Vital Buzz: Anaheim 1

Ready for a few things you may not have seen during the live telecast on Speed from Anaheim 1?

The shot of Brett Metcalfe above (you can click it for a larger version) should give you a pretty good idea of what the conditions were like during practice. Big snotty clumps of mud being flung around, and a really greasy track surface. Not exactly confidence-inspiring stuff when you’re trying to get traction to clear a triple, or blitz through the whoops.

The conditions at Anaheim were unlike anything that any of the teams practice on, prep for, or dream of. That meant the mud (and maybe just the additional time to sit around with nerves jumping) seemed to have people a bit rattled. Phoenix, with its retractable dome, guarantees dry conditions next week, and we think it’ll probably seem like a whole new season, all over again.

After his U.S. Open win, and a strong showing at the Perris Supercross, many people expected good things from Jake Weimer at Anaheim 1. Unfortunately, a crash while exiting the first turn in his heat race left him sidelined, holding his hand or wrist. Not the way he wanted to start his season.

After the evening was over and we were flipping through results, we were wondering where Chris Gosselaar was. What we found out later was that he’d had a practice crash on New Year’s Eve, which left him with a separated left shoulder, and some cracked bones in his right hand. He got a shot to help numb the pain, but after trying to ride practice in the slippery conditions, he decided that he didn’t have the strength needed to control his bike safely, and rather than be a hazard to himself and others, opted to sit out the race. There’s a possibility that we’ll see him back in action in Phoenix.

Speaking of hand injuries, we’re wondering just how bad Chad Reed’s hand was tweaked during his crash while attempting a triple after the finish line. When he showed up for his heat race, he had what looked like a heating pad on his left hand (though a pair of wise-cracking photographers we quizzed about it suggested it was his purse…or a teddy bear). While it sure didn’t seem to affect him in either the heat race or while winning the main event, he did pull off his helmet one-handed, which seemed a bit unusual.

There was no shortage of ex-champs at A1. We saw a smiling David Bailey in attendance, which is always good to see. Jeremy McGrath was signing autographs in the pits. We'd assume Broc Glover was at his usual post at the Dunlop truck. There was also Jeff Ward, who was working with the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda; and we saw Ricky Carmichael hanging out with Mike Bell and Jeff Stanton before the start of the night’s activities. Stanton was also honored in the pre-race activities with the annual Mickey Thompson Award of Excellence.

Something else you didn’t see on Saturday night were the competitors in the KTM Jr. Supercross Challenge. We’re guessing that some of the pint-sized riders would have disappeared into the mud and ruts on the track if they’d actually run the race.

One of the spookier moments of the night was during the 450 main event, when Grant Langston came up on the back of Jason Thomas at the finish line jump. Jason had a bobble and almost stopped at the top, while Langston was running at full speed. We’re not sure of the actual distance between the two, but suffice to say; it was probably way too close for either of them. Following the race Grant also mentioned that while out on the track, he had arm pump like he’s never had before. Between new season jitters and the track conditions, we’d guess that he wasn’t the only one.

The mud also bred a little creativity among the teams. Check out the duct tap tire wrap on Adam Chatfield’s Suzuki (it was pulled off before he pulled into the gate), and the footpeg porting going on in the DNA Energy / BTO Sports / Rick Case Honda pit area. We like the use of the Oakleys for eye protection, and as you can see from the wayward metal chips, they were necessary. Catching one of those in your eye would be unpleasant at best.

It may have been hard to pick out from the stands or on TV, but in addition to his pink Fox gear, James had a pink ribbon as his butt patch for breast cancer awareness. He also said that he’d be donating the money from any holeshots he scores this season to a breast cancer-related charity.

It was pretty clear to us that James was on a mission to get back to the front after his first turn mishap (and his fastest lap was on lap ten at 0:55.661). Once he got to second at the midway point, he backed it off. It’ll be extremely interesting to see how Reed and Stewart stack up on the dry track next weekend.

One of the guys we were impressed on Saturday night was Nick Wey. Nick was running fifth for the first third of the main, but dropped back to 11th after a stall. He then worked his way back into the top ten, eventually finishing ninth. Unless we’re mistaken, that could be the highest finish to date for a KTM 450 in U.S. Supercross racing.

We’re guessing that a best-of-team score of seventh place (for Andrew Short) was not what the Honda Red Bull Racing guys had in mind for Anaheim 1. The same probably goes for the Joe Gibbs Racing MX team, where Josh Hansen finished in 20th spot. The team’s other rider, Josh Summey (who’s now listed in the AMA results as Charles), failed to qualify. Two riders, Paul Carpenter and Heath Voss, used provisional starting positions in the main event where they finished 13th and 14th, respectively. We’re expecting the results to be scrambled considerably by the time we’re done racing at Phoenix next weekend.

One of the coolest things we heard about, which was announced to a nice round of applause at the rider’s meeting, was that the Road 2 Recovery Foundation  has implemented a catastrophic injury insurance policy for all licensed AMA Supercross and Motocross riders. When we talked to Jimmy Button in the pits later, he told us, “It’s all too easy to have to write a million dollar check for a big injury.” Even for factory riders, that can quickly wiped out their savings.

Road 2 Recovery uses fundraising activities plus donations from within the industry to help fund this, and you can also help by becoming a member of Road 2 Recovery. It’s $35 for riders, and $25 for the general public. Besides helping out the riders, you get benefits like discounts on Supercross tickets and pit passes, a Decal Works gift card, and more. Check out www.road2recovery.com or you can sign up in person at the Road 2 Recovery Tent that will be in the pits at all 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross races. We'll be joining up. How about you?

All right, that's it for this time around. Be sure to check back to see what else we rustle up this week on VitalMX.com...and tell a friend.