Page 72 - ISSUE_52

JEREMY MARTIN
250 MX / 9TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / TILLS
>> The remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy waged their way through the depths of the Southeast United States, bending from initial landfall of the Gulf Coast. She packed a superb punch, bringing torrential rains throughout the bayou, and creating just enough of a scare to frighten all in attendance at Muddy Creek Raceway; well except for one rider, by the name of Jeremy Martin. Battle tested through years of championship runs, he was prepared to conquer the layout of Blountville, Tennes- see, no matter which variable mother nature through at him. As the gate fell to the ground for the opening moto, Martin had a solid jump, but was clustered amongst
a sea of feral animals, diving into this awkward left-handed corner. And as the field stormed away, he remained; down and tangled with Joey Savatgy, amongst others. He had work to do, and with a quick slap of the clutch lever, he bolted off into the distance, the Honda 250 pegged to the hilt. Each lap he would cherry pick the field (after yet again getting stuck behind the latter part of the pack at times), sometimes in masses, weaving in and out of the numerous off-cambered corners. The track was beginning to slicken, as the mulch like soil was eroding away, and the glossy base was raring its head. It would come back to bight the number 6 yet again. As he crested the single parallel to the start, as the moto wound on, he would wash, delet- ing all of his previous work. Staring at his fender in disappointment, he would cross the finish line in 13th. Moto two would see the Minnesotan stay in tact, however just a tad off the leaders to begin the race; and in this class, any type of leeway given, can come back to bite you. It did, as Martin was just eighth place across the open- ing stripe, and would have an abundance of elite talent just ahead. Fighting With Colt Nichols for quite sometime, the amount of abuse he was taking through the uphill-triple section was absurd; landing on the binders, all the while trying not to clip the rear wheel of the Yamaha rider, and at the last second, ducking to the inside rut, narrowly missing the furthest barrier. It was instances like this, that would continue to push him little by little, eventually pushing to sixth, all the while Chase Sexton, Nichols, and Joey Savatgy magnified to his rear fender. He would bring home 9th overall.
72 GRITMOTO • JUNE 25, 2017