There’s also some racing going on down in Gainesville, Florida, where the Mini Os, officially known as the 43rd Annual Thor Winter Olympiad, are heading into their final motos at Gatorback Cycle Park. RacerTV is streaming the action live, and you can tune in and catch some classes tomorrow starting at 9 am ET.

You can also catch the live timing and scoring from the Mini Os right here.

There’s been a bunch of good races so far, with the field of classes ranging from 51cc to the Plus 50 Veterans. Supercross took up the first two days of the week before they turned their attention to motocross on the former national track. The last race held there was 1997, and a local kid named Ricky Carmichael won in just his second national. It was the first of RC’s 102 career wins in AMA Motocross—fitting, since he grew up racing Gatorback and spent every Thanksgiving there as a kid, just like a lot of fast kids and their families. 

There’s also A Day in the Dirt, which has turned into something of a major event out in California, as fun as it is competitive. It stems from the fusion between Hollywood and motocross that goes back to the Scrambler days of Dave and Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen and Lee Marvin. It looks like they’re going to have a whole bunch of fun out at Glen Helen.

And as we get ready for Anaheim 2015, we’ve been busy procuring old photos and records for our 40-Day Countdown, where we take one year of Monster Energy AMA Supercross each day and go through the results and developments that helped turn the series into the biggest championship in motocross. We’re up to 1978, but please check out all of the years going back to 1974.

And still no word on James Stewart’s status from the FIM over in Europe, which means #7 is still in limbo. Maybe this will be the week (or weekend) we finally hear whether he’ll be lining up at Anaheim or not.

CLEAN BILLS OF HEALTH (Jason Weigandt)

Some good news here: Justin Barcia's brutal crash over the weekend in Europe has resulted in apparently no major injuries. There was some panic over there as Barcia tried to communicate in English with medics who only spoke Italian, and then things weren't much better talking to the doctors in the hospital. This week Justin came home and saw his regular people on Tuesday, and they said he's fine. He'll be back at the test track on Monday.

I also talked to Wil Hahn this week. Wilbur did a good job of managing his major injuries from the St. Louis Supercross (broken humerus and broken skull), and we even saw him hanging around at the races as if he was feeling fine. Well, yeah, these injuries were indeed pretty serious, but Wil told me, "I was just trying not to freak out everyone around me, and make sure I didn't freak myself out too. 

A month and a half after the big crash, Wil went in for a brain scan that detected no concussion problems or brain damage. His doctor told him the skull fracture was stable and would heal fine. Then he finally, actually, got to relax.

The broken arm was a big deal but motocrossers usually don't worry too much about common broken bones. Once that healed up, Wilbur went riding again but did have a few setbacks due to general stiffness in his arm, bicep, and elbow. He's started to work those kinks out and says over the last two weeks he's made good progress. Should be right on time to be 100 percent back on form come January. It's always good to have some good news on the injury front.

Finally, check out the “Best Bargains” in motocross that DC and I pulled together in honor of Black Friday.

SPONSORSHIP IN MOTOCROSS (Chase Stallo) 

We reported on the case against Ben Evans' father, William, earlier in the week in The Word On.... In case you missed it, it's worth checking out. 

It’s not often motocross shows up on Forbes’ radar, but recently it has. The case is against the elder Evans and his company Dave Evans Construction. According to Forbes, the sponsorship expenses of Ben’s racing were brought into question by the IRS because Ben was being sponsored by his father. The IRS questioned “whether the sponsorship expenses were ordinary and necessary business expenses.” From Forbes:

Between 2006 and 2007 DEC put over $150,000 into motocross expenditures – mostly payments for motorcycles, parts, equipment, racing fees, membership fees, fuel and food. There was just over $40,000 in offsetting income – mainly the sale of motorcycle parts.

The IRS argued that the sponsorship of Ben was a personal expense, but the Tax Court was having none of it, pointing out that all five children had been supported in their motorcycle pursuits, but only Ben, who had already achieved some national prominence, was sponsored. The IRS also argued that supporting Ben in races outside the company’s business area was of no benefit, but the Tax Court did not buy that argument either.

You can read the full article here.

VINTAGE RACING IN ITALY (Andras Hegyi) 

Last weekend marked the annual Transborgaro, the world-famous vintage motocross event near Turin, Italy. The event was founded in 1976 by former Italian GP rider Bruno Morselli, and it attracts stars from the past from all around the world. 

This year the field was full of former world champions as well as some American stars. The field was divided into three different groups: riders from 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In the forty-rider group from 1970s, the two biggest names were Broc Glover and Chuck Sun. Six-time AMA Motocross Champion Glover won, while Sun, the 1980 500cc National Champion, was second. In the first moto, the Golden Boy had an easy victory as Sun got second . In the second moto the two American stars fought each other for the second place, with Glover finally beating Sun.

In the group from 1980s included six-time AMA SX/MX Champion Jeff Stanton, who was perfect and devastating. He led start-to-finish in both motos, as well as setting the fastest lap times. Two other stars, Danny LaPorte and Belgium’s Eric Geboers, were not as successful. In the first moto, LaPorte finished seventh while five-time FIM World Champion Geboers finished ninth; neither finished the second moto. 

There were no Americans in the 1990s group, and the winner was Italy’s one and only 500cc World Champion Andrea Bartolini, who went 1-2. Second was South African Greg Albertyn, former AMA 250 Motocross and three-time FIM World Champion, with 2-3 moto results.

To see more photos and learn more about the event, check out their Facebook page here.

WATCH IT 

Off-road motorcycle racing legend Kurt Caselli won't soon be forgotten. After his tragic death while racing the 2013 Baja 1000, his family established the Kurt Caselli Foundation, which focuses on the safety of riders and racers in the off-road motorcycling industry. Together with KTM and Red Bull Media House, Roland Sands customized a 450 KTM motocross bike to honor Caselli's influence to be auctioned off with proceeds benefitting the foundation. The customization is a throwback to the bikes featured in the original On Any Sunday and will be on display at the On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter premiere in Hollywood. Visit www.redbull.com/kurtcaselliauction to bid on this one-of-a-kind bike through November 29, 2014. 

The second issue of Vurbmoto’s META is available now; check out the beautiful commercial they posted of the book on the press.

Thirty Three Films made this cool video of privateer Michael Leib. 

RacerTV.com overage of the 43rd annual Thor Winter Olympics culminates with 6 hours of live amateur motocross racing from Gator Back Cycle Park in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, Nov. 29th starting at 9:00 am ET. Includes WMX races at 10 am and noon.

RANDOM NOTES

In addition to the auction mentioned above, the Kurt Caselli Foundation is hosting a big ride day next week to honor Kurt and also raise some funds to help keep racers safe. It should be a fantastic day at the track!

If you happen to be reading this from the UK and are looking for something fun to do next weekend, the annual CRAP party (Christmas Riders Annual Party) will be held next Friday, December 5, at the Wilmslow Rugby Club SK9 5PZ, England. Rob Kinsey has invited Chuck Sun over as the Guest of Honor. Chuck was a Husqvarna and then Yamaha factory rider who won an AMA Motocross title in 1980 and the Motocross and Trophee des Nations in 1981 as a member of Team USA.

And check out the eBay Find of the Week, spotted by my buddy Randy “Retro” Richardson: it’s a legit Team Hurricane kit from that cinematic masterpiece Winners Take All!