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JEFF COX
theGRIT
What looked like a potential improvement upon last weekend’s season-best finish, Foxbor- ough may be a round for Hampshire to put in his rearview mirror. It had started off seeming like a night to remember, as RJ muscled the Geico Honda into 2nd in his heat race, pushing the envelope of the race leader Tyler Bowers in the short six-lap sprint; then, things went south. You see, Hampshire had gotten out to an alright start in the main event, crossing lap
one in 10th, but was well out of top-5 contention due to the pace the leaders were running.
He worked his lines, ducking inside before the whoops to protect his spot and running outside before the rhythms to carry the momentum, yet he was unable to muster much of a run as the laps began to wind down. He was able to make his way up to 7th by the end of lap four before settling into the position and halting his charge. For the next ten lap, Hampshire raced alone with Gannon Audette on his heels each lap. It wasn’t clear if it was a result of mid-race mistake but on lap fourteen
the #61 of Audette was able to sneak around the Geico Honda, pushing Hampshire to 8th, and ride away with the 7th place spot. At the end of the day, RJ was unsatisfied with the finish and had hoped to continue his streak of top-5 finishes to two weekends in a row. Now, actually having round seven in the rearview, the Geico Semi is headed for East Rutherford and round eight of the East series next weekend. Hampshire will head home to prepare for his final East coast round in efforts to make his way back into the spotlight.
words/BRENTECKERT
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