Page 88 - ISSUE_54

NICK GAINES
250 MX / 15TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / TILLS
>> The halfway point has passed, the season is beginning to fly by as Nick Gaines matures. It seems as though it was just yesterday he was a highly-touted amateur competing for championship, after cham- pionship, dreaming of this very moment. It appeared to sink in on the starting line, that if he could rally, and captivate his inner desires here, he could push forward from here on out, garnering a great result. The gate fall’s, and it is absolute chaos in the first turn; the pack acting as if an alarm had sounded and everyone was rushing to the exit. He found himself reaching for the goggle lens early, going outside when the others were hitting the inside berms, and vice versa. His style
was hovering over the rear fender, as his many days of practice and studying had informed him that the lighter the rear wheel, the better. All of the time in the off-season was coming to fruition, if he could contain himself from the slight mistakes; as every front-end was add- ing up. And although running a solid pace (near 2:20 or below), it just wasn’t enough to keep up with the likes of winner Dylan Ferrandis, or Zach Osborne. He would go on to finish 16th, just behind his former “Team Green” teammate of Adam Cianciarulo. The amateur days, of the blazing speed, were showing signs once again, as he was trail- ing Luke Renzland for quite some time. Latching on to the number
50, a 36th place start forced him to fight, no matter what the cost. The young Georgian showed his true “707” spirit once again, the one he built his name on throughout his days of terrorizing the Southeast. He would hang on to a solid spot, captivating the crowd, and take 15th for the moto, and 15th overall.
88 GRITMOTO • JULY 9, 2017