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Vital MX Pit Bits: RedBud 1

It's always a party at RedBud, and this year was no exception. Let's tour everything from the pits to Lot B.

64 GuyB https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/users/64/avatar/c50_110811guyb_redbud_1449985751.jpg?1449984985 https://www.vitalmx.com/community/GuyB,64/all 07/10/06 9326 3575 45958 888 2371 30375 38 1688 2 184

GuyB
7/9/2018 5:58 PM

Normally, with its proximity to the Independence Day weekend, there are a lot of red, white, and blue color schemes for the bikes on the track. This 20th anniversary retro design was originally slated to be used at Daytona, but with Kenny and Cole both sidelined, it got put on the backburner until this weekend. It was a cool change, and just in time for Kenny's first moto win of the season.

Here's Cole Seely's bike done up with the graphic kit.

Eli Tomac's Kawasaki had a more traditional July 4th design, and it could also be a precursor to what his Team USA bike could look like...you know, just in case he gets picked for the team.

The Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing squad had this design for their bikes. We like the "We The People" up high on the shroud.

It's not often that the Red Bull KTM team goes off script on their graphics, but we were stoked to see some changes for their bike this weekend.

Hayden Mellross' CycleTrader.com/Rock River/Yamaha.

Phoenix Racing changed things up for the weekend. They had a rough weekend at Southwick, and made some changes this week to boost the durability of their team's bikes.

Henry Miller's Triggr Racing Yamaha.

James Weeks (shown), and several of the other TPJ riders were using this design for the weekend.

The Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna guys kept it simple, with some red, white, and blue Pro Taper bar pads.

There's a race coming this fall...you may have heard something about it...

The crowd is always big at RedBud, but they're already prepping for an influx of regulars, plus international visitors. They've added parking, have plans for some reconfiguring of the start and pit area, and making some other tweaks to the track. We expect that this one will be huge.

Tim and Amy Ritchie, along with their crew have been prepping for this one for a long time. Some of the FIM officials came over for pre-planning. There's a lot that goes into this event.

Such a clean setup for Kenny's congrol center.

It looks like the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KTM/WPS crew got a Motion Pro resupply.

How fussy are some of the mechanics? Nate Alexander says that sometimes he takes home his ti bolts between races so that he can tumble them and give them that extra little polish.

Austin Kent isn't scared to peel the whole backing off his front fender stickers and go for it. We'd likely end up with a tangled mess on a multi-fingered piece like this. But on the other hand, we don't do 50-plus sets a season.

Mechanics often take their brake setups back to the shop when it's time for a rebuild. Colter Ahrens and the rest of the TLD guys were busily bleeding them after reinstallation, and before heading to tech.

It was cool to see Adam Cianciarulo putting in some time with the TV crew. We didn't watch the show, but knowing how well-spoken he is, we can assume that he was a good addition to the crew.

Carson Tickle has been putting in his laps this summer. He's made every round so far, minus Southwick, and is still looking for his first points.

It was good to see Broc Tickle on hand at RedBud to support his little brother. His hearing process is still dragging on. When we talked to him in Buchanan, he said that they'd told him that they said he'd have a date in 21 days...and that was day 20.

Bell had new custom Moto-9 Flex helmets for all their guys, and Scott had a special edition for the weekend. This one was Joey Savatgy's.

The Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha crew also got some patriotic lids from Bell.

Justin Bogle has been crushing it on starts since his return. He was also sporting some new Answer gear last weekend.

This one has been around for a while, but here's a refresher. The hole drilled in the middle of the lever? That's to help create a breaking point in the event of a crash...but to also leave Justin Cooper with enough lever to work with to finish the moto.

Ugh. This is over in the privateer end of the pits, but we'll withhold the name to avoid hurt feelings on the part of the engine builder. We're guessing it made a really expensive noise when the rod let go. It punched through the front and back of the cases...

...as well as the bottom. Ouch.

Last week we showed you Dane Rouse's '91 CR250 that he's been using to race amateur days and two-stroke races that allow bigger bikes. Unfortunately, a crash on the start straight during Friday's action may have finished his fun for the summer.

Jamison DuClos took a crack at qualifying for his first National at RedBud. His dad, Mike, is the team owner of the CycleTrader.com/Rock River/Yamaha squad, and Jamison is a full-time college student. He missed out on qualifying...by one spot in the LCQ. There will be more races.

The entries the last couple of weeks have been full (or nearly full) in both classes. Normally we don't see practice groups this packed. Several riders that we know of, including Jerry Robin and Gared Steinke, were denied entries due to the size of the fields.

Alex Ray was back on privateer island after spending some time on the Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing. He and his pop were operating out of his motorhome, and he scored the last spot in LCQ qualifying in a very tight race. He's still getting some support from Yamaha, including suspension.

It was cool to see Jake Nicholls come over and take a crack at the 450 class, and he ended the day in the top ten overall.

Tom Carson (left); and Olivier Robert, team manager of Team France. Olivier was on hand to check out the venue, and do some scouting on Dylan Ferrandis and Marvin Musquin. We'll have to wait and see who ends up making the final squad.

The 450s ran first this week, and David Vuillemin was behind the gate checking out starting spots so he could pass along the info to Dylan Ferrandis.

Fortunately, the weather really cooperated for this year's race, so riders weren't having to go to extremes to cool off after their motos. Alex Martin took a quick dip and was set for a bite to eat before suiting up again.

According to Daniel Jaramillo, he's the first rider from Colombia to try out the U.S. Nationals. A broken chain early in the first practice didn't help his qualifying effort, and he missed out on making it. He'll be back to give it another shot in Millville.

It takes some work to keep the teams fed. Pat Muras has a double grill setup going here.

Justin Hill and the rest of the crew who wear O'Neal gear had some new duds for the weekend.

Marvin Musquin was completely surprised when he rolled onto the podium and they handed him the red plate. That shakes things up a bit. He'll have a three-point lead when we reconvene at Millville.

Nope, we can't remember the last time Eli Tomac lined up this far outside. He was there based on his first moto finishing position. The DNF was a surprise and destroyed his substantial points lead. Things just got interesting again in the title chase.

On the pleasant side, we can't think of anyone who wasn't psyched to see return to the win column in moto one.

Ugh, we don't know for sure, but looking at Jeremy Smith as he rolled into the pits, that looks like a dislocated shoulder.

Colt Nichols made a quick pit stop to try and straighen his errant shifter after a big crash on the start straight in the second moto that collected several riders.

After a rough mechanical DNF at Muddy Creek, Carson Brown took off the week in Southwick, and Phoenix Racing worked to dial in their 250 program.

There's nothing quite like the fans at Red Bud. They come for the party...and stay for the race.

Justin Barcia giving the fans a cooling spray. He had one female fan nearly tackle him.

We're not sure what's more fun in Lot B...the people-watching, or checking out the vehicles. This one was sporting a bunch of rider autographs. Lots of teams make a cruise through the party zone in the afternoon, though it got discouraged after dark.

Fireworks and night racing (two different nights)? Oh yeah.

The people watching? Stellar.

Of course, this fashion statement may be edging more towards "ain't right" than "right".

Remember folks, safety first.

One of Justin Barcia's fans.

Marvin Musquin may have had to deal with one crappy fan, but there were a bunch more who were happy to hang out with the winner on Saturday. The fans have come around in a big way since earlier in the season.