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JASON ANDERSON
450 SX / TEXAS
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Jason Anderson is still in the process of finding his stride heading into the sixth round of the series after a couple of uncharacteristic weekends for the Rockstar Husqvarna rider. It all started back at Anaheim II when he came together with Vince Friese during a heat race; not only was he disqualified, he suffered a badly bruised arm that kept him off the bike throughout the entirety of the subsequent week. Soon there- after, Anderson labored his way to a tenth place finish in Phoenix -- his worst of the season -- and has
just began to claw his way back towards the podium with a fourth place last weekend in Oakland. He has struggled with his starts since the very first gate drop of the season, putting him at a disadvantage to those that he expects himself to battle with. ‘El Hombre’ remedied his issues out of the gate one week ago, but will he be able to do it consistently? His qualifying times in Arlington indicated exactly that as he finished
in third place after both sessions came to an end, therefore giving him a fantastic gate pick heading into
his respective heat race. Anderson came storming out of the gate in the second 450 heat race to a decent start that placed him right in the mix. He was involved in an opening lap skirmish with Eli Tomac that would eventually force the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider into a mistake. ‘El Hombre’ would take advantage as he slotted into fifth position just behind Malcolm Stewart and the two of them would duke it out for the entire first half of the race. Anderson was riding with urgency, scoping out the track for an opportunity to force himself into the final transfer spot. Unfortunately, he got caught up in a mistake by Stewart about halfway through the race which forced him to lose control of his Husqvarna, sending it flipping over a berm and into an oncoming rhythm lane. Anderson suffered a poor start in his semi qualifier, barely coming out in the top ten as the pack stormed through the opening corner. He laid down a hot pace to carve his way through the field, making passes on Ronnie Stewart, Cade Clason, and Jimmy Albertson one lap after another. The New Mexico native found a little more resistance when he reached the rear fender of Friese, but he was able fire his way past the Honda rider with only one lap to go, consequently moving himself into the main event with a fourth place finish. In the main event, Anderson used some tactful riding in order to turn the sixteenth gate pick into a top five start. He powered his Rockstar Husqvarna to the outside of the first corner after an impressive jump off the line, subsequently hugging the very inside line in the second corner. He was immediately overtaken by his close rival, Cole Seely, on the entrance to the second rhythm section, but it was still one of his better starts of the season. Anderson ended up coming across the line in sixth position, just behind the Red Bull KTM of Trey Canard, as Eli Tomac nipped at his heels. He gave up the position to the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider, but managed to work his way past Canard shortly thereafter. Anderson found himself in sixth position chasing after Tomac for a number of laps until the two of them caught up to Justin Bogle. He showed no patience after the second set of whoops as he aggressively took Bogle’s line away, cleaning out the front tire of the Suzuki. Anderson was able to take advantage of an uncharacteristic mistake by Tomac after the triple and move into the final spot on the box where he would stay for the rest
of the race. He matched the pace of Seely ahead of him and eventually finished about five seconds behind the HRC rider, earning his podium of the season. The third place finish will do a lot for the momentum of the Rockstar Husqvarna rider as the series heads back east to the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
14 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 12, 2017