Daytona Beach, (March 9, 2019)
Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM Factory Racing’s Shane McElrath, who currently sits third in the 250SX West standings, lined up in the 450SX class aboard his KTM 250 SX-F on Saturday. Shane made history Saturday night as the highest finishing 250 rider in the 450SX class. Having fun and feeling good all day, McElrath was able to power his way to a direct transfer spot into the Main Event with an eighth-place finish in the 450SX heat race. Heading into the Main Event with no pressure, McElrath charged his way from just outside the top-15 on the opening lap to ultimately finishing 12th in the premier class for the night. East Coast Rider, Jordon Smith was in Daytona and was in good spirits signing autographs, talking to fans and supporting his teammate, Shane as he raced his way into the history books. We are hoping to have Jordon back out riding soon!
“This being the 2nd time I’ve raced at Daytona, I had a blast! I went out there with no pressure and nothing to prove which really allowed me to go out and have fun! I fought all the way through and really just felt good out there on my bike today.” – Shane McElrath
Moving Forward to Indianapolis this weekend. We are looking forward to welcoming back East Coast Rider Mitchell Falk this week as we gear towards Rd. 11 of the Supercross series.
When the gate dropped on the night’s main event, Honda HRC’s Cole Seely got decent jump down the start straight. As the field careened into the second turn, another rider got sideways causing a chain reaction that would lead to Seely going down. Seely remounted his CRF450R race machine at the back of the pack and went into salvage mode to regain as many positions as possible. Seely fought for positions as he pushed forward during the 20-minute-plus-one-lap race, settling for 13th.