Page 126 - Issue_39

JOSHUA CARTWRIGHT
250 SX / 20TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Joshua Cartwright has made some waves over the past two years because of his good starts and good heat races. What makes his perfor- mances even more newsworthy is the fact that he is a full-time student at Florida State University. Racing and training as professional super- cross racer is nearly a full-time job within itself and Cartwright somehow manages to balance that with his higher education. It is something he deserves high praise for and why he has become a favorite despite not being a top ten guy. So far here in 2017 he has struggled and failed to qualify for a main event despite leading some laps in his heat race last weekend in Atlanta. He was ready to get things back on track this week- end in Toronto after notching the twenty-fifth fastest lap time in practice.
Cartwright would get a bad start in his heat race rounding lap one in eleventh. He was two spots out of a transfer but would fail to reach that coveted position. He ended up getting bumped back to twelfth by Zack Williams and would try his luck in the LCQ. There Cartwright got a much better start in third place. He kept it steady and rode his Yamaha into the main event for the first time in 2017.
Another bad start plagued Cartwright from the get go in the main. He started in twentieth but quickly moved forward to seventeenth after a few laps. He looked poised to keep moving up but he would make a mistake and drop back outside the top twenty. He would end up finishing right where he started in twentieth place. A bummer performance but a big confidence booster as he finally got into that main event after some rough luck at the first two rounds.
126 GRITMOTO • MARCH 5, 2017