The TPJ Fly Racing team travelled to Atlanta, GA to compete in Monster Energy Supercross at the all-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
This week, Ben Lamay and Dylan Merriam were set to compete in the 450 class and John Short lined up in the 250 class.
The new Triple Crown format mixed things up for the athletes. A three-main event night show pushes qualifying and the LCQ out of the televised program. So, prior to the night show, the athletes had to qualify for the mains. Ben Lamay and John Short qualified just outside of the top 18 in their respective classes, missing a one-way ticket to the night show.
During practice, Ben Lamay fell and re-injured his thumb. The injury plagued him for the rest of the night, making it impossible to hang on to his bike. This injury sent him to the LCQ, alongside Merriam and John Short.
With a lot of factory-level heavy hitters in the LCQ due to the Triple Crown format, spots were squeezed and Merriam and Short did not make it to the night show.
Ben Lamay was able to muscle through the LCQ and qualify for the night show main events despite his injury. He made the decision to push on through the three main events to try and collect valuable championship points. He would go on to place 20th overall for the evening.
While Atlanta wasn’t our best night at the races, we hope to come back swinging at Daytona International Speedway this week. Lamay will see a doctor this week to assess the injury to his thumb, and Short and Merriam will spend time improving for the weekend.
Not every night at the races will be picture perfect, we are very proud of our athletes keeping level heads and focusing on improvements week after week.
This continued progress would not be possible without the help of our sponsors, who provide our athletes with the tools needed to chase their dreams, and help our team get to the races each weekend.
We look forward to Daytona Supercross next weekend, and hope to see you there.
TPJ RACING 