Suzuki Riders Challenge with Three Rounds Remaining
Brea, CA – (April 22, 2024) – Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee hosted Round 14 of the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross season. The track was hardpacked and dry despite rains the night before the race. The event hosted the first of two 250 Class East/West Showdown races where riders from both coasts qualified separately to compete in one 22-rider main event that paid points to both 250 regional championships..
Race Highlights:
- Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki
- 450 Class
- Ken Roczen showed incredible speed and ran in second place in the main event.
- 450 Class
- Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance
- 450 Class
- Shane McElrath ran inside the top ten and earned needed points to move up in the championship standings.
- Kyle Chisholm transferred directly from his heat race to earn more championship points in the main event.
- 450 Class
- Toyota Redlands BarX Suzuki
- 450 Class
- Derek Drake opted not to race due to an injury that’s been impacting his race results.
- 250 Class
- Anthony Bourdon raced inside the top ten against riders from both 250 championships.
- Max Miller showed good speed but ran out of time to recover from a crash in the LCQ to transfer into the main.
- Preston Boespflug competed in his first East/West Showdown.
- 450 Class
Ken Roczen (94) led his heat race and charged for the lead early in the main event.
Ken Roczen (94) displayed incredible speed in Nashville. Roczen led his heat race until a minor mistake relegated him to a top-five result. Early in the main event, Roczen was aggressive and fast. Roczen quickly moved into second place and was applying pressure to the leader when a shock failure ended his attack with a crash in the whoops. Roczen was unable to finish the race; early reports indicate that he may have only incurred bruises, no major injury, in the crash.
“Getting some MRIs on Monday,” Roczen posted through social media. “Knee, ankle, and toes got all of it. We are doing some investigation as my shock body only had about three hours on it and we have never seen it malfunction like that before. What a bummer. It was shaping up to be a good battle. We’ll be back.”
Shane McElrath (12) continued to improve and spent more time battling inside the main event’s top ten.
Shane McElrath (12) picked up the pace throughout the day. McElrath qualified straight from his heat race into the main. In the main event, McElrath brought home another good result and moved his Twisted Tea Suzuki RM-Z450 up in the championship standings.
“The dirt here is one-of-a-kind. It has some hardpack, it has some super soft areas, and the track conditions here are really the toughest part of this place,” said McElrath. “In the heat race I learned a lot and rode decently. In the main, I had good start and was fighting hard in the first couple laps; I was pretty comfortable up there. My Suzuki was even better than last weekend. Everything was going well, and I was in the battle. I landed off the finish line jump on one lap and there was just one little breaking bump right at the base of the berm. When I hit it on that lap I just stalled it. I rode well after that, and I was still racing forward at the end. It's frustrating because I've been in a good position the last two weekends, I just haven't finished it. I'm excited to continue growing and keep fighting, and I'm really building a foundation out there, and that’s what I’m excited about.”
Kyle Chisholm (11) put in a great ride on the challenging Nashville track.
Kyle Chisholm (11) rode as if he were 100%, despite having a sore ankle from the previous round. Chisholm qualified directly into the main from his heat race and logged strong laps throughout the 20-minute plus one lap main event.
“I didn't get to ride this week because I hurt my ankle last weekend,” reported Chisholm. “We had a lot of rain last night. The track was pretty gnarly, so that made it tough. I rode through the heat race decently and made it straight into the main. In the main, I didn't have much intensity. I only rode within myself; after not riding all week with my ankle being sore, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good, either. I'm not that pumped, but I’m healthy and my ankle is not any worse from this weekend’s races. Hopefully, I will get a couple days of riding in this week and then try to race better in Philly next weekend.”
Anthony Bourdon (100) showed top speed in his first East/West Showdown.
Anthony Bourdon (100) qualified directly into the main from his heat race, a challenge in an East/West Showdown that puts all of each region’s top riders head-to-head in the heat. In the main, Bourdon mixed it up with riders from both coasts, and held his own and showed great talent and poise in the unique Showdown format.
“Nashville was a special race as it was my first showdown and I didn’t know what to expect,” said Bourdon. “I was pleased with my heat. I was sixth before the red flag, and re-start; and finished eighth after a great battle with the leader. I was happy to quality directly into the main. In the main I had a great start but didn’t change my lines as the track was changing. I finished 16th. I know I can do much better.”
Max Miller (87) came up just shy of a heat race transfer in the stacked 250 West heat race.
Max Miller (87) delivered a strong performance in Nashville. The unique East/West Showdown structure not only put every top 250 West racer into his heat race, but it also doubled the number of fast riders into the single LCQ.
“I had a pretty solid heat race; the heat for a Showdown is like what a main event would be on a normal race weekend,” explained Miller. “I was riding well but fell just short of qualifying through the heat, finishing 11th. In the LCQ, I got bunched up in the first turn and ended up going down a bit later; that was the end of my evening. I’m happy with my speed and some improvements we made. We’re going to keep grinding and be better for Denver!”
Preston Boespflug (128) tackled the first East/West Showdown of his rookie season.
Preston Boespflug (128) attacked the Nashville track in practice and qualifying. The stacked field put in aggressive lap times early and unfortunately Boespflug wasn’t able to make the night show after delivering his fastest lap at the end of the second qualifying session. Boespflug missed qualifying by less than two tenths of a second.
“It was a rough day for me,” said Boespflug. “But I’m eager to go racing next weekend.”
“All our riders were riding well,” said Larry Brooks, Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance Team Manager. “Shane McElrath ran eighth place for the majority of the race and then he stalled his motorcycle and wound up in 13th. Kyle Chisholm, ‘Steady Eddie’ like Kyle always is, finished 16th in the main event. Ken Roczen was leading his heat, stalled his bike, came back to fifth place in the heat race. Then for the main event we put a lot of emphasis on the start. We felt the start was really important, along with a couple sections of the track. He started off really well, was ripping out there, and we had a mechanical failure. The shock failed and it pitched him over the bars and bruised him up pretty bad. Roczen bruised his left leg, left ankle, left knee, and his toes on his left foot. So far the initial diagnosis suggests nothing's broken. He's going to get MRIs done on Monday and have the doctor look at the soft tissue, but it's looking good. So we're hoping that all the riders will be in Philly next weekend.”
“Tonight was a challenging event for us,” admitted James Coy, Team Manager for the Toyota Redlands BarX Suzuki Team. “The added competition in the 250 class, and the venue itself, made this a race where we needed to be at our absolute best. Unfortunately, we under-performed throughout the night. Our team and our RM-Zs are better than what we showed. Now we have to regroup and try to figure out improvements.”
Round 15 takes place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia next Saturday for a rare daytime race. The Suzuki teams are ready to convert their track speed into strong results and more progress in the championship standings. The 250-class schedule will resume a normal race structure for the East coast racers in their penultimate event before another East/West Showdown caps their season.
Please visit SuzukiCycles.com/Racing/Motocross and HEPMotorsports.com for more team news.
Photos by BrownDogWilson Photography
