Vital MX Pit Bits: Daytona 6

We're taking a break from business as usual in stadiums, and visiting one of the grandaddy classic events.

GuyB

3/9/2019 3:45pm

With the garages available at Daytona, it's always a bit of a different pit setup.

We love seeing a workbench scattered with trick goodies, like over at the GEICO Honda truck.

Ricky Carmichael rode in both the press day activities, and will ride during opening ceremonies tonight. The JGR guys handled some maintenance for him.

Here's a little reminder for Justin Hill to make sure and try both map options.

On the JGR Suzuki 250s, some checkers were added to the graphics package this week.

The H.E.P. Suzuki guys went a bit tropical on their look for this weekend.

Yep, here's why the factory teams run the guards on their brake and clutch master cylinders. That particular rock ding got picked up by Eli Tomac during last week's action in Atlanta.

Bell Helmets, AP Designs, and the Monster Energy Kawasaki collaborated on this cool Dale Earnhardt-themed helmet for Eli Tomac to wear this weekend.

Hmm...up until now the only thing missing from Leatt's roster of safety gear was boots. But giving Ryan Sipes a scan, we spied these new items.

There was practically a brand new team for the CTR Motorsports crew this week. Justin Thompson (left) was added to the squad, along with Bradley Taft. Bradley hadn't been on a bike for a few months after an injury ended his Australian campaign. He jumped at the opportunity to finish out the season.

The CTR Motorsports guys have a one-race deal with Z Max for this weekend.

Ryan Sipes has a whole quiver of bikes for the races that he'll be doing over the next week or so, with the Supercross, GNCC, and flattrack events here in Florida. He qualified inside the top ten in the 250 class here.

Whoa. Check out the whoops after the second timed practice.

Fly introduced a new batch of Kinetic Mesh Racewear this weekend.

Troy Lee Designs also had some new SE Pro Mirage gear for Cole Seely and Shane McElrath.

Speaking of Shane McElrath, he qualified 13th in the 450 class...on his 250. The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM East Coast crew are all out with injuries, so Shane is the team this weekend.

We also dig this new Fox gear on Chad Reed.

Ah, details. We love this front brake setup on the Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarnas.

It's always cool to see riders help make dreams come true. Good on ya, AP.

Here's what the 450 class will be racing for tonight.

If we were handing out trophies, Yamaha would have scored one for the best pit presence in Daytona.

See all the small circles on the floor? Those are marks that the auto racing teams use for their chassis setup scales, where there's one scale for each corner.

The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys caused a little ruckus among some of the teams when they went a bit rogue and did a little custom tire cutting on their own.

The verdict seemed to be that this year's course isn't quite soft enough for paddles.

The CMS Artworx guys got permission to use Mike Metzger's design on this cool helmet for Henry Miller.

Shawn Ulikowski is the team manager with the Phoenix Racing crew...

...and he brought out an old friend to help out. It was cool seeing Mike Gosselaar back in the pits.

How about a little Bradshaw style?

Mike Alessi prefers to set his sag while standing on the pegs.

Ready for some qualifying results? Chase Sexton topped the charts in the 250 class.

2. Austin Forkner.

3. Justin Cooper.

4. Mitchell Oldenburg (who's still a bit beat up from Atlanta, but is good to go here).

5. Brandon Hartranft.

On the 450 side, Marvin Musquin grabbed the top spot...

...followed by Ken Roczen...

...Cooper Webb in third...

...Eli Tomac in fourth...

...and Dean Wilson in fifth.

We have to give Cooper Webb the Save of the Day from practice.

The extra-long rhythm section prompted plenty of discussion among riders and officials on how to best set up the start of the section. The officials wanted to try and minimize some of the quad potential.

Here's a chunk of Team Forkner. That's Robbie Reynard on the left,

It'll be another week before we see Justin Barcia back in action. He's been cleared for his concussion but needs a bit more rest and rehab on his neck and shoulder.

Here are a couple of old hands in the moto world. Like always, Mark Barnett (left) helped build the track here. Erik Kehoe handles the Team Manager duties for Team Honda HRC.

Ken Roczen's dad came out to visit this week.

Welcome to sunny Florida with Chase Sexton.

Marvin Musquin doing a little pre-practice visualizing.

Kyle Peters getting some last-minute chats in with the team.

Well, this should put to rest any idea of Eric Grondahl reviving Alias. He was rocking Fox gear for the weekend.

We like Eric Grondahl's message to himself.

Eric does have an idea for a new company-to-be-named (see the shroud logo), but he was pretty tight with the details.

Dakota Alix made the decision on Thursday to come down and give this race a try, and he qualified 26th in the 450 class. Look for him to be racing the Canadian series this summer.

This is a BYOL race. Bring Your Own Landscaping.

Chris Hay and Michael Ford from LITPro checking out the action.

Privateer life with Kyle Cunningham and Corey Shea.

The good news? Thomas Covington is back in action here.

The bad news? He had an off-track excursion in the final practice and made contact with a flagger. Let's be careful out there, gang.

He may still be sporting a cane to get around following his broken femur, but it was good to see Malcolm Stewart here...even if it's only as a spectator.