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JOSH GRANT
450 SX / 8TH
IMAGE /MPG WORDS /HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Daytona marks the first anniversary of Grant’s return to racing if you will. A year ago he showed up basically right off the couch on a privateer machine and shocked the industry by finishing seventh place. Accomplish- ing that on a normal Supercross track would be noteworthy but doing so
on the infamous rough and nasty Daytona track was amazing. It ultimately led to him filling in with Factory Kawasaki for the remainder of the season and then full time in 2017. So far this year, Grant has performed pretty well with a trio of top tens and a season best of sixth. He was hoping to channel some more Daytona magic to get back deep in the top ten.
The Southern California native qualified modestly in tenth place and looked ready to mix it up when the bright lights started shining. The gate dropped in his heat race and he found himself in sixth place. He trailed Jeremy Martin for the first two laps before bobbling back to tenth. He recovered to finish in eighth but he would have to try his luck in the semi. He got a better start in the semi starting in third place behind his pal Chad Reed. He applied a little pressure early on the Aussie but ultimately ended up finishing right there where he started. He got his ticket to the main and was looking forward to mixing it up.
Grant failed to keep up with his solid starts on the night as he rounded lap one buried in fourteenth position. He lingered there for a while before he found the passing lines. Once he did that, he reeled off a few quick passes to get up to tenth around the halfway point. He kept steadily moving forward during the latter half of the race making moves on Mike Alessi and Justin Brayton to wrestle away eighth. He would be unable to move up any further as Baggett in seventh had a decent gap built up. Nonetheless it was a great come from behind eighth place finish from the veteran on a track that was physically draining and very tough to pass.
30 GRITMOTO • MARCH 12, 2017