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ZACH OSBORNE
250 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> Your 250 series points leader Zach Osborne has that red plate for several reasons but one reason stands out more than the others. Consistency. His “off” race was Thunder Valley where he finished fifth overall. He has either won or been second overall at every other race. All of his championship rivals’ bad days have involved DNF’s or finishes outside the top ten. Osborne has seemingly been the only top rider to not have a horrible moto and that has helped him build a sizable eighteen point points lead heading into his hometown race at Muddy Creek.
He has never had much success there in years past so he was determined to finally put on a performance to remember for his hometown fans. He escaped a muddy qualifying practice with the sixth fastest lap time and was ready to throw down in moto one.
The gate dropped for the opening moto of the day but Osborne did not get the greatest of starts. He rounded lap one in eighth position and with some ground to make up. He quickly passed rookie Sean Cantrell and then set his sights on RJ Hampshire. Hampshire proved stingy and put up a fight for a handful of laps but Osborne was finally able to make the move for sixth. His next target was fellow hometown racer Shane McElrath. Like Osborne, McEl-
rath wanted to put on a show for his friends and family so he did not want to let Osborne by. McElrath definitely upped the pace and actually distanced himself from Osborne momentarily but the points leader would eventually squeak by mid race. Unfortunately for Osborne, once he acquired fifth place, the top four were too far gone and he’d have to settle and finish in fifth. Not quite the result he would have liked but he still had one more moto to get closer to the front.
The second moto began with a much better start from Osborne. On the opening lap he endured a quick duel with Cantrell but easily moved into second behind first moto winner Aaron Pless- inger. Osborne shadowed the Rockstar Star Racing Yamaha rider for the first handful of laps until he forced him into a mistake. Plessinger slid out coming out of a corner and it was all Os- borne needed to sneak by. He then laid down some heaters to quickly build up a lead. He would hold it all the way to the checkered flag to secure the moto win. His 5-1 would not be enough for the overall victory but it would be enough for second and an extension of his points lead over the Martin brothers. He was happy to finally win a moto and have a great performance at the track he grew up racing.
34 GRITMOTO • JUNE 25, 2017