Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Red Bull/ KTM’s Jessy Nelson put in a valiant effort in Oakland, California to come through the pack after a first lap crash to finish in the top 10. Teammate Shane McElrath also worked his way through the deep field of 250SX Class riders to finish the night in 11th.
The 10th place finish on the results sheet didn’t tell the story of Nelson’s hard-fought battle from last. He passed an amazing 12 riders along the way while trying to make up as much time as possible during the 15 lap Main Event.
“I had some good qualifying times and ended up getting a heat race win, which was great,” said Nelson. “In the main, I got a really bad start – missed a shift – got a little off axes coming out of the gate. I ended up coming together with another rider on the first lap and went to last. From there I just tried to salvage some points as much as possible. The race went by pretty fast and wasn’t able to get back to where I wanted to be.”
Every week, McElrath is proving he is more and more comfortable up front as he led three laps of his heat race. He didn’t get the start he wanted in the main and had to also come through the pack, eventually finishing just behind Nelson in 11th.
“I led the heat race for a little bit and felt comfortable out there,” said McElrath. “There was some chaos during the first couple laps which really didn’t help me settle in and find a good pace. Just one of those things where we’ll move past this and look to do well next weekend.”
Nelson is currently third in the championship standings, while McElrath is eighth.
The Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Red Bull/KTM team will be back in action next weekend for the final of three stops to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California on January 31.
The Team TLD riders wore the new 2015 GP Air Astro Flo Yellow and the SE Corse Grey and Yellow, along with the 2015 SE3 Galaxy Helmet Team Limited Edition in Yellow at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California.
