Kit Palmer | January 8, 2017
2017 Anaheim I Supercross 250 Results: It was a special night for Shane Mcelrath who captured his first career supercross win when he crossed the finish line leading the way in the 250SX West class main event in the opening round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, January 8.
2017 Anaheim I Supercross 250 Results
Shane Mcelrath led from start to finish in the 250SX main. Photography by Kit Palmer
Mcelrath, on the TLD/Red Bull KTM, snared the holeshot and never looked back. He opened up a small lead over Martin Davalos (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) which slowly grew to a semi-comfortable lead.
Later in the race, Aaron Plessinger, who started off in fourth, caught up to Davalos and then passed him on the ninth of what would be a 15-lap race. From there, Plessinger (Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha) put on a charge that carried him close to Mcelrath, but time ran out and he had to settle for a strong second.
Mcelrath took the checkered flag 2.99 seconds ahead of Plessinger.
“[Winning] doesn’t really have a feeling, so it’s hard out put it into words,” Mcelrath said of his big win. “The whole time out there riding I was tired, but [my opponents] were tired too. It was ‘keep pushing, keep pushing,’ ‘one more lap, one more lap.’ When I crossed the finish line I wanted to let go of the bike. It’s unreal.”
Davalos held on to finish third, eight seconds behind Plessinger.
Aaron Plessinger made a run on Mcelrath late in the race.
Mcelrath’s teammate Mitchell Oldenburg was fourth, and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Justin Hill rounded out the top five.
Jeremy Martin, the top 250SX qualifier, was sixth after getting off to a 12th-place start, and Dan Reardon was seventh.
Eighth was supercross rookie Austin Forkner who suffered a big crash while running seventh on the second lap. He dropped to 16th but climbed back up to finish eight despite a bent up bike from his crash.
James Decotis and Kyle Chisholm completed the top 10 overall.
2017 Anaheim I Supercross 250 Results
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