Page 28 - ISSUE_77

JORDON SMITH
250 MX / 8TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> With Arenacross submerging, and the sport losing teams far too often, many riders are coming into the outdoor season knowing it’s a time to prove their worth. They’re competing against whom ever else is on the line, striving and yearning for a secured ride for the 2019 season. Many of these men don’t have much to fall back on; it’s an all or nothing effort, and testi es to the effort they leave on the track. Jordon Smith is willing to risk it all in order to land a pristine contract for his future endeavors; and it was apparent, as the referee would signal the commencement of quali cation. Keeping the bike at a constant manual through the offset roller section, he would absolutely slam the chas-
sis into the following single, looking to break the frame of his 250. Absolutely pushing
the machine to the brink of disaster, he would pull into the mechanic’s area for a brief moment for a small discussion. After the meeting had adjourned, he would sprint onto the raceway for a nal lap of conquering, in which he would leave his mark. The attitude would be followed up with a solid start to moto one, but he knew he would have to claw his way through the pack, as riders like Zach Osborne were sprinting away from the eld; with rookies like Justin Cooper showing the eld a true, innovative pace, he knew he must up the ante to stay at the table. Dive-bombing into the depths of these chicanes,
he and Shane McElrath seemed to adopt a similar pace. The two were trying to match each other with identical lap times, but he would continue to pull, hitting the step-up before the drop off with Supercross-esque precision. Sustaining the pace throughout the moto’s entirety, the white ag would come about, and he would sit eighth; he would have enough for the last lap, nishing eighth. Moto number two was here, and the eld would again barricade into the opening left-hander. He would emerge near the sixth place mark on lap one, and try his best to keep the heart rate down. This moto was a showcase of line selection and creativity, as it began to get absolutely chewed up. He toyed with both the inside, and outside step-on, step-off combination at the top of the hill, nding that if he could rail along the right side, he could stay a bit lower than most. It allowed him to pull from Justin Cooper and eventually leave him in the front for good. All moto long, he could be found scrubbing these anthills, and using the boundaries of the track. It would pay off, as time would be winding down, and he would be sitting in eighth place; and shortly thereafter, he would cross the stripe for the nal time, where he would stay, and for a total of eighth overall.
28 GRITMOTO • MAY 21, 2018