Page 86 - ISSUE42

JESSE WENTLAND
250 SX / 12TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Longtime privateer Jesse Wentland hasn’t quite had the season he’d hoped for but the Minnesota rider racing out of Tallahassee has consistently qualified for the main event at each round leading up to this point. Hoping to reach the top ten in Detroit, the #62 Honda come out of the gate in heat one strong, exiting the first turn in 3rd place. Losing a position through the first major rhythm section and falling to 4th behind Luke Renzland, Wentland lost another spot to Osborne momentarily before regaining the position through the opening lap mayhem. Staying there until near the halfway point, Osborne finally found his way back to Wentland’s rear wheel and took the 4th spot away, pushing Jesse to 5th. Finishing there, the night showed promise for Jesse as he lined back up for the main event later in the program.
There, Jesse failed to get off the gate the same way he did in his heat race and found himself in 14th on the opening lap. Making his way into 13th as the first lap concluded, Wentland was able to hold onto 13th despite the riders around him shuffling back and forth. When the movement settled down, Wentland was able to take 12th away from Paul Coates. Now, with eleven minutes left, Jesse battled behind Josh Cartwright, as both riders gained a position due to a downed rider in front of them. Holding 11th in front of a hard charging Rodriguez, Wentland used the pressure to get around Cart- wright in front of him for 10th. With the #49 close behind, Wentland gave up the spot to Anthony Rodriguez with only a few minutes left and losing his pace, gave up 11th
to Luke Renzland shortly thereafter. Now in 12th, Jesse muscled through the final mo- ments of the race to hold off any charge from Josh Cartwright to keep the 12th place spot for the checkers and his second best finish of the year.
86 GRITMOTO • MARCH 26, 2017