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Indianapolis marked the second race of Justin Barcia’s return to racing and he looked to continue to get back to race shape. Qualifying practice did not go well for him at all because he came out with a disappointing 22nd quickest time. Not where we are used to seeing Bam Bam but the best
racers can also rebound when it’s time to go racing and he aimed to do just that.
Barcia nailed a solid fifth place start in his heat race and would try to get up to the coveted fourth place position. But unfortunately for him, Tomac and Reed had other plans and made their way around him leaving him back in seventh halfway through the race. Barcia could not keep the pace of the top five guys and would lose some time. He would have to settle for that seventh spot and look towards the semi.
In the semi, Barcia would get a similar start to his heat race and come out of the first turn in sixth place. His performance in this one would not be similar to his heat race however as he looked like the Bam Bam we all have come to know. He aggressively powered his way into fourth early in the race and would not stop there. He set his sights on Vince Friese and hammered his way around for third. His charge to the front would fizzle out when he was unable to catch Reed and Baggett up front.
The main event came around and unlike his first two races Barcia struggled off the line. He came around lap one in a dismal six- teenth and started to plug away. He was one of the few riders to consistently charge forward through the majority of the main event. By the halfway point, he managed to grind his way up to twelfth. But in the final few laps, Barcia’s lack of racing this season caught up to him. He dropped three positions and would end up in fifteenth place. Barcia put forth a quality ride as he is still in the stages of working his way back into shape. He will only get stronger as the season rolls onto St. Louis.
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