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Monster Energy Kawasaki racing
principal Bruce Stjernstrom, a man
instrumental in bringing Grant into
the lime green fold, has also been
an enthusiast of Grant’s collective
career experience, pointing out,
“The young guys coming up, they
don’t know what’s in front of them.
Josh already knows that. For him,
it’s like, ‘I’ve got a certain amount of
time left and I’m going to make the
best of it now.’ I think that’s showing.
He’s coming to each event like he’s
prepared better, he’s confident, the
bike is working for him. He’s worked
harder on the bike setup than he
ever has, and I think it’s paying off
now. He’s only doing himself good
by getting consistent results, which
is what we’re looking for.”Back in 2015, Grant was hired by
Chad Reed to race for the Austra-
lian veteran’s TwoTwo Motorsports
organization. Both aboard Kawasaki
KX450Fs, Grant fared well for his em-
ployer, making main events and con-
sistently running inside the top 10.
Furthermore, both riders not only en-
joyed a very good working relation-
ship, but they came to the realization
that they’d both been through, and
experienced, a hell of a lot.“Josh has had a lot of life experienc-
es like I have, you know?” Reed said.
“I think he’s been on a lot of good
teams. He’s had some good results
and he’s failed some years when he
should have performed. I think he
has seen the sport for what it is. He’s
found himself without a ride, and I
think this is a second go-around for
him. He’s found a good home at Ka-
wasaki. I think that anytime you have
a good home that you enjoy and the
people that you work for appreci-
ate and respect you, I think you get
nothing but results.”In essence, Grant’s relationship with
the Monster Energy Kawasaki fac-
tory race team was established dur-
ing the March of 2016 when rider
Wil Hahn was injured in the Geor-
gia Dome. Grant, who had done
temporary work with the Monster
Energy/Kawasaki team during the
summer of 2015 (even winning a
moto at USGP at Glen Helen that
September), got the call to substi-
tute for Hahn.