The racing in the Eastern Regional 250SX Class was dramatic with a great battle in Race 1 that saw RJ Hampshire grab his first Supercross win after an aggressive pass that put defending champions, Chase Sexton, on the ground. Sexton would remount to finish second.
In Race 2 Sexton got into the lead on the opening lap and pulled out a comfortable gap in the field. Behind him, last weekend’s winner Shane McElrath was slicing his way through the pack, but Sexton was long gone by the time McElrath made it to second place.
Race 3 belonged to McElrath, taking the holeshot and leading every lap. Sexton kept him honest but never mounted a charge for the lead. Sexton’s second place finish in Race 3 earned him the evening’s overall; the finish puts Sexton and McElrath tied in the Eastern Regional 250SX title chase and they each will run the red number plate next weekend.
Chase Sexton was of course happy on the podium, and dedicated his race, “We had a great bike in the whoops all night. I was so pumped; we made a big change in practice and it paid off. The whole team had been really productive and Im happy to get up here and win for them because we put a lot of work in this off-season. Its been a great start of the season, by this is for my sister, its her birthday today and its cool to get a win on her birthday.”
Last weeks winner, Shane McElrath, wasn’t content with second but glad to take it considering a less than perfect night, “We work hard and we work to be in the number one spot. I really tried hard today; I really tried a little too hard the first two Races. Man, I just had some silly mistakes and bad starts, and that’s not what we work for… The Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team, they worked their butts off today. We had the Triple Crown, everybody was running around wide open today so they really did a good job.”
RJ Hampshire said after the race, ” The track was pretty tough. I had a pretty good jump line in the whoops that I knew as the track developed would have been pretty good. Just a bummer that second one, got smoked there first lap, and kinda a comeback from there… My wife and my daughter’s here tonight, my home life’s awesome just wish I could have a little bit more on the race weekends. So we’re going to go back to work this week and come out firing next week.