Page 22 - ISSUE_52

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 MX / 6TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KUHLHOFF DESIGN / TILLS
>> Excitement filled the hilly valley that is Muddy Creek Raceway as riders lined up for the first 450 moto of the day. The hot and humid air was thick as riders and mechanics gathered at the starting gate, shaking away any pre-race jitters. The gates dropped and Bam Bam Barcia came out swing- ing with the Holeshot. The Autotrader/ Monster Energy/ JGR/ Suzuki rider found himself blazing the trail out front with Anderson, Peick, Bogle, and Canard within milliseconds of him. After a pass by Anderson, Justin Barcia immediately fought back with retaliation-style block pass, but Anderson is able to get Barcia back and make it stick. The chocolate cake mix was fly- ing as these two aggressive riders duked it out on lap one. Justin Barcia sat in second for a bit, but the battles were only getting started as Tomac and Bogle are coming up behind him. Tomac soon makes a powerful pass on Barcia, sending him into third. Towards the end of the moto, a determined Chupacabra was quickly approaching Barcia and soon made the pass on him, followed by a pass by Peick. Barcia finished moto one in the fifth place position: a fantastic spot for the Floridian to be sitting in headed into the second moto of the day. During his podium interview, Barcia mentioned
his concussion from last weekend lingering and stated, “Not feeling good today, don’t know how I rode that well. I feel like death.” Looking to capital- ize on his fifth place finish and push through pain and illness, Justin Barcia lined up the number 51 machine with determination and definitely ready
to seize another Holeshot. Unfortunately, Barcia could not repeat his first moto start and found himself in tenth place early in the moto. Barcia stayed solid throughout the second moto and was able to finish the race with a tenth place finish. With 5-10 finishes, Justin Barcia leaves Muddy Creek with a commendable sixth place overall finish. Hopefully he can recover during the week and arrive a Redbud feeling better and ready to put in some more great starts and results.
22 GRITMOTO • JUNE 25, 2017