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The Muddy Creek track was reflecting its name early Saturday morning. The rutted and soft track was keeping all the riders on their toes. Eli logged the second fastest time in the first session and posted an even faster time in the second. Going into the motos with 2nd gate pick provided Eli with the confidence he needed to put the
Kawasaki in contention to win. When the first 450 moto began, Eli got off to a decent start and found his self fighting to get inside the top five by the end of lap two. The two Yamaha teammates in front of him came together around lap four and he was able to slide into 3rd place. He began to pressure Roczen for 2nd, which encouraged Roczen to start to close up on 1st place Seely. As the three riders closed in on each other and the timer ran down, something was bound to happen. With just twelve minutes left on the clock, Eli took advantage of the two battling in front of him and nearly passed them both in the same corner. After an insane battle, Eli managed to follow Ken around Cole and tried to stay with him. He tried to make a charge with five minutes left on the clock but it would not be enough. He would take 2nd in the first moto. In the next race, Eli got a great jump and was running near the top five early. He began pressuring the riders in front of him and was making moves. He sliced his way to 3rd where he sat very close to 2nd place, Tickle. He made an aggressive pass around a downhill corner and set his sights on leader, Roczen. With three laps to go, Eli began to close in on the leader and the crowd was going crazy. Eli began to feed off the adrenaline and started showing Roczen that he was there. He started to attempt some passes and even collided with Roczen coming out of a corner. Luckily they kept it on two wheels and continued the battle. With one lap to go, it seemed Eli was going to make the move but ran out of real estate. Eli would go 2-2 for 2nd overall at Muddy Creek.
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