SEATTLE (April 8, 2017)Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Mitchell Oldenburg rode with a fresh confidence in his return from injury as he earned his first-career podium inside CenturyLink Field. Despite an extremely difficult and rutted track, Oldenburg raced his KTM 250SX-F into third place. Teammate Shane McElrath wasn’t far behind as he worked through the conditions to finish fifth.
Mitchell Oldenburg
With the riders only able to learn the track during a single 10-minute practice, Oldenburg was displaying early that he was excited to be back. After clocking fourth in qualifying, he rode to a solid third in this heat.The track conditions forced the officials to reduce the race time from 15 minutes to 12 minutes, but the riders were still out on the track for over 15 after a red flag was waved early following the first gate drop. With the riders lined up a second time, Oldenburg once again got a mid-pack start coming around in sixth. He got by his teammate early for fifth and steadily closed the gap between the front-runners. He looked to be in the zone as he passed for fourth and then third with just a few laps remaining. Oldenburg held on to claim his first career podium.

Mitchell Oldenburg
“It’s amazing to be up here [on the podium],” said Oldenburg. “We had an amazing off season and the whole team put in a lot of work. It was a big bummer to get hurt right after the season start and I just put my head down once I got back on the bike. This is where I want to be – I do want to win. I don’t know what it was but at the start of the week I just had a good feeling about this race. I’m really excited.”
Mitchell Oldenburg
McElrath’s night was steady like he’s been all season, starting with a second-place finish in his heat despite still feeling the soreness and ill effects of a big crash in practice where he injured his left hip. The red flag ended up benefitting the No. 38 and he came out of the restart in second. McElrath tackled the exceptionally rutted track and didn’t give up, racing to a solid fifth-place result.“The track was pretty intense with how rutted it got,” said McElrath. “It was a lot about staying focused and minimizing the mistakes. I want to be on the podium, but after the conditions we faced today, we’re safe and healthy so we’ll take a fifth place.”

Shane McElrath
The Western Regional 250SX riders Shane McElrath and Mitchell Oldenburg will get a weekend off before returning to action on April 22 for the return of supercross to Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.McElrath and Oldenburg were wearing the GP Quest Blue and Orange Racewear during the single practice session. For the night show, they wore the SE Corse Orange that was accompanied by the SE4 Factory Orange Helmet. See all of the 2017 gear sets and the 2017 Moto Helmets online and at your local TLD retailer.

Shane McElrath

250SX Class Main Event Results

  1. Aaron Plessinger (Yamaha)
  2. Justin Hill (Kawasaki)
  3. Mitchell Oldenburg (KTM)
  4. Martin Davalos (Husqvarna)
  5. Shane McElrath (KTM)  
  6. James Decotis (Honda)
  7. Hayden Mellross (Yamaha)
  8. Kyle Chisholm (Honda)
  9. Cole Martinez (Yamaha)
  10. Justin Hoeft (Yamaha)

250SX Class Points, After 7 of 9 Rounds

  1. Justin Hill (Kawasaki), 138
  2. Aaron Plessinger (Yamaha), 117
  3. Shane McElrath (KTM), 113
  4. Martin Davalos (Husqvarna), 106
  5. James Decotis (Honda), 91
  6. Austin Forkner (Kawasaki), 90
  7. Dan Reardon (Yamaha), 72
  8. Kyle Chisholm (Honda), 60
  9. Jeremy Martin (Honda), 55
  10. Phil Nicoletti (Suzuki), 54
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About Troy Lee Designs:
For over 30 years, Troy Lee has been customizing helmets “For The World’s Fastest Racers.” TLD’s relentless commitment to creating products that exceed the cutting edge of style, design and quality, has earned them the reputation as an innovator in many different fields of racing. Troy Lee Designs has since expanded into a full force operation, offering a complete line of helmets, apparel and premium protection for off-road motorcycling and bicycling, sportswear and accessories, and operating the TLD supercross and motocross teams. Based in Corona, California, Troy Lee Designs has a global network of distributors.
About KTM:

“READY TO RACE” for KTM, these three words are far more than a simple slogan. They stand for the entire company philosophy of developing vehicles that can without any modifications comprehensively assert themselves in any race. Direct from the dealer onto the track and into the battle for victory. Designers, engineers and riders are bound by a clear common denominator: an unconditional passion for motorcycles. The whole KTM family is a living example of this worldwide. Countless offroad World and European championship titles plus brilliant victories in the world’s toughest races (International Six Days Enduro, Dakar Rally, Erzbergrodeo, and many more) all speak for themselves. And KTM Supermotos, Naked Bikes, Superbikes and the X-Bow all demonstrate what an “orange” lead means on asphalt.
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.