Vital MX Pit Bits: Budds Creek

Chatting with some of the track crew, they were happy that the event at Budds happened at all. Early in the week there was lots of rain, and lots of stuff to fix. Even on race morning, there was still standing water behind the gate.

That should give you an idea of how soft it was in the morning.

Yep, GuyB has been having some fun with a 3D printer during the week, and making goodies like this. It comes in handy while power bleeding the brakes.

Yep, Zach Osborne is easing into a team role...and iRacing when he gets the chance.

Coty Schock tallied a convenient 7-11 score at Budds.

Ah yeah, that sprint back to the truck when the officials remind you that you don't have an Eject air bladder in your helmet.

Larry Brooks rolled an ankle jumping off the lift gate of the Chaparral/Bar X Suzuki rig. You're not supposed to be able to see the sole of your shoe as you look down.

Nope, it's not just the vet crowd who appreciate Roger DeCoster and look for his autograph.

Jeremy Martin has been killing it the last few rounds.

At first we thought this was Ronnie Stewart's rig. Nope.

Look for lots of mechanic/staff moves during the off-season.

We're starting to hear of team rosters firming up for next year. You can expect Brandon Hartranft back with H.E.P. Suzuki.

Garrett Marchbanks was looking faster this week. That FXR gear? Tasty.

Luke Renzland qualified on the Husky tiddler again, but a crash in moto one have him sitting out the rest of the day.

In the morning when it was soft, riders were having to stretch to make it close to doubling.

Occasionally the wall would reach out and snag guys like it did with Austin Forkner here.

Just a little style time from Jett Lawrence.

Aaron Plessinger was beaten and bruised after his Unadilla crash, and he dug out a kidney belt to help out.

Tieing a rubber glove over Ken Roczen's kill switch as the bike gets washed? That seems like a good plan.

Ow. That's not supposed to work like that.

Ivan Tedesco keeping an eye on the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki boys.

Props to Josh Varize, who just missed top tens in each 250 moto, but also outscored KTM's factory 250.

Maryland was a bit more snug about Covid restrictions, and some teams have gotten a bit tighter about their interactions with fans. We'll be happy when this is all in the rear-view.

This highly suspicious character was spotted in the pits. Oh, oops, wait...that's the elusive Rupert X, making his first National appearance in a while.

Now there's an old jersey.

Normally these banners are posted up in the first off-camber corner as the course climbs and drops the southern edge of the track. For this round, that corner got cut out, which was probably a good call. Four hours fixing that corner? Or four hours spent on the rest of the course?