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BRANDON HARTRANFT
250 SX / 8TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / LANG DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> It is every motocross rider’s dream to one day make it to the big show and compete in Monster Energy Supercross. Top amateur riders spend their entire lives training, preparing and hoping they get the opportunity to race on the big stage. That moment nally came true for Cycle Trader Rock River Yamaha’s Brandon Hartranft. Kicking off his rst race of the night with a mid pack start, Brandon had some work ahead of him if he hoped to make the 250 SX Main Event in his rst try ever. Although he was the very rst race of the night, the Arlington Texas dirt started to break down immediately. Already ruts in the corners and through the whoop section, Brandon capitalized on some other rider’s miss-fortunes and quickly found himself in 9thplace. The nal transfer position is not exactly the best place to be in though as Hartranft found out quickly. Luke Renzland made his way passed, pushing Brandon back to 10th. This seemed to light a re in Hartranft and he began to make some fantastic passes through the whoops. Going around both Zach Williams and Jon Ames in the same whoop section, Brandon secured a spot in the Main Event with a 8th place nish in the heat race. 16th gate pick in the Main Event left Hartranft
with a way outside gate. This could have been a blessing in disguise because when the gate dropped, all hell broke loose. A massive rst turn crash left half of the 22-rider eld on the ground and tangled with other bikes. Hartranft was hit by the domino effect of riders and bumped off the track. What seemed like a disaster for Brandon at rst actually turned out to be an unbelievable start. So unbelievable that he himself wasn’t really sure what was going on? The Rookie some- how came out of this mess in 3rd place. Still not sure exactly what happened, Hartranft slowed up, looked back at the crash and let Challen Tennant passed as he was expecting a red ag
from all the carnage. After realizing “the race was on” Brandon immediately got going and even passed Tennant back for 3rd before the lap was over. What an insane rst lap of his Supercross career, and he is in 3rd! The pressure was on as the defending champion Zach Osborne was breathing down his neck in 4th. Brandon held “his own” and raced the champ for 3 laps before giving up the position. Osborne would then wash the front end and allow Brandon back into a podium position. This only lasted a lap or so as Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha’s Colt Nichols made his way passed, along with the rebounded Husqvarna rider Zach Osborne. JGR Suzuki’s Jimmy Decotis would get by as well leaving Hartranft in 6th place. The craziness doesn’t end there as late in the race Troy Lee Design KTM’s Sean Cantrell crashed in the whoops putting Brandon back inside the top ve in 5th place. As the race winded down things began to happen quickly for Brandon. Some of the heavy hitters that fell in the rst turn made their way to the
front of the pack and caught Brandon with 3 min left in the race. Brandon unfortunately gave up three positions in the last few laps leaving him with an 8th place nish. Although he may not be happy with the last few laps, an 8th place nish at your rst Supercross is an outstanding perfor- mance. What a way to kick off round one of the East coast 250 Series.
48 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 18, 2018