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BLAKE BAGGETT
450 SX / 3RD
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Blake Baggett has never been known as a “Supercross guy” because he has not been able to match his outdoor Motocross success in the stadiums. At the start of this season, he held true to that as he just did not look comfortable and struggled in the results. At the rst four rounds he failed to nish better than seventh and even had a nish outside the top ten. But like most athletes, he began to nd his rhythm as the season went on. Round ve at Oakland was the perfect race for him to reestablish himself as a podium contender because the track was extremely rough and dif- cult. That suited his style and he would emerge with a strong third-place showing. That seemed to be the shot in the arm he needed because he followed it up with another third last weekend in San Diego. Things were really starting to click for him as the season headed east to Arlington.
Baggett remained fast and strong right from the start in Texas as he would be able to notch the fth fastest lap time. He had a nice groove going with the track and looked comfortable heading into the night show.
Baggett got his night going with a nice third place holeshot in his heat race. He started right behind Dean Wilson but before he could make a move, the points leader, Jason Anderson, came ying
by to take the position away. Things unraveled after that and Baggett got banged around a little bit and fell out of his rhythm. He dropped back to sixth before he was able to regroup and start looking forward again. He would pass Chad Reed the next lap and then try and run-down Brayton. Unfor- tunately, Brayton was just too far ahead, and Baggett could not get close enough for a pass. He would have to settle with the fth-place nish. He was capable of much more in the main event.
Baggett got another good start to get kick things off in the main. He started in fourth place just be- hind Marvin Musquin. He focused in on him and did not allow himself to get swept up in the open- ing lap chaos like he did in the heat. He settled into a rhythm and would hop into third on lap four after Anderson would crash. From there, he rode a strong race behind Musquin who he just could not gain any ground on. The gap between them rarely changed the entire race leaving Baggett to nish with his third straight third-place nish. Quite the turnaround from the beginning of the season for the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM rider and he will look to inch closer to a win next weekend in Tampa Bay.
14 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 18, 2018