JLaw’s joined in the top ten by Spy’s Kevin Windham (9th) and Paul Carpenter (10th) at the Edward Jones Dome, Rd. 12 of Monster SX!
CARLSBAD, Calif., (March 23, 2009) – Spy Optic supercross racer Jason “JLaw” Lawrence (Boost Mobile/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) continues to impress the MX industry experts, this past weekend stepping up for the second time this year to the premier 450cc SX class and placing 5th in the main event at St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome, round 12 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship.
And joining Lawrence in the top ten at St. Louis was two other Spy Optic-backed racers, Geico Powersports/Honda’s Kevin Windham – running his signature Magneto goggles - who placed 9th, and Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter who finished 10th.
Lawrence cruised to the main event, racing to a 2nd place finish in his heat race – which included a spectacular pass on all-time Loretta’s amateur national champ, Mike Alessi. The SoCal transplant from New Jersey, Lawrence, then stepped up in the main and again put it a number of factory-backed riders, including Ivan Tedesco, Alessi, Davi Millsaps and Billy Laninovich.
“That track was crazy, man. All sorts of lines and things going on,” said Lawrence. “I just tried to be consistent as possible, but there were a few sections where I was able to make up time. Had a blast railing that one big berm.”
Windham’s highlight would come in the second SX class heat race where he stopped James Stewart’s heat winning streak at 11. Windham, who won the St. Louis round last year, had this to say regarding his heat race win: “It’s definitely a one-of-a-kind track and James had a little run in with the ground. I’m looking forward to the main.”
When the gate dropped on the main Windham looked to get out quick, but ended up getting held up and was well outside the top ten after the first lap. He would put in some consistent laps, but remained around 12th place for some time. Windham would bide his time wisely and get by Carpenter to 9th place – a spot he’d hold through the checkers.
Carpenter’s return to action for Spy Optic was the first time he’d raced in more than five weeks (five races). Still no doubt nursing sore ribs, Carpenter buckled down and didn’t let the effects show, running in 3rd place in his heat race in transferring to the SX main.
“I’m just happy to be riding again,” said Carpenter, who’d finish 10th in the main. “I finally got the good starts that I’ve been missing so that was huge. There’s still a lot of racing left and I hope to get better each week and improve on my finishes.”
Noteworthy: With his 5th place finish at St. Louis, along with his 2nd place finish at Daytona (Fla.) two weeks ago, Lawrence moves into the top 20 (19th) in the SX class standings. And this caught the eye of ESPN which featured Lawrence this week in its action sports blog. Here’s the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4001081
Next up for JLaw, Windham, Carpenter and the rest of the Spy Optic supercross racers is this weekend’s contest at Toronto’s Rogers Center, 13 of Monster Energy Supercross.
