Vital MX Monday Pit Bits

Want to catch up on everything you might have missed over the Superbowl weekend? Check below... Click the following link for a 42-photo gallery of shots from the night's racing at Anaheim 3. That's not all! Click the following link for a 35-photo gallery of pit and practice photos from Anaheim 3.

How weird was it to hear boos from the stands following Saturday night's Supercross main event? Maybe it was that James Stewart's pass was fairly aggressive (as was Chad Reed's), maybe it was that James' move was second, so it had the appearance of retaliation. Or maybe it was the little look back over his shoulder from James as he exited the corner. Either way, our take (which seems to be shared by many who viewed SPEED's TV coverage of the race) is that James didn't really deserve the flack. It's racing. We just hope to see more back-and-forth action between James, Chad, and whoever else can step up to the front of the Supercross pack.

As the podium festivities wrapped up and everyone headed to the press conference, we walked past one group of vocal "fans", and asked, "Would have rather watched a runaway win?"

They had no answer for that.

Brian Vickers, helping Dirt Wurx smooth the start straight before the main events at A3.

When was the last time you saw a NASCAR Cup car on dirt? Well, last year's Talladega winner, Brian Vickers, was on hand at Anaheim on Saturday night, and did some donuts on the start straight before the main event. He'll be wheeling a Red Bull-sponsored Toyota entry during the '07 Nextel Cup season.

It's interesting to see the continued cross-pollination between NASCAR and Supercross scene. We also ran into a fabricator from Robert Yates Racing teams who was there and checking out the action.

We'd guess that with the lineup of talent out West, Ryan Villopoto figured he'd have been doing more racing than he has thus far this season. Most of his main events have looked more like time trial sprints.

With Ryan Villopoto putting a serious hurt on the Lites West competitors, many people are starting to turn their eyes toward the upcoming Lites East series. We're definitely looking forward to seeing the Alessis, Hepler, Dungey, Sipes, Laninovich, Townley, Goerke, Morais and more in under three weeks.

Nice one!

We dig the new Toyota pit boards that they pass out in the pits, and for some reason, this one really seemed to resonate with us. (Way to go!)

Bell's Sports Marketing Director, Sean Estes.

While strolling through the pits in Anaheim, enjoying the sunshine, we ran into Sean Estes from Bell Helmets, who was loaded down with goodies for his team riders. Be sure to check back this week for a photo and video visit to the Bell Helmets headquarters.

Chris Favro showing off the "Organic" model RXR protector that Kyle Cunningham was wearing last weekend, along with one of the internal air bladders that go inside it.

With all the recent focus on improving rider safety recently, it's been interesting to see what new and innovative stuff is being tried in the moto scene. We ran into Chris Favro at Anaheim, and he showed us the RXR protector. There are two models available, and both use interior air bladders with a series of interconnected chambers. If you hit the ground, air moves slowly from chamber-to-chamber, helping to disperse the impact. We'll be taking a closer look at these soon, but in the meantime, check the address below for more infor

RXR North America
P.O. Box 279
Glenmont, NY
(877) RXR-4600

Their web site is currently under construction, but when it's finished it will live at www.rxrnorthamerica.com.

If you're headed to the Atlanta Supercross, you need to make some time in your schedule on the following day, to check out the annual Ride 4 AT charity event. There will be an auction for rider gear, a catapult where they'll be launching helmets across the track, as well as rider autographs, pit bike racing, and riding on the main track, and lots of other fun.

Riders who are scheduled to appear there include Ricky Carmichael, David Millsaps, Ezra Lusk, Tim Ferry, Martin Davalos, Bryan Johnson, Matt Walker, Shae Bentley, and the organizers are awaiting confirmation from some other big names. For more information, check out www.ride4at.com. Vital MX will be there to check it out.

Suzuki's Ben Spies.

While Ricky Carmichael's off the Supercross schedule until Atlanta, we did see one Suzuki titleholder in the infield at A3, AMA Superbike champ, Ben Spies.

Speaking of Championships, Darcy Lange wrapped up the BooKoo Arenacross Title in Minneapolis, MN last weekend, after taking 23 of 36 main event wins. That's worth $25,000, as well as a Honda Ridgeline truck that he gets to take home. Lange also has a shot at at some more big bucks next weekend, as the BooKoo Arenacross season wraps up at the Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, CT, with the U.S. Open of Arenacross. There's a $100,000 purse, and $50,000 up for grabs to the winner, which should make things even more aggressive than usual.

Need more info? Check www.racearenacross.com.

The other Arenacross group, the Toyota AMA National Arenacross series, was in Springfield, IL, last weekend. Robbie Reynard has been chipping away at Danny Smith's points lead over the last few rounds. Following Friday night's racing (where both Smith and Reynard hit the ground), it was Teddy Maier who took the win, and Smith had a 19-point lead heading into Saturday night.

During that main event, Danny Smith took the win, followed by Reynard, and Danny added three points to his lead, which is now 21 with four events left. Want ticket info? Check www.arenacross.com.

There's plenty of MX to Tivo this week, whether it's The Motocross Files feature on the late Jim Pomeroy (SPEED), or Wife Swap (ABC), which features Florida's Starling family.

Back to Anaheim for a few notes on last weekend's curtain-closer for the three-race So. Cal. mini-series championships…

Jason Thomas and his teammate, Bryan Johnson, duking it out to see who gets the Racer X Gas card, and who goes to the main event. Bryan made it to the line first this week.

The toughest race of the night might have been in the Supercross LCQ, pitting DNA Energy / BTO Sports / Butler Bros. teammates Bryan Johnson and Jason Thomas against each other for the final transfer spot. Jason had worked his way past Jacob Saylor, and was setting his sites on Johnson, edging his way past with a couple straights to go. But Bryan worked his teammate wide on the track with two turns to go. Having teammates go at it has to be a tough way to get into the main.

Just think, some people pay for this kind of spa treatment. Those people are not motocrossers.

Mechanical troubles slowed Josh Hill in the heat race, but he came back to blitz the LCQ. We also have to say, integrating sand sections makes for some interesting photos that  you don't usually get in Supercross…though we're not sure Josh enjoyed it as much as we did.

Tim Ferry and family are headed back to Florida after spending a month or so out in California.

We also have to give Tim Ferry a big thumb's up for grabbing third on the podium in the Supercross class on Saturday night. Way to go, Red Dog.

Okay, that's it for this week, but if there's anything here that you want to discuss, you can always do it in the Vital MX Forums...and be sure to check back throughout the week on Vital MX.