Slaw
There probably aren’t many riders who could lose a championship by just two points and walk into the post-race press conference cracking jokes. Then again, there probably aren’t many championship runners-up who are genuinely happy for the guy who just beat them.
Jett Lawrence’s day at Ironman was anything but normal. He entered the finale one point behind his brother Hunter, tweaked his ankle multiple times in qualifying, struggled through the opening moto and somehow survived enough sketchy moments in the second moto that, by his own admission, he was ready for someone to just throw the red flag.
“My day sucked,” Jett said afterward. “Yeah, my day sucked, honestly.”
It was about as straightforward of an assessment as you’ll get.
But once the frustration of the day wore off, Jett was able to put the bigger picture into perspective. A few months earlier, he was sitting on the couch scooting around on what he described as a “three-wheeler thing,” unsure of what his outdoor season would even look like. He ended it two points short of another 450 title, after pushing his brother all the way to the final laps of the season.
He talked about his day in the post-race press conference.
I want to hear from you about your day and your emotions going into this. Can we talk about that first moto and kind of the chaos of the beginning? Did you know what position your brother was in and where you had to be?
Jett Lawrence: My day sucked. Yeah, my day sucked, honestly. I felt terrible in both motos. That first moto, I didn’t know he went down at first until I look back on the Star Track. I felt like I was running so bad the first few laps that I’m like, surely I’m close to 40th. I saw him there, so I’m like, “All right, we’ve got to try and make sure he doesn’t catch me and keep going.” Then two laps later I look back and he’s behind me, so that didn’t work out. Not an ideal day for sure. I wish I could have given a better self, but just kind of pushed it too hard in practice with my foot. And then that first one, the first couple laps, I tweaked it really bad and I tried to keep pushing, but it was pretty painful. We just all around us kind of sucked today.
A handful of rounds ago, you told us that we weren’t going to talk about your foot anymore, but do you feel like today by tweaking it, it has become more of an issue?
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I’ve been doing pretty well without hurting it or letting any ruts grab it, but just today in qualifying, it got ripped three times. But, I’ve been able to ride with it all year and have good rounds, so it’s not really an excuse. I wish I didn’t do it, but I still tried my best. I’m not bummed about my result at all. I gave my best and tried making it painful for Hunter and annoying, but it just wasn’t my day today.
My question is both for Hunter and Jett. I watched a couple sketchy moments from you guys and early on in the second moto. Hunter, you had a little bit of a slip up after the skyscraper. You almost washed out, but you were able to recover and stayed up on two wheels. And then Jett, speaking of the skyscraper jump, you had almost catastrophe over that. I don’t know if you hit a kicker, if your foot got blown off the pegs, but you came through, you were nosing forward, panic rev, the amount of people I watched rush to the fence and see if you were all right, and then the amount of miraculous cheers when they saw you climb up the other side of the hill. For both of you guys, how much did that affect your heart rate and really kind of discombobulate you when you’re in the middle of the race and then all of a sudden in an instant, you almost have it flash and it’s almost gone?
Like I said, I have not ridden that bad in years. When I hit that kicker in the middle sky shot, I closed my eyes, had a full conversation with Jesus, and I thought he had his arms open for me, but I opened them and somehow I was safe. I don’t know how. I’m like, “Dude, just red flag it already, please.” I was like, “This sucks, man.” I had another moment in front of Hunter and rollers. I had head shake multiple times in pit lane. I had so many moments, I can’t even count all of them. Not an ideal day, not normal characteristics for sure for us, but I’m just happy to be walking out of here in one piece.
Last week, you said that you were going to try to keep your dad away from Hunter. That probably didn’t work out, but was there anything special that he had to say to you guys this morning, this weekend?
I’m pretty sure HJ said that last weekend, but yeah, I wish he would’ve pulled me after the chewing I got after how much I got told you suck that first moto. So, I wish he would’ve. It’s just banter, honestly. We joke a lot and I think that’s how we deal with these situations. I think it makes it more fun because if we were going to take it serious, I think we wouldn’t enjoy it.
You said yesterday that no matter how it went to today, you would be happy. I don’t know if we’ve ever really seen the second-place guy in the championship sit down with the winner of the championship in a press conference. What are your emotions today? And you must be still happy somewhat?
You guys are getting me out. Let me just soak my second-place and lose by myself, please. Gosh (laughs). I’m still happy obviously, because as a brother, I’m happy for HJ for getting his first 450 title, and I’m happy with what I’ve done this outdoor season. Everyone I versed this year when at the start of the year, I was watching them and while I was sitting on the couch on a three-wheeler thing trying to scoot around. So, no matter what my results were, because it was unknown for me with this injury, I’m still happy, honestly. I’m even more stoked that I was able to be a pain in the ass to Hunter at least for this championship. I don’t want him to let him get it easy. So, I try being a pain as best I can, but yeah, I’m just happy for what I’ve done this year with outdoors. HJ as well, and our team as well. We almost won every race as a Lawrence, so I mean, that’s pretty cool in itself. So yeah, I’m just happy for the team and everyone.
Photos: octopi.media
