Shane McElrath | Back From The Sidelines
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In the weeks before the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series started, Shane McElrath was on the short list of contenders for the 250 West Coast title. The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM rider was one of the few in the field that had won Main Events and run the red plate on his motorcycle, so it was time for him to take the next step in his career. An overall win at the Triple Crown at the 2019 Anaheim Two Supercross kept him in the mix through the early rounds, which was a much-needed boost after early issues with the setup of his KTM 250 SX-F (McElrath and Smith both had issues with the rigidity of the chassis in Supercross). When no 250 East Coast rider was able to line up for Daytona, McElrath stepped up at the last-minute and raced the 450 class on his small-bore bike to a twelfth place finish in the 450 Main Event, which was a sign that he can run the pace of the premier class.
Unfortunately, things went awry for McElrath soon after due to two bulging discs in his lower back. In talking to Shane and team manager Tyler Keefe, a misdiagnosis gave them false hopes that he could race through the pain, but the discomfort was too much to bear and he could not ride properly. The timing of the injury was a major topic in the pits, as McElrath was on the verge of point out of the 250 class and would have been forced to the 450 class if he raced the Main Events in the Seattle, Denver, and Las Vegas.
While some viewed the injury as a “dive” to stay in the 250 class for another year, McElrath makes it very clear that’s not the case. Having another shot at the titles in 2020 could be very beneficial to McElrath’s career as a whole, as he would have more power during contract negotiations in what should be less chaotic free agency season, but he wants to make his mark on the sport now.
This was going to be a championship contending year for you in Supercross. You had held the red plate in past seasons and won races before, so everything was trending up for you. Where did the back injury come from? Did it come from out of nowhere or was it more of a nagging issue that has progressively gotten worse?
Looking back now, it’s not one thing. It’s an accumulation of things, some in my control and some not. At the end of the day, my body needed rest and to do something different. Mentally, I wasn’t in a good position. It was a tough Supercross year all around, from trying to get the bike dialed in to the way my body was feeling. We were kind of going in a circle. It was the worst position that I have been in in a long time and it was tough to accept that. It’s been nice looking back and realizing what we were doing mentally and physically, and what we can do moving forward to prevent that and better ourselves. It was a big learning experience and one of those things where we had a plan that we tried so to accomplish, but nothing went our way. It’s really irritating, but I can only do so much.
I talked to Tyler Keefe extensively about this and the Red Bull video series explains what happened very well. You wanted to ride, but at some point, you realized that it was going to be made worse if you did.
That was my fear going in. I’m not a quitter and I don’t want that label. I want to show these guys that I’m not out, that I can put up a fight. But physically it was so hard. In practice at Seattle, I kind of scared myself because it was so hard to ride and be aggressive on the track because my body wasn’t working. I couldn’t go as fast, I couldn’t be prepared for things or be aggressive, but still tried to go full speed. TK asked what was wrong with me and I told him that I didn’t know but it scared me. It was tough for me to accept not racing because that’s my job. It’s what I hold at the top. If I’m at the races, I need to be racing. There has only been one other time that I’ve been at a race but didn’t race, and that was my rookie year at Hangtown. I tried riding practice and couldn’t qualify because it was so bad. It’s hard to accept that, because mentally I felt like I could do it, but my body couldn’t keep up. It goes in a vicious circle that’s hard to accept.
There were a lot of people that talked about how you were taking a dive because your 250 class eligibility would have been up. I know you quite well and how honest of a person you are, especially with your faith, you would not lie to prolong your career. You have to have something wrong to have things like this keep you from riding.
If there is anything I’m not, I’m not a quitter. It was so frustrating to see people say that and it made me angry, because people didn’t know. That’s what you have to think about. I would want to rip someone’s head off because I know they have no idea. That’s been one of the biggest things for me and I just think, “Okay God, I need your help and patience. My body is not working right now and no one else knows it. It’s a humility thing and I have to be okay with people talking crap. A lot of people get flack too and it’s not new, but it’s fairly new to me. That’s one of the hardest things, not really paying much attention to it even though it’s there.
As for the 450 class, you showed in Daytona that you would be fine. On a 250, you ran the pace even though you are a bigger dude on that bike. I think with how much KTM and Red Bull have invested in you over the years, I think that they would find a way to put you somewhere with some support in the 450 class.
Yeah. Like I said, this year was really hard in all areas. I was really ready to come in and win both championships. I felt really good and strong, and everything worked against us. Even when I won Anaheim Two, I didn’t feel very good. I just knew those guys were tired before the third one and I felt fine, so I kept the pressure on. In my opinion, this was one of my worst years in the 250 class because I know where I should be and I see what I did. I’m happy that it went how it did, but it’s hard to accept anything that was less than what we planned.
