence’s 250SX win was the second of his career, and it kept his perfect string of 2022 podium finishes going. It was also his ninth career podium result in just 16 starts. In addition, his win was the third of the season for Team Honda HRC, with Roczen having topped the 450SX class at round 1 and Sexton having done likewise at round 3.
During Friday’s media day, Lawrence participated in a Beyond the Track interview via Zoom with host Daniel Blair.
Glendale marked the third 250SX Futures race, and Red Rider Luke Kalaitzian notched a respectable second-place finish aboard his CRF250R.
Free practice saw Roczen and Sexton finish third and sixth, respectively, in the 450SX class, while Hunter finished with the second-fastest lap time in the 250SX West class.
In 450SX qualifying, Roczen was the fourth-best rider with a 1’01.842”, while Sexton was fifth at 1’01.863”. SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MCR Honda riders Justin Brayton and Mitchell Oldenburg were ninth and 14th, and SGB Unlimited rider Cade Clason was 21st.
In the 250SX class, Lawrence finished on top in both daytime qualifying sessions, his best lap being a 1’03.118” in the second outing, while SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MCR Honda’s Vince Friese was seventh at 1’04.019”.
Lawrence wore the same Alpinestars gear that he had worn at the previous race in a collab with Daniel Ricciardo. Also in a nod to the Australian Formula 1 driver, Lawrence celebrated on the podium by chugging champagne from his boot. While Ricciardo is closely associated with this celebration (called a “shoey”), it has also been done by Australian MotoGP racer Jack Miller.
The top three finishers from each class, including Sexton and Lawrence, participated in the post-race press conference in the stadium’s press room.
Lawrence’s win put him just eight points behind Christian Craig in the 250SX West title chase, in second. In the 450SX class, Sexton is also second, 11 points behind Eli Tomac. Roczen is seventh in the same class.
Team Honda HRC will now head back to California for round 6 at Anaheim 3, after which the 250SX West class will take a five-week break, as the 250SX East Region kicks off in Minneapolis February 19.



Media contact:

Kayla Mead // Jonnum Media // kayla@jonnummedia.com // +1 (760) 822-4786



450SX Results

Eli Tomac (Yam)
Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
Chase Sexton (Hon)
Jason Anderson (Kaw)
Ken Roczen (Hon)
Justin Barcia (Gas)
Marvin Musquin (KTM)
Cooper Webb (KTM)
Dean Wilson (Hus)
Shane McElrath (KTM)
Aaron Plessinger (KTM)
Dylan Ferrandis (Yam)
Mitchell Oldenburg (Hon)
Justin Brayton (Hon)
Brandon Hartranft (Suz)
Justin Bogle (Suz)
Kyle Chisolm (Yam)
Alex Martin (Yam)
Max Anstie (KTM)
Ryan Breece (Suz)
Cade Clason (Hon)
Fredrik Noren (KTM)

450SX Championship Points (after 5 of 17 rounds)

Eli Tomac: 111
Chase Sexton: 100
Jason Anderson: 96
Malcolm Stewart: 93
Justin Barcia: 89
Cooper Webb: 88
Ken Roczen: 80
Marvin Musquin: 80
Dylan Ferrandis: 75
Aaron Plessinger: 67
Dean Wilson: 61
Shane McElrath: 50
Max Antsie: 44
Brandon Hartranft: 40
Justin Brayton: 33
Mitchell Oldenburg: 33
Joey Savatgy: 27
Kyle Chisholm: 24
Adam Cianciarulo: 23
Alex Martin: 20

250SX West Region Results

Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
Christian Craig (Yam)
Jo Shimoda (Kaw)
Garrett Marchbanks (Yam)
Vince Friese (Hon)
Jalek Swoll (Hus)
Nate Thrasher (Yam)
Carson Brown (KTM)
Michael Mosiman (Gas)
Robbie Wageman (Yam)
Derek Kelley (KTM)
Dylan Walsh (Kaw)
Mitchell Harrison (Gas)
Chris Blose (Gas)
Jerry Robin (Gas)
Dominique Thury (Yam)
Logan Karnow (Kaw)
Cole Thompson (Yam)
Geran Stapleton (Gas)
Wyatt Lyonsmith (Kaw)
Mcclellan Hile (Hon)
Carson Mumford (Suz)

250SX West Region Championship Points (after 5 of 10 rounds)

Christian Craig: 122
Hunter Lawrence: 114
Michael Mosiman: 99
Jo Shimoda: 87
Nate Thrasher: 79
Vince Friese: 76
Robbie Wageman: 64
Carson Brown: 55
Carson Mumford: 55
Garrett Marchbanks: 54
Jalek Swoll: 51
Cole Thompson: 50
Chris Blose: 46
Seth Hammaker: 44
Dylan Walsh: 41
Derek Kelley: 38
Dominique Thury: 32
Mitchell Harrison: 30
Dilan Schwartz: 26
Logan Karnow: 26



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Ken Roczen 94

“The Glendale Triple Crown was another rough one on my end. My starts were mediocre at best, and with those types of races, it's tough to make something happen. I feel like I wasn't riding like myself, and in general I wasn’t feeling comfortable out on the track. I'm still working to try and get everything together, but Glendale was definitely not it. I got fifth overall, so it was actually nice to make it through the mains without going down. We definitely need some work. I'm trying to get consistent during the week and gain some confidence, but we’re still figuring out the bike a little bit. We went back to my setup from last year; it's good in some areas but also creates problems in others, and my starts with it weren’t that great. I'm still working on myself and with the team to bring it on the weekend. We haven't really had the greatest test days during the week, so then going into the weekend and trying to be super-confident and trusting in my abilities is really tough to do. We simply have to be better, and we’re working on it. We're going to go into another week of training, figure some stuff out and head on to Anaheim.”

Source: Honda Racing Corporation

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