JASON ANDERSON - GRIT 244 450SX

GRIT-244 |450 SX

May 20, 2024 9:45 am

The sprint-speed of Jason Anderson was evident as the Triple Crown format came to fruition, where the New Mexico native embodied quite the pace from practice and put forth a phenomenal run to begin the opening main event. After passing Shane McElrath, he then kept the third-place accolade for a good amount of time...before a defensive riding style was put forth by the Kawasaki rider. Doing his best to keep the likes of Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton at bay, he would be past by both athletes while then defending his position from Eli Tomac. Tomac (as well) would overtake Anderson...but an inherited position would work on his behalf, with Cooper Webb unfortunately crashing near the end of the moto. Now fifth, he seemed to be in the clear, until a late race charge from Aaron Plessinger would push matters into the final corner...where Jason would claim fifth, literally by a fender as he crested the finish line double! After battling with Aaron Plessinger for the third place position (to begin moto two) Kawasaki's Anderson resided second on the first full lap of action, before storming past the Ohio native on the following circuit. Now into third, Anderson (yet again) displayed brilliant sprint speed on this rutted canvas...but as time would progress, what seemed to be a lapse in pace would result in a loss of positions. Webb and Sexton were charging forward, and Anderson couldn't do anything but oblige to their pace as Chase pushed him wide in the corner before the mechanics area with just under four minutes left. Webb would follow just behind, passing Jason as well. And losing one more position to Aaron Plessinger on the eleventh lap, would divert Jason to sixth at the checkered, respectively. He'd been riding on the East Coast at the ClubMX facility in recent times, and in moto-three, his newfound training would be evident as he weaved through the abundance of grooves on the deteriorated raceway. Beginning the segment in fifth, he would defend the position from Justin Barcia and Aaron Plessinger for a significant amount of time...until he began to break away from the veterans, despite undergoing a slight collision with Aaron Plessinger at the end of the whoop section. It was "AP" who lost the majority of time for that particular incident, leaving Anderson upright (ahead of now, Justin Barcia). With sixteen laps in total, Anderson knew that he couldn't fold or let his outburst(s) of speed subside with the checkered flag in mind. And in all actuality, he proceeded to engage in one last surge of speed, to solidify his placement in fifth. The final "boost" of sorts was enough to defend the fifth-place honor(s) from the aforementioned New York native...walking away from Lucas Oil Stadium with five-six-five listed in the box score, for a remarkable fourth-place residency in the final standings.

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