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Pre-drop ritual, fist bump the mechanic, upshift, and lock her in, let’s dance boys.
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Heat two saw McElrath burst from the launch pad, dogging the KTM for all it had going into turn one; he would come away with the hole- shot. Navigating the course with precision, he attempted to execute a plan of marksmanship and accuracy, rather than fury. All seemed
to be well until the spiked, green shell of Bowser began to inch closer and closer, ultimately dethroning the leader on lap two through the whoop section. Bowers (Bowser) tried to sprint from the number thirty in the moments thereafter, but McElrath was having none of it. A val- iant surge with his orange bayonet, dug deep into the side of the 53, and he overtook the lead once again, prior to the dragon’s back. Bow- ers, although bloodied, quickly retaliated and took a slash of his own, inheriting the lead once more! The pressure began to accumulate on the TLD rider, forcing an eventual mistake, and decay to fourth position (Jeremy Martin and Aaron Plessinger ahead). He would gather his emotions, and finish here, looking forward to the main event. “Mac Daddy” once again let the competition read his cards and weep, follow- ing the start of the main event, pulling a holeshot and looking to march away from the field; a mistake in the opening turn, however, would slide the number thirty back to fourth, but by all means still in contention for the win. Malcolm Stewart would annihilate the dragon’s back beside Shane, causing the Carolina native to fall to fifth, and Jeremy Martin would follow suit; positioning him in sixth by lap two. With fifth place within arm’s reach, he yearned for the top five, and got it, sitting just behind Jeremy Martin on lap four. “We have a code green, an enemy that appears to be limping” McElrath radioed into his teammates, as the number 53 of Tyler Bowers threw out the anchor following a lap seven series of mistakes; resulting in an increase of position for Shane, placing him fourth with eight to go. A rather uneventful latter por- tion of the main was pleasant in the eyes of McElrath, as he would cruise to one spot off the box. The fourth would provide encouragement, and reinforce that the work he was putting in throughout the week was well worth it.
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