Page 42 - Issue-61

MITCHELL OLDENBURG
250 SX / 6TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Despite his 2017 250SX West Coast Championship being abbreviated due to injury, Mitchell Old- enburg showed some serious potential while he was out there racing. In the four races, he was able to compete in, they were all top fives including a pair of podium finishes. He then kicked off the out- door season with a top ten finish at Hangtown but would go down with injury at round two sidelining him the rest of the summer. That injury may have been the reason Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM decided to not resign him for 2018 and beyond but luckily for him, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha signed him and he was able to stay with a factory team. Oldenburg entered last week at Anaheim with the intentions of picking up where he left off in the races that was not injured in a season ago and he did just that. He finished with a strong sixth place finish and he entered Houston ready to build on that and challenge for a top five. Oldenburg looked primed and race ready in qualifying prac- tice as he went out and set the fourth fastest lap time of the class. It was an impressive showing and he appeared to be capable of producing similar results in the races during the night show.
When the gate dropped in heat one, it was Oldenburg who stormed out into the early lead. He’d take the field around lap one but not without pressure from Shane McElrath. McElrath locked into second and threw everything he had at Oldenburg. The two riders would produce one of the best battle of the evening. Oldenburg countered nearly every pass attempt from McElrath until lap five when McEl- rath finally made a pass stick. But with two laps to go when the race appeared to be wrapping up, Oldenburg grabbed a handful and rallied back into the fray, passing McElrath and regaining the lead. He really wanted his first career heat race win but McElrath would pass him back on the final lap and spoil those wishes. Oldenburg showed true grit and speed and he would need that for a top five fin- ish in the main. After nailing a holeshot in his heat race, Oldenburg suffered the complete opposite in the main event. He got out to an abysmal start only rounding the first lap in fifteenth place. He would use that speed he showcased in practice and the heat race to begin moving forward. He carved all the way up to eighth by just lap six. The next lap he would pass Bradley Taft for seventh and settle in. By the time he got there, the top six riders were long gone and locked in a slew of battles. Oldenburg would quietly churn out the remainder of the laps until the final lap where he would charge around Adam Cianciarulo who had just remounted after a crash on the prior lap. He would finish in sixth position for the second week in a row. Two great rides from Oldenburg at the first two rounds but he has to be upset he suffered such a bad start in the main event. His speed was on point all day and he surely could have had a top five if he had just nailed a better start. He’ll surely work on that and come back firing next week at Anaheim 2.
42 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 14, 2018