Privateer Lane Shaw Races His First Supercross

Hello everyone my name is Lane Shaw and I am a privateer pro motocross racer from Alvin Texas. I have recently been giving you guys a look inside of my journey though Amsoil Arenacross, but I am happy to announce that I have graduated onto Supercross! I got all my Road To Supercross points needed and will be telling ya’ll my experience of my first round of Supercross (in St. Louis Missouri).

Full of excitement from getting all my points for Supercross, my parents and I decided why not try a round of Supercross this year to get my feet wet and have a better idea of what is to come for next year. Before leaving my driveway, we came up with a game plan for the weekend. Get a feel for the new atmosphere, don’t put any pressure on myself and go have some fun. Just being able to try to qualify was something special for me. As a little guy, I can remember going to Houston Supercross with my dad, and wishing I could be one of those guys. So, this weekend I was just one of those little guys that made his dreams come true, and ready to have some fun.

Saturday started out on the right path with a good night's rest and a big smile on my face, I was ready to get the day rolling. I was joined by a good friend of mine named Andrew Short on track walk. Andrew's laid back attitude helped calm my jittery nerves as he told me the ins and outs of the race track. Mr. Short has been a big part of my program the last year, so it was nice to have him by my side as I walked the track for my first Supercross. Before I knew it, I was gearing up for my first practice. Smiling from ear-to-ear, it was right then as I put my boots on that this dream was true and happening!
First practice went good, being used to Arenacross having the first practice timed, it was a relief to take a little time on the track to not worry about times and be able to get a feel for the track. After the first practice, I went up into the stands to watch the other groups of riders to see what they were doing differently than me. After talking to my "second dad" Joe Kopcak, I knew what I had to do going into qualifying. As soon as the man waved the flag to start the qualifying, I took off which led to me getting a good lap in early. As the checkers fell on the first-round of qualifying, I was sitting 34th overall with a bunch of riders also in the same second as me. A decent break allowed me get a bite to eat, and the track workers to groom the track for the next rounds of qualifying. Happy with what I did in the first round of qualifiers, I followed it up by doing the same thing. I put down a good time early and found myself fifth in the Group C practice. I wasn't able to watch Group B after I got off the track, because of the nerves of possibly not making the show and times being so close. But as the checkers came out on the last qualifying practice, I sat 37th sending me to the night show of racing. Talk about the best feeling of my life! I knew I could do it going into the day, but my goal for myself that day was to just ride my best and whatever happened was okay.

The night show came quick and before I knew it I was geared up walking down the tunnel for staging. I stayed away from opening ceremonies to keep my nerves at ease. I felt ready as I lined up on the line. While I was on the gate I couldn’t help but look around in the stadium at all the people, the cameras and race going on in front of me, I looked back at Pops who was my mechanic, smiled and said “this is awesome”. The 30-second card went up for my heat, the guy came walking down the line and started checking us off. The board went sideways and we were off into the first turn. Let’s not talk about my start, but I made some good passes and pushed forward until I clipped the back tire of the rider in front of me in a turn. It sent me off balance and I went high in the turn for the tuff blocks, I turned the bike just in time, but I lost a couple of positions in the process. When I got back going, I got a little tight from using a lot of energy to get going again so I just rode smooth to the finish for 18th place. Happy with my riding even though my placing didn’t show, but I was so pumped when I came off the track. Next up was the LCQ, I was ready to turn it around with a good start and ride my own race. I jumped out to a much better start, but with a rookie mistake I didn’t come over hard enough and got pushed a little wide in the first turn. I came through the whoops about mid-pack, and coming into the berm that followed there was a big pile up. Having to stop, and back my bike up, put me into 14th as the first lap got on its way. I rode my own smooth race and made some good passes to move myself into 9th as I crossed the finish line for the last time.

I learned so much over the weekend racing my first Supercross. It was a dream come true to be out there racing with the best riders in the world. Ninth in the LCQ for my first time wasn’t too bad; I will take it, go back home and do my homework for the next round I plan to race. I couldn’t do any of this if it wasn’t for the awesome fans that keep this great sport going and all my awesome sponsors the make this possible including: JKOPMX, Proven Moto, Yoshimura, Works Connection, Enzo, Split designs, Texas Yamaha/Powersports, Dirt Tricks, Fox, 100%, Hinson, Rk/Excel, Cycra, ODI, Motorex, Pivot works, Vertex, Cylinder works, Twin Air, Braking, Atlas, Ride Engineering, My Parents, My Grandparents, Jay Wilson, Ralph Chisholm, Joe Hammons, Andrew & Jacki Short, Coach Seiji, Kris Keefer, and all my family and friends who support me.