Vital MX Pit Bits: Indianapolis

Kelly Cleland checking out the snow in the morning before practice got started. With inclement weather forecast for the day, the pits here were closed. Riders and teams either hunkered down in their rigs (with no awnings set up), or set up pits in a large room in the stadium.

This was early in the morning. By late afternoon (and after a mix of snow and sleet), things were getting deeper.

Lucas Oil Stadium is a cool venue, and the building is huge.

Tech inspection also moved indoors.

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Here's a peek of the shrouds on Weston's bike.

Bikes got warmed up (and refueled) outside the stadium. Perfect for a weather check.

It was good to see Blake Wharton in action again. He was going to take a crack at the East series on a Munn KTM, but ended up doing West with the IBCorp/Yamaha crew.

"What do you think about getting the band back together...?" Ryan Dungey and Carlos Rivera.

Austin Forkner and his dad, checking out the track before practice. Talking with a few guys who'd ridden it on press day, it'll definitely rut up here.

The first turn was reconfigured after press day into a simple 180. From what we hear it was partly to prevent it from stretching out the field and making a large portion of the track one-lined.

The crew at Bell did up some cool retro helmets for the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders, that harken back to the early days of Pro Circuit.

Tagger did up some cool helmets for the IBCorp guys this week. These are going to be hard to miss on the track.

Cedric Soubeyras waiting to hit the track.

This seems appropriate. The ClubMX/RSR/Redemption Racing guys swapped in a big Hoosier logo on the bikes...perfect for Indiana.

Brady Kiesel dialing in Scott Champion's bike before practice. Nope, they're not sleeping in the van this week. They split an Air B'nB between the two of them, and two others.

Fox had some new gear for the weekend, which the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys (like Austin Forkner here), made look good on the track.

Adam Cianciarulo hit the deck early in the first practice.

Zach Osborne was third among the 250 East riders in qualifying.

Alpinestars had some new "Indy Vice" Limited Edition gear for their guys, as well as these boots that'd make Crockett and Tubbs feel right at home.

Sometimes rider means rider/mechanic. We caught Colton Aeck checking his spokes after a practice.

The whoops were a bit of an unusual shape, but were as challenging as always. Not surprisingly, Zach Osborne looked good through them.

It was good to see Cooper Webb in action, after he missed last week's race with a sore shoulder.

Jeremy Martin launching big into the first rhythm section.

Vann Martin had been privateering it, but he's now getting help from the TiLube Honda Racing crew.

Jason Anderson rocking the new Astars gear.

Kyle Chisholm was back on the 250 this week, after spending the last batch of rounds on a 51Fifty 450. Here he checks out his practice video.

Wil Hahn, Thomas Ramette, and Bobby Regan hanging in the pits at Indy. Wil got talked into running in a 5K long before they discovered that the weekend forcast called for snow. He ended up finishing third overall in the race before heading to the track.

Bell hooked up the remaining Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha guys (Plessinger and Ramette) with freshly painted lids. It'll likely be the outdoors before we see Ferrandis back in action, and possibly Seattle for Oldenburg.

Yannis Irsuti (left, in the Seven gear) was back in action here, and he's still getting used to the bigger tracks here. Thomas Ramette (right, in the Thor gear) is going for his second straight main.