This week, the TPJ Fly Racing team travelled to Indianapolis, IN to compete at the eleventh round of Monster Energy Supercross at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The cold in Indianapolis did not snuff out our riders’ determination to make things happen at Indy. In qualifying, all eight of our riders pushed their way into the night show with solid lap times.
In the 250 class, TPJ Fly Racing Suzuki rider John Short would get our night event off to a great start by qualifying for the main event straight out of heat two. Dylan Merriam was on his way to qualifying straight out of the heat when he crashed – sending him to the LCQ.
Despite the rough crash in his heat, Merriam came out swinging in the LCQ. He came into the first turn in second place but overtook the leader shortly after. From there, Merriam would hold off the pack for the entire race, taking the win and his first ever LCQ victory. This win would give him his ticket to the main event.
In the main event, both Short and Merriam would get tangled in the middle of the pack, but would work their way through the field. Short finished 13th overall, and Merriam finished not far behind in 15th. This was a great night for our 250 team, both Short and Merriam got valuable main event time and were able to build on their progress.
In the 450 class, a stacked field and a tough track brought all of our riders into the LCQ. Nick Schmidt started the race off around fourth place, but was able to advance into second place and trail behind Trey Canard – earning him a spot in the main. Adam Enticknap held on to a qualifying spot until he was overtaken, but he pushed hard to keep on their tails. In the final turn of the last lap, the two riders ahead of him went down – pushing Adam into the main event. His last minute slip into the main event was caught on television, and was replayed as one of the highlights of the night.
In the main event, Nick and Adam would place 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Indy was extremely exciting for the TPJ Fly Racing team. Our team continues to reach milestones and make progress week after week, thanks to the support of our sponsors.
We are looking forward to the next round in Detroit, MI, for the twelfth round of Monster Energy Supercross. We hope to see you there.
TPJ RACING 