Vital MX Pit Bits: Detroit

It's been a couple years since we were here in Detroit, and the biggest difference is that the track doesn't make the nod to the old days at the Silverdome, since there's no section of the track that goes into the stands.

The good news? There's little building or teardown time for the teams. Lots of these trucks will be on the road tonight.

A few teams opted to pit in their trucks this weekend, including Jordon Smith and the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM crew. More often in situations like this, you'll see them pitted in a tent off the back of the truck, leaving the inside free.

Jay Burgess taking advantage of one of the steaming manhole covers while warming up Mitchell Oldenburg's bike. He later said that it maybe wasn't the best idea, as it was pretty funky smelling.

Eli Tomac and his wrench, Brian Kranz, taking a good long look at the whoops for this week. They're a lot bigger than they were in Arlington.

Brick chunks seem to be the random item most often found in this week's track.

The Killer Bs of the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KTM/WPS team. Baggett, Byrne, and Bogle.

With the inside pit area, it made for some cozy confines for lots of privateers and teams. Fortunately, it's not early as cold outside as it was in Minneapolis.

We like that X-Trig ignition cover on Tyler Bowers' bike.

Ah yeah, while most weekend are automatic on the schedule, this one is different with the Triple Crown. The schedules come in handy.

The Club crew is already down a couple riders. While they don't have spares for each, there are bikes available for parts...

Yep, the Yamahas like more air...

The CTR Motorsports crew hasn't been extremely busy since it's been raining a bunch at Club MX. That gave Brent Duffe and the rest of the crew some time to get caught up on various projects.

Gavin Faith is working as the rider rep for the Just 1 crew. He hasn't entirely given up the idea of racing, but he does have a back injury that's been bugging him. Surgery in the future is a possibility.

The Smartop MotoConcepts Racing squad is down to Justin Brayton, after Malcolm Stewart's femur break in Phoenix, and an ACL injury for Vince Friese last week. Look for Mike Alessi to fill in for a few races, and the possibility of a rather unexpected rider to join the team in the coming weeks.

Justin Brayton's dialed on goggles for tonight.

That's one way to send a message. Cole Martinez getting the word out. He spends a lot of time racing European SX races during the off-season, with good results. Unfortunately, he also had a hard crash during practice here.

It was cool to run into Eric Saunders over in the TiLube pit area. While he's racing sprint cars these days, it was cool to see him aboard an adaptive bike not too long ago.

Jordan Bailey getting dialed in on his bike before practice.

With the Triple Crown format, it looked a little like a bike storage area in the pits, as many teams have a backup bike ready to go.

Looks like Martin Davalos is still getting some coaching help from Brock Sellards.

The Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna squad uses a 2D electronics and software package for their tuning. Of course, the GPS sensors don't work in the domed stadium, but it's still sitting on a cool carbon fiber mount.

With AJE sticking to the West coast, Chris Blose has his own program going to race the 450 on the East.

Translation for Austin Forkner's butt patch? Two in a row. Yeah, it's one of the English phrases that Ollie (Austin's mechanic) busts out that keeps Austin entertained.

Cole Seely took a big rock to the chest in qualifying, and it must've hit a nerve. He missed sections of both qualifying sessions.

Yep, with the short start straight, and three main events in each class, the talk of the qualifying sessions was getting a good time, and a good gate pick.

We've heard a privateer or two questioning whether the WP forks on Jordon Smith's bike meet the homologation rules. We'll see if anyone presses the issue.

John Gallagher explaining a few things about the split rhythm lanes to the riders, including...One of the jumps that had been quadded during press day had been remove. If they start on one lane, they have to stay in that lane.And finally, if the red cross flag is being displayed on one side, it also applies to the other lane.

Yep, it often takes two (plus the rider) to effectively engage the start devices.

Alex Martin's quick here. Who's on the train?

Caption time...What are Justin Shantie and Joey Savatgy chuckling about?

We've seen people question how far out the mechanics are allowed to groom. Basically, it's to the front crossmember of the gate, but not into the dirt beyond.