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JORDON SMITH
250 SX / 6TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> With the wild and chaotic battle between Joey Savatgy and Zach Osborne to nish the 250SX East Coast Championship a year ago, many people forget that it was Jordon Smith who held the points lead heading into Las Vegas and was in control of things early during that nal race. Unfortunately, he would crash viciously and throw his chances at the title away with just a dozen or so laps to go. Despite that disappointing nish to the year, the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM rider had his breakout season. He took home his rst two career wins and only nished off the podium twice if you don’t count the DNF at
the nal round. Up until that big crash, he proved to be remarkably consistent after starting his career the complete opposite. He entered the season opener at Arlington last weekend ready to pick up where he left off last year, but he was one of the riders involved in that nasty rst turn crash. He still managed to notch a sixth but it’s safe to say he will be searching for a little bit more this weekend in Tampa. Smith looked solid all day in the qualifying practice sessions. Nothing too stylish or ashy as he was just out there logging solid laps. It is one thing he has been working on ever since he entered the pros because he started off so ery yet inconsistent. He seems to have put that narrative to bed over the past year and he was ready to line things up for the night’s races. Smith got his night going with a decent start in his heat race. The MTF product got through the rst lap in fth place. He struggled to nd his groove early in the race and stayed put for the rst three laps. He nally got going strong enough to pass Cameron McAdoo on lap four but had a gap to make up if he wanted to catch the top three. He rode hard throughout the remainder of the race but failed to make any more moves. He was hoping for a better start in the main event. Smith failed
to get a better start in the main and in fact he got a much worse start. He was buried back in tenth place after they nished the rst lap. He hopped up to eighth right away and began hounding Jeremy Martin. The two riders would duke it out for a couple laps before Smith would soar by Martin over the big triple. They nearly collided in the air which forced Martin off the track, but Smith emerged unscathed. He would keep the momentum going on the next lap when he would power by Martin Davalos to take over sixth. Smith’s next target was Luke Renzland. Renzland was putting together a strong ride up front but Smith would spoil it by passing him on lap ten. Smith had worked all the way up to fth, but he had his work cut out for him
if he wanted to catch RJ Hampshire in fourth. Smith was determined to catch him and threw down some fast laps to do it. He kept pushing until he arrived on Hampshire’s rear wheel with just two laps to go. Smith really started to apply the pressure on the nal lap but got a little over zealous and jumped off the track in the same spot Martin did early in the race. He tried braking on the concrete, but it inevitably tucked the front end. Fortunately, he’d remount after only losing one spot. So, would ride the rest of that nal lap and nish sixth place. That marks back to back subpar nishes for a rider that knows he should be battling for wins. He will surely be practicing his starts this week before Atlanta, so he can actually be up front and battling with the contenders.
42 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 25, 2018