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SHANE MCELRATH
250 MX / 9TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> The 2017 outdoor season up to this point has been one to forget for Shane McElrath. He had high hopes after a stellar supercross season and some great rides last year
but it just has not panned out the way he would have liked. A hip injury began to hinder him coming out of the supercross series this year and that carried over to the outdoors. Since then he has not been able to get into a groove and it has been frustrating for
him. He came into Millville fresh from the one week break ready to persevere and get back up front. The track was quite sloppy early in the day for qualifying practice. Heavy rains leading up to the race left the track in rough shape and McElrath would manage to eek out the fourteenth fastest time. By the time qualifying was finished the track had broken in and ended up being in prime condition. Along with the track, McElrath was ready to get racing. The gate dropped for moto one to get the day going but McElrath did not get the jump he was looking for. He rounded the opening lap in fifteenth posi- tion trying to move forward. The intensity was high in those early laps and he was able to claw forward a few positions up to eleventh. Then around halfway he started running into trouble. He’d go down and drop a couple positions back to fourteenth. He tried reinstating his charge but he could not find any rhythm after that and ended suffering even more mistakes. He’d finish the moto in sixteenth. Definitely not where he would like to be and he was going to come out in moto two with a vengeance. And come out with a vengeance he did in the second moto. McElrath ripped a huge holeshot aboard his Troy Lee Red Bull KTM. He finally got the start he’s been looking for all year and he was about to take full advantage. First moto winner Joey Savatgy was able to squeeze by early on lap one but that was only the beginning. It appeared that Savatgy would pull away from McElrath but McElrath stayed right there. He actually even began to put pressure on Savatgy near the halfway point of the moto making things interesting. He certainly looked fired up and like a whole new rider. However, just passed the halfway point he would get interrupted a hard charging Zach Osborne pushing him back to third. And once that happened, McElrath stayed solid and consistent down the stretch to secure third place for the moto. His best moto of the year by far but it will be blurred in the overall results after that sixteenth in moto one. He’d go 16-3 for ninth overall. That second moto may have been exactly what the doctor ordered for McElrath to return to form.
70 GRITMOTO • JULY 23, 2017