84 http://www.racerxonline.com
that day—factor in the weather,
the dirt, and even the equipment
the promoter has on hand.”
This season alone demon-
strates how much that process
can vary. Rain is easily the
biggest factor, as Pennsylvania’s
High Point and Colorado’s Thun-
der Valley both took on a ton of
rain on Friday night. But while
High Point was super muddy on
Saturday morning, Thunder Val-
ley actually shaped up pretty well
immediately. What was different?
At Thunder Valley, the track
crew sealed the track in on
Friday night, before the rain hit,
then woke up early and started
ripping it deep at 3:30 a.m. on
Saturday. Four hours later, it was
ready for practice. Ayers says
High Point’s dirt, which has more
clay, takes longer to prep, so
the 3:30 a.m. option didn’t leave
enough time. So they took the
chance on ripping it earlier, and
the rain indeed came, leading
to a very muddy practice. High
Point dried by the time the motos
began, but the ruts and chal-
lenges were defi nitely left over.Think Tank
Ayers says he doesn’t have his
own opinions on the track—he
just does what the riders tell
him to do. So I asked around
about that and found an instant
dilemma: everyone has a differ-
ent opinion.
Dean Wilson told me the fi rst
three races—Hangtown, Glen
Helen, and Thunder Valley—
were probably too gnarly. Then I
visited Byrne and Blake Baggett
and asked if any of the tracks
had been too rough so far.
“We haven’t even had a
rough track yet,” Byrne said.Veteran riders like
Red Bull KTM’s
Marvin Musquin
(above) and Mon-
ster Energy Kawa-
saki’s Josh Grant
(left) have seen
the tracks evolve
over the years,
just as the bikes
beneath them
have become
more powerful
and effi cient.It’s moto-
cross,
and it
should be
tough and
technical.”MARVIN MUSQUIN