Vital MX Pit Bits: Houston Supercross

The gang over at Asterisk helped out KTM with their front brake guards. The clutch side is thick enough that they're not worried about protecting them.

Marvin Musquin's bike is looking good, sporting the red plate.

KTMs lead both classes, with Shane McElrath leading the 250 West side.

Yamaha's own GYTR still supplies the clutch and many engine components for the factory team.

Check out the mid-pipe mount on this titanium Pro Circuit exhaust for the factory Yamahas.

Justin Barcia debuted a new lid last weekend and the Arai crew is working on a replica of it.

The CycleTrader.com/Rock River/Yamaha team is using an X-Trig holeshot device.

Monster claw with all the blue teams.

Air forks aren't dead, as the Star team continues to use KYB's PSF1 air fork.

Pro Circuit rocking a new engine sticker and drilled out stock engine mounts.

Mmm...Pro Circuit, please sell these...

Here's a peek at the braces Joey Savatgy uses. The rubber bumper is a cool way to reduce the hard stop at the limit.

Jeff Brewer (here with his brood), is the guy behind the Allsport Dynamics braces.

Bell brought out some helmets to match the gear that the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys are wearing this weekend, and Scott was right there in line to keep them looking good.

The tire warmers aren't a bad idea here. It was nice during the day, but it'll be near freezing after the sun goes down.

Goose making a fork height adjustment on CR22's KYB forks.

Despite the happy face, we can confirm that it's killing Dean Wilson to sit out tonight. He tried riding press day, but the strength wasn't there.

Not all data acquisition (or logging) happens electronically.

A 20-year commorative clutch cover? That's cool.

Tony Berluti, back at the races and setting that PSI precisely.

No red plate for Justin Hill tonight, hopefully he can turn things around as practice/qualifying was a bit rough for him today.

Matt Bisceglia had a solid weekend at A1, especially since he had only ridden a couple days of Supercross prior to the season start and being his first full year of 450 SX.

That Josh Greco's a real line-stepper.

Kyle Chisholm putting some serious oomph into it.

GD2 in person and with a camera, the protege is coming along nicely.

Little sand destruction, courtesy of Josh Grant.

Some more with Justin Brayton.

Yep, it's plenty rutty this weekend...a taste of the East Coast style tracks for the West.

We've seen several teams sporting vests or jackets that match their rider's jerseys. Very cool.

Justin Cooper's day has been cut short due to a crash in qualifying. He's currently getting check out at the local hospital and will miss the night show.

Daniel Blair goes full Blue Steel.

Malcolm Stewart had two days aboard the Autotrader/Yoshimura/JGR Suzuki prior to Houston and qualified 13th, two spots behind his teammate Weston Peick.

Adam Cianciarulo blitzing the whoops on his way to the number one spot in qualifying for the 250s...half a second over Shane McElrath.

We haven't yet seen the best of Broc Tickle this season.

Blake Baggett is a man to watch this weekend, after a less than stellar A1 for what he expected.

Frankie doing a fork swap on Musquin's machine between practices.

Josh Grant and Eli Tomac signing some autographs.

The pump track in the pits was wildly popular with the kids. There were everything from scooters, to BMX bikes, and bigger cruisers to help get people excited about riding.

Here's the lucky crew of VIPs for this week under the CR22 pit area.

Chip Munn and Dan Crower, in the Munn pit area.

Killian Auberson is running some cams and motor mods from Dan at DCR.

Scotty Wennerstrom is the true definition of a working class racer. Working and training during the week, and hitting it on weekends.

Kawasaki had a cool demo area for their 125.

The JGR Suzuki 250 duo is back for redemption, especially Phil Nicoletti who went down and was run over first lap of his heat race at A1.

AC laying it low.

Mitchell Oldenburg in his own way.

Kyle Cunningham clocks in at work.

Marvin Musquin was third in 450 qualifying.

Unfortunately, Eli Tomac will sit out tonight's action due to the shoulder injury he suffered last week.

Cooper Webb was 15th in qualifying.

There's a big difference between the before (sweet style)...

...and the after (big get-off). Justin Barcia was okay after he swapped in the sand section, but that was a scary crash. His lever actually slid inside the goggle strap, and had him pinned for a minute.

Josh Grant's Shoei helmet is looking pretty sweet.

Matt Bisceglia is one of the few Suzuki riders we've seen riding with the BFRC shock onboard. Good luck Matt...

Chris Howell's JMC bike has a full KYB AOSS spring fork with Kashima-coasted WP upper tubes, so it slips right into stock or stock sized clamps for a Husky/KTM.