Welcome to this week’s edition of Woz Up, coming to you from either a local Starbucks or at Hangtown. At least, this one is on time unlike last week! It’s been a fun week leading up to tomorrow’s opening round at Hangtown! Yeap, it all starts tomorrow! No short laps indoors (at least until January). It’s time to bring it outdoors!
On Monday, I made a stop at Alli Sports to do some video work and ended up picking up some Alli swag along the way. Hit up their Alli Shop at shop.allisports.com to get Alli swag and much more. After my visit with Alli, I stopped by the Hookit offices in Solana Beach to talk about some new things in the works MXPTV and Hookit will be working together on. News of these new things are in the works and will be announced some time down the road but soon!
Thanks to Alli Sports for giving me a temporary office this past week!
On Tuesday, I visited the Competitive Edge MX Park in Hesperia, CA to catch a ton of top riders getting in their last minute testing before Hangtown. Red Bull/KTM, GEICO Honda (without Tomac – probably in Colorado somewhere), Monster Energy Kawasaki, Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit team, Muscle Milk/Honda’s Justin Brayton, and many other privateers and amateurs were there. CLICK HERE to check out my large gallery of photos from Comp Edge.
Comp Edge was hot, hot, hot with top pro riders on Tuesday.
Wednesday was the 8 hour trek from southern California to Sacramento. A fun trip along the 5 (Interstate 5) going through some steep mountains and super flat farm fields filled with oranges, grapes, and much more. But a brief 5 minute whiff of a large section of cows but the good ole road trip stank back into the trip. I made it to a KOA outside Sacramento and did a bunch of prep before press day.
Asterisk Mobile Medical Unit on the way to Hangtown!
Thursday was press day at Hangtown and it started not at the track but at the UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento as top riders Ryan Dungey, Jake Weimer, Davi Millsaps, Justin Brayton, Brett Metcalfe, Ashley Fiolek, and Kacie Creson visited with the kids and their parents to hang out and talk about riding dirt bikes, wearing safety gear, and about life. It was a pretty cool look at a softer side of sport where the riders showed their appreciation with patients who aren’t doing so well.
I give you the next Ryan Dungey! Also, the 3rd person ever to wear those exclusive Nike boots!
After the UC Davis visit, we all went to Hangtown as a couple bus loads of kids from the hospital came by to meet the riders, walk through their transporters, and see these riders tear up the track. A much larger group of riders took to the track. From James Stewart to Marvin Musquin to Tommy Hahn (on his new Muscle Milk/Honda ride to Tyla Rattray (debuting his Monster Energy/Kawasaki ride) to many, many others took to the track. Ken Roczen stood out (along with Stewart) on the track. It’ll be interesting to see how Ken will treat the American outdoor tracks since he’s only been on SX tracks until tomorrow.
Brett Metcalfe and crew await their time on the track for press day yesterday.
The Hangtown track will be rough. Really rough.
I produced my first of 12 press day videos from Hangtown late last night and posted it this morning. Check it out and TV times are at the end of the video. Make sure you tune in wherever you may be or as always, grab a hold of that fence line and have fun!
The track looks amazing. I remember Hangtown last year as being very rough but very flowing to the riders. The layout is exactly the same as last year. And the racing should be intense, even with a number of top names out with injury (Villopoto/Reed/Canard). But there are many questions to be answered that I’m sure will be answered after tomorrow:
- Will Dungey’s KTM SX success transfer over outdoors?
- Barcia to open the season off better than last year?
- Can Tomac capitalize on another Hangtown win?
- What will James Stewart do…..on a new bike….haven’t raced a national (technically) in 4 years……
- Rattray fast on a 450 as he was on a 250?
- Wilson won the first moto last year at Hangtown. Or will Baggett steal the 2nd moto again?
- What privateers are going to make a solid mark at Hangtown?
And there’s always more. That’s what makes motocross pretty damn cool.
The first moto of amateur day takes off at Hangtown on Thursday morning.
Here are some last minute team switches and injury reports for Hangtown tomorrow:
- Jessy Nelson promoted to the TLD/Lucas Oil/Honda team. Running #136.
- Ivan Tedesco steps down to the 250 class, again, with Pro Circuit, again.
- JDR/JStar/KTM’s Matt Moss OUT due to injury.
- Kyle Regal debuts JGR/Toyota/Yamaha ride replacing James Stewart.
- Tyla Rattray debuts Monster Energy/Kawasaki ride replacing Ryan Villopoto.
- Tommy Hahn comes back to Muscle Milk/Honda replacing Trey Canard.
Got some fresh Alli swag this week. Get it at shop.allisports.com.
My first video for Alli Sports for 2012 has been published and it’s with the man of mystery, James Stewart, talking about his new Yoshimura/Suzuki ride, his ride day at Glen Helen, and what to expect at Hangtown.
Karl Cin shown his classic “Cinsanity” at Virginia Motorsports Park in Petersburg, VA for MAMA’s only pro am event of 2012. Check out his SATURDAY and SUNDAY shots from VMP!
Check out Karl’s shots from MAMA’s pro am at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Back at the GPMX Motocross compound, I did a walk thru video with GPMX’s Greg Pamart of Frenchie’s compound and setup. From an old barn and horse stables to a fun, innovative training facility, GPMX keeps stepping it up every year. Check out the video below:
Check out this cool helmet cam footage of New York pro Ron Rothkranz at the MiniMoto SX in Las Vegas posted earlier this week:
Well, time to make my rounds at Hangtown before tomorrow’s race! Hope you’re excited as I am! Thanks for reading along and see ya at the races!
Welcome to a late edition of Woz Up from southern California! It’s been a real busy week bouncing from homes and tracks all week long. After the Las Vegas EnduroCross/Supercross/MiniMoto weekend, I destined south through the desert and to a desert riding spot called Superstition Mountains near Ocotillo Wells near the Mexico border in SoCal for One Industries’ Fall catalog photo shoot on Tuesday. The sandy, whooped out dirt road going into the spot was a rough one with even warning signs of bombing tests on the way in. And what do you know, I seen fighter planes up above and smoke/dirt coming out the ground not far away! It was surreal and with a big black van in the desert, I don’t think I could have stood out so much (maybe if I had a target on the roof)! It was pretty awesome but also, it got me very nervous at the same time!
Departed from Vegas and to the desert I go!
Such a heavenly place…
Probably 1/1 millionth of the area we shot in near Ocotillo.
The shoot went really well and just pretty much trailed the photo crew as they were picking out the spots throughout the day. Rockstar/Suzuki riders Jason Anderson and Hunter Hewitt were throwing down along with privateers Sean Borkenhagen and Mike Sleeter as well as top amateurs Anthony Rodriguez and others. It was my first desert shoot and my baked lips afterwards broke my newb level in the desert. A fun time and make sure to check out the video of the day on Alli Sports soon.
The Woz section of Alli Sports for half a day!
Late Tuesday night, I made it into Temecula and crashed at a hotel to do much needed laundry and showering after the desert shoot. After slowly waking up on Wednesday morning, I drove over to Alli Sports’ offices in Carlsbad to meet with the crew there and also, catch up on my video work with my own desk setup in one of the rooms. For a media company that posts all of its videos on YouTube, Alli has an amazing office setup to do video work in. But I felt way different since I was the only nerd on a PC in there. Maybe a Mac upgrade can happen in the near future but we’ll see. Otherwise, it was fun to catch up with everyone there and start off the season strong with them.
First visit to Glen Helen!
Thursday was off to Glen Helen for their regular pro practice days they usually have on Thursday. Almost everyone was there including the Monster Energy/Kawasaki riders of Jake Weimer and new recruit Tyla Rattray along with Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit team of Dean Wilson, Blake Baggett, and making a return to the team, Ivan Tedesco, who looked really good on the 250! Jason Anderson, Martin Davalos, Blake Wharton, Hunter Hewitt, and Jessica Patterson of the Rockstar/Suzuki team were all there along with Jeff Ward Racing/Kawasaki’s Josh Grant and Kyle Chisholm. Rockstar/Valli Yamaha riders Gareth Swanepoel and Bobby Kiniry were turning fast laps as well. Overall, a packed house on the steep, steep hills of Glen Helen. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS!
Dean Wilson doing some track prep of his own at GH.
Ryan Villopoto seen at GH helping out his younger brother, Tyler, who will be competing in the Canadian nationals this summer.
Tyla Rattray has moved up to the 450s and replacing Villopoto’s spot at Monster Energy/Kawasaki.
Friday was spent at the revived Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park in Lake Elsinore, California for Racer X’s Pro Ride Day. Pretty much everyone was there. Add in the Glen Helen crowd along with Muscle Milk/Honda and GEICO Honda teams, Red Bull/KTM, and much more and it was almost a full on national. James Stewart, Dean Wilson, and Jason Anderson were the only notables not there that I can think of. I shot a bunch of photos from the beginning of the pro practice session. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS!
Justin Barcia never keeping that front wheel down at Lake Elsinore.
Ivan Tedesco looked really good on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki 250 machine. Almost too good!
Jersey privateers Joey Peters and Dakota Kessler (along with roadie John Wehrle) had their ride at both Glen Helen and Lake Elsinore.
Justin Brayton will be a threat outdoors! He looked solid at Elsinore.
The Dunlop rig didn’t make the trip to Elsinore so they grand-theft-auto’d a soccer mom’s minivan instead.
Get your swab on and help the McGrath family!
Saturday was back to Glen Helen for an interview with the #7 himself, James Stewart. Stewart has one of his regular ride days for his fans going on in the AM hours before the Red Bull X-Fighters kicked off after noon. Between Stewart’s sessions on the track, I was able to talk to James and he seems really pumped on his new Suzuki ride. He basically hasn’t seriously competed in a pro national in over 4 years since his 24-0 dominating season in 2008 back when he was on Kawasaki. He knows he won’t come into it swinging like he did 4 years ago and is aiming for a top 5 at Hangtown this coming weekend. But I think once he starts getting in a groove, the rest are going to see that #7 on top of the box more and more. But his speed at Glen Helen in some sections were flat out fast. It might be because he was out there with a bunch of amateurs but I tried really hard to compare to Thursday’s practice and still, he looked really good. He also mentioned that Ryan Dungey, even though he is in a slightly better situation, is also competing on a new bike outdoors as well since Dungey’s KTM hasn’t touched an outdoor national track yet. Stewart says the competition is there this year despite last year’s top runners, Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed, and Trey Canard, are out with injuries. He seems confident in the team and their last minute progress going into Hangtown.
Interview time with James Stewart coming right up!
I’d say JS7 had a pretty busy morning at Glen Helen.
Stewart knows it’s gettin’ hot in hurrrr…….
After Stewart’s ride day session, I checked out the Red Bull X-Fighters show in the afternoon as Todd Potter edged by an impressive Thomas Pages in the final. Pages had the best runs throughout the whole day until the final where it seemed like he was playing against the wind more than Potter as he half and halfed a bunch of tricks that hurt his chances on winning the competition. His body varials, inverted whips, and amazing transfers were a step over what most riders were doing. But Potter was solid from the start to finish and edged out with the win and continued points lead in the overall standings. The track was a sight to see as there were huge gaps, a huge wallride, and a step up one of Glen Helen’s steep hills that brought the fans to their feet. Even a hidden Amercian flag draped kicker/whip jump appeared half way through the program that sent riders carving high and flat through the air. Red Bull, as usual, put on an amazing event.
The Red Bull X-Fighters course at Glen Helen was beyond sick.
Now, I’m currently in Oceanside staying at Alli’s managing editor’s house for the next couple of days before working my way north for Hangtown. I’ll be down this way visiting offices and shops early in the week with maybe a stop at a track somewhere in between. The weather has been great. The gas prices suck. ($4.09 – $4.39 for regular!) And it’s been fun but busy times so far, which is always good!
Just taking a shortcut…
I posted a couple of videos late this week from the EnduroCross and MiniMoto races I shot back in Las Vegas. Check them out below:
As I probably warned you about, there will be less updates than usual here at MXPTV.com due to being on the road a lot, filming and shooting most of the day, and not finding reliable WiFi connections. But I just finished up a couple of videos for MXPTV.com this week that’ll be posted Monday and Tuesday mornings (East coast fans: around or after noon) before I head out for my shoots. One is a MiniMoto helmet cam run and a tour of GPMX Motocross School’s compound. Don’t miss them!
This is a desert. It gets kinda hot here.
I just want to thank Michelle at Alli for the temporary office space and sleeping spot as well as Jessica Patterson, Eddie Ray and the Covington family for the invite to stay in their Murrietta home for a few days in between shoots. And to the cashier at a random In and Out that says he checks out MXPTV all the time! That was pretty darn cool. It’s been an awesome 2 weeks so far with 4 pro nationals ahead before I head back home to the east coast.
As always, check out my Twitter (@MXPTV) and Instagram (MXPTV) feeds daily for words and pictures from the road. You just may never know what I’ll post next! Thanks for reading along and catch ya at the nationals!
See you in September!
Welcome to this week’s Woz Up! It’s been a special week as I departed from the driveway of our Clayton, DE home and headed west to Las Vegas. After 3 1/2 days of driving, thousands of bugs splattered on the windshield, and many, many miles added to the new ride, I have arrived in Vegas! I got in yesterday afternoon and it’s just strange that I drove here with my own vehicle rather than the usual fly in/rental car out method. The drive here went very smoothly.
Leaving Delaware!
I decided to take the southern route along Interstate 40 and historic Route 66. On Monday, I made it past good ole’ Exit 143 on I-40, which is the exit for Loretta Lynn’s and stayed in Jackson, just an hour past the double L. I did stay in the back of a Pilot gas station for a little bit before a group of people were hanging out by the van. I decided to pack it all up late at night and hit up a campground just down the road. The place wasn’t the most attractive place to stay but $23 paid and a full electric hook up later, it was well worth it.
Down Insterstate 81 in Virginia.
Back in Tennessee again.
Tuesday for me started with an AM sweep through Memphis, TN and over the Mississippi River into Arkansas. I made it through Arkansas and into Oklahoma where the wind really picked up and made my ride rockin’ all over the road! It was wild but fun at the same time. Also, soon as the first 75 MPH speed limit sign came about in Oklahoma, I was all smiles and pinned it to Amarillo, TX. I stayed at a really clean RV resort for the night and was able to shower off the travel stench and get some video work done.
In Memphis, TN.
That cool pyramid building in Memphis.
Over the Mississippi and into Arkansas.
All OK in OK.
Wednesday was all Great Plains driving as I got through Texas and New Mexico and started to see less green and more desert looks. It wasn’t something I was used to (being from the east coast) so my eyes were glued to the scenery (and of course the road). It was still 75 MPH all the way into Arizona! I stopped at a KOA campground just south of the Grand Canyon Wednesday night and did a lil’ drive through Williams, AZ on historic Route 66. It was pretty cool seeing the 50s/60s vibe but it wasn’t for me I guess. I’m cool with checking things out that are hundreds of years old or what’s new and current. That 50s/60s era don’t attract my interest but anyways, it was cool to see. Also, I spotted a gas station that sold regular gas for $4.49 a gallon! I paid $3.49 a gallon when I left Amarillo earlier that day!
Texas was cookin’!
The Cadillac RV Ranch at a RV resort outside Amarillo, TX.
The newer Mexico.
Getting closer to Vegas….
Caught a ton of bugs by surprise along the trip so far!
The views were always great on the road.
A movie-like look wherever you went.
Arizona lookin’ good!
On Thursday, I wanted to check out the Grand Canyon for the 2nd time and maybe do a small hike there but I wanted to arrive in Vegas at a certain time in the afternoon so I can be settled at the hotel room I’m staying at with Midwest Tour producer Ben Lynn, as he is on the SPEED TV crew out here for the Vegas SX on Saturday. I had some time to kill but not enough for a drive to the Grand Canyon and back (45 minutes one way from the campground). So, I decided to check out Hoover Dam instead for a little bit. It was pretty cool to check out the dam from the bridge walkway overlooking the dam and also, to drive atop the dam rim. And no, I didn’t take the dam tour. It’s another thing to check off the bucket list right there! I arrived in Vegas in the afternoon and met up with Ben and some guys from the TV crew for dinner at the Hard Rock hotel. It was cool to catch up and talk some moto and video!
Historic Route 66 in Williams, AZ.
More sick sights in Arizona.
Colorado River carving its way through the land.
There is that damn dam!
Arrived in Nevada. Shot on top of the bridge overpass over the Hoover Dam.
Today, I am covering tonight’s opening round of the GEICO EnduroCross series at the Orleans Hotel up the road. I’ll be filming away all night and capturing some log banging and water diving all night long. Saturday will be an all day hang out at Sam Boyd Stadium talking with race teams, riders, industry peeps, and of course, catching the night’s races (maybe with some post-race VIP party time afterwards!). Sunday will be another day at the Orleans Hotel covering the always exciting MiniMoto SX pit bike race. After that, it’s off to southern California for the next 2 weeks before Hangtown!
2,500 miles later, I’m in Vegas.
So far, this cross country trip has been amazing. It’s a trip many have made and many wish they can make. I start working my way back east after Hangtown as I follow the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship series for the summer. But in between my travels, I’ve been able to do some updates here at MXPTV (since I’m the only one who does that).
Also, make sure you check my Twitter (@MXPTV) and Instagram (MXPTV) feeds for more on the road images from this trip!
Here are some updates from the past week at MXPTV:
I posted a cool Rider Session video of young 50cc racer Chris Sweeney at his home track at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey for a open practice session. Check it out below:
As you can see, Chris had a nasty crash on his Cobra. No worries! I did a MXPTV Crash video of it. Check it out below:
Before I pinned it west, I stopped by the GPMX Motocross School compound to do a video feature on Greg Pamart’s motocross schools and talk about his programs and top-notch facility. Check it out below:
One of Greg Pamart’s students, Karl Ciamaichelo, ran MXPTV’s helmet cam on the GPMX motocross track. Check it out below:
I also shot some photos of the late afternoon action at the GPMX Motocross compound. Check them out below:
Here’s a preview of this weekend’s MAMA race at Blue Diamond MX in New Castle, DE:
MXPTV intern Jake Buly sent over some shots from Budds Creek last weekend. Check them out below:
That’s about it this week from Vegas. Stay tuned for the final Guess The Podium contest of the year tomorrow morning. I will not being doing any Guess The Podium contests for the outdoors since I’ll be way busy at those events this year, but I have a cool substitution for this summer you’ll see before Hangtown and every outdoor round this year. As always, thanks for checking in, reading my weekly column, and see ya at the races!
Welcome to Woz Up! It’s been a week of anticipation as I get everything packed, cleaned, and ready to roll out west for the next 1 1/2 months! I will be leaving Monday morning heading to the Sin City of Las Vegas, Nevada for an action packed supercross weekend that includes Endurocross on Friday night and the MiniMoto SX on Sunday along with the final round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series at Sam Boyd Stadium. After Vegas, it’s off to southern California to hit the tracks, visit the shops, and get started with my 2nd summer working for Alli Sports providing feature videos from behind the scenes with the top pros running (that are at least healthy to race) outdoors and getting ready ready for Hangtown on May 19th. I’m itching to go, go, go and get filming!
One of many bags ready to roll for this summer!
To get you even more hyped up, I released an outdoor nationals preview video showcasing last year’s highlights of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships that I have been working on the past couple of months. I shot the video over to MX Sports’ Davey Coombs and gave me the green light to post away. So, check it out if you haven’t already below. It’s time to get ready for the outdoors!
HUGE bummer news came out early in the week of Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto suffered a serious knee injury that’ll have him out for the rest of the 2012 season. A huge blow to the team and to Ryan but also the fans as well as it’s another hard hit blow for one of the top riders in the world now. The “big five” (Canard/Reed/Dungey/Villopoto/Stewart) have all been injured in one way or another this SX season with Dungey being the one coming back in time before Hangtown. Add in Windham, Morais, and way too many others and it’s been a rough first half of 2012. With RV out, the doors are wide open for the “next five” such as Justin Brayton, Davi Millsaps, Mike Alessi, Andrew Short, and Brett Metcalfe to make a mark outdoors and get their career best finishes. But with Ryan Dungey all healed up from the broken collarbone and looking very solid at Seattle in his first race back, it could be 2010 all over again as Dungey comes in as the favorite.
But with the way things have gone so far in 2012, you just never know. Many thought Seattle would be a sleeper with RV all #1 plated up already and many of the key players out. But not many had the #29 of Andrew Short in their podium picks and having RV DNF on lap 1! This is why supercross is always so unexpected. Even the rider who has this championship all clinched gets sucked into the DL. Short, his second race back from injury and a race team falling out around him, had the start and lead from gate to checkers with Lites class rider Ken Roczen grabbing 2nd on his KTM 350! It was that type of night at Seattle, as it has been for some time.
Eli Tomac and Dean Wilson doing battle at Seattle!
The Lites West series kicked back into gear and it did with a very big BAM that didn’t include the Bam Bam himself! But it just looks like the #17 GEICO Hondas don’t get along with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson at all in supercross. Last year, Barcia played Wilson all throughout the series on the #17 Honda and now in 2012, Tomac is sticking that #17 back in Wilson’s way after some tough bar to bar racing that eventually left Wilson eating dirt and nursing a tweaked shoulder. It got the fans going but as both riders said after the main event, “if that’s the way he wants to ride, then, that’s how it’s going to be.” Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are going to be very interesting in the 250 class! (Yes, I said 250 class. Outdoors is right around the corner!)
Whether it’s Justin Barcia or Eli Tomac, this #17 GEICO Honda don’t get along well with Dean Wilson!
Salt Lake City SX will NOT be live this weekend so it will be next day coverage on Sunday with the 450s on CBS at 1pm ET and the 250s on SPEED at 6pm ET.
Other than the excitement bottling up before I’m off west, it’s been a busy, busy week for me once again. Last Saturday, I was at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey to do an interview with Only One Inspiration’s Harold Glissen as he makes his remarkable comeback after his severe pelvic injury over 2 months ago. Harold took out his brand new KTM 350 and threw down a few laps and took it very easy. Even with some paralysis in his right leg, Harold is doing this for himself. He’s overcame a lot in his life without having a hand. To many, it’s like he has done enough to his body. But to him, it’s just another bump in the road and believe me, he’s had way too many of those bumps. Check out the video below.
I spent Sunday in an odd position as being at home rather than attending a race or any race track for that matter. But I got a call to do a rider video at Raceway Park on Wednesday for their open practice day on the main track and the track was WAY better than Saturday’s shoot with Harold. Probably the best I’ve seen it in awhile. Almost better than the KROC! Deep ruts, multiple lines everywhere, rough braking bumps, and big jumps were a huge favorite for the many A riders that showed up such as Lowell Spangler, Dylan Brajkovich, Joey Peters, Chris Duymich, Charlie Miller, Jesse Pierce, and many others. Check out the photos I shot from Wednesday below:
Click the photo to view the photos from Raceway Park!
As for that rider video, it was with young local 50cc rider Chris Sweeney, who was jumping the “Plunge” at Raceway Park! Also, you don’t want to miss his gnarly crash that I got on video. That’ll get posted next week!
Check out this cool MXPTV Rider Profile video of young PA 50cc rider Cole Bader from the Pagoda Pro-Am a couple of weeks ago:
Ben Lynn of Big Guns Media Group sent over a wacky crash clip of Kawasaki rider Bubba Pauli at a LL qualifier race at Podium One in Indiana. Check it out below:
Daniel Goldberg of New Jersey Spine & Rehabilitation sent over this inspirational and interesting video of recreational rider Demetrius Economu, who suffered from a spinal injury that almost put him out for riding for good. He made a visit to this spinal rehab facility and was able to get a SI fusion surgery. In the video, Demetrius throws his leg over one of his motorcycles and he looks forward to riding real soon. Check it out below:
Today, I’m doing a shoot at the GPMX School track near Pottstown, Pennsylvania with instructor Greg “Frenchie” Pamart and his riders. It’s also an appreciation day for Pagoda members and a skate session goes down at night! Should be a fun day and night of filming! Then, it’s time to pack the MXPTV van and head west on Monday morning.
Got to end this one quick! Thanks for reading Woz Up! Catch ya at the nationals!
Welcome to this week’s edition of Woz Up! The east coast section of the Lites regional SX championships is sealed up as GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia rode ultra-conservative to clinch his second #1 plate in a row indoors. It’s been an up and down season for the Frog and with one more Lites SX main event (plus the shootout) in Vegas left to go, everyone is wondering what he can do on the 450s. No one expects to blow the doors off and win the title next year but drawing up podiums like a side order dish as a fill-in freshie in the last 4 outdoor rounds last year, Bam Bam will not be counted out against the fastest in the world.
Justin Barcia clinches his 2nd and final East Coast Lites SX championship in New Orleans.
The battle for 2nd in the SX points chase is boiling down to Justin Brayton and Davi Millsaps. But with the recent announcement of KTM’s Ryan Dungey coming back to compete in the final 3 rounds and being only 9 points behind Brayton and 14 behind Millsaps, a second overall in the points chase is something totally not out of reach for the Dunge. I’m not totally hip with the move to race the final 3 rounds but if the first loser spot is that important to tackle the next 3 rounds, then so be it. Last time I checked, I’m not running the show at KTM. But for KTM’s sake, their 450 finishing second overall in the Supercross class points race is a pretty remarkable accomplishment from where they were before Dungey arrived. A KTM 450 used to be laughed at in SX. Now, it’s part of the show like any other brand. Congrats to Ryan Dungey and KTM for an already successful season.
The Dunge is back for the rest of the Monster Energy SX series.
Scrolling more through the points, James Stewart might as well kiss the 5th place spot goodbye in the points as he’ll be a no show this weekend in Seattle and next weekend in Salt Lake City. Depending if he races Vegas, it could be another outside the top 10 in points for the #7. The riders who have been working their way up through the injury riddled field have been Brett Metcalfe, Jake Weimer, Mike Alessi, Broc Tickle, and Kyle Chisholm who look to keep their top 10 hopes alive in the SX points. And there is almost a 40 point gap from Chisholm (11th) and injured Chad Reed (12th) to injured Josh Hansen (13th) and Nick Wey (14th). So a huge buffer there for the rest of the field to get a shot at the top 10.
Can Justin Brayton keep a top 3 finish in the SX points or will Dungey take it away?
Gavin Faith is in the mix with the JGR/Toyota/Yamaha squad as Stewart is out the next 2 rounds.
Switching to the west Lites series this weekend in Seattle, Dean Wilson holds a slim 2 point lead over Eli Tomac, who lead the series all the way up to the latest round at San Diego back in February when I crash in the whoops had him DNF on the night. Down the points sheet, Cole Seely (3rd), Marvin Musquin (4th), and Nico Izzi (5th) have had their dives in the SX class during the break and look forward to be an actual part of the points chase. Other names to refresh in this series that have been doing well is Matt Moss, who landed a podium finish in San Diego, and Travis Baker. Tyla Rattray, who suffered a bad neck injury at Oakland, will take the rest of the series off after he just got the OK this week to ride. You will next see him outdoors. Jason Anderson showed great speed but he needs to get it together in these final 3 rounds to have a shot for the top 5.
The West Coast Lites SX series kicks into gear this weekend in Seattle with Dean Wilson just 2 points in front of Eli Tomac.
This weekend’s Seattle round will be LIVE on Speed but us east coasters will have to play night owl with the 10:30PM broadcast time.
Tale Of The 2 Stroke RAW video is back up on the YouTube charts again!
This week’s hot video is the raw version of my Tale Of The 2 Stroke video featuring Delaware pro Tyler Wozney. I told you, the viewers, that when the Tale Of The 2 Stroke video reaches 100,000 views, the raw version of the video will be thrown online. Well, it passed that mark on Wednesday night and I threw the video up Thursday morning. It has hit very well so far garnering over 17,000 views after only 1 full day of existence. Check it out below if you haven’t seen it yet:
Last weekend, I visited Pagoda in Birdsboro, PA for their pro-am/Mainline Series weekend event. I was mainly up there to film up a rider video for a young 50cc rider but when I saw the flock of A class riders flood the staging area for practice Saturday, I thought I was at KROC or an early morning timed qualifying session at a pro national! Names such as McDade, Schmelyun, Peters, Spangler, and so many more were all battling for the minimum $3,ooo purse. On Sunday, the Open A class had qualifiers as 44 riders entered while the 250 A brought in a very respectable 31 names to the gate.
That is an A class practice session from Saturday at Pagoda. Yes…Saturday!
The racing was great but with the names that were there, it seemed liked an Armor All race as the riders were getting back into the racing groove. Lowell Spangler was a month in on riding after he had a bad knee injury that took him out for around 6 months. He still looked good but the 10 laps didn’t help for his final push at the end of the motos. Also, the track made it much like restrictor plate racing as the track didn’t show any signs of high speed for the riders to show their true speed. Many of the A riders didn’t like the tight S-corner sections, which mostly went down to one line. It made for close, tight, safe racing but nothing close to what you see at the pro national level.
Former top local pro David Kratz came out to play in the A practice sessions on Saturday at Pagoda.
Defending AX Lites champion Mike McDade took advantage of his tight, AX racing skills and great starts aboard his super quick Eleven10/Honda machines to get 3 out of 4 moto wins to win both 250 and Open A overalls. Rock River Yamaha’s Joey Peters was able to break that streak on the final A moto of the day in 250 A with a great start and an oddly bad one from McDade. Casey Clark, who’s been on that Vet class switch recently, ran with the youngin’s for podium finishes in both classes. Great starts helped Clark’s finishes and it shows he’s still got it against some of the fastest in the region.
Mike McDade was your big winner at Pagoda’s Pro-Am event almost sweeping all 4 motos.
Dakota Kessler grabbed a podium spot in 250 A with a 2-3 finish and looked real good. He had it going in Open A before a tight battle with Ryan Zimmerman for the lead sent them both down and Kessler only coming back to 11th. Broc Schmelyun didn’t have the horsepower in Open A on his stock KX250F but a 4-4 for 4th overall in 250 A showed he still had the skills to mix it up. New to the A classes and back from injury, Jesse Pierce raced is Suzuki RM-Z250 to a solid 6th place overall in 250 A. Other top names included Aaron Lampi, Greg Pamart, and Will Bleich who were all mixing it up in the top 5.
Even Saturday’s practice sessions in the A class had its battles!
Check out my video coverage from Pagoda’s Pro-Am event below:
I shot photos of Saturday’s A practice session at Pagoda. Check it out below:
Pagoda MC – Saturday A Class Practice Photos
Also, young MXPTV intern Jake Buly shot photos of Sunday’s action. Click the image below!
Brian Carroll at Pagoda’s Pro-Am. (Jake Buly Photo)
Jake also put together a cool video of Pagoda’s Pro-Am event. Check it out:
MXPTV’s Guess The Podiums contest goes down tomorrow morning! Win prizes from Bel-Ray, MXPTV, Mental Racing, and more! Get those podium picks in for Seattle tomorrow!
The Ricky Carmichael University is back and now with 2 classes. One across the pond in England and the other the Monday after the final Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship round at Lake Elsinore. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.
MAMA has their next race of 2012 this weekend at its home track at Budds Creek. Check out MXPTV’s preview video for the race below:
Behind The Scenes
It’s been nothing but preparation for my trip out west, which will start either April 30th/May 1st. I’m very excited about the road trip in the new ride. I will be making my first stop in Las Vegas for the Endurocross Friday night, Supercross on Saturday night, and the MiniMoto SX on Sunday. After the Vegas weekend, I will head to southern California to hit up a bunch of tracks filming the top pros get ready for the opening round at Hangtown outside Sacramento, California. I am working for Alli Sports out there and will be posting the videos I do from out there on MXPTV as well. I will then be following all the outdoors rounds right into the final round at Lake Elsinore in mid-September. It’s going to be a crazy, fun filled summer and I can’t wait!
The MXPTV ride getting a much needed cleaning after a few races already.
Want to help my trip out west? Get yourself a MXPTV t-shirt! S-XXL are available for only $20 and that includes FREE shipping! CLICK HERE to order up a shirt or 2!
The shirts are ready to rock and roll! Get yours today!
This weekend looks like I will be dodging rain as I will be going to Raceway Park on Saturday to meet up with Only One Inspiration’s Harold Glissen to do up a riding video and interview with him. Harold has been back on the bike the past week or 2 and is eyeing up another Extremity Games run in late May. Stay tuned for that video next week! As far as Sunday goes, it looks to be rainy anywhere that day so we’ll see what happens there.
Packing the gear up for Vegas/California!
I’ll be light on original content next week as I prepare for my road trip out west. So, bear with me on website updates each day. If you want to follow me more closely on my trip, always follow me on Twitter @MXPTV.
That’ll do it for Woz Up. Thanks for reading and catch ya at the races!
Tyler Wozney getting the ole’ CR250 warmed up again today.
Welcome to Woz Up! OK, sorry for the tumbleweeds the past week. I ended up sifting through all of my Easter eggs this week! In reality, I didn’t attend any type of race last weekend and just hit up a couple of open practice sessions at Blue Diamond in New Castle, DE and Snake Creek in Harrington, DE. For Blue Diamond, it was my first visit to that track since the Delaware States race back in late September last year. Kind of hard to believe that I’m going all over the place and to not show up to the closest track to my house in that amount of time. As for Snake Creek, a fun Easter Sunday with a cool Easter egg hunt on the track as well as a fun day of shooting stills. Check out the photos from Blue Diamond and Snake Creek below at the image links below:
Overall, I’m trying to get a few easy weekends in since my May – September months are straight work every weekend and every day with the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships this summer. It’s going to be a non-stop crazy road trip that’s for sure! I plan to start the trip either April 30th or May 1st and hit up Las Vegas for the Endurocross, Supercross, and MiniMoto SX all happening between May 4-6. Then, I’ll camp out in California hitting up various tracks and following the top factory riders around as they test and prep before Hangtown. It’ll be all on the road all the way up till after the High Point national when I’m back in familiar territory. I’ll be documenting my adventures here on MXPTV and in Woz Up every week. So, stay tuned on that!
Looks like my road trip might start earlier than expected….
Supercross took a much needed weekend off last weekend so not much to say on “what happened” but what can happen this weekend as the series recharges up for the New Orleans SX tomorrow night. The SX class keeps getting more less exciting as now James Stewart will be out with an hand injury he aggravated after his Indianapolis heat race wreck. So that’s Reed, Dungey, Windham, Canard, and Stewart (as the top headliners) all out with injuries this season. I never experienced a season with as many injuries but 2002 was almost as bad. In that year, the whole Suzuki team of Pastrana and Windham were out and Vuillimen, battling to hold his points lead, had a shoulder injury to deal with most of the season.
And this is where I wonder the injury difference betweeen supercross and motocross. In supercross, the tracks are tighter, more technical, and not as fast compared to its outdoor counterpart, which offer bigger jumps, naturally brutal sections, and much faster speeds. But in the end, you can’t really say one type of racing is injuring more riders than another. It just comes down to bad luck. Last year, supercross was relatively injury free with Canard and Josh Grant had their injuries but they were practicing, not the actual indoor races. All the top names that would be up front this year were littering the top 5 pretty easily. Outdoors had it extremes from Canard’s one race comeback and snapping his femur at Washougal to Chad Reed’s epic crash at Millville and finishing the race to the sad passing of Josh Lichtle at Red Bud. But I think if you took all the injuries from last year (with the exception of Licthle’s passing for obvious reasons), all combined, it doesn’t come close to the level of injuries 13 rounds into this year’s supercross series. Don’t forget the Lites classes which had Wil Hahn out for most of the West Coast rounds (but is back on the Muscle Milk/Honda 450s on the east), Tyla Rattray’s scary wreck on the west coast out for a number of rounds, and Jimmy Decotis out for pretty much the whole year due to a practice crash. It’s been a really rough year on both coasts and the SX class already! We all want to see this riders do amazing things us normal people can never do on two wheels but at the same token, you want to see them safe in the end.
Supercross hits the Superdome in New Orleans, LA tomorrow night for the first time since 2008!
Another topic I came across this week while checking the moto sites was a DMXS Radio interview with Steve Cox about concussions in motocross. I happen to be a victim of this topic as I came from racing every weekend for about 6 years and had it all end with 3 concussions in the last 2 years of racing that all gradually got worse and worse. The last concussion I had put the nail in the coffin for my racing career as it had me out for over 5-6 hours plus a cracked sternum, bruised lung, and other minor injuries (and a helicopter ride I don’t remember at all). And the show was mentioning the scary side to all of this and what they can possibly see with James Stewart. Stewart said in an interview he’s only had a couple of concussions. In my mind, I would have watched actual droppings from a fellow bull in a field than watching what he said. One thing you don’t want to hide is your past head injuries. You can hide broken bones and pulled muscles from your past but your brain is the only one you get. For me, it’s a daily struggle at times. I have some short term memory loss, which means I can forget something I did minutes before fairly easily and also, I can lose attention in conversations or maybe what’s even said in those conversations as well as sudden mood swings. I even get severe migraines at random times that has me bed ridden for a day or 2. I’ve had this issue in my childhood years as I had to go to speech/memory classes all the time to help my auditory memory processing. Add on three concussions to that and it’s not a really good thing. Now, what I do is try to make as much of my life as I can right now, as down the road, I’m not sure what’ll happen but for me, I always prepare for the worst.
Yeap, that is me at the last race I competed in (so far) at Raceway Park back in July 2004.
But I did like to hear that AMA Pro Racing along with the Asterisk Medical Unit are taking action by issuing voluntary Impact concussion tests at the supercross rounds and MX Sports making it mandatory for the outdoors. And while that is great news, I heard the JGR/Yamaha team is against this process. I know winning is a huge part of that team now with JS7 on it and with his past head injuries compared to the new concussion tests happening now, I can maybe see why they didn’t like it much. That is when a rider fails the test, he pretty much cannot race that night.
I railed outside corners like a boss?
But in the end, it’s better for the sport’s future and for the riders themselves. Much like how retired NFL football players develop long-term illnesses and diseases such as Alzheimer’s and others, I hate to see that happen with motocross racers. From when I crashed in 2004 with my 3rd concussion, I’ve seen great strides to support rider’s safety and lessen the cause of head injuries with the Leatt Brace to the Shock Doctor Eject helmet system and now, the Impact concussion tests. We don’t have roll cages or much pads to support our crashes. It’s either a brutal hit from another bike (or yours) or the earth itself. So, we need to do anything we can to help protect the riders and so far, the progress has been pretty good and I’m happy to see that.
I did get some air back in the day.
So back to New Orleans. With a title already clinched in the Supercross class, the battle for 2nd is on between Justin Brayton and Davi Millsaps. In the East Lites chase, Justin just needs to stay up, not go off like he did in Houston, and he’ll come away with his 2nd number #1 plate in a row going into Vegas. Math shows that if Blake Wharton wins, Barcia needs to do 4th or better to clinch. And Barcia has been on the podium every round. And while it’s been calm in supercross lately, let’s get some serious 2 stroke fans in the mix as Flordian Ricky Renner will be aboard a Yamaha YZ125 in the Lites class this weekend in New Orleans. He made the night show easily in Daytona and was close to qualifying for the main before the Daytona rains silenced the 2 stroke for the night. (Even the guy upstairs is a 4 stroke fan!) Best of luck to Ricky in the big easy tomorrow night!
The Easter bunny gave Snake Creek some scrumptious dirt to shred on Sunday.
The bro was on it on his Diamond Motorsports/Bel-Ray Honda CRF250 at Snake Creek. He even rode a 125 for a little bit as well.
With the lack of content this week at MXPTV, I decided to dive into some of my photos from the year so far and put together some sweet desktop wallpaper designs. They took some time but check them out at the photo link below:
Tony Blazier, who has been contributing to Pulp MX and uploads a ton of past SX/MX races on TV on his YouTube channel, uploaded one of the most exciting supercrosses I can remember – the 2002 Pontiac Supercross. The 250 class was action packed from the heat races to the crazy main event. Check it out below:
This weekend, I will be at Pagoda in Birdsboro, PA for their pro-am/Mainline series event both Saturday and Sunday available to do rider videos and MXPTV t-shirts will be for sale all weekend long! Come on out! Should be a fun filled weekend! I may do one more race in the area next week before heading west at the end of the month. Stay tuned next week to find out where that will be!
We’re going to see a ton of this in the next coming years!
Check out my last video from Pagoda I did back in July 2011:
Thanks for checking in and reading Woz Up! See ya at the races!
Dean Wilson gives Tyla Rattray the Barcia treatment.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Woz Up! Before you read this, go and order yourself MXPTV’s new “Video. Photo. Moto.” t-shirt! For $19.99, you get FREE shipping and FREE MXPTV stickers. CLICK HERE or click the shirt below to get yours today! I need gas money for my nationals road trip this summer!
Get the new MXPTV t-shirt and help me get some gas money for this summer!
Well, since spring is in full gear now, I decided to do some technological spring cleaning here at MXPTV.com with a new look for 2012 and hopefully beyond! The new look boasts better viewing for the site’s main video and photo content both on your desktop and mobile device. Go ahead. Pull out that iPhone or iPad and give it a shot! I do end up changing the look of this site pretty frequently but I’m going to stay with this one for awhile. Well, I’m going to try! Scope around and get used to the new look!
Ryan Villopoto is your 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion! (Lukaitis Photo)
Looks like the Supercross class has turned into a battle for 2nd as Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto continues his hot streak on his 450 as so far, he has been walking away with the #1 plate in the premier class ever since his 2011 SX title. Add in an outdoor title, Motocross Des Nations team win, Monster Cup sweep for a million big ones, and now this year’s SX title, Villopoto is at his prime and it doesn’t look like anyone can top him at the moment. But believe me, even though RV sealed and delivered this title quicker than anyone in history, it didn’t come easy until Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard, and Kevin Windham all had crushing and sudden season ending injuries that dropped them out of the points standings. Add in James Stewart’s continuing hits to the dirt at almost every stop and it’s safe to say, Villopoto has been able to stay safe from the carnage all season long.
Davi Millsaps sits 100+ points behind of Villopoto in 3rd, but technically 2nd due to Ryan Dungey out for the series. (Lukaitis Photo)
With 4 rounds left to go and the champion already determined, the rest of the SX season is going to be a yawner. Not really. Yes, it’s not like battling for the lead but the battle for 2nd is shaping up real well between JGR/Toyota/Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps and Muscle Milk/Honda’s Justin Brayton. Both of these riders are already in the best points position of their careers indoors and now it’s down to see who can top the other coming out of Vegas on May 5th. Millsaps holds a 10 point lead over Brayton and another 11 points behind Brayton is Jake Weimer, who had a solid podium finish last weekend in Houston. Behind Weimer, Brett Metcalfe and Mike Alessi are currently tied. Add in Broc Tickle and Kyle Chisholm who inch up the points standings passing this season’s KOs Dungey, Reed, and Windham and could be in the top 10 after Vegas.
Justin Brayton is right there in the mix technically 3rd in the points and 10 behind Millsaps. (Lukaits Photo)
And for the Lites class on the east coast, the boiler room in Justin Barcia‘s head went haywire after KTM rider Lance Vincent (being lapped) collided with him just a few turns before the finish on the final lap. Now, the going around roosting everyone (including the Asterisk medical staff) was a huge line crosser that involved Barcia getting fined $5,000 for the post-race tantrum. Barcia did apologize to the fans, media, and everyone involved for his actions. I’m sure it was one night he could take back but it just goes to show what fuels the defending champion. He isn’t out there to get a solid podium finish. From when he was growing up in District 34 in New York State, Barcia has always been about winning. If he didn’t win, don’t even bother talking to him. That’s the way he’s always been but now since he’s in such a bigger spotlight than back in those days, Barcia has to realize we see his every move and has to face the critics. He has done so after Houston and I can pretty much guarantee you that you won’t see that post-race roost action again. His emotions got the best of him and he’ll learn from this lesson. But don’t worry. Bam Bam will be Bam Bam and entertaining as usual.
Justin Barcia had a night he’s rather forget in Houston, but he still got 2nd in the main and gained his points lead. (Lukaitis Photo)
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross series heads to New Orleans next weekend as the series takes a much needed one week break this Easter weekend.
Last weekend, I attended the Mainline Series opening round at Sleepy Hollow in Fredericksburg, PA. It was a rather cool weekend as the temps got to be pretty much lower than usual and had everyone running over to get their hoodies and jackets. Check out my coverage of Sleepy’s mainline race below:
Click the photo to check out MXPTV’s photos from Sleepy Hollow!
BGMG released their long awaited Shades Of Gray freeride video Wednesday night. Check it out below if you haven’t seen it yet:
With many tracks not running due to the Easter holiday, MAMA does have their annual Easter race this weekend at Tomahawk MX in West Virginia. Usually, MAMA holds their Easter race at Budds Creek every year but despite the location switch, I’m sure there will be plenty of Easter fun going on at Tomahawk. Check out this special Easter promo video for this weekend’s race below:
Since there is no SX round this weekend, there will be no Guess The Podiums contest this weekend. Hold your picks for next Saturday’s New Orleans round!
This weekend is Easter and I plan to keep the spring cleaning going at home and possibly hit up some Easter fun at Snake Creek MX either Saturday or Sunday (or both!).
Also, MXPTV just got a new sponsor just as I was finishing this up: Dubya USA! Thanks Dubya for hopping on board! Go check them out at www.dubyausa.com and buy some sweet rims for your dirt bike! (Sick rims mean a better chance to be in MXPTV’s videos!)
Now, go find all those colored eggs, crack open a Cadbury egg, or chase down some wacko in a rabbit costume! Have a fun Easter weekend!
A look into the past week at MXPTV and around the MX/SX world in Woz Up!
Let’s see what’s been up the past week at MXPTV in this week’s Woz Up!
A look into the past week at MXPTV in this week’s edition of Woz up!
