Page 10 - ISSUE49

JASON ANDERSON
450 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / CAVAZOS WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / WILSON
>> To climb to the top of any mountain, rather figurative or literal, one must be able to endure every variable that’s rolled in a downward, negative manner. Mechanical failures, injuries, and negative criticism, all balled into one, a devastating boulder that can derail the confidence of any rider on the circuit. The track with just maybe the biggest hills of the series you ask? None other than Glen Helen. Jason Anderson was ready; he’d yet to find his fame from the 2016 SX season, and was ready to un- leash the beast in the outdoor series. Fighting his way from a lackluster tenth place start, each lap, he would pick off the best in the world, his rear end swapping side to side the entire time. Jumping the finish line triple three wide at times, a subtle look over was all he would give to the competition, as he would charge feverishly into the next right hander, dragging the rear brake into the powder berm.
Making his way past riders such as Cole Seely, and Dean Wilson, he would fight hard, bringing home a solid fifth. It was time for the second, and final moto, and a dif- ferent, calming mood coming over the New Mexico native. He shot out of the gate, a fourth place start, much better than what had previously occurred, and made his way around Barcia in the early going. He could smell blood, and the sight of orange lit a fire under him like no other, as he chased the “Chupacabra” to the midportion of the moto. Screaming past the number 4 down the start straight on lap seven, he would come around to lead and never look back. His face, ecstatic, as he crossed the line, and he knew what he had done. It was the first of his career, and he couldn’t wait for next weekend, as he claimed second overall.
10 GRITMOTO • MAY 28, 2017