Page 142 - ISSUE 40

TONY ARCHER
250 SX / 18TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / KUHLHOFF DESIGN / WILSON
>> Number 285, Tony Archer was put to the test at Round Four in the Sunshine State. Historically, Daytona is known for its hard-packed, sandy beaches that allow anything with wheels and a motor to cruise with ease. Well, once you break up and haul that grainy, white sand into the Daytona International Speedway to build a supercross track, gnarly becomes an understatement. The roughness of the track, plus a lot of sand in places where sand doesn’t belong, created challenges for many of the riders. In heat race two, Archer found himself facing these challenges and finished in fourteenth place, putting him five spots short of the top nine transfer positions. The K1 Speed/BWR En- gines machine found itself lined up for the Last Chance Qualifier. With only the top four moving forward into the Main Event, Archer needed a start and some perseverance if he was going to be anywhere close to moving forward to the big show. Tony did what he had to do and put the Honda in a great third place position by the end of the LCQ. Archer proved that he was ready to go into combat and line up for the Main Event.
The “worm-moon”, as Ralph and Jeff called it, was glowing bright in the night sky as Main Event gates dropped. Archer found himself battling in twentieth place. With focus and consistency, Tony Archer was able to finish the night with an eighteenth place finish. I’d like to see Archer do better next weekend in Indy, because the Wal- dorf, Maryland rider definitely has what it takes.
142 GRITMOTO • MARCH 12, 2017