Page 88 - ISSUE42

JOSHUA CARTWRIGHT
250 SX / 13TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Splitting time between being a professional athlete and having a Florida State University student schedule, Joshua Cartwright is quite possibly the busiest privateer in the field. Having suffered from injuries in past seasons and having missed the
first two East coast main events of 2017, it could be said that Josh is, currently, still making a name for himself. Having made every main since round three in Toronto, though, Mr. Cartwright has begun moving in the right direction. Starting out in heat two, as round six in Detroit got underway, Josh jumped out of the gate with author-
ity and even though he was on the outside of the first turn, he was able to muster
a 7th place start. Making his way around for 6th in the second turn, a few bobbles caused Cartwright to come around the first lap battling for the final transfer position with Lorenzo Locurcio. Capitalizing on other’s mistakes, Cartwright was able to push his way into 7th but Lorenzo, in 8th, didn’t take long to carry the needed mojo up the inside following a rhythm section, allowing himself to get right alongside with Josh. The move from Lorenzo seemed to ruin Cartwright’s momentum and the #93 bike began to drop-off following the pass. Letting Lorenzo go, Cartwright was left to hold off Henry Miller for the remainder of the heat, as the two riders picked off a couple more spots before the checkered flag. The battle earned Josh a 6th place finish as the Yamaha rider gladly took his ticket to the main event for the fourth time this sea- son. Unfortunately in the main, some carnage held up Cartwright in the first turn as Zach Osborne almost went down violently. Fortunately, the incident didn’t make Josh hesitate to move into 12th by the end of the opening lap. A mistake from another rider allowed Cartwright into 11th a lap later and pushing onward, Josh found 10th after the first five minutes concluded. The string of fortune didn’t last long as he ran into issues a few minutes later, dropping to 12th after a bad line choice. Letting Jesse Wentland and Anthony Rodriguez by, Cartwright wasn’t able to rebound as the race reached the final laps. Then, the freight-train of Luke Renzland came rolling through and pushed Josh back to 13th. By this point, with the momentum drained late in the race, Josh wasn’t able to respond. The finish was a milestone for Josh, as the 13th was Cartwright’s best finish of his career and a sign of what the FSU scholar can truly do on a dirt bike.
88 GRITMOTO • MARCH 26, 2017