SUPERCROSS
ROUND 1 / JANUARY 5, 2019
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA / ANGEL STADIUM
P68
win. "I was beyond excited,"
Nichols said. "This is a really,
really big moment for me. I finally
came into this season healthy.
The last two years, I've had big
off-season injuries and it's kind
of been killing me. Two Star
Racing Yamahas, one and two,
it couldn't have happened any
better for us tonight."
Having never led a main event
before, Nichols was spend-
ing his time late in the race just
counting down the laps.
"I mean, that was the longest
race of my life," Nichols said.
"But it really wasn't too bad. We
just started counting down. I was
able to do a lot of motos this off-
season, which was a pleasant
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS
two opening rounds at Angel
Stadium) got the holeshot but
was immediately passed by
Adam Cianciarulo.
However, Cianciarulo (Mon-
ster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawa-
saki) almost immediately went off
the track and came out in 12th,
while Nichols took over the lead
and rode away with the victory,
making it look easy.
McElrath hung on for second
for most of the race before finally
succumbing to the pressure be-
ing applied by Nichols' teammate
Dylan Ferrandis, who snuck
by McElrath over the finish-line
jump with three laps to go in the
race.
Nichols was thrilled with the
250SX
The last couple seasons, Colt
Nichols (Monster Energy/Yama-
lube/Star Racing Yamaha) has
started the racing season in-
jured. In 2017, it was because of
a broken femur, last year it was
a broken humerus. But for 2019,
Nichols finally got the chance
to come into the racing season
healthy. And he made the best of
it. He was a solid fifth in qualify-
ing, then turned in a come-from-
behind second place in his heat
race. Finally, in the main event,
he led from nearly start to finish
to take the win, the first of his
supercross career.
TLD/Red Bull KTM's Shane
McElrath (who had won the last
Colt Nichols showed what he's
capable of when he's healthy. The
Oklahoman pretty much led from
start to finish in the 250SX West
main, winning by 16 seconds.
