Page 90 - ISSUE-47

TYLER BOWERS
250 SX / 15TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Tyler Bowers entered the 2017 250 West Coast series with a new team, the 51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha squad. His first couple races were a bit of a struggle as he earned a pair of elevenths but he made a big improvement at round three in Anaheim by going out and finishing eighth. The pieces were coming together and
it looked like he and his team were working the kinks out. However, at round four, he would crash in practice and fracture his femur sidelining him for several weeks. Already having a rod in his femur from a previous break, his recovery time was cut down dramatically and he was able to return at the previous round in Salt Lake City. He finished in tenth there and wanted to nail another top ten to end his season on a positive note in Las Vegas.
Bowers struggled a bit in practice only qualifying with the twenty-third fastest lap time. He started his 250 West heat race in the final transfer spot in ninth. He made a quick move for eighth a lap into the race. But then a few laps later he would get bounced back two spots to tenth and out of a transfer spot by Plessinger and Oldenburg. He would be unable to retaliate and get back inside the top nine meaning he was onto the LCQ. He performed much better there as he grabbed the early lead and took the easy win to head to the shootout.
Bowers managed a solid start in the shootout rounding lap one in seventh. He looked good early as he hopped up into sixth in the opening laps. Unfortunately, he would not last long up there and his fall to the back of the pack would begin. He struggled to keep the pace of the top riders and mistakes and bobbles contributed to his downfall. He fell back to tenth by the midway point and would lose five more in just the last few laps. It was a bummer of a way to end his season but he was still trying to work his way back from his femur injury.
90 GRITMOTO • MAY 7, 2017