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BENNY BLOSS
450 MX / 10TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Benny Bloss has been enjoying a career year aboard his Rocky Mountain ATV/
MC KTM. The young kid from Missouri has consistently been in or near the top ve all season. He really started to come on strong at the end of the Supercross season and that has certainly had a nice carry over effect. It has almost become commonplace now to see him up front. It is expected now because of how fast and consistent he has been. At our last race at Red Bud, it all came to fruition when he secured his rst ever moto podium with a third place in moto one. Unfortunately, he would run into troubles in the second moto and nish way back in twenty-third ruining his chances at an overall po- dium. However, that podium was a huge con dence boost and he will look to try and nab another before the season is over. Bloss struggled a bit in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He was only able to make away with the eleventh fastest lap time in the class. This came as a bit of a surprise because many thought his long, tall stature would easily navigate the infamous Millville sand rollers and the large braking bumps down the hills. Nonetheless, he was ready to shake it off and go racing. Bloss did not get the start he wanted to kick off his day. He came around lap one deep down in twelfth. He moved to eleventh on lap two but would then go down shortly after. He remounted back in eigh- teenth place and would have to navigate his way through a crowded eld on a track that had many lines funnel into one. He spent the remainder of the moto clawing and scratch- ing his way forward inch by inch. Every pass took a lot of effort, but he managed to get all the way back up to eleventh by the checkered ag. It was an all-around rough moto for Bloss, but he would look to make up for it in moto two. Moto two started much better for him. He started in ninth but managed to pass Cody Cooper and Phil Nicoletti in the rst few laps to get into seventh. By the time he had moved into seventh, the lead group had distanced themselves from him and he was left pretty lonely. He did his best plug- ging away with fast, consistent laps but it wasn’t enough because late in the moto, Justin Hill knocked on his door and passed him after a few laps of battle. This sent Bloss back to eighth where he would end up nishing. His 11-8 moto scores earned him tenth overall on the day. It was an unusually down day for Bloss who couldn’t really get anything go- ing. He will look to rebound next weekend at Washougal.
32 GRITMOTO • JULY 22, 2018