Page 14 - Issue_sixtyfive

BLAKE BAGGETT
450 SX / 3RD
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> There’s a reason why Blake Baggett loves this event in particular. Not only is it home to some of the most beautiful weather in the country, and favorable dirt on the west coast; but also it’s where the NFL franchise, San Diego Chargers, have laid their roots, and established an attitude that flows well beyond the borders of this city. Many of the football fan base, question what a “Charger” really is. It’s funny, because us, as a motocross community, can identify exactly what, and who that is, all with a single point of acknowledgement. It is he, something that’s been engrained in his mentality since the start of his career. There truly is no halfway point, or caution flag running through his brain. It’s simply a matter of racing until the checkered flag has flown, and as the San Diego stop approached his calendar, it’s exactly what he brought. There wasn’t a need for him to feel out the track in his early practice session; although that’s what most casual, and “safe” riders would do, he was one of the first to bonsai any and everything in sight. There was no sign of fear from the audiences’ perspec- tive, and his times at the end of the session, placed him as a definite contender come nightfall. The gate would crash for his heat race, and as chaos would loom, he would emerge, ready, willing, and able to defend his rightful spot in the main event. Rubbing plastic with , it was truly astonishing how composed he could stay, with the world’s best, literally inches from his handlebars. Flicking into the wind, his shirttail began
to flutter, the breeze being the only thing that could cool off his flame of blitzing. Pushing into the absolute final second, he would hold on to fourth, and eye the main event just ahead. The scope was set on the checkered flag, and with a firing off the bullet, he would launch out of the chamber, looking to penetrate the first turn crowd and emerge. Ducking to the inside, upon landing the double right before the finish,
he was sneaking around the layout, churning out lap after lap. Pivoting ahead of the likes of the names including Justin Brayton and Broc Tickle, his spot in the top portion of the field seemed to be secure, it was just a matter of where the dice would roll, once the timer concluded. Looking over his shoulder, it was the aforementioned in the rearview, but it would be of no match, as he would go on to secure the final step of the podium. Truly stating he wasn’t that of just an outdoor rider.
14 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 11, 2018