Image: Octopi Media.

Charging to sixth place in the final race of Arlington’s Triple Crown was a case of ‘damage control’ for 250SX East leader Hunter Lawrence, holding on for third place overall in an eventful night.

Lawrence won the opening race and then was third in race two, however, a broken clutch bracket after crashing in the first turn made for a difficult end at round three of the regional series.

“It’s honestly really cool when you’re laying under a bike in the first turn and you get back up…” Team Honda HRC’s Lawrence joked. “Thankfully, the bike was good enough to finish the race, my clutch bracket broke and I had no clutch, so not stalling was first priority.

“Then, obviously don’t push too hard and make a bone-head mistake and be worse off, it was just kind of damage control and bring it home, honestly.”

Lawrence and eventual round winner Nate Thrasher’s (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) lines clashed in the second race of the Triple Crown, resulting in him finishing third after remounting. His final 1-3-6 scorecard resulted in a third-straight podium to open the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season.

“It was just kind of how the race line went,” he said of the Thrasher incident. “There was a guy in front of Nate, which I wasn’t really focused on. I think it was best case scenario of what could’ve been worse – if I had a holeshot it probably wouldn’t have happened, so I just have to be better at starts.”