Hunter Lawrence is the 450 Pro Motocross Champion, reaching a summit only he thought he could get to. While Hunter has talent, he was never labeled a phenom the ways most future 450 champions are. The very top level of this sport—the level where winning 450 races in supercross and motocross and contending for both titles is a given—is ground only traveled by an elite group. At the very peak, the contenders usually grew up as “can’t miss” guys who won at every level for most of their life, or at least turned it up late in their amateur career when they started riding full time.

Hunter’s path is harder to track. His winding road through Australia and Europe wasn’t unsuccessful, but he didn’t pack the typical resume of a future 450 champion when he moved to America. It could be this simple: Hunter was on Suzukis and then a startup Honda team during his MX2 days. Had he been signed to the dominant KTM squad, maybe he packs MX2 titles like Ken Roczen, Marvin Musquin, and Tom Vialle and more hype. Instead, he was essentially titleless when he came here, and although he found early success, injuries derailed it. Once he healed up, younger brother Jett had phenom status written on him in permanent ink. Hunter was good, but he certainly wasn’t can’t miss.

With Hunter in the shadow of Jett, few could see how quickly he righted the ship. We reviewed this during the supercross season. In 2019, Hunter missed his supercross debut with injury, and he would have missed 2020, also, if COVID-19 didn’t delay the season, allowing Hunter to sneak in a few starts in June. The results were mixed. By the very next season, though, his true rookie year in supercross, he finished second in 250SX West points (Jett, by the way, finished third in 250SX East).

Jett won the 2021 250 National Motocross Championship. Hunter finished third. Jett won again in 2022, Hunter finished second. Hunter won the 250 motocross title in 2023, but Jett won the 450 title—and had a perfect season. Hunter was taking the proper steps, but not the massive strides taken by Jett. When his rookie 450 campaign came for supercross 2024, also Jett’s rookie 450 supercross season. Jett won the title. Hunter finished ninth.

What has happened since? Jett has had injuries, Hunter kept climbing. By the time this year’s 450 Pro Motocross Championship rolled around, they seemed evenly matched, leading to the question no one can answer: How much of this is Hunter getting better, and how much of it is Jett being diminished? Impossible to answer completely, but it would be ignorant not to give Hunter a lot of the credit. Yeah, he can beat Jett, and maybe that’s partially because Jett has a bad ankle, but Hunter can also beat everyone else. That’s legit.

A few weeks ago Hunter was really making the math work, wining at his worst track, Washougal, then winning the first moto at Unadilla and threatening to open a large points lead. Then came the crash down the hill at Unadilla, almost certain heartbreak, then a 1-1 Budds Creek bounceback, and then the Ironman showdown. You know this.

Now is where it gets complicated. Right? Jett rode the worst he’s ever ridden in his 450 career, sixth overall, a week after getting fifth at Budds Creek. There were theories of conspiracies all week heading into the race, and everything that happened on Saturday will only amplify those. Jett suddenly hurt his ankle again, and he couldn’t even say exactly where or when it happened. He rode terribly, and Hunter managed to take the title even after getting into a first-lap incident with Haiden Deegan in moto one. 

There are so many ways to go with this, but the two basic scenarios are that he really was just hurt and couldn't ride well, or his heart wasn't in it. It could be a combination of both. I got heavy assurance from the Lawrence camp on Friday that no one would help anyone. The goal was for any title to be earned straight up. Jett had tried, really hard, to win all summer long. So it would seem odd for him to take big risks and ride through pain for 10 weekends just to hand it over at the last round. Regardless, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Whatever you think about all of this, you already think. What all this does, though, is again obscure one fact everyone can actually agree on: Hunter Lawrence has risen to the elites. How it went down on Saturday should not obscure the previous 10 weekends, where he was the best 450 motocross racer, on balance. Hunter posted the key stats himself on social media: Most overalls. Most moto wins. Most laps led. Best starting average. There were multiple races this year where he was just better than Jett and beat him. More often than Jett beat him. Due to that, the weekend could have simply been a celebration of Hunter’s rise. It gets more complicated than that in the eyes of some, but a key part remains: Few would have thought, a few years ago, that Hunter Lawrence would battle for the title in both 450 supercross and motocross. He had to get to that level himself, by believing he could and putting in the work required to get there. There’s no doubt about it, he’s there now.