The Georgia dome is buzzing with activity here in Atlanta as the teams and riders prepare themselves for the day’s action. Right now the big news of the day is the debut of GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac. We know Tomac is fast on a 450, he won a moto and took third overall last year at the Monster Energy Cup, but we have yet to see how he’ll stack up against a full field of the world’s fastest 450SX racers.
Other storylines to follow include the return of Jake Weimer, who missed San Diego and Dallas after sustaining broken ribs at A3, Kyle Chisholm will be filling in for the injured Josh Grant with the Toyota/Yamaha JGR team and Andrew Short will make his first start aboard the BTO Sports KTM.
The track, which is made up of normal red Georgia Clay, looks good, and has several features designed to slow the riders down in places. There are also multiple bowl turns that could create some great passing opportunities if multiple ruts form up. The whoops section is only eight whoops long, but they are big, deep and right out of a corner.The dirt, which has been sitting inside the Dome since last week when Monster Jam rolled through town, was tacky enough to stick to the bottom of your shoes during track walk, but as the day wears on it will dry out, and things could get a little slippery. We talked to Dunlop's Bryan Fleck, and he said the track will get dry enough to where most teams will actually run a similar tire setup to last weekend's race in Dallas--and that was as rock-hard and slippery as it gets. Remember the old days of ruts here? Dunlop has narrower front tires they can switch to for that, but they don't expect it to happen.
For updates on the action coming from Atlanta, keep checking back right here at Racer X Online, and follow us on Twitter, @racerxonline.
Davi Millsaps checks out the entrance to the staircase
In untimed practices most guys were going straight down the middle of this sand section
Riders have the option to either pin it around the outside or hit this double right before the finish line jump
Who will cross this line first tonight?
