Bad news out of Baja Acres.

Meister wrote:

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today. His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a...

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today.

His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a couple motos before that 450B Moto. I was trackside cheering on a buddy who was running 8th at the time. Red flag came out, saw a crowd start to gather. I switched vantage points and saw something that really got to me. I saw atleast 4 people switch out compression sessions. They were still at work from on the track to into the squad. About 15-20 minutes later, the bird showed up. 10 minutes later, it left. Shortly after I headed to the store and out at the gate sat about 8 sheriff's, as well as abc news. The lady at the gate told me no one was put on the bird, so I knew it was as bad as it looked. My buddy pretty much saw it happen. Sounded like he fell in a relatively "flat" section (this didn't happen on some big jump like the last one), but the bumps were 3-4' tall. Riders behind him were carrying momentum jumping through the whoops. I cant imagine.

What I saw and what happened definitely hit me. Was sketched out every time I hit the track after that. I had no realistic chance of getting a top 6 after my headcase 2nd Moto this morning, so I bailed before my 3rd Moto.

This goes back to the chest thumping "let it get rough". Where do we draw the line? This came up on a local forum, and I'll say the same thing here. 19 years ago when I raced Loretta's, the tracks got rough, but not this freakin rough. We had much less horse power that just plain old didn't dig these holes. Little Ricky McStewart likely will never be a pro. Hell, 99% of riders at that regional will never "make" it. Why "let it get so rough" when the risk is so great. That mentality left a family without a son. Now I know, there are many many variables, but why purposely increase the potential for catastrophe. We will never understand the big man's plans. This is NOT a dig at the promoter. Baja is a phenomenal place. They run a great program. It's just this messed up mentality of "it has to be super rough". Most times I hear that, it's either from experienced pros, or chest thumpers who don't or hardly even ride. Again, so many variables. I'm just venting because what I saw definitely threw me for a loop.

For anyone that may know this family, I pray that the family will eventually find peace. I don't know them, but I think I speak for everyone whos on this forum, if we as a Moto family can do anything, please reach out..

Meister wrote:

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today. His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a...

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today.

His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a couple motos before that 450B Moto. I was trackside cheering on a buddy who was running 8th at the time. Red flag came out, saw a crowd start to gather. I switched vantage points and saw something that really got to me. I saw atleast 4 people switch out compression sessions. They were still at work from on the track to into the squad. About 15-20 minutes later, the bird showed up. 10 minutes later, it left. Shortly after I headed to the store and out at the gate sat about 8 sheriff's, as well as abc news. The lady at the gate told me no one was put on the bird, so I knew it was as bad as it looked. My buddy pretty much saw it happen. Sounded like he fell in a relatively "flat" section (this didn't happen on some big jump like the last one), but the bumps were 3-4' tall. Riders behind him were carrying momentum jumping through the whoops. I cant imagine.

What I saw and what happened definitely hit me. Was sketched out every time I hit the track after that. I had no realistic chance of getting a top 6 after my headcase 2nd Moto this morning, so I bailed before my 3rd Moto.

This goes back to the chest thumping "let it get rough". Where do we draw the line? This came up on a local forum, and I'll say the same thing here. 19 years ago when I raced Loretta's, the tracks got rough, but not this freakin rough. We had much less horse power that just plain old didn't dig these holes. Little Ricky McStewart likely will never be a pro. Hell, 99% of riders at that regional will never "make" it. Why "let it get so rough" when the risk is so great. That mentality left a family without a son. Now I know, there are many many variables, but why purposely increase the potential for catastrophe. We will never understand the big man's plans. This is NOT a dig at the promoter. Baja is a phenomenal place. They run a great program. It's just this messed up mentality of "it has to be super rough". Most times I hear that, it's either from experienced pros, or chest thumpers who don't or hardly even ride. Again, so many variables. I'm just venting because what I saw definitely threw me for a loop.

For anyone that may know this family, I pray that the family will eventually find peace. I don't know them, but I think I speak for everyone whos on this forum, if we as a Moto family can do anything, please reach out..

cody41 wrote:

My opinion is that rougher tracks keep the speed down.

Boomslang wrote:

Cases like this is something I think about often. Is there anything we can do to lesson the risks of a bad outcome? There are many...

Cases like this is something I think about often. Is there anything we can do to lesson the risks of a bad outcome? There are many variables that come into play but there is one area we can focus on - the marshalling.

I reflect back to Alessi getting run over, he was out front, went down hard and got pounded by the back. In my opinion, it was a good thing he was down and stayed down. It's better getting over on the ground opposed to getting hit standing up.

There is one area that can help better the chances of a downed rider and that falls into the hands of the flaggers. Flaggers are often volunteers with not much experience as a rider. These guys get a couple of bucks and a free lunch to wave a flag, they are often distracted by the racing instead of focusing on their designated section for marshalling.

I have marshalled plenty over the years and the has been times that I have run from our pit to get to the marshal to take his flag away as he just stands


there waving the flag. I've gone onto the track, in traffic to wave riders to the opposite side of the track in relation to the downed rider,

More marshals with a thorough understanding of the sport working together to serve and protect and they need to execute with speed...getting into position to divert the traffic as quickly as possible, away and around the downed rider is the best chance at preventing further injuries to the said fallen rider.

Meister wrote:

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today. His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a...

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today.

His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a couple motos before that 450B Moto. I was trackside cheering on a buddy who was running 8th at the time. Red flag came out, saw a crowd start to gather. I switched vantage points and saw something that really got to me. I saw atleast 4 people switch out compression sessions. They were still at work from on the track to into the squad. About 15-20 minutes later, the bird showed up. 10 minutes later, it left. Shortly after I headed to the store and out at the gate sat about 8 sheriff's, as well as abc news. The lady at the gate told me no one was put on the bird, so I knew it was as bad as it looked. My buddy pretty much saw it happen. Sounded like he fell in a relatively "flat" section (this didn't happen on some big jump like the last one), but the bumps were 3-4' tall. Riders behind him were carrying momentum jumping through the whoops. I cant imagine.

What I saw and what happened definitely hit me. Was sketched out every time I hit the track after that. I had no realistic chance of getting a top 6 after my headcase 2nd Moto this morning, so I bailed before my 3rd Moto.

This goes back to the chest thumping "let it get rough". Where do we draw the line? This came up on a local forum, and I'll say the same thing here. 19 years ago when I raced Loretta's, the tracks got rough, but not this freakin rough. We had much less horse power that just plain old didn't dig these holes. Little Ricky McStewart likely will never be a pro. Hell, 99% of riders at that regional will never "make" it. Why "let it get so rough" when the risk is so great. That mentality left a family without a son. Now I know, there are many many variables, but why purposely increase the potential for catastrophe. We will never understand the big man's plans. This is NOT a dig at the promoter. Baja is a phenomenal place. They run a great program. It's just this messed up mentality of "it has to be super rough". Most times I hear that, it's either from experienced pros, or chest thumpers who don't or hardly even ride. Again, so many variables. I'm just venting because what I saw definitely threw me for a loop.

For anyone that may know this family, I pray that the family will eventually find peace. I don't know them, but I think I speak for everyone whos on this forum, if we as a Moto family can do anything, please reach out..

cody41 wrote:

My opinion is that rougher tracks keep the speed down.

Meister wrote:

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today. His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a...

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today.

His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a couple motos before that 450B Moto. I was trackside cheering on a buddy who was running 8th at the time. Red flag came out, saw a crowd start to gather. I switched vantage points and saw something that really got to me. I saw atleast 4 people switch out compression sessions. They were still at work from on the track to into the squad. About 15-20 minutes later, the bird showed up. 10 minutes later, it left. Shortly after I headed to the store and out at the gate sat about 8 sheriff's, as well as abc news. The lady at the gate told me no one was put on the bird, so I knew it was as bad as it looked. My buddy pretty much saw it happen. Sounded like he fell in a relatively "flat" section (this didn't happen on some big jump like the last one), but the bumps were 3-4' tall. Riders behind him were carrying momentum jumping through the whoops. I cant imagine.

What I saw and what happened definitely hit me. Was sketched out every time I hit the track after that. I had no realistic chance of getting a top 6 after my headcase 2nd Moto this morning, so I bailed before my 3rd Moto.

This goes back to the chest thumping "let it get rough". Where do we draw the line? This came up on a local forum, and I'll say the same thing here. 19 years ago when I raced Loretta's, the tracks got rough, but not this freakin rough. We had much less horse power that just plain old didn't dig these holes. Little Ricky McStewart likely will never be a pro. Hell, 99% of riders at that regional will never "make" it. Why "let it get so rough" when the risk is so great. That mentality left a family without a son. Now I know, there are many many variables, but why purposely increase the potential for catastrophe. We will never understand the big man's plans. This is NOT a dig at the promoter. Baja is a phenomenal place. They run a great program. It's just this messed up mentality of "it has to be super rough". Most times I hear that, it's either from experienced pros, or chest thumpers who don't or hardly even ride. Again, so many variables. I'm just venting because what I saw definitely threw me for a loop.

For anyone that may know this family, I pray that the family will eventually find peace. I don't know them, but I think I speak for everyone whos on this forum, if we as a Moto family can do anything, please reach out..

nascarnate326 wrote:

Incredibly sad. Didn’t someone die at Portland within the last year or two? Tracks getting rough as ever and larger scale accidents start happening. Not good...

Incredibly sad. Didn’t someone die at Portland within the last year or two?

Tracks getting rough as ever and larger scale accidents start happening. Not good for anyone.

Was the whole track a whoops section ? I stayed home this weekend.

Meister wrote:

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today. His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a...

Mysteriously, the track was maintained to a much better standard today.

His Moto was late in the day Saturday. Track was hammered. I was just a couple motos before that 450B Moto. I was trackside cheering on a buddy who was running 8th at the time. Red flag came out, saw a crowd start to gather. I switched vantage points and saw something that really got to me. I saw atleast 4 people switch out compression sessions. They were still at work from on the track to into the squad. About 15-20 minutes later, the bird showed up. 10 minutes later, it left. Shortly after I headed to the store and out at the gate sat about 8 sheriff's, as well as abc news. The lady at the gate told me no one was put on the bird, so I knew it was as bad as it looked. My buddy pretty much saw it happen. Sounded like he fell in a relatively "flat" section (this didn't happen on some big jump like the last one), but the bumps were 3-4' tall. Riders behind him were carrying momentum jumping through the whoops. I cant imagine.

What I saw and what happened definitely hit me. Was sketched out every time I hit the track after that. I had no realistic chance of getting a top 6 after my headcase 2nd Moto this morning, so I bailed before my 3rd Moto.

This goes back to the chest thumping "let it get rough". Where do we draw the line? This came up on a local forum, and I'll say the same thing here. 19 years ago when I raced Loretta's, the tracks got rough, but not this freakin rough. We had much less horse power that just plain old didn't dig these holes. Little Ricky McStewart likely will never be a pro. Hell, 99% of riders at that regional will never "make" it. Why "let it get so rough" when the risk is so great. That mentality left a family without a son. Now I know, there are many many variables, but why purposely increase the potential for catastrophe. We will never understand the big man's plans. This is NOT a dig at the promoter. Baja is a phenomenal place. They run a great program. It's just this messed up mentality of "it has to be super rough". Most times I hear that, it's either from experienced pros, or chest thumpers who don't or hardly even ride. Again, so many variables. I'm just venting because what I saw definitely threw me for a loop.

For anyone that may know this family, I pray that the family will eventually find peace. I don't know them, but I think I speak for everyone whos on this forum, if we as a Moto family can do anything, please reach out..