Page 76 - ISSUE 40

JUSTIN BRAYTON
450 SX / 9TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Iowa-born Justin Brayton sat 13th overall in the point standings coming into Daytona for round 10, even though it would only be his ninth event this season. A month ago, Justin had a severe crash on the opening lap of the main event in Arlington, Texas. He suffered a concussion, as a result of the incident, and missed the following week, which was round 7 in Minneapolis. Since then, coming off of two straight top ten finishes. Brayton’s been feel- ing the rhythm and started the night on the Daytona infield strong.
Brayton bolted off the line for the best jump out of the gate in heat one. The initial mo- mentum forced him wide, though, and he was shuffled back to 4th. Behind Blake Baggett, Justin settled in and led Jeremy Martin around the grueling circuit. The lead over Martin was slim for the first half of the race but on lap four of six, Martin had the drive on Brayton up the inside. Despite the line, he came up short in the following rhythm. Unscathed and with Martin losing steam, Brayton carried on for another lap before feeling some pres-
sure from Cole Seely. Keeping his lines tight, Justin was able to outlast the #14 of Seely for fourth, transferring straight to the main event. There, and continuing the starting line success, Brayton jumped out to a third place start, following Tomac and Martin as the pack crossed to begin lap two.The #10 would ride the entire first half of the race in 3rd, running solid in a podium position. There was a slight scare near the end of lap 9 when Chad Reed whiskey-throttled the blue #22, nearly taking Brayton out in the process. Luckily, Brayton escaped the threat as Reed went down. Two laps later, as the race crossed the midway point, Brayton’s tank begun to empty as he faltered to Jason Anderson and Seely on lap 11. Trying to hold strong and following behind the lead pack, a remounted Reed caught back up to Brayton and ended up getting back by for 5th a few laps later. The hard-charg- ing Ryan Dungey was next up, as Brayton began to drift backward, sliding into 7th on lap 14. Remaining in 7th for the next few laps, it wasn’t until the home stretch that Brayton gave way, falling to 9th after allowing Blake Baggett and the #33 of Josh Grant by in the races final stages. Despite fading late, Daytona was a successful night, with Justin earning his third top ten finish in a row since his return and fourth on the season.
76 GRITMOTO • MARCH 12, 2017