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Jordon Smith entered the Ironman National with the intention of ending his season strong. It’s been up and down for him and was hoping he had one more up left in him. Qualifying practice was a struggle for the seeded riders because of the muddy track conditions but Smith was still able to notch the seventeenth
quickest lap time. Smith could not nail one of his signature great starts in the opening moto but he was not too far off back in ninth place as they secured the green flag. He quickly fell victim to a pair of Star Racing Yamahas in Aaron Plessinger and champion Cooper Webb falling back to eleventh place on lap two. The track was very sloppy early in the moto so Smith settled into his position and focused on putting together solid laps. He succeeded in doing so as he slowly inched back forward to secure ninth overall in the moto sneaking by Harrison in the closing laps. Not quite the finish he would like but nonetheless it was a consistent moto that he was looking to improve on in moto two. Smith got off to a rough start in the second moto rounding lap one in twenty-fifth place. This was not the track to get stuck behind on early because of the unforgiving ruts and roost so he started his climb forward immediately. Smith picked off a handful of riders in the opening stages but would then run into problems midway through the moto resulting in a disap- pointing DNF. It was a bummer end to the season for Smith but he will have the entire offseason to try and rid himself of the lack of consistency.
words/SETHHARNISHFEGER
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