After scoring two wins and five straight podiums over the first five 2017 Western Regional 250SX Championship main events, Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Shane McElrath was in the thick of the Championship fight. Unfortunately for Shane, things that are beyond your control can quickly ruin a championship run, and bad luck bit the #38 when his bike expired while leading the main event at the Arlington SX. Then, a rider crashed in front of him in practice at the Seattle SX and he injured his hip.
With his run of bad luck, the Championship was out of reach, but the good ‘ol boy from North Carolina came out swinging at the Salt Lake City SX. In the main, Shane got a top five start and quickly tucked in behind Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger for second. It was quickly obvious that nobody had the straight up speed to run with Plessinger in Salt Lake, but Plessinger’s speed bit him in the whoops, sending him over the bars and Shane into the lead on lap eight.
From there, the main event was all about McElrath. The KTM rider was able to maintain a solid pace while keeping it on two wheels as the track deteriorated and claimed its victims. Shane crossed the line with his third victory of the year and now heads to Vegas with his confidence firmly intact. After Shane claimed his trophy, we caught up with him to talk about his night.
Shane, this is your third win of the year in Salt Lake. With your recent struggles, this one has to feel good.
This one really feels good. This one feels like Anaheim 1 [win] again. I feel like we went through another off season—dealt with injuries—and fell back a little bit. We’ve had to kind of dig ourselves out of a hole again.
Yeah, it looked like you had been rattled a little bit recently, confidence-wise.
Yeah, I didn’t expect much tonight. I wanted to keep making progress, and that’s what we did this week. I took a week off after Seattle from the practice crash. Every day has been better, but it’s tough to come in confident when you’re really not confident on the bike with your riding. Tonight, we’re still making progress every time we’re on the track and it was cool to come out how we did.
Were you able to pin point exactly where that confidence got shook and get back on track tonight?
It was pretty much in my heat race. It just took me a while to get going and some time to find some lines. My fastest laps were my last few laps. I felt really good and felt like I could keep going. I felt even better in the main. It wasn’t about having a lot of intensity tonight or going really fast; it was about staying off the ground. I was happy, felt strong and it felt good to finish strong. I kind of overcame quite a bit tonight.
How bad did the altitude in Salt Lake City affect the power? Did you notice it a lot?
Yeah! We were making bike changes up until the main event, just trying to get everything we could out of it.
What were the main changes to try and make up for the power loss, stuff like go up one tooth on the rear sprocket and gearing things like that?
Yeah, gearing was the biggest thing. Along with gearing changes comes a longer or shorter wheel base. Then you have to change the suspension a little bit, and it all ties in pretty big. It all worked out good.
Were you able to see Aaron’s crash in front of you?
I wasn’t watching him, but I seen it out of my peripheral. It looked pretty bad, and I seen him get up. It looked like he was walking towards his bike, but then he was there again on the next lap. I was like, “Man, he must have gotten it pretty good.” That was one of those sections where you couldn’t push; you couldn’t go over your head at all. You had to be in control or it could get you like that.
Tonight’s track was a little confusing from a spectator’s view. It looked kind of basic and the dirt looked good, but in the main, it started biting everyone. What were the differences in the track as it developed and deteriorated into the night?
The layout was fairly simple. It was a fun layout, but at the same time, with how the track broke down throughout the day, that was the biggest competition. It wasn’t one of those tracks where you just go out and pin it for 15 [minutes] plus one [lap]. You’ve got to be in control the whole time, and if you wear yourself out at the halfway point, you’re like, “I’m dying.” Well, you still got to go through the whoops like ten more times.
Well, you have won indoors now. You’re now one of the guys people are going to be talking about as a Championship favorite. No more flying in under the radar. You’re going to be on everyone’s short list for SX favorites in 2018, but what about outdoors now? How are you feeling heading into outdoors next month?
I’m excited! We’ve made a lot of progress over the last few years and really over the last six months. We’re confident, we’re healthy and we have a good bike. I’m really excited for outdoors. We’re going to go at it like the SX season. We’ll take it one race at a time and try and keep building. The ultimate goal is the 450 class. We haven’t won a championship here yet—and hopefully we do—but the ultimate goal is the 450 class.
Alright, well, congratulations on another main event win, and we’ll see you in Las Vegas.
Yes, sir. Thank you.
Watch Shane’s GoPro camera from his emotional win in Salt Lake City.
Photos: KTM
