Solid Return to Racing for Andrew Short
L & Mc Racing/Honda rider #29 Andrew Short made his long awaited return to racing at the New Orleans round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series this past weekend, posting solid results with inspired riding. Short has been out of the SX series for two months, rehabilitating his injuries and getting back up to speed at his Texas home with his trainer Coach Seiji and was obviously excited to be back to racing action.
Shorty's return to racing started off well as he piloted his Factory Honda CRF450 to the 6th fastest qualifying time in the SX class, with zero problems from his separated and dislocated shoulder suffered in the San Diego round of the series.
Shorty got off the gate well in his heat race and rounded the first turn in fourth, quickly passing for third a few lanes later. Metcalf and Weimer were in a heated battle on laps two and three with Weimer coming out on top to gain the lead position. Shorty made a charge up to the duo during this time and was able to overtake Metcalf at the beginning of lap four to gain second place where he would finish.
Shorty gated fairly well for the start of the main event and hovered at the front of the field for the first half of the first lap but would have to come to a dead stop as Brayton and Metcalf became entangled in a turn. This delay put Shorty in 9th place at the finish of lap one but he passed one rider per lap for the next three laps to round the finish line in sixth on lap four. He was able to pass Metcalf on lap six but the Factory Suzuki rider would hound Shorty for the next seven laps and would eventually be able to overtake Andrew for 5th place. Shorty put in some solid laps to maintain his 6th place; Alessi fell in the closing laps to advance Andrew to 5th where he would eventually finish.
Coach Seiji would like to congratulate Andrew, the L & Mc race staff and Brandon Anderson for a successful return to racing. Coach Seiji is proud to be a part of the rehabilitation and training efforts of Team 29 and looks forward to the rest of the racing season.