Page 53 - GRIT THREE DONE

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As the sun set on Angel Stadium it
was unlikely Colt Nichols had any
anticipation of the uphill battle that
loomed ahead of him. Prior to the race, GRIT Moto correspondent, Anna Glennon caught up with Nichols on how he felt coming into the race this weekend, “I feel good going into this weekend [Anaheim two]”, said Nichols. “My starts were so much better last weekend, so I’m going to take that into this weekend and get good starts and try to mix it up out at the front.”
As the gate dropped for the first 250 heat, the racers bottle-necked into the narrow
right turn off the start. Nichols barely escaped the carnage that piled up behind him, but maintained
a strong sixth place in the first lap. Nichols battled with Bracken Hall for several laps, swapping posi- tions back and forth. But would eventually catch
up to Kyle Peters Peters who held on to fifth place. Nichols squeaked by Peters with two laps to go, but quickly moved up to fourth after some persistent racing in the final laps – securing a transfer spot to the main event.
In the main event, a clustered start had Nichols in the middle of the pack battling with 250 points championship leader, Cooper Webb. After gaining his bearings after the crazy start, Nichols held on to eighth place after the first lap. Before he can get too comfortable he finds himself battling Chris Alldredge, who overtakes him. Nichols held on to ninth place for several laps before a rough battle with Kyle Cunningham had him slipping back to twelfth place.
Even though he was in the back of the pack, it was clear Nichols hadn’t lost heart. He spent the second half of the main event fighting
a grueling battle, weaving and passing his way through the field all the way up to eighth place, even passing back Alldredge. After fighting his way through a massive portion of the line up to secure his eighth place finish; Nichols made it clear that he intends to put forth 110% effort in every race.
“It was a frustrating evening for me,” Nichols said. “I felt like I had the speed tonight to be mixing it up toward the front, but the first lap was bad for me.
I made a few mistakes and a few guys got by me.
I jumped off the track while battling with Cunning- ham, which put me even further back, but then I caught back up to those guys. I just didn’t get to do anything with it unfortunately. But that’s okay, I’m already ready for next weekend.”
words/ANNAGLENNON WWW.GRITMOTO.COM
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