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SHANE MCELRATH
250 SX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> What a start to the year it was for Shane McElrath. Winning the first two races of his career back to back at the first two rounds of the series was liter- ally the best start you could ask for. He looked strong, smooth and consistent in those performances and even looked that way at the races he did not win. He had no finishes outside the podium up until the last round before the long break when disaster struck. A mechanical issue forced him out of the main event early resulting in a twenty-second-place finish. Dead last. That race virtu- ally blew any title hopes away which must have been extra devastating after the fast start he got out to. He had the long seven weeks to think about that and what he would have to do to make a statement in Seattle. McElrath quali- fied modestly in seventh place in the lone qualifying session. The inclement track conditions limited the amount of reps they received on the course but he was still ready to dice it up come race time.
McElrath got a solid start in his heat race emerging lap one in fourth position. He slowly but surely moved forward to third and then into second on lap five of seven. By the time, he worked into that position leader Justin Hill was long gone so he would have to settle there and get prepared for the main event.
McElrath nailed another great start in the main event securing the green flag in third place. We were excited to see him challenge the leaders up front but we never saw it happen. He did not match the intensity of the other riders and fell a bit behind. He got shuffled back to sixth relatively quickly and would settle
in there for most of the race. He got handed the fifth-place finish on the night when Jimmy Decotis bobbled on the final lap giving McElrath the top five. Not the performance we expected to see from the former title leader but he’ll have another week off to regroup before the season resumes in Salt Lake City after Easter.
42 GRITMOTO • APRIL 9, 2017