Vital Buzz


James Stewart, catching some rays on Saturday.   

It’s always really cool (at least for the photographers) when they crack open the roof of Chase Field during practice. It’s sort of like an unusual studio setup, and everyone scrambles to see what kind of use they can make of the unusual lighting conditions. As for the riders, the transition from dark shadows to bright sunlight has to be a little jarring.



Torco Racing Fuels Honda's Jake Weimer

 Torco Racing Fuel Honda's Jake Weimer.  

Was Jake Weimer stoked about winning the second race of the season? You bet. Particularly after crashing out in the first turn of his heat race at A1 and separating his shoulder. “As soon as I went down, I knew something was wrong,” he explained before the races on Saturday. He underwent an extremely painful MRI last week to check out the damage. “They told me they needed to inject dye into my shoulder, and used a four-and-a-half inch needle.” After x-rays to make sure the dye was in place, followed by some painful additional adjustment shots, they discovered that he had a torn labrum, and that it should heal on its own. It was sore, but as Jake said, “I just have to raw-dog it through race days without painkillers.” Watching Jake and Ryan Dungey going at it in the main event was memorable, as it was obvious that it was two very hungry guys going for the win.

In other team news, the Torco Racing Fuels Honda team was watching all the same reports that everyone else was seeing on message boards about Torco’s President, Evan Knoll, cutting back on drag race team sponsorships. It appears that these cutbacks are only for the four-wheel teams, and will not affect them at all.



Rockstar Makita Suzuki's David Vuillemin

 Rockstar Makita Suzuki's David Vuillemin.  

During practice, the mechanic’s area was originally set up across the front of the start gate, which was an extremely fast section. During the first 450 practice, we saw one rider grab a handful of throttle, get really sideways, and nearly highside into the protective barrier. It was wisely moved to another area before the second practice.

Team managers are also enjoying a video monitor that shows lap times in their observation deck near the finish line.



Monster Energy Kawasaki's Timmy Ferry

 Monster Energy Kawasaki's Timmy Ferry.  

Timmy Ferry whipping it across the finish line during practice. Red Dog had a podium finish at A1, and was off to another great start in Saturday night’s main, but when Mike Alessi scattered Tuff Blocks across the track in front of him, Timmy caught one and went down. Mike continued on with a Makita Tuff Block cover on his shifter-side peg for about half the main event.



Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mike Alessi

Rockstar Makita Suzuki's David Vuillemin.   


Yamaha Factory Racing's Broc Hepler

Yamaha Factory Racing's Broc Hepler.  

Short of an ill-timed slide on the inside of a 180-degree corner while in the lead, Broc Hepler might have been the winner of the Lites class main event on Saturday night. Early in the main, Broc and Ryan Dungey had gotten into a tactical duel in the same corner, taking turns diving for the inside. Broc had run around the inside of the corner on several successive laps, but got a little too generous with the throttle and slid out, handing the lead to Jake Weimer. Broc spent the pre-season working with Todd Jacobs on his training.



Honda Red Bull Racing's Andrew Short

 Honda Red Bull Racing's Andrew Short.  

Honda Red Bull Racing’s Andrew Short is looking extremely quick early in the season, and looks very comfortable on the big-bore Honda. He seems to have the ability to carve through the pack as well. It’ll be interesting to watch his progress throughout the season.



Yamaha Factory Racing's Josh Hill

 Yamaha Factory Racing's Josh Hill.  

Josh Hill had a tangle with Chad Reed while testing last week, but he also got another taste of running up front in his heat race on Saturday night. Keep an eye on him in the 450 class.



Wonder Warthog Racing/MDK's Kevin Urquhart

 Wonder Warthog Racing/MDK's Kevin Urquhart.  

The Lites LCQ on Saturday night was more than a little chaotic, with a bunch of fast guys trying to battle their way into the main. Unfortunately, Wonder Warthog Racing/MDK’s Kevin Urquhart held one of those coveted transfer spots until late in the LCQ, when he got punted and ended up crashing into the face of a jump. That left him with a badly broken femur. Best wishes for a full recovery, Kevin.



Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Austin Stroupe

 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Austin Stroupe.

After multiple crashes in his heat race, Austin Stroupe scored the last pick gate on the far outside of the LCQ. How far outside? To that point, no one had lined up there, or laid down a rut. That made for a tough race. He was working his way up through the pack, but got caught up in a last-lap wreck, and missed out on the main event.



Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Mike Alessi

 Oops...minor detail.  

Oops. Mike Alessi scored the Progressive holeshot check, but they set it up with Jeff Alessi’s name. After crashing out in practice, and sitting out the night with a hand injury, maybe it’d be better in Jeff’s hands.



Torco Racing Fuels Honda's Kevin Windham

Torco Racing Honda's Kevin Windham.   

The entrance to the inside half of the dual rhythm lanes was tricky. There was a small berm that riders had to catch, and the preferred line was a rut all the way to the outside. The combination of turning and aiming for the rut, all while diving into the whoops, made for some interesting moments.For the second week in a row, Kevin Windham beat all of the Honda Red Bull Racing team. And the handlebar moustache he’s been rocking? It’ll be perfect at this coming week’s retro race at Anaheim. We’re curious to see what gear, graphics, or other embellishments we might see next weekend. We do know that you’re in for some cool surprises, and don’t want to blab about all of them here. You’ll just have to go to the race, listen to the webcast on supercrossonline.com, or check out the coverage on Vital MX to see what happens.

Tyler Evans should be back in action next weekend, after a crash at A1 left him with a bum wrist.



Monster Energy Kawasaki's James Stewart

 Are you a Monster drinker? How about you? And you? And you?  

With Monster Energy taking over the title sponsorship of the Monster Energy® AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship (can you tell we got a new branding guide?) Teams with other energy drink sponsors had noted a nearly complete lack of sponsor mentions trackside, as well as on the webcast and TV…to the point that some of them reportedly met this week in an effort to figure out what to do. The good news is, it sounds like the message got through, and some of the ruffled feathers have been smoothed. Of course we’re not running the show, but it sure seems like if you take care of the companies and sponsors who are attracted to the sport, everyone benefits. Yeah, we saw some friction in NASCAR Cup racing last year when Nextel was the title sponsor (and had exclusive rights for wireless branding), and Cingular wasn’t allowed to run their graphics for several races, but even that was eventually worked out in the end. Heck, in some ways, the brouhaha probably resulted in extra press for each brand.



Star Racing Yamaha's Brad Hoffman

 Star Racing Yamaha's Brad Hoffman.  

Star Racing’s Brad Hoffman is sporting a not-shaving-it-until-someone-on-the-team-scores-a-podium beard, and the team has been teasing him, saying that he looks like Tom Hanks in Castaway. He can take hope in Wil Hahn’s performances. In two races so far, Wil has scored a 10th and a 7th. If he can continue that progression…

Something to watch for here is a migration to version 2.0 of Vital MX. It's still a few weeks off, but we just began doing Alpha testing of the new version. It should provide enhancements in many areas, but some of the biggest ones we've found are in improved performance in the photo galleries, and a much better overall experience in the member profiles. We'll give you more info as we edge closer to the release date.

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