Page 53 - MPG15

Aaron Plessinger rolled into Foxboro with the swagger of cutting Malcolm Stewart’s points lead to
one point the previous weekend. He knew he had a big chance to take control of the championship
and he got the day started with a fine showing in practice with the fourth fastest time. The track for the night show looked similar to the track in Indianapolis where he won so he was definitely a favorite heading into the races.
Plessinger suffered from a dismal start in the opening heat race starting well outside the top ten. He had to put the hammer down to qualify and salvage a good gate pick. On his way up to the front he engaged in a healthy battle with Luke Renzland and ultimately made the pass stick and continued forward. He got all the way up to fourth on the last lap and snuck one more pass in at the last second on Alex Frye stealing away third. It was a great come from behind ride from Plessinger and a nice setup for the main event. Another race and another bad start from the young rider from Ohio. He started out in the ninth place position with all the other title contenders battling up near the front. It was hard to find room to pass and the track was absolutely brutal making it a struggle for Plessinger to make a charge. The deep ruts literally lined the track making it grueling to get through. But despite all that
Plessinger climbed to sixth by the halfway point and then made a move on Bowers with five to go. He set his sights on Shane McEl- rath with championship points in mind but would fall just short of making the pass for fourth. Aaron would have to settle with a fifth place finish. Not exactly what he was looking for coming in but he salvaged some points and only sits five points behind Stewart with two rounds to go. Anything can happen.
JEFF COX
theGRIT
words/SETHHARNISHFEGER
WWW.GRITMOTO.COM
53