This week, the TPJ Fly Racing team travelled from Phoenix, AZ to Oakland for the fifth installment of the Monster Energy Supercross series.
This week, our riders were back with a vengeance after a disappointing night in Phoenix. After coming so close, no TPJ Racing riders were able to advance to the main event in Phoenix – so the boys went home with a fire in their bellies to improve.
We kicked off Oakland Supercross with a chance to ride and interview on live local television. Dalton Oxborrow, Chad Cook, Dylan Merriam and Ben Lamay suited up for a press session on Friday afternoon.
The devil is in the details when it comes to racing Supercross, so the team was very focused on segmented lap times and corner speed going into qualifying. In paid off for Lamay, who qualified 20th overall after two qualifying sessions. Dylan Merriam made improvements from last week, qualifying 29th overall. Both riders advanced onward to the night show program for the 450 division.
Chad Cook, who is still getting back into the swing of things after a hip injury at the Monster Cup threw down a lap time of 1:01 in qualifying but didn’t quite make it into the top 40 – landing just short in 46th.
Oxborrow has had his nose to the grindstone making improvements, and put out a lap time of 57.563 during timed qualifying. He was on a tear even after two crashes in qualifying, but just barely missed the top 40 by three spots.
The crowd was on their feet as the fire split the ski and the world’s top 22 riders took off. The technical track at O.co Coliseum brought thrills and spills in the main, but Lamay and Merriam bared down throughout the event. Lamay missed making it to the main directly from the heat and wound up in the LCQ, along with Merriam. In the LCQ, Lamay started mid-pack, and his Alaskan Assasin slipped out as the race came to a close – he was able to make several aggressive passes and sneak into third place – securing his main event spot. In the main, Pirelli MX tires gave Lamay an edge, their superior traction made sure that he never missed a beat despite the tough conditions and deteriorating track. In a main event full of chaos and crashes, Ben Lamay was able to hang on – finishing 19th overall.
While no night at the races is ever perfect, the TPJ Fly Racing team and its riders made the progress needed to bounce back from Phoenix. The team has been extremely focused on making sure our riders have everything that they need to improve each week. We are very grateful to the sponsors who have provided our riders with the necessary tools.
This week we’d like to thank DSC Construction for covering the entry fee for our main event qualifiers, Pirelli MX for tires that gave our riders the traction necessary to move through the pack, and Rekluse for being on site to make sure our riders had their clutches dialed in. Because of Lamay’s successful trip to the main event — DSC Construction covered his entry fee.
We have a long list of sponsors and supporters who put a massive amount of effort into our program, and for each of you we are grateful. Thanks to you, our athletes are able to go toe-to-toe with the fastest riders in the world.
Next, we focus our sights on San Diego. The Monster Energy Supercross round in San Diego will be our final round before heading east. We are taking each week one at a time, working with our athletes on details big and small, hoping to see them progress toward their goals. We are looking forward to the next round, and hope to see you there.
TPJ RACING 