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JOSH GRANT
450 SX / 8TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / WILSON
>> To be able to comeback and compete after a series of injuries and downfalls is something that only the toughest of nails can do. It’s something that lurks deep within an individual, a true piece of their inner being. When the cards aren’t turned in their favor, everyone around them portrays a sense of doubt;
it must be on them, and only themselves to be able to push through the ex- tremes amount of adversity. Josh Grant has been through it all in that regard; working on bikes in the wee hours of the morning, struggling to make it from race to race, machines blowing up left and right, and the amount of hospital bills that have piled on were absurd; but no matter what, he’s stuck true to his passion and maintained his eyes on his dream, which is downright admirable
in every sense. The track was breaking down throughout the day, and he was being forced to adapt in all facets of practice, and qualifying races to get to the main event. The effort led him to the main event, where the tread was getting packed in behind the gate, with each subtle roll before the pin would fall. 3,2,1 and it would slam into the soil, and he would do his best not to get pinched and clipped into a tuff block. The left-hander was furious all night, causing a ruckus in the 250 main, and would create separation in the 450 round. He would come across the stripe neck deep in competition in the opening minutes. He had to launch the notorious wall jump with feverish intent. And although the preferred line after the whoops was on the inside, his creative nature, and intensity would allow him to rail the outside while being able to glance right, and read the mes- sage of “relax” across the pitboard. He would continue to battle and hover near the top ten, each lap, trying to hit that pristine 52 second mark. Battling with the likes of Ryan Dungey and Broc Tickle, after a near top five start, he knew he had the momentum, but would have to piece the track together like a puzzle, instead of one continuous circuit. His style, was as flashy as ever, and the Kawasaki veteran was showing all that he could still maintain the raw speed. But it seemed as though his stamina would suffer, as he was hitting the lactate threshold a little bit earlier than normal; and after a hard fought effort through and through he was able to hold onto eighth just ahead of Dean Wilson.
30 GRITMOTO • MARCH 26, 2017