Page 146 - ISSUE 40

DYLAN MERRIAM
250 SX / 20TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / KUHLHOFF DESIGN / WILSON
>> Corona, California native Dylan Merriam had a great ride at Daytona and was able to make his first-ever Main Event. After finishing a solid eleventh place in heat race two, he was just two places short of going straight through to the Main. He was so close and Merriam was not going to let the Main Event slip out of his hands that easy. With his mission in mind, the number 559 on the Yamaha lined up for the Last Chance Quali- fier. Heart rates rose, the gates dropped. Merriam immediately found himself in the second place position behind Noren, and very safe place to be and a definite transfer position into his, very exciting, first Main Event.
Five thousand tons of whooped out, rutted up dirt and millions of grains of deep, white sand laid itself out before the top twenty-two riders as
they lined up for, a sure to be brutal, fifteen lap Main Event. The gates dropped and excitement had to have been flowing through Merriam as he twisted the throttle into the first corner of his first Main. Dylan found himself in twenty-first place for the first half of the race while staying con- sistent and calm. He was able to gain a position on the Yamaha by the end of the moto and finish his first ever Main Event in twentieth place. I hope that Dylan Merriam has a newfound confidence after a solid night in Daytona and is able to make more Main Events this season.
146 GRITMOTO • MARCH 12, 2017