In the aftermath of Saturday’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Triple Crown event inside The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Justin Barcia addressed the on-track “racing incident” between himself and 450SX points leader Jett Lawrence.
During the final race of the night, the two riders were essentially involved in a head-on collision, with Barcia ramming straight into the No. 18 on corner entry as Lawrence cut down in the turn on exit. Lawrence sustained the brunt of the impact, as he was knocked off the bike and tossed into the nearby berm. Meanwhile, Barcia stayed upright.
The No. 51 Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS rider explained his side of the story through an Instagram video posted Monday.
“Anyone who knows dirt bikes knows that it was a racing incident and not intentional by any means,” Barcia said. “It was a wrong place, wrong time situation. Spoke to Jett (Lawrence) after the race, he completely understood what happened.”
The 32-year-old also added that he went to the Team Honda HRC truck and spoke with the crew — who he noted was “obviously really upset” — following the conclusion of the event.
“It was just a bummer it took us all out of the race. So that was absolutely disappointing, but everyone was understanding and knew it wasn’t intentional and that’s not my style,” Barcia said. “I’m glad we can move on from this.”
Barcia finished sixth at the Triple Crown with 6-4-10 scores, while Lawrence finished eighth overall, with 2-3-21 results.
The 20-year-old Lawrence shared his perspective in a team press release.
“It’s just a sucky situation. I just cut down under Hunter (Lawrence), and obviously Barcia was defending his line from someone else on the inside of him — just wrong place, wrong time. He kind of hit my arm pretty good. I got a gnarly Charlie horse,” Lawrence said.
“He hit some nerve in my arm, where I kind of lost feeling and strength in my hands. That’s why I was trying to get up and get going early, but I physically couldn’t — I had no strength. It is what it is.”
With Lawrence’s chief title rival Cooper Webb finishing runner-up in St. Louis, the incident with Barcia cost Lawrence some significant ground in the 450SX standings. Webb is eight points behind the Team Honda HRC rider with five races to go in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season.