Page 120 - ISSUE _38

JUSTIN BOGLE
450 SX / 17TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / COPELAND DESIGN / WILSON
>> The Oklahoma native has had an up and down start to his 2017 campaign. Newly signed to the RCH Suzuki team after spending the extent of professional career under the Geico Honda tent. He has shown that he has the speed to run with the top 10 on his new Suzuki but has made some mistakes that have led to some crashes that he has been lucky to walk away from. He missed last week- end’s race in Minneapolis due to being banged up from one of the wrecks at
an earlier round. Bogle would look to rebound from his early season errors and bring some of that speed into Atlanta but the qualifying sessions suggested that he would need to improve to push his way inside of the top 10, setting the 13th fastest time in qualifying. Things began to look up for Justin in the nights 2nd
450 heat. He was able to get a good jump and came out of the first corner in 4th behind Baggett, Grant, and Friese. After a few laps spent behind Friese, he was able to find a way around and move into 3rd. This wouldn’t last long as Musquin was hot on his heels, passing him with one lap to go. He would end up finishing in 4th but moved straight in to the main event. He carried that momentum into the start of the main by ripping a 4th place start, putting him in the mix with the lead- ers early on in the 20 minute plus 2 lap race. Bogle briefly ran in 3rd place but he wouldn’t be able to sustain that position long as he lost a spot early to Cole Seely after a bobble leading into a rhythm lane. He would then drop a spot to the hard- est charging rider on the track, Eli Tomac, and then by an equally as hard charg- ing rider in Jason Anderson. The night would go from good to bad for Bogle once the Red Bull KTM ride of Marvin Musquin found the front wheel of Bogle. The
two came together and Justin got the worst end of the confrontation as Musquin cleaned him out and left him on the ground exiting a corner. He would remount his Suzuki and struggle the remainder of the race, finishing in 17th. This is the second week in a row that Bogle has found himself on the ground. He will look to break his string of bad luck next weekend in round 9 of the 17 round series.
120 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 26, 2017