Vital Buzz

Wow, this has been a busy week. While it may not look like it from the amount of new content up on Vital MX, we’ve logged tons of miles, shot lots of photos and video, and have a lot of stuff in the can…now we just need to crank through it and get it all posted up here.

Here’s a helpful tip for the season finale of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship at Steel City this weekend. Don’t show up on Sunday. If you do, you’ll likely have your pick of anywhere on the fence that you want to spectate from. But you’ll also be very, very alone. The race will run on Saturday. That way you get Sunday to recover, and the Monday holiday to do something fun. But that also means we have one less day between races.

Almost lost in the scramble? Vital MX just turned two a week or so ago, as we passed our second anniversary. We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves as we head into our third year. Keep an eye on the site.

Ashley Fiolek and Jessica Patterson.

Heading into the final round of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship at Steel City, there’s still one championship to be decided…but it’s in the women’s class. Ashley Fiolek leads Jessica Patterson by 28 points heading into the final round, and if she finishes second behind JP$ in the first moto, she’ll wrap up the overall title in the AMA/WMA Women’s National Motocross Championship Presented by Kawasaki.

Ashley still has a sore wrist, but judging by what she showed last weekend at Southwick, it’s plenty good to deal with two more motos. As for Jessica? It’s the first time in five years she may not walk away with the title…which is a pretty enviable record.

Ryan Villopoto.

While the two Kawasaki guys (Stewart and Villopoto) ran off and hid in their respective AMA championships, there’s still the matter of the Monster Energy Triple Crown (and some big fat paychecks for the winners), and also the grudge match between Andrew Short and Timmy Ferry, who are still duking it out for second overall in the championship. Timmy has the advantage, and there are only eight points separating the two.

Ryan Dungey has a stranglehold on second in the 250 class, and he could sit on the sidelines with a non-alcoholic umbrella drink in each hand and still finish in second. But knowing Ryan, he’ll be out there, digging for everything he can get.

James Stewart.

Then there’s that pesky matter of a mere two moto wins standing between James Stewart and a perfect season. One of the stats from the ’09 season that really jumps out at us is in Laps Led, where James Stewart has an amazing 339 laps to…Mike Alessi’s 13. No one else has led a lap.

Marc de Reuver.

Martin Honda’s Marc de Reuver sure made things interesting when he showed up last weekend at Southwick. Well, for the practices and first moto, that is. The pace of the American guys, combined with the heat and a second-moto crash, conspired to slow the tall Dutchman. He dropped out of the second moto after less than a handful of laps. But regardless of the outcome (and while it was hot, it was nowhere near as hot as some of the other race this summer…like at Freestone), it was cool seeing him racing here. Of course, it also fueled more posts in our forum than Barrack Obama and John McCain combined (which is something of a feat).

Martin Barr.

Marc wasn’t the only Euro-based rider in action on Sunday, though U Tag Yamaha’s Martin Barr (from Northern Ireland) is more often found in the British National MX Series. He tallied a 25-17 day, for 23rd overall.

Zach Osborne.

Martin’s new American teammate, Zach Osborne was home for this round, and aboard a 450 that he’d bought. Once they sorted out some jetting issues, he was going fast aboard the big-bore machine, but we hear that the Yamaha ran out of gas in the first moto.

Kyle Cunningham.

Kyle Cunningham’s ’08 season began with the DNA Energy Drink / BTOSports / Rick Case Honda squad, and though they’d always planned to do only the Supercross season, plus selected rounds of the Nationals, Kyle made it to every round except for the ones where he was injured. After Budds Creek, he’d moved to the Wonder Warthog canopy, but for Southwick, he was aboard a Motosport Xtreme Kawasaki. He’ll finish out the season with them, and next year? Hmm…

Willy Browning.

New School: Suzuki City’s Willy Browning may not have qualified for the 250 final in Southwick, but he’s taken up an interest in photography, and spent his Sunday in the infield, shooting under the guidance of fellow Ohioan Jeff Kardas.

Paul Buckley.

Old School: It’s always cool to see legendary moto photog Paul Buckley. He’s spent a lot more time near his home base this season, and we wouldn’t even begin to imagine how many photos he’s shot at Southwick over the years. Paul’s also been known to sneak in and answer photography questions in our Photo and Video forum.

Blake Wharton, Jeremy Medaglia, and Steven Clarke, running up front.

Check out the rookies at the front of last week’s first 250 moto. Blake Wharton (721) grabbed the holeshot. Jeremy Medaglia (281) made the trip down from Canada to fill in for Boost Mobile Yamaha of Troy, and he was right there at the start in both moto. Recent Loretta’s grad, Steven Clarke (211), was also right there for Suzuki City.

Charles Summey.

Man, you have to feel bad for the SPIKE Hardcore Energy / Toyota / Yamaha / JGRMX riders. Gavin Gracyk had a mid-week practice crash that left him sidelined for Southwick, as did the team’s testing/backup rider, Eric Sorby. Josh Summey had a rough first moto, and was unable to ride in the second one.

Ben Lamay.

JGR’s injury troubles opened the door for two privateers in Steel City. Ben Lamay and Sean Borkenhagen will get to jump aboard the team’s top-notch equipment for the final round, and get a chance to show what they can do with it. Ben (above) is also one of the few riders we’ve seen sporting the Scott Genius boots.

Josh Grant.

Speaking of injuries, it was a bummer to see Josh Grant lay down the fastest 250 lap times in practice last week, only to crash hard, and seriously bruise a hip. While he checked out fine, it did cause his leg to go numb, and left him sidelined on Sunday.

Andrew McFarlane.

It’s a bummer to say goodbye to Andrew McFarlane, but after eight years away from his native Australia (three in the U.S., and five in Europe), he’s headed back to Australia, and a factory Suzuki gig. Good luck back home, Sharky.

Log jump.

At the top of this story, there’s a photo of Ashley Fiolek and Jessica Patterson flying across a log jump that featured some in-track advertising. A few people in our forum had mistaken how it was set up, thinking that it might have been hay bales with the banners on them. Nope, it was a log wall, with dirt cut away in front. Above you can see how it looked from the rider’s point of view.

Okay, that’s it. Upward and onward into year three of Vital MX. Be sure and check back throughout the week (and weekends), for more. If you’re at Steel City, maybe we’ll run into you there. If not, have a safe Labor Day weekend.