Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Kyle Chisholm worked through an up and down day at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, to finish fifth at the 250SX East Championship penultimate round. The interim rider enjoyed his first-career heat race victory to start the night prior to putting his Yamaha YZ250F in the top five once again.
Chisholm has continued to show impressive speed and improvement on the bike since he joined the team last month. In qualifying, he wasn’t able to get in a clean lap but managed to earn the seventh-best time heading into the evening. It all came together in the heat race as Chisholm grabbed the holeshot and avoided the carnage behind him. He put in solid laps but had a mishap in a rhythm section with a few laps to go and fell back to second. He never stopped pushing and was able to come back and take his first-ever heat race win.
In the main event, Chisholm got another good start but was pinched off on the inside and fell back to sixth. He was passed by a few riders in the initial laps of the race and continued to battle for position, eventually finishing fifth.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team will welcome back the West riders for Round 16 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross on Saturday, April 30, for the penultimate 250SX West Championship round at the Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado.
Jensen Hendler
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 Team Manager
“The day went really well. Kyle qualified well and got out to a really good start in the heat race with the holeshot. He pulled out a pretty good lead but went down in a rhythm section. It was crazy because he got up and was right in the hunt for the lead again and ended up winning, which was great for the team.
“Going into the main event, he had a good gate pick because of the heat race win. He got another good start and would have had the holeshot if he didn’t let off a little early and got shuffled back a little bit. He yo-yoed around a little bit but ended up with a solid finish in fifth. I know he really wanted a podium on the 250, but we’re really happy with his riding, and it was great to see him get his first heat race win.”
Jensen Hendler
Kyle Chisholm
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a roller coaster of a day. I felt like I struggled to put everything together earlier in the day but overall felt good. We did our homework before the night show – watched the video and made sure the bike was where I wanted it. In the heat, it all came together – I got a good start and came away clean from the first turn pileup. I rode good laps, but of course, I couldn’t just come away from it completely clean. I made a dumb mistake and came up short in the rhythm section and went down pretty good, but I was able to get back up and come away with the win.
“In the main event, I got probably the best start ever and came up in the inside, but I just let off a little too soon, and I came out around fifth. A few guys got by me, and I passed a few guys, so I ended up staying right around where I started.
“I really wanted the podium tonight after getting that heat race win, but I’m still happy with the result. For me to come in and get a heat race win it’s awesome. I know it’s a bummer to have the team’s regular guys out, so I was really happy to be able to give the team a heat race win after all the hard work they’ve put in for me.”
