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JASON ANDERSON
450 SX / 3RD
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Jason Anderson has had a season chocked full of ups, downs, and inconsistent finishes; the New Mexico native has only managed to land on the box two times throughout the season thus far, taking third place at both Dallas and Daytona. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing rider expects to be fighting for the podium each and every weekend, but dramatic circumstances and poor starts have held him back throughout the year. He narrowly missed out on his third podium of the season at the previous round in St. Louis, providing him with some extra motivation moving into the fourteenth round of action in Seattle. Anderson ended up landing in fifth posi- tion when timed qualifying wrapped up, right where he’s been for the majority of the season. ‘El Hombre’ had a bit of a scare in the first corner of his heat race, as he came together with a tuff block and Eli Tomac simultaneously. Fortunately, the both of them were able to ride away unscathed and Anderson actually got the better of the exchange as he made some quick moves through the opening rhythm sections. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider quickly worked his way past Jake Weimer
into a transfer position, but it wasn’t long until he was rejoined by the Monster En- ergy Kawasaki of Tomac. The two of them duked it out as they closed in on Malcolm Stewart, eventually forcing him into a mistake. Anderson was able to take advantage and regain fourth position, earning himself a direct transfer to the main event. When the gate dropped on the main event, he was able to eliminate any of the problems he had in the heat race as he narrowly missed out on the holeshot and jumped out front to an early lead. He was forced to concede a position to his training partner, Marvin Musquin, but he held firm in second position for half of the race after falling back
to second. Anderson became engulfed in a battle with Cooper Webb and lost two spots in one section as he was unable to jump the triple due to a block pass from the Yamaha rider. After falling back to fourth, Anderson ended up being the benefactor of a crash by Webb which landed him back on the podium, giving him confidence in his speed heading into the break.
18 GRITMOTO • APRIL 9, 2017