Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence managed to salvage a fifth-place result at Arlington 3 despite a major scare in the 250SX West main event when he flew over the berm and into the trackside safety nets, which enabled him to remount and continue without injury.

Lawrence, 21, had been in position for a podium when he went down heavily on lap 16, remounting and going on to claim fifth position – largely due to the positioning of that safety nets in that region.

“I had a bittersweet ending here in Dallas,” Lawrence recalled. “It was a pretty good weekend, getting second in the heat race, but a bit of an unfortunate ending in the main. I was riding well in third, pushing and pushing, but I kept getting caught up with lappers. I felt like I was catching the guys just inch by inch and I pushed myself, but made a mistake.

“I landed on the far righthand side of the berm, where they built a little lip into it. It was a pretty harsh landing, as I’m sure the videos show, with me ending up in the net. I’m so thankful that the nets were there to save me and the bike so we could finish and bring it home in fifth – it was good considering what it could have been with the crash.

“Coming into Arlington, we were in fourth and 16 points down, but now we’re only six points behind. Having the red plate and then passing it on is a bit of a bummer, but we’re still in it. I’m looking forward to two weeks off now to regroup and come back swinging in Atlanta. I can’t thank the team and everyone enough!”

While he relinquished the red plate following Arlington 3, the Australian export remains in Monster Energy Supercross title contention, currently third in the standings and just six points outside of leader Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha).