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LUKE RENZLAND
250 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>>The #50 Traders Racing Yamaha rider, Luke Renzland, is finally proving his abilities af- ter a tough 2016 season last year. Multiple injuries and missed races prevented the New Jersey born Renzland from making his mark but so far this season, Luke has put in solid results to reside in 8th in points. It shouldn’t come as any surprise as Luke clearly has the ability to battle with the front runners, the young gun just needs to create an opportunity to do so. With the tour fired up for round six in Detroit, Renzland created an opportunity up the inside in heat one as he used the line advantage to come out of the first turn in the top five. Not wasting time, Renzland jumped into 3rd through the rhythm after the whoops and eventually got into 2nd around a downed rider in the sand. Holding off Savatgy until the next lap before letting the #17 by, Renzland was left in 3rd until the final lap. It was then that Luke was caught by the red-plated points leader, Osborne, passed in the whoops and left to settle for 4th. The strong finish would give Luke a ride to the main event but his wor- ries wouldn’t be over. A rough opening lap in the big race put Renzland back to 20th be- fore picking up 19th a lap later. Behind Anthony Rodriguez, the two Yamaha’s seemed to be determined to reach the front runners as both picked of the next few positions quickly. Getting separated from Rodriguez in the process of reaching 15th, Renzland continuously hounded the riders in front of him with relentless pressure. Reaching 14th and then 13th
a few laps later, Luke wasn’t settling for anything outside the top ten. Continuing the ef- fort, it wasn’t long before Renzland found himself in 12th with only a few minutes left. He, then, got around Jesse Wentland for 11th and was reignited when he had found the #49 of Anthony Rodriguez for the second time. Following Rodriguez, Renzland took Anthony’s momentum and used it as both riders got around Lorenzo Locurcio, putting Renzland in 10th in the final minute of the race before the checkered flag was waved. When the race concluded, the result gained Renzland a spot in the standings. He, now, is taking 7th into round seven next week in St. Louis.
80 GRITMOTO • MARCH 26, 2017