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GARED STEINKE
ARENACROSS
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Fan Favorite Gared Steinke gave those who arrived early something to cheer for as the Motosport Hillsboro rider qualified
just inside the top 10 in the AX class. His 21.20 was just enough
to earn him 9th place and a fairly decent gate pick heading into
the night show. Stankdog put himself in the fight for the podium right out of the gate in his heat race and immediately found himself involved in a tight battle with Jace Owen. Steinke held strong in 5th position as he turned lap times only a couple of tenths behind the leaders, giving himself a healthy amount of momentum to carry into the head-to-head races. He was paired up against the Babbit’s / Monster Energy / AMSOIL Kawasaki of Jacob Hayes for the open- ing head-to-head race and it turned out to be a barn burner. Hayes got the holeshot and led all the way up until the final rhythm section until Steinke used a triple-double in order to stuff him before the finish line and take the win. Steinke moved on to face Jace Owen
in the second stage, but he wasn’t able to come out on top over
the Honda rider. The Californian started the first main event exactly where he ended it; he came across the finish line for the first time
in 6th position and held firmly onto that position for the remainder
of the race, holding off the challenging KTM of Herrlein behind him. In the second main event, he found himself in the same position on the opening lap, but this time he was able to make a move at Her- rlein’s expense to move into 5th position. Steinke rode a fairly lonely race in 5th for the remainder of the moto which put him 6th overall on the day. He’ll be looking to break into the top 5 as the series heads north to Grand Rapids next weekend.
52 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 9, 2017