The Scoop 4

Hey, heard any good rumors lately? We checked in with Andrew Short, Nick Wey, Chad Reed, Weston Peick, and Nick Paluzzi this week to see what's they're up to.









Andrew Short. Click any image for a larger version.

Watching Red Bull KTM's Andrew Short adapt to the new 350 SX-F this season that been interesting, and as he recently told us, he's adopted a style that's pretty unique to work with the bike. "My instincts previously on a 450, you could cut under people, kind of go from a standstill and still beat them to the next turn. Now I have to keep my momentum up and rev the bike more. I have to use it to its advantages, and minimize the disadvantages. The 350's really good in a lot of situations, and I wasn't using that to my benefit at the beginning. So I've learned and adapted, trying to get that surge, and open up that throttle a little more than I have in the past. It's been a fun process, and a frustrating process at times, but fun to see that the results have been getting better."


So has the 350 required him to get a bit more aggressive? "Yeah, a little bit, but at the same time, you can't force something that's not there. So I have to be smart with how I apply myself. If I apply myself in the right way, I can use that bike in a smart way, and when I get all aggro and overly aggressive, then I'm going backwards. I'm trying to find that fine line."







Nick Wey.

Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha's Nick Wey has had his three best finishes of the season in the last three races, with a eighth, ninth, and a sixth, and is currently tenth in points. We were curious what the difference was. "I came into the season thinking I was pretty ready, and it turned out that once we got to race conditions I wasn't as comfortable on my race bike as I would have hoped. I also dealt with a back injury, and got sick, and it's been progressing slowly. But the team's been helping me a lot and my mechanic, Jeremy Hoyer, has been really on it, and gives me a lot of confidence with the bikes and I'm not having to worry about that at all. Our suspension guy, Todd Brown, has been working with me, and we've got the bike to where I can ride it to my potential now. We started off the season way too soft on the suspension settings, and lately we've been getting stiffer to where I can ride it harder. I think that's the biggest difference, really."



"I'm pretty stoked on how things are going, and looking to keep improving these last few weekends. Hopefully we can get into the top five and get into the mix with these title contenders."


With rain and tornado warnings in Florida this week, and after taking over the Supercross points lead last weekend, how did Chad Reed work on further dialing in his program? By coming to California. The TwoTwo Motorsports Bel Ray Racing rider spent some time with his team as well as Bones from Pro Circuit, and some support from Honda as well. He also Twittered on his @CRtwotwo account, "Out at the Honda test track. Crazy it's a ghost town at all the tracks. Its still #sx season right?" While we were there, he had a full complement of forks, shocks, and linkages to work through, as well as some different items like axles.







Ozzy, Bones, Reedy, and the TwoTwo Motorsports Bel Ray Racing crew were busy all day, getting dialed in for the last few races in the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross season.

While it may not have been busy at the track, he and the crew got a lot done, and he later said, "Had an awesome successful day pumped I came to Cali."


It's always cool to see a non-factory guy score a great start, and Weston Peick's heat race holeshot had a few people scrambling for their programs, trying to figure out who number 43 was.









Yeah, that's a holeshot that'll get some attention...especially when you start noticing some of the other riders back in the pack.

We checked in with Weston to get his perspective, and he told us, "It was definitely pretty cool. I had a good gate pick going into the heat race, and I just timed the gate right and never let off in the first corner and ended up with the holeshot."


I was on the right side of Michael Byrne, and right before the turn went left, he backed off a little bit, and I held it on a little bit longer and just made that left turn by myself and there was nobody around me. It was also pretty marbly. I came in pretty fast and sliding really bad, almost all the way to the Tuf-Blocks, and I almost gave it away, but the tires hooked up pretty good, and I pulled it around."


"I was kind of tripping, a little bit that I pulled a start like that. I was kind of nervous for the first couple laps so I wasn't breathing like I should. I finally settled into a groove, and started picking it back up, though."







Weston Peick.

At 205 pounds, Weston's one of the bigger guys out there, but he doesn't feel like it hurts him on the big bikes. "Being a bigger guy I can muscle people around more, and just stay strong through the motos. It's give or take, either way."


Weston's riding for Rock River Powersports, which gets his bike from race-to-race, but he's still paying his own way to events, and is looking at sitting out the outdoor season if he can't get some more support. "As of right now I'm paying my own way to get to the races, and it's kind of hard for outdoors, considering it doesn't pay as much as Supercross. It's going to be tough doing everything on my own again."


Another rider looking for some help this summer is Nick Paluzzi, who's been filling in for Gareth Swanepoel, who got hurt just before the Supercross season. But that ride comes with an expiration date.







Nick Paluzzi.

"About two-and-a-half weeks out from Seattle, and I'm Supercross only with the DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha team. We're just going to do the best we can at the last three rounds, and hopefully come up with pretty much anything for the outdoors. You know, I'd like to stay on the 250s, just being a younger guy, but I really like the 450. I did that last year, the last two rounds with Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX, and I'd ride either or. At this point if I don't get an offer for a 250 ride, there'd be no reason to pass up a 450 ride. I like 450s a lot, even though I'm kind of a lighter guy, but I'd like to just ride 450s for the summer and hopefully get back on a 250 for next year.


Being a replacement guy, it was sort of ironic that Nick had some injuries of his own coming into his rookie Supercross season. "I had a broken navicular, and I really didn't get much time to practice until about a week before A1, and those first couple rounds there's not much I can say about 'em. I'll be honest, I was a little scared of the tracks. But during this break we've made a lot of improvements. We're good now, and able to do 15 laps strong, and really looking forward to the last three rounds. I've had Charles Dao work on my fitness, and now I have Buddy Antunez working with me at the test track. We've made a lot of improvements, and my mains should be a lot better. The first couple rounds I'd do really good in my heat races, get some great starts and be up front for a while, but my mains just weren't there. My first year of Supercross, I think it was good to be able to lead a couple of those heat races and get to ride with those top guys."


Oh, and one final note. If you're looking for any April Fool's stuff in here...well, you know that whole James Stewart thing from earlier this week? That has to rank as the best gag ever...

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