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Blake Baggett returned to racing at Muddy Creek after missing the last three rounds due to a broken collarbone. He put forth a solid effort in practice emerging with the ninth fastest lap time. As they lined up for moto one, we were wondering if we would see the same Blake Baggett from Hangtown that
nailed an impressive third. The first moto did not begin as planned for ol El Chupacabra. He was mired back in fifteenth place and would have to channel that alter ego if he wanted to get to the front of the pack. He started making moves relatively fast and was up to twelfth early. He kept the trend of moving forward going and moved into tenth just ten minutes into the moto. He slowly kept crawling closer to the front passing Nicoletti and Heath Harrison for eighth at the halfway point. As the moto began to wind down, he got passed Brayton but also started receiving serious pressure from Musquin. He would eventually succumb to that pressure and fall back to eighth to finish the moto. Baggett got a better start in the second moto capturing the green flag in ninth position. However this time he didn’t start making moves as quickly and had only moved up one spot ten minutes into the moto. He latched onto the rear fender of Peick around that time and followed him forward. The duo passed Brayton midway through and continued their battle. Eventually in the latter stages of the moto Baggett would make the move on Peick for sixth. He then set his sights on Cole Seely in fifth but would get shut down and passed by a feisty Justin Barcia. The move sent Baggett back to seventh place where he would ultimately end up. The 8-7 moto scores were a nice starting point for the Yoshimura Suzuki rider as he looks to regain that race pace after the collarbone injury.
words/SETHHARNISHFEGER
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