Vital MX Pit Bits: Daytona 2

Welcome to one of the crown jewels on the Monster Energy Supercross circuit, the Daytona Supercross. This is the 50th edition, and, as usual, there's a lot going on...

Remember when these two used to battle? Once again, Ricky Carmichael designed this weekend's track at Daytona, and it features both modern sections, plus elements that are more retro-styled.

Ricky Carmichael playing in the sand...and there's a lot of it.

Ricky Carmichael is using one of the H.E.P. Suzuki bikes this weekend. We're guessing it's probably Kyle Cunningham's, since he's out with a shoulder injury.

Charles Lefrancois (224) recently won the UK Arenacross title, and he'll join the JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing squad for the next few races to fill in on the 450 side.

Rather than use (and learn) one of JGR's team bikes, Charles brought his own bike that he's already familiar with.

Jordan Bailey had a cool Instagram post this week about how his parents took him to this race when he was five...and that's what got him interested in the sport.

Rex Staten was on hand as one of the ex-winners of the Daytona SX. He punched his card in '80.

We don't know how many Daytona Supercrosses Mitch Payton has been to (and neither does he). But it's a bunch of 'em.

Cooper Webb's helmet had more of an old-school biker feel, and vintage Daytona scenes in the art.

Roger DeCoster admiring Cooper's new helmet.

Welcome to Daytona Beach! The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki helmets featured matching graphics for Jordon Smith and Garrett Marchbanks.

Eli Tomac's Bell Moto 9 Flex had custom art of the Daytona front stretch.

Do it for Dale! There was some cool inset art of The Intimidator inside the 3. Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha also used matte graphics for this week.

How about reverting to a yellow and black for the Rock River Yamaha crew this weekend?

Here's the top view of the filter cover.

Old school extended to number style and oval "backgrounds." The Daytona 50th anniversary sticker on the front plate? That's the AMA inspection sticker.

Braytona? That's awesome.

Any logos that could revert to an older style were done that way. The Team Honda sticker on the front fender was done in a style that matched the old stickers the team used to hand out.

How about the retro wings on the shrouds? The Showa stickers weren't just retro-looking, these were actual vintage stickers that the team used in the past. There much be a whole lot of interesting things stuck in the nooks and crannies of the Honda Race Shop.

SmarTop | Bullfrog Spas | MotoConcepts | Honda did a cool Daytona-inspired graphic and retro numbers for the 50th running of the Daytona Supercross.

While not specifically retro, the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KTM/WPS team did look into their past for a rider to help fill in while Justin Bogle is still healing up from a crash earlier in the season.

Benny and some of the Fly Racing riders were sporting a new look for the weekend.

Blake Baggett went a little different for the weekend with his number choice, plus some ghosted palm trees for his Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KTM/WPS 450.

Davey Sterritt went all-out on the retro side here, sporting a Maico jersey, and doing up a set of Maico graphics for his privateer Honda. He also got engaged after the rider's meeting. That's a big day.

We dig the matte graphics on the Club MX bikes.

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At the end of the press day riding sessions, Eli Tomac had a couple of crashes. The first one he attributed to him. The second was likely the result of a front flat. The Monster Energy Kawasaki guys use tubes front and rear for Supercross, and switch to a mousse in the rear for the Nationals.

Nick Gaines put in a solid top ten in Atlanta. Let's see what he can do this week.

Hmm...looks like the guys at Merge Racing are working on some new clamps. Manluk (the team's sponsor) does the machining.

Tire stickers are cool. Being able to quickly ID which tire is on the bike? Also cool.

This will be the second pro race for Pierce Brown. He was 11th on the timesheets here.

Hey, sometimes mechanics need goggles, too.

Daytona is always a good spot for new gear spotting. Jo Shimoda and the rest of the GEICO Honda boys had some new Shift gear for the weekend. We like this color combo.

More retro? How about this O'Neal gear on Daniel Herrlein?

O'Neal also did up this cool combo for Dean Wilson.

Ugh. Welcome to Daytona Beach. That's Jordon Smith getting sandblasted.

Fans (and Josh Hill) get to keep an eye on the action via these bigscreens placed around the track.

Rick Johnson (left) is another Daytona winner in attendance. He did an awesome tribute ride for his dad, who passed away, riding out to Daytona from California. Yep, that's Mark Barnett on the right.

As he often does with the Dirt Wurx crew on the Feld-promoted events, Chad Reed checked in with track construction crew...this time The Bomber, Mark Barnett.

Boogity, boogity, boogity! Let's go qualifying, boys! (Sorry, we couldn't resist the nod to DW.

Hey, we totally get this...especially for riders who wrestle with their immunity. It'll be interesting to see if the Corona virus becomes an issue for events ahead (both indoor and outdoor). Trust us...the promoters are keeping a keen eye on it, particularly as communities shut down events (like the SXSW in Austin).

The fans we most like seeing getting autographs? The ones who struggle to peek over the barriers.

We miss you, Adam.

Whoa, check out the afternoon crowd during autograph time. Thanks to the H.E.P. Suzuki guys for letting us make use of their lift gate for this shot.

Martin Davalos nearly nabbed a podium spot last weekend, but is wrestling with the sand a bit here.

They're running four-wide down the front straight...

You've got to watch out for the sand gremlins. Aaron Plessinger foun one.

Ryan Sipes is starting his annual variety-pack of events, and qualified 18th in the 450 class. He'll be back next weekend for the flattrack events.

Top 450 qualifier? Eli Tomac.

2. Ken Roczen.

3. Cooper Webb.

4. Malcolm Stewart.

5. Jason Anderson.

250 top qualifiers? 1. Jeremy Martin.

2. Shane McElrath.

3. Chase Sexton.

4. RJ Hampshire. (Yeah, the sand section is really fast, stuff like this happens...and it'll only get rougher throughout the event.)

5. Garrett Marchbanks.


Pit Bits 2019
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