“If it’s muddy, Lawrence just rips,” said Monster Energy/Kawasaki/Pro Circuit rider Ryan Villopoto — the World’s best Lites rider who will ride the East Region later this winter — standing in the darkened Angel Stadium pit area a few minutes before opening ceremonies for the curtain opening Anaheim Supercross. “He’s from New Jersey and he’s really good in the stuff.” Villopoto put a visual exclamation mark on his theory by making a mock twisted throttle move with his right wrist.

And as his on again, off again adversary admonished, Lawrence ultimately went out and led a large segment of 15-lap 250F main event, before getting tripped up by a throng of slower riders, allowing Ryan Dungey to leap over his head and into the lead. And while Dungey would slither on to victory, Lawrence was content to hold steady and take the runner-up, position, a fine result to get the season started with.

Truth be told, as late as the Friday morning before Anaheim, nobody truly knew what Region Jason Lawrence would riding in 2008. Thus when we saw him and his number 338 Yamaha YZ250F getting prepared on Saturday morning, we knew his choice had been made and we immediately sat him down to get the story on his run for the 2008 AMA Lites West Region Championship.

Jason, you kind of did an “end around” on us. We didn’t think you were going to be racing the West Region this year… Well, that’s good (laughter).

Was it a calculated maneuver? That was kind of the idea. I guess with [Ryan] Villopoto going back and forth, we just said I was riding the East. I kind of think he wanted to go after me and like race me. I don’t mean, “go after me”, I mean just race against me. That’s cool. I’m racing the West and he’s racing the East and it looks like it’s going got start off muddy, which will be perfect for me.

We all know you’re a good mud rider, so you’re fine with these sketchy weather conditions? Yeah, I like it. There are no guarantees in the mud, but there’s a pretty good chance a lot of the title contenders will mess up and not get as many as they would if it was dry. It just mixes it up and evens it out a little bit. But at the same time, there’s are a lot of people that are good in the mud — like [Broc] Hepler and I’m sure Dungey is good — just from where they grew up. It’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure.

Well, word has it that it might not rain anymore and they’re going to let you guys out to even look at the track until around 4 P.M… I think it’s going to keep raining. That’s what I think.

How was your off-season? Did you get a lot of riding and a lot testing in? Yeah, I got to ride a lot and I got a new trainer, Ryan Hughes. I’ve been working with him. Me and Josh Hill got our own private supercross track, so it was definitely a lot easier getting ready for this season than season in the past.

How do you like your equipment? Are you solid with your bike and everything? Yeah, if I wasn’t totally satisfied with my bike I wouldn’t have re-signed here. I’m definitely confident with that and I feel good about everyone on the team, too.

Who do you see fighting it out with to try and win this championship? Probably Dungey and Hepler. Hepler for sure. If Hepler stays healthy, he’ll be the hardest guy. He’s the fastest guy, I would say. Dungey will be good, too, based on how he did last year.

How about Brett Metcalfe? I don’t know… I’ve never really seen Metcalfe do too good at supercross and [Austin] Stroupe has never really raced supercross, so I’m not really thinking those guys are going to be main competition.

What’s your goal tonight? Are you here to win? If it gets really muddy then I just want to get out of here on the podium. I don’t want to be one of those guys who throws the season away in a mud race, but if like you said, if it stays dry then I’m going for the win and to try and come out with the points lead, for sure.

You guys only do eight races. That’s a very abbreviated schedule. If you do chuck a race out, you’re done for, huh? Yeah, for sure. With such a short series you can’t have any DNF’s or really anything outside the top five. Like last year, I was only outside the top five one time, but nowhere near the championship, you know? Anything can happen, though. If there is going to be a dominant rider, though, hopefully it’s going to be now.

What would make you happy? The title or even the top three? Oh, I’ve already got the top three, in my book. I’m going for the title now.

How about getting caught up in the drama? Are you going to try and stay clear of all that this year or if it happens, it happens… They’ve still got me tied down to a chain with the probation, so you’re not going to see anything spectacular.

And Anaheim, do you like coming to race here? Yeah, I like it. I was on the podium all three times here last year, so hopefully I’ll keep that up.

You’re 100% prepared and ready to go? My fitness is real good coming into this race. Working with Ryan [Hughes] and everything has meshed really good.

How is it working with Hughes? He’s kind of tough guy, you know? He’s really not! And that’s what I thought, too. He’s a total opposite of how people perceive him and that’s cool, you know? That’s cool because that’s kind of how I feel about myself, too. People think I’m like a punk kid and people think he’s this hard ass, over the top kind of guy and he’s not. He’s really easy to work with and it worked out good with him and me.

Probably more than any rider I know, people seem pretty quick to pass judgment on you. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but how is the industry to you? You know I probably have five or six strong supporters on my side and I just stick with those people, you know? Whatever anyone else wants to say, I can’t control that. That’s one of the things Ryan has taught me: You can only control what you can control and let everyone else do their own thing. I just want to the best that I can do at the races and let them say what they want.

Are you also looking forward to the outdoor series? Do you have a preference between supercross and motocross? I like the outdoors a little more. There’s more time, the tracks change and it’s more fun. That’s more like the sport I got into. It’s not like I grew-up and was five years old and racing supercross. I look forward to the outdoors and it’ll be cool to combine all the riders again and make it fun.

If you’re healthy and confident, can you race with Ben Townely and Villopoto? Yeah, for sure. I feel that last year I had so many third places and fourth places, I think the only thing that held me back really was my fitness. My bikes were good last year and are even better this year and my fitness will be perfect. I’ll be ready.