Vital Buzz: Southwick

One of the coolest bits about the second 450 moto on Sunday was that it wasn’t just a two-rider race for the lead. Grant Langston had shown excellent speed during Saturday’s practice sessions, and that definitely carried over to Sunday, when he caught and passed James Stewart for second. Regarding being in third behind James and his pass for second place, Langston later said, "I may have tried to sit there longer and give it my all at the end, but I was eating roost in every single turn and I was just over it. I just thought I've got to try and go ahead. Maybe if he's eating my roost it'll give me a gap or a breather. As soon as I passed him it lit a fire for him." James later took over second and held it to the end.

Despite losing the spot back to James, Grant said, “It was fun. I had such a good time just hearing the crowd go nuts. All year it seems that I’m on the other end of the track when the crowd’s going nuts at the other end because they’re cheering for another battle. To be in that battle was great. I had a blast, and it was probably one of the most enjoyable, and rewarding, motos I’ve ever had. The first moto I got a third, but it was a lonely third. That one (the second moto) was a lot more exciting and had my adrenaline going. Being able to see Ricky for a while and having James in front of me was just awesome. I’m just stoked. It was a good day and I like the sand…I was definitely looking for a podium coming in here.”

So would Grant give credit to the sand and conditions? Or is it that his riding has improved? “I would really like to say that I’m riding good now. I don’t know. I definitely like the sand. I always say there’s kind of two races. There’s a race for the lead, with these two, and then there’s that podium race. I think in the sand, I kind of knew with that gap between the first two and the rest of the pack, that normally I’m four seconds off these guys and now I was right there with them.” He also added, “I feel that I’m going to get stronger. I feel like I’ve made improvements each week, and I’m getting used to the 450s. So if I’m on the podium, that’ll answer your question.”

Grant Langston, about to get some sand spray for lunch, courtesy of James Stewart.

Among the funnier moments in the press conference this week were reserved for exchanges between James Stewart and Langston, who’d ridden together at James’ track the week before. James began explaining about how he had Grant, “All over me,” and then continued, “He ended up getting around me and I just followed his lines for a few laps and I was able to make the pass and try to go on.” He also noted that he’d run out of tear-offs before the end of the moto, and, “It’s hard to follow somebody and stay up on them. I just tried to make the pass as soon as I could. He rode really good, and he’s not coming to my house any more.”

When it was mentioned that he’d had Langston and a few other riders practicing at his house this week, that’s when it got funny. “It was good, I had him, and Josh Grant and a few other people there. We were riding and everything was going good. Grant’s a really good rider. He came out the first practice yesterday on it, second practice, on it, and I was thinking last night, ‘Man, if he’s faster than me today, he’s not coming (to the house).’ Then when he passed me in the race, I was like, ‘He’s for sure not coming.’ I was able to get back by him, but I’m letting him know, ‘Sorry Grant, we can go hang out, but you’re not coming.’”

Of course, Grant’s view of the whole thing was slightly. “What he forgets to tell you is I went to his house, and it’s like a huge freestyle park. Just massive doubles everywhere. I cannot remember which double is out of which turn, so he goes, ‘Follow me, I’ll show you where to go.’ He’s got this jump, and you’ve probably seen it in MySpace, and right in front of me hits this triple step-up that shoots you to the moon and he’s facing backwards looking at me. I’m going over front wheel high, coming up a little bit short, and then he just annihilated me when we did a moto. He gave me like 15 seconds and just ran me down. I felt stupid. But then I looked around and there’s a bunch of guys there who are decent riders and they were getting annihilated as well, so I’m glad we don’t have a National at his house.” That exchange caused plenty of laughter.

Grant also noted about riding together, “It always helps for sure. Anyone, whether you ride with someone faster or slower than you, if you’re riding together and space each other out, and you’re the faster guy trying to catch the other guy, and vice versa, the other guy’s trying to not let you catch him, it always helps. I think that’s why some of the guys enjoy riding together because we push each other more. It makes it more enjoyable and takes that boringness out of it…makes good, hard training enjoyable.”

A lot of what goes into Vital Buzz on a weekly basis is pretty positive stuff, but sadly, the following item isn’t one of those things. But we also feel it’s important, and maybe it’ll spur some discussion. And if it makes people think before they act, all the better.

While shooting photos in one of the tight and twisty sections during Saturday’s practice sessions, we noted a group of spectators who’d loudly cheer their favorites, but were singling out one rider for jeers…Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s James Stewart. Over the length of that practice their heckling went from boos and thumbs-down, to one guy hanging halfway over the fence, enthusiastically flipping James a double bird. Maybe more troubling was that they’d also brought a small cardboard sign that they’d quickly flash as James went by. Then they'd fold it back up and hide it away. We never did get a good enough look at it (even with the benefit of a telephoto lens) to see the message they were trying to send, but it was fairly obvious that it was for James only, and it wasn’t being used to wish him good luck. It was being used to hate.

That's no mechanic's area, and that's not a pit board being flashed to James Stewart. This would be ignorant even if James' mom wasn't standing within just a few feet of him.

Maybe most troubling of all was that this was going on just a few yards away from James’ brother Malcolm, his mom Sonya, and James’ friend Rado, who just happened to be walking through that area to watch practice. To her credit, Sonya went over and let them know who she was, that what they were doing wasn’t cool, and asked why they were doing it. As you might guess, when put on the spot, they didn’t have any really good answers for their behavior. As for the most vocal one in the group, he clearly showed his intelligence when asked how he’d feel if someone were flipping off one of his relatives…or his mom. His response was, “I wouldn’t care.”

As for James, on the last lap of that practice he rolled by the area slowly, raised his hand…and gave them the thumbs-up before heading back to the pits. He knew they weren't fans, but he definitely showed who’s the better man.

We have to admit, we generally don’t see such obvious examples of hate at the races, but in talking with Sonya in the pits later, it’s still very common…like at every race. That’s sad. We figured that in 2007, we’d be much further along than that as a society.

Here are a few observations:

• As far as we’re concerned, these guys weren’t true motocross fans. Anyone who can’t watch James ride and admire his talent on the track, regardless of skin color, clearly doesn’t get it.
• If you’re at the races and see stuff like that, speak up. We’d guess that idiots like these who think they’re anonymous are more likely to actually think it’s okay…or repeat the behavior.
• In the future we hope our discussions of race can be limited to what happens on the track, and that we can replace racist with racest. You know…whoever the fastest guy is on any given weekend.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled news.

Ben Townley.

Among Ben Townley’s comments after the race were some interesting notes on the track, and track prep. “I think they need to look at what they’re doing to the tracks between motos, and even between days.  I was really disappointed when we rode the sighting lap for the second moto. I was bummed. I don’t work my ass off all week and ride rough tracks to come out and see half the track flat. Ryan (Villopoto) and I were talking about it and half the track was fast. We were doing 1:57s, and that’s what the fastest qualifying time was yesterday. It was faster than the first moto, and I don’t think that’s real motocross right there. Someone needs to make some calls and set a standard right there."

Nick Wey blowing smoke. Everyone runs so wide open exiting the corners that you get some unusual pics.

Looking over some of the cornering photos from the weekend, there were two constants. Of course, a large quantity of flying sand was one, but the other was small puffs of white smoke accompanying WFO cornering. We checked in with veteran engine builder, and he suggested that it might be trace amounts of oil escaping out the exhaust. One thing’s for sure, though…being next to the track while either class was in action was darn near enough to make your ears bleed. GuyB often skips earplugs on most weekends, but was scrambling for them in Southwick.

Ryan Clark's Industrial Rideshop lid.

John Dowd's Hard Earned helmet is all about the Benjamins.

A couple of the cooler helmets we saw on the weekend belonged to Ryan Clark (he’d done it up for the guys at Industrial Rideshop as a concept helmet), and the other was the “Hard Earned” helmet that John Dowd wore.

Kyle Cunningham.

Speaking of John Dowd, he made his annual appearance at his home track and once again impressed the heck out of everyone with a pair of solid top-ten moto finishes.

Doug Henry was also in attendance, though this year's circumstances were much different in previous years, he drew huge cheers from the crowd in attendance. There were also many items auctioned off to help him as he rehabs from a serious spinal injury, including gear from all the top riders, and one of his Yamaha Supermoto bikes.

After breaking his collarbone in Saturday’s second practice session, Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy’s Kyle Cunningham is pondering whether to get his collarbone plated, which would allow him to return to action in probably three weeks.

Ryan Mills.

After a tough attempt (and early exit from) a race season in Europe, it was cool to see Ryan Mills back in action here in the U.S. Ryan was mounted aboard a Kawasaki KX450F, and he said he’ll be doing the rest of the Nationals on his own dime, and out of his pickup truck. He had a solid eighth in the first moto, and matched up with his 22nd in the second moto, he ended up with a 14th overall.

Okay, that’s it for this time around, but you can click the following link for even more photos in the Southwick Vital Buzz gallery. There some new Fox gear, what Barry Carsten does on his non-race weekends, Big B hitting one out of the park, and more. Thanks for reading, and be sure to tell a friend.

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