STEVE’S WEEKEND AT MILLVILLE

Fly in Friday night, get to the hotel around 3 p.m. and there’s a Fly Racing product intro at 5 p.m. You’ll learn more about that this Friday at Washougal, but I walk into the super-secret location in Rochester and the first person I see there is Vital MX’s Mr. Side, AKA Dark Side, AKA Vital Jamie, AKA Brokeside, AKA Mr. Guida. Kellen Brauer and Tommy Tenders are there from Racer X also, and we learn all about this exciting new thing coming from Fly. Weege shows up way late but not too late to get some free drinks and snacks. Mr. Side, despite 99 percent of the time being in a competing gear company gets a free “thing” from the Fly guys that I try unsuccessfully to put a stop to.

Those guys are going to dinner but I ate after I landed and I’m tired, so I bail on that plan and honestly, they probably just talked shit on me the whole time anyway.

[Editor's note: Yes we did. - Weege]

At 5:45 a.m. the alarm goes off in my hotel room, up and at ’em for a great day at the races. But first, I stop at Caribou Coffee, a Minnesota staple for a Latte and a breakfast sammie. Drive to the track and yup, the memories come flooding back as always. 

I rent with National, and they allow you to pick your car so this week it was awesome to see a Honda Ridgeline sitting right there for me. This is what I drive at home! Midsize truck of the year ICYWW, so that was already a great start to the weekend. I pull into rental car parking next to Mike Emery from Align With Us photos and he asked me if I drove to the race. I said no way would I do that but yes, that is a Ridgeline I’m driving.

Walk into the track and head to the media tent, and the first person I see there is Vital MX’s Mr. Side and he’s ready to attack the day. He’s also ready to get some free 100 Percent sunnies later on when he plays the “poor me” card to Dave from 100 Percent. I am unsuccessful in stopping Mr. Side from getting these also.

Kellen and Tenders are in there as well, we talk baseball though. I make fun of the Padres and Yankees, they do the same to the Blue Jays. All is right in the world.

Also, in the media tent I talk to Nick McCabe, who works for MX Sports in some capacity. I think he’s important, but I don’t quite know what he does. Anyways, he also runs an IG account about old box vans and I showed him a bunch of photos I got sent to me from Millville in 1992. Lots of box vans in there and he and I were excited to talk about them. I need a life I know.

Weege comes into the media tent which, is nice. See, Weege at the nationals is a big deal, he’s the voice of the series and works with Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart, so he switches into this mode where he doesn’t have time for the peons of media like us. Often he will stop by the supercross press box and call us losers. But he does make the time to come say hi and make fun of us, because if he doesn’t stop by, I tell him in texts he’s too big time. So, we guilt him into it.

[Editor's Note: After Steve made fun of me for only stopping by the press tent for five minutes, we then immediately attacked Steve for skipping out on dinner the night before. This is how it works.- Weege.]

My coffee was done, and I needed a refill, practice had begun at this point so before I was to go watch, I hit up the Pro Circuit truck for a Keurig. But on my way there I see Honda HRC manager Lars Lindstrom and Weege having a conversation. Naturally I stop and we grill Lars on what exactly happened to Hunter Lawrence’s bike last week. He does not tell us. Then we talk about some logistics to Kris Keefer and I riding the factory bikes Sunday after Washougal while Weege tries to get info for the TV show from Lars.

Lars tells me he thinks I can’t possibly believe some of the things I say on my shows. I don’t give him an answer, just leave him guessing.

Okay, finally at the PC truck. Thankfully Mitch Payton wasn’t there so we don't have to debate politics this week, but I would be able to steal some coffee. My buddy John Knowles from Scott Goggles is there and immediately gives me shit for my EKS Brand Goggles shirt I’m wearing. Because it’s John Knowles and of course he would do this.

On my way back to the media tent to then watch practice I run into Bar-X Suzuki’s Buddy Antunez who is always one of the friendliest dudes in the pits. Budman has never not been awesome, even when he was killing it as a racer. It just so happened that he and I did a podcast this past week about a bunch of stuff, so we talked about that and I thanked him again.

Okay, back in the media tent, I grab my stuff and get a photo vest from Brandon Short, the MX Sports media coordinator. I head out to the track and walk into the middle of the sand whoops which, as everyone knows, can make or break your race. I love getting this close to the riders and watching what they’re doing here.

I run into Marvin Musquin out there who’s been at the races working for Tom Vialle. We chat a bit about his riding and what he wants to do next year. Marv’s more friendly when he doesn’t have to be so focused on racing. Imagine that.

Also out there is Monster Kawasaki’s Dean Gibson and we talk about Phil Lawrence making the podium here in ’96 when Dean was wrenching for him. Dean tells me he had to weld the frame that morning at some guy’s shop nearby as those Kawasaki’s back then were not known for strong steel. Then we talk about sleeping in box vans waiting to get into national tracks back in the day. I’m sure we talked about how we walked uphill to school both ways also.

This guy named Jett looks really good, Freddie Noren accidently jumps off the track, RJ Hampshire looks like he’s going to go down before saving it, and the two-stroke guy crashes. So, yeah, everything is pretty by the book over here in the sand whoops.

Okay, the two seeded practices are over and it’s back to the media tent to tweet out some times for the people. One of the things that sucks about Millville (and there’s not much) is if you’re Verizon there’s zero service, and if you’re AT&T there’s no service once the place fills up. So, no tweeting from the phone today.

After leaving the media tent to go to ClubMX truck I run into the 1999 Millville winner Nick Wey, who’s getting ready to head back out and watch his guys Jo Shimoda and Adam Cianciarulo. He’s like, “Let’s go to the sand whoops and watch,” and who am I to deny the top privateer in the 2002 250SX series? (PS Have I ever mentioned I was Wey's mechanic that season? Yes? Oh, okay.)

NYK shows me his top-secret hand signals he gives to Shimoda as he goes by. He’s got a, “Let’s go,” signal, meaning time for a heater, and a “smooth it out,” signal which I imagine he uses a lot when Cameron McAdoo is racing. Reminds me of Big James Stewart and his variety of baseball-manager-type signals he used to give James. Shimoda looks over at him like he’s nuts at one point.

We’re in mid-conversation about something when Wey just sprints away to talk to the Kawasaki suspension guy because with Wey, “set-up” is a very important thing. 

Practice is over for the 250MX seeded guys and Wey wants to walk up the Chad-A-Pult to watch AC9 in his final practice but I’m like, ‘Nope, I’ve seen enough,’ so I bail back to the safety of the media tent. Wey is for sure disappointed in me but hey, that’s nothing new for him.

Back to the media tent, grab a water and a banana (thanks MX Sports!), and post some more lap times on social media. The things I do for you people.

Practice is done for the day, qualifying order is set, and I head back out to the pits to get some scoops and talk to riders about what they thought of the track and practice. I immediately run into Shane Drew from Honda and a mutual friend of ours from Manitoba named Gerald. We laugh about the good old days in Canada before Shane has to actually go do some work. Gerald and I talk hockey, Vegas, and some stories about Ross Pederson.

Off to ClubMX truck to see my buddy Phil Nicoletti, who immediately pretends to look at a fake watch and berate me for taking so long to come see him. Phil, Garrett Marchbanks, and Preston Kilroy are in the lounge chatting, Phil’s complaining about the track not being ripped deep enough. The target of his ire is Alex Martin, who’s now retired and helping his dad John with the track.

Marchbanks talks about his desire to be left alone for a month after the year is over to go in a cabin and hunt, Kilroy actually speaks up a bit (I’d never heard him talk before, to be honest), but gets shouted down by Phil. At some point, we all make fun of Phil again for his video from Southwick where he falls down in the sand. 

I leave there and run into fellow Canadian Andy White from FXR, and we immediately make fun of Phil some more. At some point Weege also stops over to continue making fun of Phil. Andy also talks to me about the upcoming Vet MXDN in England and I meet a couple of guys from FXR. FXR is a Canadian company, but they have an office in Minneapolis. Milt, the owner, comes by as well and we all chat it up. 

Up comes Alex Martin and I immediately tell him Phil is mad at him. He doesn’t seem to care and says Phil’s a crybaby. Alex and I talk about the logistics of being a track owner at a national, and Troll tells me he was up at 4:30 that morning and that it’s a lot of work.

Racers who don’t race anymore always tell me they think racing was a lot of work and then they get into the real world and now they understand what work is. You can set your watch by it.

I check in with my favorite team in 2023, WildCat Racing, and Lorenzo Locurcio tells me he’s beat up from a Southwick crash and he’s not sure how it’s going to be on this day. He doesn’t sound optimistic at all which takes him right off my PulpMX Fantasy team.

Back to the media tent! I grab some lunch provided to us weekly from MX Sports (AHEM, SEAN BRENNEN from supercross, are you listening?) which is a bag of chips and some sort of sandwich in a wrap. Not bad at all.

The motos are about to be staged and in the media tent are Kyle Chisholm and Chris Wheeler (BIG TIME IMPORTANT GUY at Suzuki) leaning over a desk. I ask them what they’re doing and they’re not looking at lines on the track, discussing a contract, or talking about bike setup. Nope, they’re in the tent to use the wi-fi to set their PulpMX Fantasy lineups. I’m not making this up.

The motos are about to start and I walk with Wheeler to the tower in the first turn to watch these dirt bike races happen. Wheeler tells me a story about how, in his first trip to this track, he crashed in his qualifier, his mechanic put on a brand-new pipe for the LCQ, and off the start of that, his pipe split wide open down the seam and he DNF’d. Never heard of that and made a note that now I have.

I’m up in the tower and run into Jeremy Martin, who’s still on the mend from his bad crash at Hangtown. He tells me the worst is behind him now, but he was in serious pain for a while. J-Mart’s got to be so bummed he’s missing this race but maybe more bummed that he’s stuck talking to me.

Yes, I do make a dealership joke with Jeremy. I mean, how could I not?

We watch the 250MX moto, we point out that RJ Hampshire is very loose, and we both hope that Rick can get up closer to the front. Hunter Lawrence puts on a clinic and passes Jo Shimoda with like two laps to go to win. And he comes from a ways back at that. A great performance, for sure, by the #96.

Also, the Star Yamahas seem to be the only 250F’s getting the uphill triple. That’s odd. Guess their riders are just better?

I’m right across from the mechanics area and love watching the pit board messages. You can tell the hierarchy of the riders by the boards. The top guys just want time left in race and their lap times, maybe a + or – on the next guy. The privateer guys get long messages that are WAY more motivational. I loved the one guy that just had, “GO,” on his board multiple laps. I saw a “P-29 STAY THERE,” which was weird.

John Martin comes up and sees his other son Jeremy there. They embrace and talk for a bit. I’ve now talked to every Martin family member but Greta the mom and I think there might be a sister also? Not sure. 

John and I talk about the PulpMX Millville ride day in October. I mean that is the most important thing he’s got going on this year, right?

Time for 450MX first moto. Jeremy Albrecht comes into the tower with Mike Pelletier. They’re the AMA guys at this race. I have to force myself to not berate Mike with my thoughts on 250SX. See, growing old helps you learn new things.

J-Bone (Albrecht) and I share some Coy Gibbs stories. We miss that guy.

Chase Sexton crashes yet still manages to reel in this Jett character. The perfect season might end here. Watching the two Honda HRC riders push each other is great. Really cool to see.

Locurcio pulls off and he was right—it was going to be a tough day for him.

Our guy Phil looks great and then about halfway, he starts to drop back. J-Mart and I point and laugh.  

J-Bone jokingly suggests that maybe Lawrence is playing a cat and mouse game with Sexton like his guy James Stewart did with Chad Reed all those years ago. This makes me laugh.

450MX moto one is over and it’s back to the media tent to post results, grab some water, and text my wife (no service remember). The 30-minute break between motos this year is a welcome change for everyone in the series. It’s not much but it’s something.

I walk by the Alpinestars medical rig and see an obviously hurting Jerry Robin sitting on his bike waiting to be looked at. Then I remember that I had Jerry in PulpMX Fantasy. He was doing great before he disappeared before the end of the moto. Jerry went Jerry. And the way he’s looking right now, I don’t like the odds of him lining up for moto two either.

Media tent time. I pretty much get into my seat before the air horn goes off indicating 20 minutes until it’s time to go for 250MX moto two. Like I said, 30 minutes ain’t much, but it’s appreciated. I quickly wrap up my tweets, texts, grab some water and a granola bar, and it’s back off to the tower. This time Kellen Brauer and Mr. Side are going to come up there to watch with me.

I see TLD’s Wil Hahn and Alex Martin having a discussion about who knows what, but I insert myself into their conversation like I usually do. I didn’t make any notes in my phone on what we talked about and with Wil, God only knows what it could be.

Seth Rarick from KTM walks by, I say hi and he gives me the cool guy nod and keeps walking. Oh okay.

Weather gets weird for the start of the second motos. It gets like hazy, dark. Not sure if it’s the Canadian wildfires or we’re hitting the start of the apocalypse.

250MX moto two and it’s the Hunter Lawrence show. Haiden Deegan, he of the new red plate, is going to lose said red plate as he just sort of rides around in eighth. It’s weird for sure.

I haven’t been closely watching him, but I didn’t notice if Mr. Side asked anyone in the industry for something for free during the moto.

The face of the uphill triple has been fixed; more riders are clearing it now. But yes, the Yamaha’s still seem to get up it a little faster.

At some point I see Justin Cooper come by me and wonder if I missed Hunter.

Nope! Hunter went down in the back and he’s now second and fighting off Shimoda. Oops!

Moto is over, Hunter’s fall gifts Cooper a moto win, and second overall. But quite a statement from Hunter Lawrence in case anyone thought he was, like, vulnerable.

450MX moto two and Chase goes and ruins the drama for us by crashing early. Dammit. There is quite a battle though with Aaron Plessinger and Dylan Ferrandis throughout the moto. When you’re that close to the track, it’s pretty cool to watch the lines and the roost from the guys. Motocross is gnarly when you’re up close.

Jerry Robin is actually back racing for 450MX moto two. I was (thankfully) wrong and he does pretty well also. Thank you, Jerry.

Jason Anderson and Shane McElrath pull into the mechanic’s area, that’s it for their days. Big crash in the back sand whoops I was told by J-Bone, who’s got a radio on.

Jett Lawrence wins again. Yay for him!

Back to the media tent, sent out some tweets, grab my recorder and I’m off to get some post-race interviews. I walk by the PC truck to see if anyone is there, but no riders are present. I head over to the WildCat Racing truck, talk to Jose Butron, and check in on Lorenzo.

At the media scrum over by the AMA truck, Grant Harlan and I disagree on the sand whoops, Phil drops about 50 eff bombs in my interview, Marchbanks and I have a miscommunication about what moto we’re talking about, and the Hitman (Marsalisi) and I talk about his good day

Wrap up the day by stepping in for the Twisted Tea Racer X Best Post Race Show Ever. I didn’t really want to do it but MANY people have demanded my return to the show, so I did it for them. The Twisted Tea HEP guys are very cool to let us do it over there and I wanted to have Larry Brooks on it, even though he didn’t want to. I reminded Larry that he owes me this because he fired me in 1999.

Of course, I crush it in my stand up. Way better than Weege and Kellen. Then Jerry Masterpool comes over to chat with Weege and I about some of their reasons why they’ve cycled through some teams, and what their mindset is. Ty’s been crushing it this year and we talked about that as well. Jeremy Albrecht came over and offered up some advice to Jerry from a team’s side of things. One thing we can all agree on is, if you’re a rider and putting in results, teams don’t care if you’re an axe murderer.