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DAKOTA ALIX
250 SX / 12TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / WILSON
>> Naptown, a nickname that couldn’t be any more ironic, due to the amount of buzz and energy that circulates this city year around. Home to the Indianapolis 500, this
city has so much culture and racing history, making it truly one of the most adrenaline influenced habitats in all of the world. The gleaming of checkered flags always lust in the eyes that attempt to compete here, knowing that if your name lines the headlines the morning thereafter your event, you will be accepted by some of the most diehard fans anywhere; that’s all that Dakota Alix wanted. He’s always aspired to be one of
the great’s, and he’s well on his path to doing so; and although the professional circuit hasn’t been as glorified as his amateur career, he knows that anything worth having is worth working towards, and he has been constantly grinding week in and week out. It showed as soon as he stepped foot on the stadium’s ground; a solemn look, not too fierce, but ready for battle. This was his 9-5, his source of income, and he was looking to bring home the bacon when he walked off the Lucas Oil premises. Setting the tone in practice, his line through the whoops was absurd; clicking up twice into fourth gear, coming within an inch of the haybales, he would wheelie, and barely shave the knobbie onto the second, and proceed to gyrate across each peak from there on out; really a sight to see. His lines from practice translated into solid qualifying positions, and a spot for the main event; everything was set for a positive night ahead. As the field began
to sort themselves out amongst the chaos on lap number one, he was ripping tearoffs by the second; the mud acting as a gunky cake batter on his goggle lens. Always one to start up front, the KTM was raring its head inside the top ten. He would be a main- stay here, but unfortunately not progress too much, rather an option of regression would ensue; he seemed to be fighting the number 70 machine, the front end wash- ing coming into his right handed bowl turns. A huge hiccup would come prior to the finish line, where a dab of the foot would cost him valuable positions, being overtaken by former fellow MTF comrade Anthony Rodriguez. And once 8th passed, it was then 9th, to tenth, an so on, eventually ending up in the 12 position. He would stay here, unscathed, but looking forward to redemption next weekend.
86 GRITMOTO • MARCH 19, 2017