T-Dog’s Takes: Is Jett’s Dominance a Blessing or a Curse?

Notice that this column now has a sponsor? That’s right! Troy Dog joined the Blu Cru and you should too! I have one in my garage right now and I can’t wait to go shred it! Thank you to Yamaha for believing in my ELITE columns on this dirt bike website enough to sponsor me. What a dream come true! BTW: Have you seen the all-new YZ450F? OH. MY. GOODNESS. I can’t wait to test that bad boy.

Is Jett Lawrence’s domination at the ripe age of 19 years old in the premiere class a good or bad thing for the sport?

You could look at this from a couple of different points of view. On one hand he’s the newest superstar that could potentially take the sport to another level when it comes to exposure. 

On the other hand, it’s going to make the sport boring and we could potentially see numbers start to decline depending on how long the “Jett Era” lasts. Obviously we have a while before this happens, but this could be a possible scenario down the road.

When Ricky Carmichael was dominating the sport did it hurt or help the sport? His reign lasted 15 championships, which is going to be extremely tough to even get close to for a rider like Jett. RC was dedicated to winning and the business aspect came with it. Jett and his team are going about his career at a different angle. HIs team has created a few avenues of added revenue to his program as he asserted dominance in the 250 class. We live in a totally different world as it was 20 something years ago. We have hit an age where online popularity is completely different than who shows up at the races. Yet, we’re seeing the “Haiden Deegan Effect” where we’re actually seeing his online fanbase show up to the races to support him. It’s an exercise in concentration to be a member of Star Yamaha these days. 

We’ve been spoiled the last seven years or so with a variety of different 250/450 champions. Yes, Eli Tomac has won the majority of the races and championships in that span, but he’s been beatable. He’s had those weird races where you aren’t exactly sure what is wrong with him. I don’t think we will see that from Jett. As far as I’m concerned, the only rider that can beat Jett is Chase Sexton. He’s young, just won the 450SX title, and in his mind the sport should be his to take over for the next five years or so. Jett is putting all of those plans on hold at the moment. Sexton is out for now, but when he comes back how often will he be able to beat Jett? Sexton switching teams for next season could also put him a little behind as he learns his new bike. 

Here we sit eight motos into the Pro Motocross Championship and Jett is undefeated. He had his biggest test this past weekend with Ken Roczen and unforgiving track conditions. He still made it look easy, even after falling. 

At this point the only rider who will defeat Jett this season will be Jett. It’ll be a rider error or a bike error. If the dude starts in 40th he could potentially win in 30+2. I’m not going to sit here and say that the current lineup of 450 riders is weak, because it’s not. We have a field full of talent and the only problem is that Jett is that good right now. Maybe RedBud will give us another challenge for Jett in the form of one of the riders finding more speed. Who knows. I foresee Jett going undefeated in Pro Motocross. 

It will take some serious time for this to negatively affect the sport as a whole, but at the same time I can see this being a positive thing as well when it comes to global popularity. For the good of the sport I can’t stand to see domination and undefeated seasons. While it’s impressive and only all-time greats can achieve this feat, I still want great racing. The feeling of every gate drop is exciting as I never know what’s going to happen. I still feel that way now, but I’m already starting to lose that feeling. Jett has gotten the holeshots and has checked out. 

I’m not sure what the future holds for the 450 class, but Jett is going to be a favorite to win every race until he decides to retire. The addition of the WSX Championship is also going to take some of the talent from the American series. We already see that with the loss of Roczen. 

Now we need to watch and see if anyone can step up to the plate to challenge Jett. Sexton is worthy of that task, but who is next in line once the current group of older factory riders retire?

Main image: Honda HRC