Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Shane McElrath rebounded to a second-place finish after coming together with a lapped rider early on in Sunday’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX East race at Rice-Eccles Stadium. His teammate Colt Nichols joined him on the podium in third.
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When the gate dropped in the Main Event, McElrath came short of the holeshot but fired back quickly and took the lead from his title rival in the second corner. He started to build a gap on the competition but a downed rider brought out a red flag. Then Mother Nature decided to play her hand and rain really started coming down, making for a challenging track when racing resumed with a complete restart.
McElrath got the holeshot this time around and tried to build another lead up front, but the defending 250SX East Champion was right behind him. On lap six the North Carolinian came together with a lapped rider and went down. He was able to rejoin the race but was 16-seconds adrift of his rival. By the checkered flag, McElrath was able to close gap in half and hold onto second-place for an important points haul on a tough day. He heads into the break trailing the championship leader by three points with two rounds remaining.
For Nichols, a second chance at the start helped him as he got off the gate much better in fourth. By lap five he was able to move into third and maintain that all the way to the finish line for his second podium in a row.
Next week Dylan Ferrandis and Justin Cooper return to action for Round 7 of the Western Regional 250SX class (Round 14 of the series) on June 10 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Wil Hahn – Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“Tonight’s conditions were challenging with all the rain we got throughout the day. Unfortunately Shane got caught up with a lapper early on and lost his lead. All in all, it was still a positive night. Shane was able to recover and finish second and Colt joined him for another double podium for the team. We will regroup and come back fighting after the break. Now it’s time for our West guys to go racing next week.”
Shane McElrath – Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing
“Man it was nice to get away with a second place! It was a tough track and very tough conditions. I’m bummed to get the red flag early and then to go down while leading race after the restart, but I’m happy with my effort. We’ll come back after the break and fight for this championship.”
Colt Nichols – Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing
“Conditions were really tough tonight with the rain and the transitions between everything made it really hard to put the laps together. I was able to salvage a podium, which is always nice, but I’ve got some work to do for the last two rounds.”
Photo Credit – Yamaha Racing
