CASEY COCHRAN - GRIT 253 250SX

GRIT-253 | 250 SX

June 5th, 2024 3:30 pm

Traveling north, from the previous California venue (i.e. Fox Raceway) many in the industry were excited to arrive at the famed Hangtown circuit. For decades, this racetrack had provided some of the fiercest battles of the AMA Professional Motocross Championship, and did much the same on Saturday as 250cc combatants made their way onto the track. Husqvarna rookie, Casey Cochran, couldn't be overlooked as he weaved his way to the finish line, blasting through the mechanic's area with deafening revs that couldn't be ignored. His lap-times were the best of anyone in the field...and he claimed the pole position, ahead of all other competitors! And as he exited the course prior to beginning moto-one, his outlook for the following two-moto format appeared extremely positive. Once into gear, he shot from the grate(s) of round one while immediately merging to his left, doing his best to occupy an inside lane through the first corner while being pelted with roost from the opposition. Clods of soils would bounce off of his front number plate, but he never lapsed with his throttle twisting while storming through the switchback corners that accompanied the elevation on the far side of the track. He had gravitated toward a standing of eleventh while Jalek Swoll, Pierce Brown, and Jo Shimoda pursued him. Despite the latter two opponents making their way around, the Triumph rider couldn't seem to capitalize as they made their way into the fifteen minute mark of the Moto. The legendary drop-down section that was roughly thirty-seconds (or so) before the finish line, was a pivotal juncture where Cochran sough to extend the gap over Swoll- landing with a surplus of horsepower before ducking into the array of corners that followed, with arcing lines through the middle of the course and optimal balance. Despite being past by the number thirty-three toward the end of the moto, the rookie (Cochran) would do enough to keep Coty Schock and Ryder DiFrancesco at bay...to collect a final score of twelfth before moving into the following race. Flying through the earliest of laps for this showcase, his chassis configuration seemed to agree with the hardened, square-edge chop that was found in the hill(s) and corners after the second corner on the racetrack. Many in the field seem to portray a stiffness in their rebound when the rear-end of their 250F machine(s) would dance from side to side a bit, but his Husqvarna motorcycle appeared to be in harmony with this Northern California terrain. The demanding conditions seemed to take their toll on the latter portion of the top-twenty and beyond as the eighth and ninth laps were completed, but by that point (after starting around the tenth-place standing) he seemed solidified in a position of twelfth ahead of Mark Fineis and Nate Thrasher. His heart rate and positioning on the frame never showed signs of fatigue, and as he eventually crossed the checkered flag, ahead of the Yamaha tandem, (and Daxton Bennick, as well) for twelfth, his tenth overall in the record book would equate to a notable sum of points.

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