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Vital MX Pit Bits: Arlington 3

Let's wrap up the third and final chapter of pit (and track) snooping from AT&T Stadium.

64 GuyB https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/users/64/avatar/c50_110811guyb_redbud_1449985751.jpg?1449984985 https://www.vitalmx.com/community/GuyB,64/all 07/10/06 9429 3581 46002 870 2413 30809 41 1719 2 185

GuyB
3/22/2021 8:40 PM

For fun, SGB Racing has a running tally of parts consumed by the team riders. Alex Ray is "winning" by a large margin. A couple of points to note there included a frame replacement (after he landed on Vince Friese's bike in Indy), and a blown-up engine at Daytona.

Hmm...we spotted this new Ogio Block Party bag rolling around the pits.

Justin Barcia and the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory Racing crew check out Saturday's track.

Speaking of Justin and TLD, this setup (see above and below) was among the best-looking ones they've done this year.

With Justin Brayton injuring his hand during the mid-week round, Mitchell Oldenburg got called back for more 450 action.

Mitchell has had limited time to prep or test on the big-bore for each of his guest appearances in the big-bore class, but has done an admirable job on short notice. This time around he did get some testing time in with the Showa guys, and came up with a setup that was a bit more to his liking (softer) than what Justin Brayton would run.

Hunter Lawrence nabbed the red plate on Tuesday, and handed it back off on Saturday night. It's been passed around like a hot potato in the 250 West series.

Double-vision. Hunter on the track, and the big (very big) screen inside the stadium.

Tony Archer handling wrenching duties for Coty Schock.

Some of the factory rigs (like Monster Energy Kawasaki) don't mess around when it comes to ensuring their awnings stay put. Of course, the time in Arlington included sun, rain, and some very windy days. Call drilling and using the lag bolts cheap insurance.

Ramyller Alves getting in his pre-practice warmup.

Marvin Musquin has had a couple of space-themed helmets this season, and this one was really cool. It featured the most recent Mars lunar lander, Perseverance...which we're sure is something he can relate to.

This Airoh Aviator 3 has a bunch of features like magnetic pads, an extendable visor, vented panels in the top that can be swapped out with solid sections, and more.

Injuries have taken a toll, and a couple of teams had rigs that were parked in place, but without riders to fill them. That was true for the BarX/Chaparral/Suzuki team (above), and the Manluk/Rock River squad (below).

The Club MX guys have their metric entry ready to go.

Garrett Marchbanks has been impressive this season on the privateer effort.

Cameron Mcadoo awaiting his chance to hit the track. He's new to being in a championship chase, but has shown some excellent consistency so far this season.

It sounds like Chase Sexton is okay, but it sure was scary to see him go down in Saturday's main event. Luckily with the break ahead, he's got some time to heal up.

Unfortunately, Jordon Smith has been an injury magnet this season, from one end to the other. Judging by how he exited during the heat race, his right shoulder took a beating in this crash. Get well soon.

Justin Bogle also went out with an injury during practice. We'll add him to the Get Well Soon list, too.

It'll be a couple of weeks at least before we see Shane McElrath back on the track. But it was good to see him in Arlington, even if it was just to hang out.