Following a challenging Daytona round that saw Hunter Lawrence and Jo Shimoda lose a bit of ground in their respective fights for the 450SX and 250SX East AMA Supercross Championships, both Honda HRC Progressive riders performed well under pressure at the exciting second Triple Crown event of the season, which eclipsed the midway point of the season in Indianapolis. Lawrence scored the second premier-class win of his career (his first overall victory with the unique three-race format), while Shimoda was second overall in his third race back from a neck injury. More importantly, each rider improved his chances at a title.
Lawrence was fourth out of turn 1 for the first 450SX race, and he dropped to sixth in the opening laps. Forced to push hard to come out on top of a tight battle with Jorge Prado, Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper, he crossed the finish line in second, positioning him well for the overall podium. The Australian was in third for the majority of the second race, before getting caught up with lappers and narrowly avoiding a crash with five laps to go. He managed to stay on his bike and only lost one position, to Cooper Webb, eventually finishing fourth. Lawrence put everything together in the third and final premier-class race, grabbing the holeshot and leading from start to finish aboard his CRF450RWE. His 2-4-1 finishes netted him his first 450SX Triple Crown win. Quad Lock Honda’s Joey Savatgy was in the fight for another great result before he crashed in the third race and left the track before the checkered flag came out. His teammates Shane McElrath and Christian Craig finished eighth and 10th overall, respectively, while Savatgy was credited with ninth.
The three 250SX East races saw Jo Shimoda consistently get his CRF250RWE out of the gate in the top three, making him a Triple Crown overall podium contender. In race 1, he battled with Daxton Bennick and Seth Hammaker over second place until the late stages. At that point, Shimoda was closing in on the leading Cole Davies, but he ran out of time and ultimately finished second. The scenario repeated itself in the second race, as the Japanese racer found himself fighting for another second-place finish behind Davies. In the last 250SX race of the evening, the Honda HRC Progressive rider was stuck behind Devin Simonson for a few too many laps, causing him to lose touch with the leaders. Undeterred, Shimoda charged forward and climbed into second late in the race. He held the position until the final corner of the last lap, when he was narrowly passed and finished third—his consistent good starts and late-race pushes earning him second place overall. Also delivering consistent performances was Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cullin Park, who finished inside the top 10 in all three races, earning ninth overall.
