CORONA, Calif. – After nearly two months away from the big stadiums of supercross, Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Red Bull/ KTM’s Jessy Nelson and Shane McElrath return to racing this weekend at Houston’s NRG Stadium. Since it has been a while since we’ve seen the dynamic duo, we wanted to check in with them for a quick Q&A.
Checking in with Jessy Nelson:
Q: How have you been since we last checked in with you after San Diego SX?
J.N.: Things have been good. Been spending some time testing and getting ready for outdoors. It’s nice to have a break from racing, but I am ready for the west coast to come back and get to racing.
Q: Did you do anything especially fun or interesting over the two-month break
J.N.: Spent time with family, friends and my dog Kenny.
Q: What has been your favorite part of the down time (not having to travel to races)?
J.N.: Best part of downtime is kind of hard to say. Being home and seeing family is always great, but I love racing so I look forward to that.
Q: You guys have been testing a bit for the motocross season. Is it hard to put time in on the motocross side and then switch back to supercross?
J.N.: Yes, we have been testing a little for outdoors. The KTM is such a good bike that it makes my job easy as far as testing and switching back from MX to SX. Luke Boyk from WP has been helping a lot with suspension settings and I couldn’t be happier.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most about being back in action this weekend?
J.N.: Mainly just racing. I could have had some better races so I’m looking forward to ending the season on a high note.
Checking in with Shane McElrath:
Q: How have you been since we last checked in with you after San Diego SX?
S.M.: I’ve been really good. Enjoying training and riding. Been working really hard with the team shooting to pick up where we left off in San Diego!
Q: Did you do anything especially fun or interesting over the two-month break?
S.M.: I don’t really ever do much outside of riding and training anyways, but I have been able to hang out with some friends a little more and went home (to North Carolina) for a week so that was really nice.
Q: What has been your favorite part of the down time (not having to travel to races)?
S.M.: My favorite part has been taking everything in we learned from the first six races and working on those things every day. From there we have been able to log in some really solid and quality weeks!
Q: You guys have been testing a bit for the motocross season. Is it hard to put time in on the motocross side and then switch back to supercross?
S.M.: This year wasn’t as bad because I knew what to expect. Although it’s always hard to go from pretty much jumping as far as you want on an outdoor track, back to having to hit your marks well and consistent on a supercross track.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most about being back in action this weekend?
S.M.: I’m just looking forward to having fun! This will be the first supercross race my family has been to so I’m really excited! I’m just ready to be back racing and focusing forward.
