Page 54 - Issue-46

JUSTIN BARCIA
450 SX / 9TH
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Having started the 2017 season on the sidelines,“Bam-Bam” Barcia has been forced to battle uphill since making his return in Minneapolis at round seven. With only a few finishes inside the top ten, Justin just hasn’t quite broke through to dis- cover his previous, contending form and is yet to make the splash that everyone had hoped for. Looking to make bigger waves before the season finishes in Ve- gas, though, Barcia was gifted the opportunity of a home race for round sixteen in New Jersey. Qualifying 8th and lined up for heat two, Barcia jumped off the gate with authority, taking his 5th place start straight into a battle with Chad Reed for the final qualifying spot. Getting the better part of the veteran, Barcia sneaked into 4th by the finish and took his golden ticket straight out of the heat race.
With the fans cheering under the sun rather than the stadium lights, Barcia had his gate for the main decided and his mindset locked-in. The countdown ticked away and the rev-limiters were reached as the gate stuck out its arms, slap-
ping the dirt in anticipation for the next twenty minutes. The move allowed the field to bolt off the line; Justin holding down a top spot through turn one. Shuf- fling through the initial rhythm, Barcia re-surfaced in 9th place, battling behind
the likes of Cooper Webb and Chad Reed. Working forward to get around the mistakes of others, Barcia was into 7th after the first few laps and was able to continue the momentum into 6th. Barcia was capitalizing for a majority of the race, even getting by Justin Brayton near the halfway point but a mistake forced Justin backwards, dropping to 6th. Fighting to survive the late charges of his peers, Barcia’s movement began to decline as the #51 gave up a few more spots back to 8th. Justin held the spot for a few minutes but Tomac’s relentless attack was too much, pushing Barcia to 9th for the checkers. The finish earned Barcia two spots in the point standings and Justin finds himself in 16th headed to sin city for the final round next weekend. Odds are, Barcia will come prepped to run the table.
54 GRITMOTO • APRIL 30, 2017