Vital MX Pit Bits: Budds Creek

What better way to start a weekend at a race near Washington, DC, than with a trip to the White House with a member of Team USA? Aaron Plessinger was eager to sign up for the visit.

Aaron enjoyed a peek at the history.

Jamie (on the right) is one of our forum members and helped set up the trip. Thanks, Jamie!

Keith Clickstein unloading RJ Hampshire's race-winning 250 out of the GEICO Honda rig on Friday morning.

Want to ensure that your sharpened pegs don't jam into your kickstarter? There are a couple teeth rolled forward on Eli Tomac's right side peg.

Life on the road isn't just tough on the riders, sometimes it takes a toll on the rigs. Both this Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna rig, and the CycleTrader.com/Rock River/Yamaha tractor had replacements for the weekend. The water tank was another necessary addition.

Oscar Wirdeman installing a fresh set of legs on Ken Roczen's Honda. Between when we shot this and Saturday morning, they'd also swapped out the engine for one with a kickstarter.

Ah yeah, lots of cool aluminum and ti hardware. We also like the fork lug protector.

Ah yeah, a couple freshies. Talking with some of the mechanics at Budds they told us that they's spent hours cleaning up mud after the Unadilla round...and were still finding remnants as they'd work on the bikes.

We never know where we'll find Daniel Castloo these days. For the weekend at Budds, he was working on Ryan Sipes' 250 Husky. During the week he might be building bikes for the ISDE, or any number of other projects. Keeping the right parts and procedures for the right bike(s) is mentally taxing.

This guy might have been the ultimate JGR fan...including the Rowdy gear.

Normally Austin Kent has Dakota Alix's bike is buttoned up before he gets to the track...if not very early on Friday. Post-Unadilla, he let the wiring harness get some extra time off the bike to ensure that it was well dried out.

A Zundapp-powered Rickman? You don't see one of those every day.

Just say no...

Weston Peick helped us out on Friday by running our helmet cam for a One Lap video of Budds. He's destined for surgery this week to get some additional tuning on his previously tweaked right wrist.

We dug this new Troy Lee SE4 graphic.

Welcome to the bigs, Mitchell Falk.

Bell Helmets had a couple new lids available for their sponsored riders this week. This one's a big departure from the usual look for the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys, but we dug it.

Dylan Ferrandis is already running the tri-color flag on the back of his helmet ahead of the MXoN.

Team Puerto Rico MXoN team member, Ryan Sipes, was in for Budds. Look for Kevin Windham to replace Ronnie Mac on their roster.

Oh yeah, we love fans that come back year after year. This section of fence at Budds always has messages for a few lucky riders.

It was really good to see Jason Anderson back in action after he almost had a toe removed earlier this summer in a practice accident.

It's always fun watching one of the off-camber corners at Budds to see who can get the lowest. Alex Martin was a contender.

Cooper Webb was also close to bar-dragging.

Mad Mike Jones checking in with Derek Dwyer.

Henry Miller is hanging in 15th spot this summer in the 450 class standings.

With its proximity to DC, Coty Schock's graphics seemed appropriate. Would the pond in the middle of Budds be The Swamp?

Someone hooked up Aaron Plessinger with a custom onesie for his new arrival. He was also presented with a number one version after he clinched the 250 title.

The roller section before the finish line seemed a little more jumpable this year.

Justin Barcia charging into the first turn during start practice.

How about a little style? Marvin Musquin and Blake Baggett go for synchronized scrubs over the finish line jump.

One more to go for Coop on the blue bike...

Budds was in fine shape for the weekend.

Enzo Lopes tweaked his knee on the last lap of practice and was on here trying to keep it loose before the start of the races. It was easy to see how much pain he was in as he climbed aboard.

Kyle Peters was on hand to check out the action. He's still on the mend after ACL surgery.

Marvin Musquin and Roger DeCoster talk over bike setup.

Mark Barnett and John Ayers chat about the track.

Keeping the motivation on...

Each manufacturer gets a rep to help out in case of first turn crashes. Jeremy Coker was the blue guy for this 250 moto and had a bit of a wild ride as he grabbed a little throttle as he picked Dylan Ferrandis' bike up.

Old schoolin'. Darryn Durham looked pretty psyched before the 125 race at Budds.

Blasting off the line.

Jack Rogers and Luke Vonlinger duking it out. Jack ended up in third spot on the podium.

Darryn Durham took over the lead and was looking good, until he got his foot stuck in a rut and tweaked his knee. He dropped back to second after that.