CHRISTIAN CRAIG - GRIT 254 450SX

GRIT-254 | 450 SX

June 10th, 2024 3:30 pm

Husqvarna's Christian Craig was steadily building his foundation for the 2024 MX season, despite having to overcome a multitude of injuries in recent memory. The longtime veteran out of Southern California was ready, willing, and able to fight through the demands of the rugged outdoor circuit - and regain the prowess he once had in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. After a solid practicing effort where he occupied the thirteenth fastest time on the statistics sheet, the former 250SX champion was ready to charge into the main event with a surge of confidence. He occupied the eleventh-place standing as action was underway, scrubbing over the finish-line tabletop before bombarding into the makeshift rhythm lane that was immediately thereafter. One could see his "SX" talent as he jumped through the line of moguls and lips, landing on the power as he entered the swift left-handed circuit thereafter. He would make his way around Max Miller and Jerry Robin rather quickly, but could sense that Honda's Dylan Ferrandis was closing-in with a fierce aspiration to surpass him. The veterans would undergo a brief battle, but after a few laps of action, it was Ferrandis who did take the spot in which they both desired. He followed both, the paths of Ferrandis and teammate Malcolm Stewart...waiting for one of the veterans to slip, per se. But neither would budge - creating quite the wall of defense for Craig to either try and overcome, or drift away from when entering into the realm of the checkered flag. He wasn't going to shy away from a fight, and proceeded to press forward through the final jump...even gaining a position on behalf of Jason Anderson's crash, with only minutes remaining on the clock. At the stripe, it was Craig who occupied a solid standing of ninth before moving into the following realm of racing. As the gate(s) crashed to the ground for the final occasion for the 450cc brigade, Craig occupied tenth, but overtook Marshal Weltin on the next lap to secure ninth. Again, he and Malcolm Stewart were on a similar trajectory, but it was Aaron Plessinger who was surging forward from outside of single-digit territory...and eventually surpassed the So-Cal native. However, Craig would halt the skid at that moment - and put forth a defensive claim that would keep Freddie Noren and Justin Hill at bay. He was only five-seconds off of Dylan Ferrandis at the checkered flag, and with the tenth-place finish in this moto (for Craig) his combination of scores solidified him in tenth overall, respectively.

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