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JEREMY MARTIN
250 SX / TEXAS
IIMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Jeremy Martin has had an all-around bummer of a 2017 supercross cam- paign. The two-time outdoor motocross champion has not been able to get into any kind of rhythm in his first 250 West Coast series. Crashes and poor starts hurt him and the first three races and then he actually got hurt in a practice crash which sidelined him until here at Arlington. In Texas, Martin’s intentions were to just have a nice smooth day of racing and maybe garner a little momentum before the break.
Martin looked fresh and healthy in practice by notching the second fastest lap time of the day. He was hoping he would be able to jump right back into the thick of the racing once the gate dropped. Martin got what he wanted in the heat when he jumped out to second place after the start. He was right behind McElrath but could not keep the same pace. The two-time season winner slowly pulled away from the returning Martin and he would have to settle for second place. Nonetheless it was a great finish after a few races off and he knew what adjustments he’d have to make for the main event.
Martin’s bad luck struck once again at the beginning of the main. He emerged from lap one deep in fifteenth place. He put his head down and picked up five spots in five laps to move to tenth. His pace of passing slowed down throughout the race but he did catch up to seventh with just
a few laps to go. He would end up finishing one spot higher in sixth after McElrath was forced out of the race because of a mechanical. Might not have been the result he wanted but Martin must be happy he was out there racing again after a few weeks out due to injury.
40 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 12, 2017