Page 122 - Issue_39

LUKE RENZLAND
250 SX / 18TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Luke Renzland has flown under the radar at the first two rounds of the 250 East Coast series. The Traders Racing Yamaha product grabbed an eighth at the season opener and one upped that with a career best sixth place finish a week ago in Atlanta. He crossed the border for the third round in Toronto seventh in the points series and enjoying an abundance of confidence. He wanted to extend that mo- mentum and try and capture a top five. After the tenth best qualifying effort, the stage was set for the young rider from New Jersey.
Renzland started his night off with a pretty uneventful heat race. He started in sixth and got bumped back to seventh by Henry Miller on the second lap. Renzland would bounce back by Miller a few laps later and hold on to finish sixth. Not the fiery heat race he would have liked to set up a great main but he lined up for it ready to get after it.
When the gate dropped, Renzland found himself completely buried
in the field after a vicious crash on the start straight. His #50 Yamaha crossed the stripe on the opening lap in twentieth. He attempted a charge to the front to salvage some points but a few laps in he would go down hard again, this time in the chewed-up whoop section. He remounted a lap down and basically just circulated from then on. He managed to still finish eighteenth and that will surely leave a bad taste in his mouth. Look for Renzland to bounce back next weekend in Daytona.
122 GRITMOTO • MARCH 5, 2017