Page 36 - Issue-61

SHANE MCELRATH
250 SX / 4TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Shane McElrath has solidified himself as a supercross guru over the past year. The Troy Lee Designs/ Red Bull KTM rider came out swinging last year during the 2017 250SX West Championship. He won the first two rounds and podiumed at the next three until disaster struck in Arlington. A mechanical resulting
in a twenty-second place finish all but destroyed his title hopes. That race seemed to have a lingering impact on him throughout the remainder of the supercross season and then into the length of the outdoor season. He just never really looked like himself and also had to deal with little nagging injuries. He was more than happy for the offseason to arrive so he can rest, recharge, and retool to make another run at the title that was cruelly taken from him a season ago. After winning the opening round at Anaheim 1 in convincing fashion, McElrath did not seem to skip a beat during qualifying practice at Houston. He looked strong and stable while setting the second fastest lap time of the class. He was ready to make it back to back wins come race time. McElrath’s heat race would go down as a thriller. He started in second place behind Mitchell Oldenburg and the former teammates would endure a great battle. McElrath was all over Oldenburg during the first four laps but Oldenburg was able to narrowly keep him behind after each pass attempt. Finally, McElrath’s persistence paid off and he made the pass for the lead on lap five. He thought he was going to cruise to the victory but two laps later Oldenburg came roaring back into the picture and passed him back retaking the lead. McElrath remained calm and retaliated once again and would be able to pass Oldenburg back on the final lap to take the victory. It was definitely a race to get those competi- tive juices flowing and he would need that for the main event. McElrath got another one of his signature good starts in the main. He filed into second place behind race leader Joey Savatgy as they all grabbed the green flag. McElrath immediately applied pressure to the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider but no matter what he did, he just could not make the pass. This would come back to haunt him because it allowed Adam Cianciarulo to put pressure on him making it a three-way battle for the lead. McElrath had his hands full caught in a Kawasaki sandwich. Lap six he finally faltered and surrendered second place
to Cianciarulo after nearly taking the lead on several occasions. McElrath stayed right there and that paid off when Cianciarulo crashed letting him go right back into second. But that only lasted for a lap because Aaron Plessinger came storming by after McElrath nearly threw it away by jumping off the track in a tough rhythm section. Back in third McElrath seemed to be in control and a safe bet to finish there but the bat- tling just would not end. With just a few laps to go, Chase Sexton and Cianciarulo would pass him back sending him to fifth. Then when it appears the chaos is finally over, Cianciarulo would go down again with two laps to go giving McElrath the fourth-place finish. It was quite the entertaining race but McElrath must be bummed he would end up off the podium after being so close to taking the early lead. He’ll look to get back to his winning ways next weekend by attempting to go two for two at Anaheim this season.
36 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 14, 2018