Page 22 - GRIT_70

BLAKE BAGGETT
450 SX / 6TH
IMAGE / REEVES WORDS / WARNER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> After a grueling race last weekend in Daytona Blake Baggett came into St. Louis looking to get his season back on track. Baggett was scoring consecutive podiums earlier the season and after a crash in the final race in Atlanta followed by a ninth-place finish last weekend Blake is ready to get back on the box. After not being able to ride during the week due to a hand injury sustained in Atlanta, Bagget would come into St. Louis cold and end up qualifying ninth, which would do little to boost his confidence and would leave him stuck halfway down the gate on outside of the starting gate bridge. A spot I don’t think anyone would have predicted could have provided a rider with a holeshot, but El Chupa- cabra rocketed out of the gate and shot across the start straight into the early lead. After coming around leading lap one he would lose the lead to Jason Anderson on lap two, but after that he would not break. From lap three to the end of the nine-lap heat race Tomac was all over Baggett looking for any way around, Baggett would hold strong to all his at- tacks though. In the Main Event another good start and Blake Baggett would have found himself in a spot to get back on the podium after being absent for weeks. Well, his start could have gone better. He lined up just a few gates inside where he started in his Heat race, but he was unable to get the jump off the gate in the Main Event that he had in his Heat Race. He would round turn number one in seventh, but he would miss the rhythm down the first section and a few other mistakes caused him to cross the finish line at the end of lap one back in position twelve. Through the next five laps, he would work his way through the pack passing riders such as Reed, Friese, Stewart, and Craig. At this point, the race had reached lap six. Blake would now find himself trying to pass the toughest rider on the track, “Concrete for Breakfast’s” Weston Peick. The two would battle for next couple laps before both passing Broc Tickle on laps twelve and thirteen. Both fighting through the pain of injuries sustained in Atlanta Bagget and Peick rode fifth and sixth for the remainder of the race, Baggett showing his KTM’s front on multiple occasions, but unable to make a move. Bagget is on his way back up and if he can avoid further injury I believe we will see another podium or maybe two before the season concludes.
22 GRITMOTO • MARCH 18, 2018