VOL. 51 ISSUE 28 JULY 15, 2014 P57
day I just wasn't my best, espe-
cially in that second moto."
The heat was a factor for some
of the riders, but Roczen didn't
seem to be bothered by it. "I think
since I've been in Florida the last
few weeks, I don't think it both-
ered me," said Roczen. "I feel
like I've dealt with hotter weather
and I was ready for it; I don't fear
the heat. It was definitely one of
the warmer races, but it definitely
helps me out living in Florida."
Oh, My Aching Back
Despite joining the series late due
to injury, Eli Tomac has showed
steady improvement with each
race. In Maryland, the GEICO
Honda rider almost didn't ride
due to an issue with his back the
morning of the race. After "work-
ing out the kinks" during prac-
tice, Tomac came back to post a
Briefly...
said Nicoletti. "I was kind of bummed
because I think I could have had two
top-10 finishes. In the second moto,
I had a terrible start, but I was able to
work my way back towards the front.
My teammate, Justin Brayton, and I
had a good battle for a while, and I
tried to run down 'Shorty' [Andrew
Short] but I couldn't get him. In the
end, 12-8 for ninth is good, I'm hap-
py with that." Nicoletti is contracted
to race just certain races with the
JGRMX team and won't be back on
the track again until Unadilla.
The Budds Creek race marked the
second race for GEICO Honda's
Christian Craig since coming out
of retirement. The heat and humidity
got the best of him in the first 450
moto. "I'm just glad it's over, actual-
ly," Craig said. "I haven't been train-
ing too hard because I do have a real
job, so I knew it was going to be a
tough one when I was looking at the
weather this weekend. It was really
humid. I qualified really good and put
myself in a good spot in the first moto
but I just died. It was tough to hang
on, and I just rode it out [to a 15
th
place in the first moto]. I was pretty
worn out after that, and I didn't know
if I was going to race in the second
moto because I was so depleted. I
went out there and just rode around,
[but] I ended up doing better than my
first moto."
Justin Bogle grabbed a pair of top-
five finishes for sixth overall in the
250 class. "I got tight," Bogle said.
"It wasn't my best display of riding
today. The day started well for Bo-
gle, as he was fast in practice and
earned the holeshot in the first moto.
"I started off the day good in practice
and felt good," Bogle said. "For me,
continued on next page
