Josh has been working his way towards that elusive podium in 2015. Words by: Dan Lamb – Photo by: Hoppenworld
In the 2015 Silly Season, one of the biggest moves was the announcement that Chad Reed and Discount Tire Racing/Two Two Motorsports/Kawasaki would be hiring a second rider. With Chad being the sole focus over the first four years of the team’s existence, there have been a few times that the truck has been parked due to Reedy dealing with injuries. With that, and with Josh Grant‘s track record of not being able to stay healthy himself, many questioned the decision of bringing JG33 on as the second guy. So far, though, Josh has been on the line in every 450SX main event in 2015 making him one of only ten riders that can say that.
While Josh did not exactly set the world on fire over the first five rounds, over the last five rounds has made huge strides in the right direction. Josh’s best results over the first five rounds was an 18th at the Anaheim 1 opener, but since beginning his turnaround in San Diego, the #33 has gone 12-8-10-6-11-7 and fought his way up to 13th in the 450SX Championship. Thirteenth is not what JG wants or expects out of himself, but being on a new team with a new bike while progressing and staying healthy through Supercross was probably always the goal for himself and his new team. Come outdoors, though, we expect the Californian to bring it.
After Josh’s 7th in Indianapolis, Chase Yocom caught up with him to talk about his night inside Lucas Oil Stadium. You can hear what Josh had to say in his “Race Rewind” interview below.
We’re here with Josh Grant. Josh, 7th out of the night. How was the main event for you?
A little bit of a struggle. Kind of struggled with bike setup. Didn’t make the right choice on tire and a few issues, but really stoked with how the night went. Got a decent start, got to put myself in a better position this weekend. Transferred out of the semi, which gave me a bit better gate pick. I’m normally 18 or 17 or 16th pick which kind of screws me for the main event, so that helped. Didn’t ride the way I wanted to. I let two guys kind of take those positions from me with Davi [Millsaps] and [Andrew] Short. I felt like I should have had a top 5 tonight, but I’ll take it where I can get it, and right now I feel pretty good with where I’m at.
What happened between you and Chad [Reed] in the corner? Did he kind of get into you there?
Yeah, Chad—we were going into the inside on the first lap and everybody bottles up right there. I was just trying to protect the inside, protect the line, and he unfortunately got in the back of my wheel.
How gnarly was that track though? It looked like it deteriorated pretty heavily tonight.
Yeah, it was brutal, like it was probably one of the gnarliest tracks we’ve ridden. Even last year I remember that the track was really rutted. It was brutal! You really had to be on your toes. It was one line, hard to pass, so that’s what really sucked, and then they threw a sand section in right after a triple into a wall which made it even more one line. I feel like if they would do some changes that people asked for then I think it would actually open it up for some racing.
How gnarly were those whoops tonight? I’ve talked to quite a few riders tonight about having to jump through them.
Yeah, they were pretty brutal. The first two were the ones that gave everybody issues just because they were rutted out, but other than that, halfway through you could start skimming and get back into the rhythm. It was just the first two that were really jacked.
You had a bike change from last year to this year, from Yamaha to Kawasaki. The last four to five weeks seems like you’re on it. Are you’re just getting more and more comfortable?
Best move I’ve made. No, I’m stoked. I’ve always felt kind of comfortable on a Kawi, and even in 2012 when I rode for the JWR [Jeff Ward Racing] team, we got on the podium a bunch and we were riding stock bikes, so I just feel really comfortable in it. It suits my style a little bit. With the Yamaha, I kind of always struggled when I started on their new bike in 2010 and just never really gelled with it. Unfortunately that’s just the way it worked out, but I’m stoked where I’m at.
I’ve seen some different suspension on your bike throughout the year. Are you pretty much settled in now with what you’re comfortable with?
Yeah. We’ve switched probably three times now. I went to Air Forks and Spring Forks and the Traditional, and we’ve been searching a little bit. We got some good parts from SHOWA so it’s kind of just throwing new stuff at it all the time. I think we finally figured out a good combination.
Thanks for your time. I appreciate it, and good job tonight.
Thanks.
