Hunter Lawrence Breaks Through at Arlington

The 450SX Main Event was a showcase of Lawrence’s composure and skill. Roczen and Webb led early, with Tomac moving through from ninth and Lawrence closing from third. Lawrence made decisive passes over both Webb and Roczen, eventually pulling away for his first career win. Tomac finished second after an aggressive charge through the leaders, while Webb held onto the final podium spot. Several riders, including Garrett Marchbanks, Jason Anderson, and Malcolm Stewart, went down during the closing stages, emphasising the punishing nature of the track.

Fresh off his first career 450SX Main Event victory, Lawrence remained grounded as he reflected on the milestone moment:

“It’s cool, but we’ve got a lot of racing left. I’m happy to tick that little box. It’s a huge thank you to my team and everyone that’s around me. We’ve got an amazing group and that’s really the most valuable thing in my program. It takes a whole village to move mountains.

“Even when you get a sixth place it’s really tough, but man how cool it was racing against all those boys. Me and Kenny had some awesome back-and-forth, Coop was right there, Eli was right there. It’s pretty cool racing with the sport’s legends. Awesome.

Hunter Lawrence (#96) made his decisive move on Ken Roczen (#94) midway through the Main Event, capitalising on a small bobble to power past in the rhythm section and seize control of the race. Roczen went on to finish 4th.

Charging from outside the top 10 to finish second in Arlington, Eli Tomac credited his opening lap for salvaging his night:

“[The first lap] absolutely saved my race. I was happy to make some moves there and just happened to find openings that allowed me to pass two or three guys at a time. Somehow by Lap 2 or 3 I could see the front of the race and knew I was okay. What a difficult track tonight. I fought to the end as much as I could. Second was all we had tonight.”

After running in the lead battle for much of the Arlington Main Event, Cooper Webb admitted he left a little on the table despite securing a podium finish:

“It was a fun race, for sure, but I’m honestly a little bummed. I was pretty nice and should have been more aggressive with Roczen and maybe gotten the pass for the lead earlier. It was a sick race with all of us four bunched up there. I tried to make the pass on Roczen for second and Eli ended up getting me and ran me off the track, then Kenny got back by me. I kind of lost the tow of the leaders. I’m bummed at myself. I saw a few openings I should have taken, and I didn’t. I was too patient tonight. Overall, we’ll take it.”

Lawrence’s breakthrough also extended his championship lead, giving him 149 points, four ahead of Tomac (145) and sixteen clear of Webb (133), while Roczen (131) and Sexton (122) round out the top five in the standings.