Alex Martin's 2021 racing season got off to a rocky start.
Now, it has come to an early end.
Martin announced on social media Thursday that he has decided to sit out the final four rounds of the 2021 AMA Pro Motocross national championship series to allow his body to heal and recover from multiple injuries suffered this year.
Martin's announcement came on the heels of a crash in last weekend's races at Unadilla MX Park in New Berlin, N.Y. He aggravated a wrist injury that has plagued him throughout the summer.
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"Whelp, it's been that kind of year," Martin wrote on his Facebook page. "Had a small crash at Unadilla in the 2nd moto last weekend and reinjured the wrist I hurt in supercross."
The Millville native first suffered the wrist injury in a crash in a pro supercross race in Orlando in late February, also suffering a concussion.
He was back to nearly full strength to start the AMA Pro Motocross schedule, excited to be riding for a new team — Manluk/Rock River Yamaha/Merge Racing — and on a new bike.
Then, in a qualifying session during Round 2 of the series, on June 6 at Thunder Valley MX Park in Lakewood, Colo., Martin didn't see a soft spot in the track where he was about to land as he descended from a jump on his No. 26 Yamaha.
“I landed in some soft mud on the downhill and went right over the bars,” Martin told the Post Bulletin last month. “I knew I’d broken my arm immediately.”
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Martin battled back from that severe injury in a short amount of time, returning to the track just six weeks later for his hometown race, the AMA Pro Motocross nationals at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville on July 17. He finished 25th overall that day, placing 20th in the second 250 Class moto after mechanical issues took him out on the first lap of the first moto.
A week later he had his best finish of the season, finishing 18th overall at Washougal, Wash., a day that included a season-best 15th-place finish in the first moto.
The series schedule gave Martin, 31, two weeks off to rest and prepare for the Unadilla Nationals, but a crash in the second moto last Saturday caused Martin's wrist injury to worsen. Thursday, he officially announced that he was putting a halt to his 2021 season.
"I've been working very hard to come back from numerous injury's (sic) this year," he wrote on social media, "but the reality is I've missed a lot of seat time and have been more focused on rehab and physical therapy this summer than actual training and riding.
"It's a tough decision as I want to be at the races doing what I love and representing my sponsors, but at this point I've decided to be done racing for the summer and let all of my injuries heal properly. Thanks to everyone that supported us this year!"
Martin's younger brother Jeremy, who has also battled injuries throughout the supercross and motocross seasons in 2021, sits in fourth place overall in the AMA Motocross 250 Class standings. An injury forced him to miss two motos early in the season, yet he sits just one point behind Australian Jett Lawrence for third place in the season standings.
Four rounds remain in the 2021 series, including Saturday at Budds Creek Motocross Park in Mechanicsville, Maryland. The season concludes on Sept. 11 at Prairie City SVRA in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
