A2 Gas Card Sponsor Experience
From Todd Snider:
First and foremost, I want to say thank you very much for letting me have the opportunity to add some sponsorship money to the Racer X Gas Card program. Now, I will tell you about a great experience I shared with my brother, Brock.
Upon arriving at the stadium, we easily found the promoter’s will call. After waiting in line for a few minutes, we were granted two VIP passes that we quickly learned were exactly that. This was the last time we waited in line for anything the rest of the night. We were able to go anywhere in the stadium without any hassle; we felt like industry insiders.
After passing all the general ticket holders waiting in line to enter the stadium, we made our way to the back of the stadium and found the pit area. We breezed through the special gate that only the credential holders could enter and immediately headed down the tunnel (only because we could!!!) to see the track. I have probably been to 30 supercross races, and something that I have always wanted to do was walk down through the tunnel and see the track from a rider’s perspective.
As we entered the stadium, what is the first thing we saw? Ricky Carmichael! He was suited up in some flashy Fox gear, getting ready to go out on the track with Grant Langston to do some hot laps. It was incredible to get to watch him ride around and dial in the track in preparation of the hot laps I assumed he would be doing for the opening ceremonies.
I’m going to call it right now; RC could go out right now, off the couch and finish on the box. He was visibly heavier than the RC that battled Bubba for the top spot, but no doubt he has the ability, style and mindset that would allow him to finish up front. He also had the technical first-baseline rhythm section handled after only a couple laps.
Then we decided to cruise the pits and snap some pictures of our favorite riders’ bikes: Reed, Carmichael, Villopoto, Grant, Tedesco, and the new Honda addition Ashley Fiolek. I even snapped a pic with Troy Adams while we were checking out the happenings around his Rockstar team rig.
While traveling around the pits, one thing that is impossible to miss is the huge presence that Monster Energy has at supercross now. Their pit party rig was gigantic, and honestly dwarfed the Red Bull bus. We decided at that point to perform a taste test of all the energy-drink sponsors to see which actually tasted the best. We tasted Monster, Rockstar, Red Bull, Brawndo, and even Muscle Milk (not really an energy drink). We agreed that Rockstar tasted the best, but I will tell you it was a toss-up between who had the hotter chicks handing them out.
One thing I thought was really neat was the Toyota Privateer area. They have a tent set up to offer massages, adjustments, and snacks for privateers. It is great to see a large sponsor take notice and offer the underdog a little extra help.
Other perks to having the VIP all-access passes was the ability to be in the right place at the right time. I was able to have my picture taken with RC, Chad Reed, and the legendary Johnny “O’Show” O’Mara. This was probably the highlight of the day. One other cool thing we got to do was walk out on to the track and see the size of the jumps. It’s not just that they are huge; it’s that they have such a short run up to them, or have a rhythm section or set of rollers in front of them. On the way off the track, we took each other’s picture on the Monster podium to try and live out our fantasy of what it would feel like to stand “on the box” at a supercross.
The heats and LCQ were all great races. Josh Summey ended up just missing the main and earned the Racer X gas card. After the heats, everyone was thinking, whoever gets the holeshot in the main is a shoe-in for the win. The track layout made it difficult for riders to pass, thus making the holeshot even more important. Unless you are Chad Reed! In the main, Reedy went down in the first turn and let everyone think the points he made up on James Stewart at A1 were in jeopardy. Not so, as Chad got up in like 20th and put on a riding clinic. He passed riders exiting the second whoop section almost every lap, and basically jumped passed K-Dub on the last lap for the number two spot. It was an amazing race, and we were able to watch all the action from the Knothole Club.
For those of you who don’t know about the Knothole Club, let me fill you in. Keep in mind, this race is in Anaheim, this is near Los Angeles (Hollywood), and it is exactly that. All the celebrities; T.V, movie, and industry are there. We were brushing elbows with McGrath, Rick Johnson, Jason Pridmore, Twitch, Deegan, Mike Bell, Ryno, Troy Lee, John Kocinski, Robbie Madison, Grant Langston, the actor Corbin Blue, UFC fighters, SPEED TV hosts, the “FOX” family, Jason Ellis (who has a hilarious show on XM/Sirius), all the industry big wigs, and all the celebrity tag-a-longs. It really was neat to see all these guys in person after watching most of them perform amazing feats on a motorcycle, off-road truck, in business, etc.
It was a true pleasure, and an absolute deal to get a day like this with my brother for a mere $250.00. Thanks again Racer X, I will contribute anytime to a California round, or even attend every round and write a story for your readers.
Craig and Dustin Potter:
My son, Dustin, and I got to the track at about 10 am and picked up our passes. We were really excited to go on the track walk with the riders and see how they planned to hit each section at 11 am. On the way, we saw DC in the pits and spoke to him for a minute about the night’s racing. Once we got out on the track, we saw that Erin Bates and Jeff Emig were interviewing riders for the telecast later that night. We were about halfway through the track standing on the peak of the triple when Jason Weigandt walks by my son, looks right at him, and with a straight face said "Good luck in the main tonight"...then followed it up with "just pin it and you got this section." It was hilarious and my son was talking about it all night.
When the mains started, we found ourselves watching the races with all the team’s families, employees and other riders that weren't racing that night. Michael Byrne was standing next to me and we were talking about how good Reed looked coming through the pack. Byrner was really cool, and just like any other motocross fan watching the race. Hope he heals up and gets back out there soon.
Thanks again Racer X and let us know when we can do it again!!!!