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BENNY BLOSS
450 MX / 10TH
MAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> Benny Bloss had a long lay-off after injuring his shoulder at the first round of the 250 East Coast Supercross series. The second-year rider finally made his return to racing on a 450 a few rounds back at Spring Creek. After some surprisingly, stellar rides in his rookie season last year, including a fourth-place finish at this weekend’s race Unadilla, many were wondering if he could ease his way back to those kinds of performances. Things have certainly started slowly after a seventeenth at Spring Creek and fourteenth at Washougal but he improved between races. He was looking to chan- nel that speed he had here at Unadilla last year to make another leap of progression. Bloss was solid in qualifying practice emerging from the morning sessions with the fourteenth fastest lap time. He seemed more comfortable after a few rounds under his belt and he was excited to get racing.
The first moto started with a rough start from the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM rider. Bloss was way back in nineteenth place after lap one. He had no intention of staying there as he made some quick passes during the next two laps to move into fifteenth. After that, he struggled to make up much ground on the riders ahead of him quickly enough before the halfway point. That is also when the rain started to come down in droves forcing the race track to get sloppy. Bloss kept the bike upright through the
rain and mud for the remainder of the moto before the AMA eventually ended the race prematurely. Bloss’ fifteenth place would stand and he would look to improve on that in the following moto.
A great start is needed in a mud moto and although Bloss improved on his first moto start, he still failed to nail a great one. He rounded lap one in fourteenth but managed to pass four riders on the second lap to move into tenth. Passing one rider on the water soaked course was hard enough but he made things happen and passed two more rid- ers on lap three to move into eighth. That is where he found his groove and settled in for the moto. Near the end he tried running down Matt Bisceglia but could not get close enough. He’d settle with the eighth-place moto finish. He would have 15-8 moto scores on the day to secure tenth overall. A good result and even with the muddy conditions, Bloss kept his streak of improving alive heading into the final two rounds.
54 GRITMOTO • AUGUST 13, 2017