Page 62 - Grit_Issue_69

LUKE RENZLAND
250 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / WARNER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Coming into Daytona Luke Renzland had nished ninth, seventh, and eleventh. Respectable nishes? Yes, but El Dozer is not a fan. Luke has been getting better with every season and now on his second year with Trader’s racing he has shown that on any given Saturday night we could potentially see him ghting for a step on the podium. A tenth in qualifying would leave Luke looking for answers as well as sec- onds on the racetrack. Being over three seconds behind the rst-place quali er Austin Forkner Luke needed to gure something out in his Heat Race if he wanted to have any hopes of contending for top spots at Daytona in 2018. A terrible jump off the gate in Heat One would have him tenth around turn one. However, with the Daytona track layout this year it wasn’t so much as where you placed in turn one, but where you placed after turn two. Hugging the inside line down the rst straightway Luke passed three riders on the inside line of turn two alone and by the third straightway he had cut his distance to the leader in half rounding off lap one in fth place. Chipping away slow and steady like Dozer’s do, Luke passed Alves for fourth on lap two and rode smooth and strong until the race was ended short via red ag due to a hard crash
for Geico Honda’ s RJ Hampshire. El Dozer’s speed off the gate in the Main Event resembled his nickname you could say. Slow like a bulldozer[. Unless you got a great jump the inside gates at Daytona were not your friend. Multiple riders pulled better starts towards the center. Luke, in the fth gate from the inside, got jammed up on the inside of turn one with Davalos, Rodriguez, and Osborne and heading down the rst straightaway he sat eighteenth. The opening laps would not favor him either as he crossed the nish line on lap two in twentieth. However, in Dozer fashion, he slowly climbed his way back to tenth by lap thirteen. By this point, the gap was too large to track down any more riders in the nal two laps so Luke would have settle for tenth, another respectable] , yet disappointing nish for the Trader’s Racing rider. Luke has talent; he has speed, a good bike, and a good team. Will 2018 be his breakout year? After four rounds the best we have seen from him is seventh, but good things take time maybe and we just have to wait a little longer to see.
62 GRITMOTO • MARCH 11, 2018