Page 100 - Issue-46

Dakota Tedder
450 SX / 18TH
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / LANNAN DESIGN / WILSON
>> Dakota Tedder has been a household name in the sport of pro Motocross and Supercross for 10 years now. The young California native has seen many ups and downs in his career and has been looking for some more success in the 2017 season. Although struggles have been apparent so far this year, Dakota has had some strong moments. He is always fast and was looking for that little extra when the day began
in New Jersey. Dakota took to the track and was looking comfortable in the east coast ruts. He qualified 24th fastest and was ready to get into his first Main of the year. When 450 Heat 1 began, Dakota was pinched off quickly going into the first turn and had much work to do if he wanted to get into the top 4. He began to make up ground quickly and had climbed all the way up to 11th position by the time the checkers waved. In the Semi, He got a fantastic start and was running 3rd place early on. He kept his laps smooth and mistake free as he made his way through the tricky condi- tions. Eventually, he was passed by Stewart and Weimer but was doing everything he could to hold on to transfer position. Alex Ray briefly passed him as the laps wound down but Dakota demanded the spot back. He was ready to punch his ticket to the Main as he rounded the last corner but little did he know, Aj Catanzaro had other plans. Aj was catching him fast but got a little whiskey throttle as he went for the pass. The two made violent contact and hit the New England soil. Luckily, they were both ok and would see each other again in the LCQ. Dakota pulled the holeshot when the gate dropped for this one and was doing his best to hold off the hungry riders behind him. He lost two positions quickly but was determined to hold on to qualifying posi- tion. He continued to be mistake free until a fellow Kawasaki rider caught and passed Dakota just before the finish. Nevertheless, his efforts were good enough to secure his spot in the Main. Dakota’s good start streak came to an end when the 450 Main began, as he rounded the first corner near the rear of the pack. He dug deep and mustered up some speed and eventually made some moves on some of the riders
in front of him. He made his way up to 17th for most of the race but would eventually finish in 18th position. This was his best finish of the year.
100 GRITMOTO • APRIL 30, 2017