Page 16 - GRIT_76

CHRISTIAN CRAIG
450 SX / 4TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Although it’s only the mere beginning of May, it’s time to bring out the shades and A/C units, as it’s an absolute scorcher here in Vegas. The heat is causing distant points within ones vision to look like a mirage, and blurred ripples of distortion. A sauna of sweat and slight bit of uncomfort- ing hot ashes has overtaken the crowd, and many of the riders within the eld as well. However, Christian Craig is basking in this barbeque-esque atmosphere, and is thriving at the displeasure
of the competition. He’s grown up riding in sweaters, jackets, and pounding out countless motos
in the heat. No stranger to enduring the most rugged of conditions, all throughout practice he let the crowd know he was here to stay; all with the twisting of his right hand. Squirming around these oven-baked bowl turns, what little ruts were there, were already beginning to erode and chip away. He would patrol the track from side to side, looking for a little bit of traction here and there. Luckily, his tire would catch at just the right time, throughout every rhythm section go-around; allowing him to stay upright, and generate a solid time for the heat race portion of the event. He went extremely fast down the start-straight, for the commencement of the opening heat race. The initial left, saw him skating around the stripe like a Harley at-tracker, never losing a bit of traction. He then skied into the sand, landing and blasting the competition behind. Registering in fth for the rst lap, he wanted to focus on racing the track only. Limiting the distraction of all outside variables, he began to churn out steady laptimes, on this unusually long track. This short, sprint like race, allowed him to really tab into his anaerobic capacity, the muscle bers and heart rate re ecting the taxation of his body. But he couldn’t rest for too long, as Benny Bloss was on his tail. Hitting the whoop sec- tion on the last lap, he merely buckled down and squeezed the shrouds with the inside of his pant legs; knowing that if he could wedge his way through, he would solidify his spot. And that he did, nishing a solid fourth. The nal gate drop of 2018 was then underway, and he crested the nish line double to begin, in fourth place. Slingshotting out onto the start straight, it was all he could do to get the 450 from spinning out of control. But he would begin to pack the front end from then on out, really leaning with his sternum over the meat of the bar-pad. Feeling heat from Benny Bloss, the two seemed to be latched on by master links, their sprockets in constant clash and grinding against one another. He wouldn’t back down, dodging lappers, and weaving in out of traf c, all the while launching into the sand. His effort was imminent, but he knew he only had a marginal bit of time to catch third before the checkered; and as the leader would cross, so would second, and the subsequent competitor in front of him. He would bring home the fourth place ride, and be excited for what was in store for the outdoor season.
16 GRITMOTO • MAY 6, 2018