2020 TAMPA SUPERCROSS 250 EAST: MCELRATH’S DAY!

Shane McElrath showed up for the first round of the 2020 250 Eastern Regional Supercross championship in Tampa on his new Star Racing Yamaha and served notice that he is officially the man to beat. He won his heat easily and seemed to have even less problem winning the main. For defending 250 East Champion Chase Sexton, second place was a good start to his title defense, and third-place Jeremy Martin was delighted to make his first podium in almost two years. For extended coverage of the 2020 Tampa Supercross, click here.

HEAT 1

Shane McElrath got past Jordon Smith in the first turn and put his new Star Racing Yamaha into a comfortable lead. There was quite a pile up in the first turn that took out Lorenzo Locurcio among others.  McElrath seemed to stretch his lead out effortlessly over Smith and Garrett Marchbanks. John Short, Kyle Peters, Enzo Lopes, Justin Starling, Hunter Sayles and Jerry Robin had the remaining transfer sport through most of the race. On lap four both Marchbanks and Smith fell but neither of them lost substantial time. Later in the race, Marchbanks passed Smith for second, but McElrath was long gone. He finished with a 14-second lead. In the end Sayles lost the final transfer spot place to Nick Gaines.

1 Shane McElrath
2 Garrett Marchbanks
3 Jordon Smith
4 Kyle Peters
5 Enzo Lopes
6 John Short
7 Justin Starling
8 Jerry Robin
9 Nick Gaines
10 Hunter Sayles
11 Isaac Teasdale
12 Lorenzo Locurcio
13 Kyle Swanson
14 Kevin Moranz
15 Tristan Lane
16 Zane Merrett
17 Carter Halpain
18 Jeremy Hand
19 Justin Thompson
20 Dustin Winter

HEAT 2

Chase Sexton got to show off his new number one plate in heat two, pulling a holeshot over his fast qualifying teammate Jeremy Martin. Jalek Swoll was in third until he fell on the third lap, promoting Josh Hill. RJ Hampshire got a mid-pack start in his first Rockstar Husky ride, but he quickly worked up to sixth.  Sexton and Martin remained close to one another and they pulled a big lead over the rest of the pack. Eventually, Hampshire passed Hill for third, while Jo Shimota was fifth. In the end, Sexton had a 5-second lead over Martin. The final transfer went to Cedric Soubeyras.

1 Chase Sexton Clermont, FL
2 Jeremy Martin Rochester, MN
3 Rj Hampshire Minneola, FL
4 Joshua Hill Huntersville, NC
5 Jo Shimoda Irvine, CA
6 Jace Owen Mattoon, IL
7 Joey Crown Metamora, MI
8 Jordan Bailey Orlando, FL
9 Cedric Soubeyras Plant City, FL
10 Curren Thurman Rosharon, TX
11 Travis Sewell Westville, IN
12 Cody Vanbuskirk Harvard, IL
13 Luke Neese Jamestown, NC
14 Lane Shaw Alvin, TX
15 Grant Harlan Justin, TX
16 Chase Marquier Newcastle, OK
17 James Decotis Huntersville, NC
18 Tj Albright Mount Marion, NY
19 Jalek Swoll Belleview, FL
20 Ryder Floyd Paris, TX

250 LCQ

1 James Decotis
2 Hunter Sayles
3 Curren Thurman
4 Isaac Teasdale
5 Jalek Swoll
6 Tristan Lane
7 Lorenzo Locurcio
8 Dustin Winter
9 Luke Neese
10 Jeremy Hand
11 Chase Marquier
12 Kevin Moranz
13 Grant Harlan
14 Carter Halpain
15 Cody Vanbuskirk
16 Kyle Swanson
17 Lane Shaw
18 Justin Thompson
19 Zane Merrett
20 Travis Sewell
21 Tj Albright
22 Ryder Floyd

250 EAST MAIN EVENT

Jordon Smith was in front for just a moment, but Shane McElrath got past immediately. Jeremy Martin also got past Smith before the first lap was though and set out after McElrath, who already had afew bike-lengths. Chase Sexton was in fourth ahead of Jo Shimoda, Joey Crown, R.J. Hamshire, Garrett Marchbanks and John Short. As the race developed, McElrath was disappearing rapidly and Martin  had his hands full with Smith and Chase Sexton. Soon, Sexton got past Smith and closed on Martin. Then the two of them did a lap side by side before Sexton made it stick. Smith got past Martin briefly, but then went sideways in the treacherous sand section and gave it back. In the second half of the rack McElrath was safely clear of the pack, while Sexton, Martin, Marchbanks, Smith and Hampshire shuffled back and forth.  With two laps to go, Hampshire made a big mistake and got stuck between two tuffblocks, losing a couple of spots. On the final lap, McElrath backed it off and took a comfortable win ahead of Sexton, Martin, Marchbanks, Smith and Hampshire.

1 Shane Mcelrath
2 Chase Sexton
3 Jeremy Martin
4 Garrett Marchbanks
5 Jordon Smith
6 Rj Hampshire
7 Kyle Peters
8 Joey Crown
9 James Decotis
10 Jo Shimoda
11 Jace Owen
12 Joshua Hill
13 Cedric Soubeyras
14 Nick Gaines
15 John Short
16 Jerry Robin
17 Jordan Bailey
18 Hunter Sayles
19 Enzo Lopes
20 Justin Starling
21 Isaac Teasdale
22 Curren Thurman