Hunter Lawrence remains unaffected as Supercross points reset for the fourth time in 2026
· Yahoo Sports
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: Hunter Lawrence enters Round 15 of the SuperMotocross World Championship at Lincoln Financial Field, essentially tied for the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross series championship lead with Ken Roczen. They are separated by a single point.
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"I've been in this situation before," Lawrence told NBC Sports ahead of Saturday's Philadelphia Supercross. "Down a point; up one point, so it's not an unfamiliar situation for me. Every time I've managed to extend it again and claw it back out [something happens].
"The only time I've lost points has been from a crash or something on my behalf, rather than being straight up beaten. So that's easier for me to swallow, I guess you could say. I just have to keep working on myself."
Ken Roczen: “You guys might try to get me to change my mentality, but I’m not”Ken Roczen’s approach is working, and he refuses to change it in 2026.Back to the Start
The season began with everyone asking when Lawrence would win his first race. When he finished second in four consecutive races at the beginning of the season, it appeared the question would go unanswered.
Lawrence earned the red plate for the first time in 2026 in Round 4 in Glendale, Arizona without a single win.
Lawrence finally broke into victory lane in Arlington, Texas, finished second to Eli Tomac the following week in Daytona, a track where Tomac absolutely dominates, and then won the next two rounds.
Ticking Clock
The clock is winding down; three rounds remain, which resets expectations and heightens excitement for one of the most tightly-contested Supercross championships in history.
As remarkable as this is late in the season, it it the fourth time in 2026 that the standings have been within a slim margin of a single point. That points gap has never been greater than 10.
Lawrence led Tomac by one point following Round 6 in Seattle. Tomac lost a little ground the following week in Arlington after Lawrence's win. And then, two weeks later, Tomac closed the gap once again to one point.
A crash in Detroit relegated Lawrence to 18th and allowed Tomac to take the points lead. Lawrence rebounded immediately and left St. Louis the following week in St. Louis, Missouri.
Eli Tomac out of Philadelphia with hip injury, may return before end of SupercrossEli Tomac has not completed a Supercross season since 2021. He won the title that year.Fast and Steady
"[It's a] 17-round series; it's such a long series. If you race long enough, sometimes shit happens," Lawrence told NBC Sports ahead of the Philadelphia race. "The Detroit crash, I was feeling so good on the bike and it bit me. This past weekend, the second and third main starts were kind of what I felt let me down."
But Lawrence is unconcerned. He is famously one of the most even-keeled riders in the field, refusing to allow setbacks like those in the past four weeks affect him.
"That's the thing about Hunter," team manager Lars Lindstrom acknowledged Lawrence's attitude. "He's either the best actor in the world or he's just confident and doesn't really let these things affect him that much. Today in the truck:, same attitude as normal, really happy go lucky and joking around and having fun with the guys and talking about a lot of things other than Moto."
With weather threatening to turn the Philadelphia Supercross into a mudder, Lawrence and Roczen face a Herculean task, but given the trajectory of the season, it is likely that these two riders will be on the podium.
Roczen's Cleveland Triple Crown win was his fourth of the season. Lawrence also has four, as does Tomac. Two other riders, Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton, have one each.
Winning is slightly more important for Roczen, since finishing behind Lawrence may potentially cost him three points, but with the way the 2026 Supercross season has gone, it is almost certain that the points lead will continue to be razor thin next week in Denver.