Vital MX Pit Bits: Southwick

The forecast for Southwick? 100% chance of good racing, and a tough track. This was the view on Friday afternoon.

Sneaking peeks into the future of Fox's new line, Ken Roczen was sporting this gear. The bad news is that in the sand, it doesn't stay uncovered for long.

Yep, there were matching goggles.

What do you think of the boots?

Oh, man...that buttpatch.

We dug this gear on the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM guys, but we're old school enough that the tri-color blue on yellow looks like Suzuki gear to us.

We neglected to mention this new Shift gear last week. The GEICO Honda guys wore it again during practice here. Milo, Hunter Lawrence's Frenchie? He just wants to play.

Here's some more new Shift gear for the GEICO Honda gang.

Since the GEICO Honda guys run taller radiators in the summer, and the louvers have to be made longer, It also requires longer protectors for the sandy conditions. The crew runs these specifically in the sand, to try and keep it from clogging the fins.

Linked for life. That's some art on Keith Clickstein, RJ Hampshire's mechanic.

Of course, everyone was decked out with sand treads for the weekend.

It looks like Adam has honorary Mafia Moto Crew status.

Of course, sand gets everywhere and into everything once the gate drops. We spotted some of the vents on Joey Savatgy's Just 1 helmet covered up to keep some of the offending roost away from his goggles.

Yep, everyone knows Southwick will be brutal by the end of the day. Joey Savatgy got his hand prep in before practice.

Yep, Hoosier has a sand tire in the lineup now.

Best shifter knob ever? That goes to the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki crew.

After a great showing at WW Ranch last week, Fredrik Noren got a shot at the JGR Yoshimura Factory Suzuki equipment, and he put it to good use, with a 5-7 day, and the fifth matched his best-ever moto finish in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

Lately, we're never quite sure what number is going to be on Ben's bike when we stop by.

Freddie in the JGR Pits, with his daughter, Jolie.

We love seeing second-gen racers. Ryan Dowd knows how to flow at Southwick. Don't try to overpower the corners, and stay on the gas.

You want a screaming eagle? Ryan had this beauty done up for his sponsor, Full Throttle Powersports.

It was early for the fourth, but we dug the patriotic theme.

Derek Rankin dialing in the safety wire on Justin Bogle's grips, while fending off heckling from his fellow team mechanics.

Out with the old, in with the new. Carlos Rivera loads up a new shock for Cooper Webb.

If you've ever wondered how KTM attaches the upper end of the rod for their suspension data, it's a small ball joint setup.

With a chance of showers in the area, the goggle brigade was making sure they had all their bases covered.

It was cool to see Doug Henry checking in with Marvin Musquin after his win on Saturday.

You know you're Southwick royalty when you have a berm named after you. Paul Buckley has shot some classic images there over the years. We're not sure if it was planned, or just a happy coincidence that Paul ended up with Doug Henry's number, but it was cool to see.

We were shooting photos alongside a tabletop jump when Ben LaMay came over the top and we heard his Honda's powerplant lock up. Fortunately, he didn't go down, but he also didn't have a spare and he thought he was done for the day.

The good news for Ben was that the guys at Honda offered up Toshiki Tomita's spare engine, and helped him install it in the bike.

Funny enough, Ben and Toshiki ended up lining up next to each other in the first moto.

There was some chatter about a familiar face showing up on Cole Seely's bike, but it sounds like that talk has cooled down. In the meantime, it'll stay locked up in the pits. (Gotta make sure to keep honest people honest.)

The Arai crew was on hand this weekend to take care of their riders, and with all the sand, this was a good one for it. They divide their attention among a bunch of different race series, both on and off-road.

Colors Design had done up a new helmet for Toshiki Tomita. We love their work.

Since there's a big hill between the track and the pit area, Southwick has a couple of different setups to retrieve "uncooperative" bikes back to the pit area. There's the lite-duty version (good for one bike)...

...and the heavier-duty trailer that'll do two bikes at a time

Chris Loredo using an air hose to dry the ignition connections on Jason Anderson's bike after washing it.

Preparation. The Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna bikes have an extra fastener at the top of the sideplates to make sure they don't go astray.

Traveling the country in a motorhome is fun, but there's just about always something (even on the expensive coaches) that needs fixing. Zach Osborne and Steve Westfall dive in on Zach's rig, while Deansauce (Kenny's driver) supervises.

The Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna guys are never going to get caught flat-footed on a wheel change.

We like Justin Barcia's sweat management system. He's been getting faster every week.

There was some discussion about the track markers in the forum again this week. Yes, the lower half that gets pounded into the ground is hard plastic These are designed to flex easily in one direction. When they end up on the track, or become a hazard, they get pulled out.

Yikes, Jake Pinhancos' bike was catching attention for the wrong reasons in the first moto. It looks his pipe took a good hit somewhere, in order to split the front of the header, and snap the weld.

Coty's bike getting the Schock treatment. He was pumped to score points in both motos.

Chris Hay from LitPro downloading data.

Want an idea for a DIY shower setup? Here you go.

This was Aaron Plessinger's first race back since breaking one of his heels at Daytona. This one was a tough one to return to...but what race would be a good option? It was good to see him back on the bike.

It looks like Aaron was enjoying himself in his return to action.

It's that time of the year, and it looks like the AMA's Michael Pelletier and Roger DeCoster are busy working on picks for the MXoN.

Guillaume Canet is a French actor and director, and is apparently a big fan of both motocross, and of Marvin. He and some members of his family got to hang out at Southwick and check out the action.