Shane McElrath is no stranger to the podium, at least not in the 250 class of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, where he had a successful career. But since moving to the 450SX class in 2021, you can count the number of top five finishes for Shane on one hand. Injuries and not being able to find a stable ride have hindered him in the last few years, but his luck turned around Saturday night in Foxborough.
Some riders are just good in the mud, they grew up racing in it, and they have a good attitude about it. McElrath seems to be one of these riders as the last time he finished in the top five (fourth) in a 450 supercross was the San Francisco mudder in 2024. Then in Foxborough he won his first ever 450SX heat race and finished second place in the main. At the post-race press conference Shane spoke on his experience and mentality:
“I grew up riding in the mud, it's not unfamiliar to me. I think there's a lot of times where I'm a really patient racer. Sometimes a little too patient and that's something I'm definitely trying to work on. But a track like tonight is something where patience is really big. Unless you’ve got AP's legs and mullet. But, yeah, tonight was really tough. San Fran was, I think, equally tough, but different still. Tonight, for sure, once the rain stopped, like the heat race getting out front, it was like the first couple laps, I'm like, “Oh, dude. This feels pretty good.” But literally every lap the track was getting worse. And my bike's getting heavier and my seat's getting slippery, and my boots are getting heavier, so it was kind of similar in the main, and thankfully they actually did quite a bit of track work. I think that really helped out, but it was literally the second lap where we've got these ruts where we're now having to paddle through. So, it's definitely tricky. But today, it was really this week, for me it was working on my mentality, trying to go into the deep end a little bit, just growing and learning. And this class is really tough. And coming into today, it was like a new mindset. And then when the rain was kind of for sure here, it's like, ‘Okay, there's good opportunity here and it's time to put this stuff to work.’ So that was kind of the culmination of it.”
Shane is new to the Quadlock Honda Racing team for 2025 but seems to be adapting nicely to the bike and team.
“This is the first time in really in my 450 career, now four or five years, that my whole program seems to be working together and seems to be really kind of the same goal. I know it's kind of odd to hear that, but it's like, if everything is kind of pieced together, the accountability is not really there. At this level in the sport, it takes a whole team. And I mean, all the teams that are ahead of us are full factory teams with full personnel, and we're kind of the little engine that could. So, it's really good. It does feel the same as it does in the 250 class but tonight was about opportunity. And that's where kind of like Coop said, it can go either way and kind of putting your best foot forward today that I knew that was going to be a big part of the battle. So yeah, I'm pretty pumped on it. And we're going to keep working. It's been a long road, really. My 450 career has not been really, well to me, it's been super subpar, and I feel like I can still race a dirt bike good. And that's what I'm going to continue to work on.”
It may have been a rough few years for Shane, but he has steadily been improving his results this season. And to him, mud or no mud, a podium is what he has been striving for.
“So, for me, it's like we got we got four or five more rounds in this season and we're still we're still picking up momentum. I'm normally good the second half of the season and we've really kind of been ‘Okay, where are we at and what's the next little step that we got to take.’ And that's that was like this week really working mentally. It's like, ‘Hey, we've got to we've got to unlock something to find a few more tenths or a half a second, because that next group, the guys are just getting better. And that's where it's like, I believe that I'm one of those guys, but we got to continue striving and tonight was a good opportunity to get a podium."
With his first ever 450 heat race win and first ever 450 podium, Foxborough was a night to remember for Shane McElrath. But rest assured he will be back to work this week, to keep this momentum going. Will he be able to back it up with another great ride in Philadelphia?
"I'm going to keep working because I want to do this in a normal supercross, too.”
