We are officially into the off-season with little actual racing until Anaheim since the Canadian round has been shuffled into the regular season. We can expect the normal message board flame wars over nothing more than my favorite rider can beat up your favorite rider banter, and rumors and speculation over practice track injuries. As fans, we dread the down time, but even Nostradamus could appreciate the amount of bench racing and predictions that will occur between now and January 5, 2008. Let the off-season games begin where objectivity and common sense take a back seat to boredom.
Mike Alessi has made the transition from the immature kid out of Loretta Lynn’s to a well-spoken factory rider. We have followed his career from the beginning and are pleased to see him emerge back on top after some unfortunate rookie mistakes. Mike will be under the Team Makita Suzuki factory rig with the hopes of continuing the momentum he started in the nationals. Jeff Alessi is also aboard a new team for next year and has always been one of our favorite kids in the pits. We will catch up with him on his new endeavor and his plans as 2008 approaches. Finally, the patriarch of the Alessi clan will watch as his sons compete on different teams for the first time as he finds his role with the current changes as well. Tony Alessi has received his share of criticism over the last few years, but we have always known him to want the best for his kids. Don’t we all?
SoBe/Samsung/Honda’s Jake "Oscar Myer" Weimer opened some eyes at the U.S. Open with an impressive ride and will be calling in from a tree stand in Idaho while he gets in a little hunting during the short break. Jake is a cool kid and a fun interview so when you mix in some firearms, it should really be interesting.
USA Today/Rachel Ray/Racer X/GNCC/Supercrossonline.com’s Jason Weignadt called the action in Vegas and will break it down Weege style as only he can.
In keeping with a "W" theme we welcome on for the first time AMA/ATVA sanctioned Can-Am GNCC series Lites rider, Josh "Wisenheimer" Weinsenfel. Josh started the year in the new XC2 Lites class as a full privateer, but his early results got Fred Andrews’ attention and he signed him up midyear for the Monster/Pro-Circuit/Kawasaki team where he finished up the final few rounds on the podium. Josh had a great year but is still currently looking to secure a ride for next season and we wanted to give the kid some love and get his name out there.
Team Troy Lee Designs/Honda/RedBull’s David Pingee suffered a season-ending crash and ended the lovable rider’s chance at that elusive first championship. It appears to involve a conspiracy that includes a track worker and some over-watering, but we will have David explain all the details and how he is functioning with two broken wrists and bruised ego.
Get well RV and Goose!
REMINDER: MXdN telecast will air on the Outdoor Channel on October 26th at 8:30pm ET. U.S. Open will air on CBS this Saturday, October 20, from 1:30-3:30pm EST
Every Wednesday Night 8 -11pm EST.
