Words and photos by Brendan Lutes
The temperatures were hot and the racing was exciting, but that wasn’t all that went down this past weekend during the second-to-last round of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pennsylvania. So check out everything below to find out all the behind-the-scenes info.
Heading into Steel City, the weather was questionable. Rain and thunderstorms hit the area in the days leading up to the event, leading everyone to wonder if they were in for another wet weekend. As it turned out, though, the rain never materialized and was instead replaced with extremely high humidity and temperatures.
Due to the high temperatures Doctor Alexander spoke during the riders’ meeting to warn everyone of the risks associated with the weather. Drinking plenty of water and keeping hydrated was not only important for the riders, but the media and everyone at the event as well. Thankfully everyone made it through the day.
Like we mentioned, the heat was intense at Steel City. But in spite of that, not many riders elected to use the cooling vests that we have seen at previous rounds. VMS/Yamaha’s Nick Wey, however, was one of the few still sporting it right before the start.
Keeping the fuel cool is always a priority during hot races. Here, Red Bull KTM’s Mike Alessi tries to keep his cool by covering the tank with a wet towel before the race.
After turning in an excellent finish at Southwick, the Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda team hired Canadian racer Colton Facciotti to ride Christian Craig’s CRF450R at the last two races. Craig broke the Scaphoid bone in his wrist in a crash at Southwick and underwent surgery this past week to fix the break. As for Colton, he finished out the weekend 12th overall with moto scores of 10-13.
TAGS: chad reed, dean wilson, dirt bike, kickstart, Monday Kickstart, motocross, mx, ryan dungey, ryan villopoto, steel city
