We're back in the Lonestar state for our first of two visits of the year and the first of four Pit Bits you'll see from Houston and Arlington. Enjoy part one from Houston.
Justin Cooper and Mo-Head are back in action at Houston.
Justin Cooper makes his 450 debut and were slightly surprised to see his 450 equipped with works KYB suspension instead of A-kit suspension.
Justin Cooper's 2023 YZ450F isn't under the 450 truck, but under the 250 truck.
LSF or PSF1 forks for Justin Cooper? We'll have to dig a little more.
Christian Craig wasn't too satisfied with his bike setup after A2 and he's made quite a few changes.
This week we noticed he went to non-split triple clamps and a WP steering damper. Which seems to be a near replica of the Showa steering damper we'd see teams using from time-to-time. Including Austrian brand teams.
Coty Schock is back in action, after almost one year away from the races due to a major knee injury.
The Phoenix Honda crew is in full force on East coast, running four riders total with Coty Schock, Jace Owen, Caden Brasell, and Cullin Park.
The Phoenix Honda team continues with KYB and Enzo racing for 2023. With the team being split between air forks (Park and Schock) and spring forks (Braswell and Owen).
Last weekend, Jason Anderson mentioned to us that they've backtracked on a few bike setup items. One such is both AC and Ando going back to a traditional shock and ditching the BFRC.
Anderson's machine as an example as well.
While the Austrian brand teams have been using ETS for years, we're starting to see it more around the paddock with other teams.
After years of grinding as Team Honda HRC's test bike mechanic, spare bikes, test truck driver, and a lot of other nut-turning duties...Thomas Harris is a full-time race mechanic with Chance Hymas. Congrats Tommy.
See no evil...
Speak no evil...
Chris Blose deserves his chance at a Factory ride after over 15 years as a pro. Congrats Chris, live it up.
Waiting for the Zombie butt patches...
The RD Foundation had a bike build event for All Kids Bike this weekend.
An all-star class showed up to help build the bikes for a great cause. Learn more about Ryan Dungey's involvement in an interview with the man himself this upcoming week.
Haiden "Dangerboy" Deegan's first Pro Supercross lid has some flair.
Brent Duffe is back in the pro league. After winning a title with Christian Craig in 2022, Duffe requested to work with and help guide Haiden Deegan into the pros for 2023.
Welcome to the pros full-time Haiden Deegan.
After racing A2 on the team's amateur bike with a different chassis, engine, and suspension components... Haiden has moved to the team's full pro bike for the East region.
Tommy Harris has nearly thought of everything on his tool belt. Note the front brake clamps bolted to the pack.
Replacement fork guards with a holeshot device are a must. As low as the guys go in SX these days with grate starts, there's a lot of pressure on the fork guard and sometimes they just fail.
Mechanics always have stubby T-handles at the ready.
The Red Bull KTM crew keeps their fuel drums in a location where they can hook up a pump and even filter the fuel.
A few goggle straps for Hunter Lawrence, who's running EKS Brands with an A-Stars strap.
Jamie Ellis is quite busy at the races these days, doing engines and mapping for multiple privateers, ClubMX, HEP, and more. We spotted him under the Phoenix Honda semi, where he's assisting with mapping. The Phoenix team engines come from DASA.
You have to admit, going head-to-toe with a brand like Fox makes for some sweet details in the total kit.
Formerly known as Toyota Tom, now Honda Tom. Truck driver for Honda's hospitality rig.
Talon Hawkins got called up to the big leagues a little earlier than planned. Initially, Talon would've raced all the Futures events but with Jalek Swoll's injury, he was pushed up early to do the entire East region for the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team.
Unlike the previous time we saw Talon Hawkins under the pro semi (during select Pro Motocross rounds), he's on a full pro spec bike for East region instead of his amateur spec bike that he raced at A2 just a week ago.
It's the little things.
Clinton Fowler made a unique observation this week. In the past decade, Star Racing has only won one more 250 race than Pro Circuit. However, in that same amount of time, Star has locked down eight championships to Pro Circuit's one championship. Shocking.
Nope, your eyes don't deceive you. That's Mike "Goose" Gosselaar back at the races. He was attending the race as a guest of the HRC crew and watching Idaho-native Chance Hymas' Pro Supercross debut.
Seriously, almost every team is using Starlink at the races for their internet needs.
With Hymas in action, the HRC truck is fuller than normal at four riders this weekend. A lot of crew is on hand for the weekend.
Precision rug placement.
Someone on the Star teams has the trickest starting blocks we've ever seen.
We've noticed a few more Nascar-related sponsors being added to Joey Savatgy's RWR Kawasaki over the early weeks of the season.
Joey Savatgy's new wrench, ex-racer Ben Lamay, stopped by the Factory Kawasaki truck to get some clutch advice from the wrench who knows Joey best, Justin Shantie.
Branding is everything and there's no stone left unturned on the Factory Kawasaki rig.
Preston Kilroy got the call up to the ClubMX team to fill-in for Garrett Marchbanks, but ultimately it was cut short as he broke both wrists in his heat race. Get well soon Preston.
Need a split pitboard? Simple, electrical tape.
Jordan Smith's longtime practice mechanic, Justin Hopson, is his race wrench at Star for 2023.
Even the pros need reminders.
The Star 450 and 250 team have had Optima battery branding since A1 and for good reason, they partnered with the brand to develop Lithium batteries for dirt bikes which will ultimately be available in local auto part stores along with motorcycle dealerships!
It seems like every Saturday morning, we see Cooper and Carlos doing their own debrief.
Welcome to the US Tom Vialle...
And it was a rough welcome.
Return on Tuesday for a deeper tech dive in part two if Pit Bits from Houston!
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