1. Dog Day Afternoon: In the middle of a moto, a mutt belonging to a neighbor of Loretta's came out of the woods, got through the fence and ran out of the racetrack. A rider who had pulled out with a mechanical, Justin Starling, in full gear, tried to collar the dog. After five minutes it was finally chased back through the fence and up into the woods.
2. RX EMRG-N-C!: A medic fell out of the Can-Am Commander's passenger seat while the driver was trying to get to the accident scene. He was texting at the time.
3. Flying RC Car: A deceivingly fast Traxxas RC car got out of control of the small "SX" track purpose-built for them and launched into the windshield of the Pirelli support rig, cracking the glass on the rig.
4. Junk Crunch: A young rider was playing around by the water and jumped off an off-limits cliff on the opposite side of the Hurricane Creek. A downed tree was under the water, and the kid came right down on top of it, ripping open his sack and causing him to scratch from the actual race.
5. The Old Switcheroo: Just before the start of one of the Vet motos, a rider on the line held up his hand for extra time. When the card finally went up, another rider wearing full gear and the same numbered bib came out of the crowd and jumped on the bike. The gate dropped before officials could do anything, so rather than red-flag the race, they waited until afterwards and then blocked the exits of the track. Caught cheating, the replacement rider explained that he was actually in another class and he wanted to use his buddy's class for extra practice. Both were disqualified.
Stilez Robertson is part of the Bakersfield Zone.
Photo: Ryne Swanberg / Vurbmoto
6. The Bakersfield Zone: The winners of the first motos of both 51cc classes, AMA Stock 1 (Ryder Difrancesco) and AMA Stock 2 (Stilez Robertson), hail from Bakersfield, California. Second and fourth overall in the AMA Class 1 (for 4-to-6-year-olds) also hail from Bakersfield. "Bakersfield: It's the new El Cajon."
7. The Two-Stroke, No Seat, No Front-Brake Lever Challenge: During their roundtable discussion at the riders' meeting, Jeff Emig and Ricky Carmichael decided to let the packed house in on a long-standing joke between them -- Carmichael says he could beat Emig in a full moto, on a two-stroke 250 against Jeff's 450, with no seat and no front-brake lever. Ricky added, "You kids know that Jeff was the last guy to win here on Dunlops made out of wood, right?"
8. Down Goes Bell, Down Goes McSwain: There’s a new tunnel jump at the Ranch, and the tube at the bottom helps the medic and track crew get better access to the infield. The new obstacle claimed some in the 250 B class. Leader Zack Bell crashed over the jump after hitting neutral as he tried to bounce over the ledge. New leader Tyler McSwain crashed on the exact same jump, throwing away a probable moto win.
9. Return to Sender: A young prospect came all the way from South Africa, having participated in both the Area and Regional events to qualify in two classes. But then his bike blew up -- twice -- in his first two motos here at Loretta Lynn's. Ouch.
10. Late Night Swim: A golf cart that was reported stolen was found late Wednesday night in Hurricane Creek. It was spotted by security because even though it was sunk in the water, the lights were still on.
