With a crash and subsequent sore wrist having affected his performances at the previous two rounds, Honda HRC Progressive rider Hunter Lawrence came to the Nashville round feeling relatively fit. The outcome was a return to the form he had shown earlier in the season, with a composed and dominating ride, his fourth premier-class victory of the season and sole possession of the red plate. In challenging, deteriorating conditions, the Australian combined focus and speed to win comfortably and extend his championship lead to 10 points.

“We’ve still got four more races. That’s a lot of racing, so I’m just trying to get as many points, trying to make up for the past two weekends. Looking back to Detroit, maybe I should’ve settled for third? Maybe I wouldn’t have crashed, and I’d still have a pretty healthy double-digit points lead. But it just puts an emphasis on how important it is to be the healthiest version of yourself at every round; I have a whole newfound respect for the boys that have been doing this year in and year out. We just left the bike as it was all day. It was good, and I feel like that kind of track was more about just getting in tune with the feeling and the traction. When you have so much horsepower and you have to be so smooth, it’s tricky.”

The 450SX main event saw Lawrence nearly claim the holeshot before he slid and was relegated to fifth by the end of the first lap. Remaining calm and calculated, he quickly worked his way through the field, moving into second in the opening minutes and setting his sights on the leading Ken Roczen. Lawrence studied the evolving track conditions, waiting to make his move until after the race’s halfway point. Immediately after executing a decisive pass, he established control of the race, showcasing superior pace and consistency as he steadily built a gap, ultimately crossing the line with an advantage of more than seven seconds over runner-up Cooper Webb.

Currently sidelined with a foot/ankle injury, Jett remained engaged with fans throughout the weekend. He attended Saturday’s autograph session alongside Hunter and helped call the 250SX East main event in the broadcast booth. Jett returned to riding on a turn track last week and is expected to resume motocross training soon, with the goal of lining up for the AMA Pro Motocross opener in Pala, California, May 30.

Lars Lindstrom - Team Manager

“What an incredible weekend here in Nashville, which is one of the rounds that everybody looks forward to because of its location. Hunter capped off an epic weekend and collaboration with Gibson guitars, with an epic ride to take the win and gain back a huge a chunk of the points we gave away in Detroit. The track couldn’t have been more different than it was last weekend, and I’m ecstatic on Hunter’s line choices, decision-making and aggressiveness to make his way to the front today. I think this gave us an injection of energy into the team, and we’re ready to take the next four rounds individually and make sure we do everything to get the best result at each one. I want to give a huge shout-out to SKDA for producing one of the coolest-looking kits that we’ve ever had—the positive feedback was overwhelming! I love guitars and am a bit of an amateur player myself, and for me, Gibson guitars are like factory Honda race bikes—the best in the world! I was super proud and stoked to be able to do this collaboration.”