Hunter Lawrence overtakes brother for overall points lead after Fourth of July win

After losing to his brother in the final lap of Moto 1, Hunter Lawrence placed first in Moto 2 to win overall at RedBud. (Screen capture via NBC Motorsports)

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After losing to his brother in the final lap of Moto 1, Hunter Lawrence placed first in Moto 2 to win overall at RedBud. (Screen capture via NBC Motorsports)

On the Fourth of July, fireworks came before dark with Hunter Lawrence’s win over his brother, Jett Lawrence. With his win in Moto 2, Hunter won overall for the weekend, giving him the points needed to overtake his brother for first place position in overall points.

Round 5 at RedBud in Buchanan, MI saw battle after battle on the slightly muddy track following a week off from racing. In Moto 1, Jorge Prado claimed the hole shot after barely edging out Jett Lawrence around the corner. Hunter Lawrence came around the first corner in third.

Haiden Deegan and Aaron Plessinger crashed, causing Plessinger to be assisted off the track. Deegan continued racing once getting back up.

Jett Lawrence moved to first, with Prado remaining between the brothers for a short time before Hunter Lawrence slotted into second. Hunter Lawrence passed Jett, and after creating a lead of nearly eight seconds, tipped his bike over, allowing Jett Lawrence to pass on the last lap.

“Is there time?” commentators asked as Hunter tried to catch back up to Jett.

Jett Lawrence placed first, followed by Hunter and Prado.

In the second moto, Prado once again claimed the hole shot, followed by Jett, Cooper Webb and Deegan.

Prado held onto first as Deegan moved into second and Hunter Lawrence into third. Jett Lawrence fell to eighth after crashing his bike. Though Hunter had a good lead over his brother, he still needed to beat Prado to win the weekend overall.

Hunter Lawrence passed Deegan for second and began to incrementally shorten Prado’s lead.

Before the end of the race, Hunter Lawrence moved into first place position, clinching the win for Moto 2 and taking the overall win for the weekend.

Prado placed second, Deegan third and Jett Lawrence fifth in the second moto. Overall, Prado placed second and Jett Lawrence third.

Cortez’s Eli Tomac did not race in RedBud, and it is unclear if he will race for the remainder of the season after sustaining a neck injury in Round 1.

Round 6 of the Motocross season will be held at The Wick 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts, on Saturday.

bduran@the-journal.com