Jett Lawrence does it again, wins 14th straight moto and Spring Creek National overall

Chase Sexton closed the gap on Jett Lawrence in the closing laps of Moto 1 and enters the second race with a lot of confidence.

That confidence carried him through the first turns and he gets the holeshot, but a minor mistake allowed Lawrence to take the lead on Lap 1.

Sexton kept pace with Lawrence until he put his Honda on the ground early in the race. With 20 minutes remaining, Lawrence has no pressure with a 14-second lead.

Two weeks after returning from injury, Jason Anderson crashed hard with Henry Miller in the first half of the race and retired from competition. Anderson rode back to the hauler and was not being attended to my medical personnel.

With 13 minutes remaining, Dylan Ferrandis in third and Aaron Plessinger in fourth battle for the overall podium until Plessinger fell and was forced to regroup.

As the top five settle into Lawrence, Sexton, Ferrandis, Plessinger and Cianciarulo, there is a great battle between Garrett Marchbanks and Ty Masterpool for sixth. Both of these riders are working their way up the SuperMotocross combined points.

Other powerful privateers are riding just outside the top five with Grant Harlan, Fredrik Noren and Jose Butron in the top 10.

Lawrence settled into an easy pace and led the field by 18 seconds as time ran off the clock. He cruised to an easy victory and remains perfect with 14 consecutive moto victories.

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Hunter Lawrence has not yet put together a perfect week even though he won the first four rounds. He has a chance to reverse that trend at Spring Creek.

Levi Kitchen challenges Lawrence for the holeshot, but it’s Lawrence with the early lead.

The points are shuffling with Haiden Deegan mired in 13th with 27 minutes remaining on the clock.

Lawrence is not holding back and in five minutes, he already has a four-second lead over Kitchen. Justin Cooper is one position and two seconds back in third.

The top five have settled in as Lawrence, Cooper, Kitchen, Ryder DiFrancesco and Jo Shimoda, but there is a furious battle between Austin Forkner and Deegan for 11th.

RJ Hampshire is also losing ground in the points while running seventh in the field.

At the halfway mark, Kitchen and Shimoda fight for fourth. Kitchen has it; Shimoda wants it.

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Lawrence has a 7.4-second lead. Deegan finally gets into the top 10 with 13 minutes remaining on the clock.

As they run, Deegan has lost the lead to Lawrence by 16 points.

With time running off the clock, Lawrence ran over some debris that may have hurt his back brake, but it did not slow his speed. Unfortunately, he pressed a little too hard and crashed on final lap to hand the lead to Cooper.

Cooper holds onto the lead and beats Lawrence to the checkers by four seconds.

Shimoda takes the final spot on the podium.

Kitchen and Tom Vialle round out the top five.

“We came here with a job to do and we did it,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’ Jason Thomas. “We executed. We were so close to a perfect day. I’ve just got to be a little bit better at navigating those lappers. It’s brutal when there are four of them and they’re battling, it’s tough.”

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Jett Lawrence watched his brother Hunter come through the field to win the 250 Moto 1. He does not want to have to do the same thing.

Adam Cianciarulo gets the holeshot and leads halfway through the first lap before Lawrence gets him.

Two minutes into the moto, Chase Sexton hits the ground while running third. Sexton scrubbed a jump while battling Cianciarulo.

Sexton fell to fourth with that crash but he made his way around Aaron Plessinger with 23 minutes remaining. Lawrence has a 5.5-second lead over Cianciarulo.

In his third race back after a neck injury, Jason Anderson is cruising in fifth. He is not content with a top-five as Anderson leapfrogs Plessinger and Cianciarulo.

Meanwhile, Sexton is closing the gap on Lawrence and is within two seconds at the halfway point. Is Lawrence managing the gap?

For the first time this year, Lawrence is getting some serious pressure from Sexton. These two battled in Moto 1 at Pala, but it wasn’t this close.

Like his brother Hunter, Jett is fastest through the sand whoops.

Lawrence builds the gap, but lapped traffic played the biggest part in dropping Sexton to a 3.4-second disadvantage.

With three laps remaining, Lawrence has a 4.3-second advantage over Chase Sexton.

Anderson, Plessinger and Dylan Ferrandis now in the top five.

Lawrence is now 13-for-13. Sexton crashes on the last lap while racing back to a second of Lawrence.

Anderson gets a podium with Plessinger finishing fourth and Ferrandis round out the top five.

After earning the holeshot and running well in the first third of the race, Cianciarulo fades to seventh at the checkers.

It’s another strong run for privateers Garret Marchbanks (sixth) and Ty Masterpool (eighth).

“I had to push really hard through that one,” Lawrence said. “Chase had pace at the start and was able to close me. It’s a bit of a tricky track right now because the sand section and there’s a lot of hard clay spots they water obviously. It was pretty slippery.”

Sexton put his runner-up finish in perspective:

“That was a little taste of last year, Sexton said. “It was definitely a better ride by me. That’s the most intensity I’ve had all year. I had two crashes, which was not ideal but I was able to close the gap and kind of get that dog back in me.”

Anderson was relieved by his podium.

“This week, the anger was a little bit lighter in that moto,” Anderson said. “I’m having fun, coming back to this great outdoors. It’s tough man. I came back to two of the toughest races.”

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Welcome to the Spring Creek National. Follow the live coverage here and if you want to engage during the race, send me a tweet @FantasyRace.

Jett Lawrence’s team manager says the rider is not thinking about a perfect season yet, but at his current pace he will secure the title well before the end of the season and that thought process will change.

Jo Shimoda and Haiden Deegan get the jump on the start while Hunter Lawrence continues to struggle with starts and is outside the top 10, while Hunter Lawrence continuing to struggle on the start and is outside the top 10 on Lap 1.

Seth Hammaker heads to the mechanics area with a gas tank problem, but gets it fixed quickly and back on track.

Slow starts for Lawrence insure that we see him at his best in the race. He passes Tom Vialle for sixth at the 4:45 mark.

Barely seven minutes into Moto 1, Shimoda has gained a 4.5-second lead.

Lawrence cracks the top 10 with 22 minutes remaining after passing RJ Hampshire. One lap later, Lawrence and Hampshire make the move around Levi Kitchen.

A with a dramatic downhill pass, Lawrence climbs to third around Justin Cooper, five seconds behind the leader.

Deegan jumps off course at the 12-minute mark, allowing Lawrence and Cooper both to get past. Deegan will need to charge back if he wants the podium. At the halfway point, Deegan loses another position to Hampshire when the veteran tries to force the rookie into a mistake.

Hampshire finds a new path through the three jumps and claims fourth with 15 minutes remaining. Focus for Hampshire turns to a podium.

In second, Lawrence will recover some of the points he lost in the last two weeks.

Lawrence is closing in on Shimoda, narrowing the gap from six seconds when he got into second to 2.5 seconds with 11 minutes left on the clock.

With seven seconds remaining on the clock, Lawrence closes to within a half-second. Lawrence catches Shimoda, but the leader will not lay over.

Heavy lapped traffic adds excitement to the lead battle with Shimoda coming out 1.3 seconds ahead. Lawrence recovers quickly and is on Shimoda’s back wheel again with two minutes remaining.

With three laps to go, Shimoda continues to hold off Lawrence. Hampshire is in third with a seven-second gap. Cooper and Deegan round out the top five.

Two to go and Lawrence is side by side with Shimoda finally losing the spot. Lawrence leads. Lawrence made most of his ground in the whoops to the tune of .205 seconds.

White flag and Lawrence has a 1.4-second lead over Shimoda.

Lawrence wins Moto 1 after starting outside the top 10.

“It’s good getting back on track where we left so I’m looking forward to the next moto,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’ Jason Thomas. “Go back, see where I can be better and come out swinging.”

Shimoda second with Hampshire third.

Cooper and Deegan round out the top five.

In his first race back from injury, Pierce Brown secures a top-10 in ninth. Austin Forkner just outside that mark in 11th.

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