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Thursday, April 12  Mechanical ills cause poor finish By Jeremy McGrath Special to ESPN.com Last week's race in Pontiac, Mich., was extremely disappointing for Team Mazda Yamaha. I finished fourth due to a problem with my bike. I had a poor start, but quickly passed (Kevin) Windham and (Mike) LaRocco to move into third. I felt fast and I think this would have been an epic battle with RC (Ricky Carmichael) and myself, but on the third lap I had a couple of bolts fall out of my front motor mount which made me much slower. After that, I was a good three seconds slower per lap than I was in the qualifier and all week in practice. It's too bad because this track was fun and I had practiced really well on it. There were a couple of great triples and an awesome whoops section. The dirt was a little rutty Thursday and Friday but it dried out for the race Saturday night. The Pontiac race hurt me in points, but I am still going to do my best to finish the year on a strong note and knock RC off. I felt more comfortable on my bike than I have in weeks. What are you gonna do? Team Mazda Yamaha continues to be great. I have a wonderful team in my corner and they continue to support me through a tough year. This is an off week before I go into Dallas for the April 21 race. Again, that is a race I want to win badly because it is the second step in winning the Vans Triple Crown. I am going to spend a lot of time on the track this week to try to keep that aggressive, loose style that I had in Pontiac last week. Hopefully I can keep it up and get back on the top of the podium in Dallas. I also want to send a congratulations out to Travis Pastrana who wrapped up the 125cc East SX championship with his second-place finish in Pontiac. He has had an awesome year and he deserves it as much as anyone does. I hope to see him riding against me in the 250cc next year. Seven-time Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath provides a weekly diary for ESPN.com.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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