Hangtown A Different Look!

From a different prospective

Over the years I have written several stories about Hang Town but this story is from an entirely different prospective I spent the day in the pits.

In the fall of 2019 a friend of mine Steve who is the head of security for the Hang Town National Motocross event put on by the Dirt Diggers Motor Cycle Club. And is still the only motor cycle club putting on a National Motocross event their fifty second annual, Steve asked me if I would be interested in volunteering for the race in 2020, sure I said. Little did any of us know what was in store for the whole world in 2020 and 2021 for that matter? In the end the 2020 version of Hang Town was canceled.

Fast forward to early in 2021 Steve asked me if I was still interested in being a volunteer a sort of a security person where at least one is assigned to every factory team in the pits, hell yes I said. Then he asks which team would I like to be in, well since I own three Husky’s I said Husky. Why not at the time they had Zack Osborne, Jason Anderson and Dean Wilson on the 450’s. RJ Hampshire, Jalek Swool and Styles Robertson on the 250’s and in 2021 Zack Osborne would now be the defending 450 outdoor champion. This year instead of being the first race of the National Outdoor Championship Hang Town would be the last and hopefully would be deciding a couple of championships.  

Well Osborne reinjures his back and is out for the year, Jason Andersons breaks something and is out he eventually heals up but never returns to Husky surrounded by rumors he will be with Kawasaki in 2022 as Tomac’s replacement. Then Jalek Swoll and Styles Robertson get hurt and are out for Hang Town Dean Wilson is not at Pala or Hang Town for unknown reasons. I asked one of the Husky guys and he’s says he’s home in Florida, I ask is he hurt and the guy says no I think he’s just tired has been dealing with Epstein Bar all year. At Pala Husky recruits a young rider named Josh Varize to replace Swoll and Styles for the last two rounds. So now here I am in the Husky pits no 450 riders and only RJ Hampshire and a kid named Varize, woe is me.

I parked my motor home on Tuesday next to Steve’s in the Dirt Diggers compound so I could get a good spot. At this point I thought I would be working on Friday and Saturday so I planned to spend Thursday through Sunday out there. I woke up Wednesday feeling like crap and my back and left thigh hurt as well. I found out I didn’t have anything really to do on Friday so that gave me an extra day to get better.

I went out to the track early Friday afternoon, spent a few minutes introducing myself in the Husky pits, I was surprised when they weren’t very friendly, but who could blame them after all their team was decimated. I wondered around looking in the factory and the privateer’s pits. I stopped in one pit and watched the father working on his son’s 2019 450 Honda. He also had another son who also raced but wasn’t here for the weekend. I’d seen his son before he was one of the riders that Jason Weigant had interviewed on his Weege show, just a father and son working out of an older ford van chasing the dream of trying to make the show then making it into the top twenty overall to earn some points and some of the prize money. They weren’t much different than most of the other privateers in the pits. In watching some YouTube videos and talking to some of the privateers who follow all or as much of the series as they can they get treated like crap from Feld the people who basically own this and other entertainment events? It’s only the factory teams they seem to really care about, but as we all know it’s the privateers and the people who follow them who are the real backbone of the sport.

Saturday morning at 5AM I was woken by sirens, horns in the Dirt Diggers compound, time to get up. At 5:15 they repeated it over again but this time they also played the theme song from the Benny Hill show.

I already had my official Event Security (Printed on the back) T-shirt, my yellow wrist band and my official Staff lanyard. I reported for a volunteer meeting at 7AM in the pits where we were given further instructions by Steve and the guy who ran the Pros Pits for Pro Motocross and the TV. We were instructed on where to stand and how to patrol in front of the pits and what to look for. We were told if the Factory team members invited us into their area or offered us something to drink it was ok but if they didn’t stay out. Some teams were more COVID conscious than others and I didn’t see any team set up an autograph session. Husky told me it was pretty much if you could catch the attention of a rider go for it. There was a volunteer driving around the pits offering us volunteer’s water and around 11AM or so they came around with a sack lunch for us. We were expected to stay at our posts for the day, there was another volunteer wandering around and if you needed to take a break they would relieve you so you could relieve yourself. The Pro Pit manager was also driving around looking for a thumps up from us indicating everything was ok. 

Yours truly got his ass in trouble right off the bat when I pulled up to the Husky pits I parked my Kawasaki KLR650 at the front end of the second hauler which was right behind the first hauler which was used as a hospitality suite. I wasn’t there very long when the guy who was in charge of suite rig told me I could park my Kawasaki KLR anywhere just not in front of the Husky pits, oops obviously I wasn’t thinking. I got more acquainted with him as the day went along and of course he was a good guy. 

After the meeting I reported to the Husky pits and at 8:30 the gates were opened to those who had purchased pit passes for $20 they were free to wonder around the pits looking at the bikes and trying to find riders to get autographs from. So my job was to keep an eye on who was going in and out the mechanics area walk up and down in front of mechanics area making sure no one tried to climb over the rails. Since only 250 riders were in the Husky pits I made sure I was on guard so to speak when the riders and mechanics were out qualifying which they did twice. At 12PM the pits were officially closed as a whole gang of law enforcement officers and club personnel walked abreast down each isle and cleared everyone out that didn’t have the right credentials. After that only authorized personnel were allowed in the pits.

In the Husky pits after each qualifying session the mechanics removed the plastics and gas tank and completely cleaned each bike they changed the air filter each time they also change the two batteries as well. After the qualifying was over and each bike had been cleaned they drained the oil changed the air filter again and changed the wheels and tires. It was interesting to watch some of the little things they did like little zip ties here and there. One of the mechanics who was Styles Robertson’s mechanic helped both mechanics it was interesting to watch everything they did had a rhythm and reason behind it. It also interesting to see the difference in the two mechanics they both did an excellent job of course, but RJ Hampshire’s mechanic was constantly checking rechecking and cleaning things on the bike. I asked him about it and he said he was a bit compulsive. The mechanics the truck driver were now starting to warm up to me a little. There were about four other Husky people who never even acknowledge me, interesting. One of the guys who didn’t acknowledge me only job was to clean each riders helmet after each time they were out on the track, who the hell does that guy think was, after all I was “Event Security”

We were right across from the KTM pits so I could just as easily see what was going on over there. So I watched Max Vohland and Cooper Webb all day. And behind us was Kawasaki and Pro Circuit Kawasaki, cool. During the 450 motos I was able to sneak over to the Pro Circuit pits and watch the 450 motos on TV. Here I am sitting near Mitch Payton, next to Joe Shimodo’s mom and his grandparents who flew in from Japan to watch him. They didn’t speak any English but bowed very graciously a lot. I had told Joe that two of my favorite riders in the 250’s were him and RJ Hampshire for totally different reasons. RJ is fierce and a little wild and he was very smooth and controlled. He was a very nice young man. How cool was that.

Back in the Husky pits it was now almost time for the first 250 race. By this time I had met and talked with Josh Varize met his dad and mom and a bunch of Josh’s relatives. Josh and his family live in the bay area. And RJ’s wife and their little almost two year old daughter named Ivy who never once made a fuss and was always on the go and of course was cute as hell.

Josh and his dad had been on the road 20,000 plus miles worth just the two of them, until Josh was asked to fill in the last two rounds with Husky, Josh has been ridding the for the KTM orange brigade. This opportunity was not lost on Josh and his family and in Pala the week before he had performed very well. So Hang Town was another chance to audition. He didn’t seem in awe of what was going on he was focused and professional. He didn’t look anything like his parents, his dad was short and somewhat dark skinned his mother was also short with some freckles and blond hair(She was naturally a redhead)  Josh and his brother were both redheaded and skinny as rails josh was much taller than his brother and both brothers towered over their folks.

During the 250 races I couldn’t sneak over to the Pro Circuit pits to watch everyone was out watching the riders I was there to make sure nothing was taken. I know RJ pressured Justin Cooper most of the first moto and finished 2^nd and Josh finished 7^th. Josh admitted he gotten a little tired at the end. In between motos they both sat in tubs filled with cold water that sure was inviting.

I forgot to mention after the qualifying motos and before the first moto they also changed the mufflers as well. After the first moto and after the bikes were once again cleaned a new air filter and two wheels and new tires I realized the suspension rep from WP had not done a single thing to the suspension except open the air screws on the forks or make a clicker or two adjustments. After Cooper Webs first race his mechanic changed the forks, which put him in a time crunch to get the bike ready for the second moto.

By the time the second motos came around the mechanics and the truck driver had started tearing down the pits and told me I was free to go and thanked me for my help during the day. So free at last I followed the mechanics and the riders down to the starting line and stood behind all the riders as they staged themselves in behind starting gate. I was one of the last to leave the back of the starting gate and got roosted a little by last riders at the end of the gate. I then followed all the mechanics as they made their way over to the mechanics area where I watched the race from that was pretty cool. I was watching the two Husky riders one at the front, Josh had gotten the hole shot and led for about a lap and a half, but as the race went on he faded back to finish 11^th. While Josh faded back RJ Hampshire who finished 2^nd in the first moto had a mishap and was at the back of the pack but steadily moved forward eventually passing his team mate finishing 5^th. It was a lot of fun to watch Hampshire work his way forward he is very fierce. I noticed as I was watching the front runners a good portion of the mechanics and I were out of sync, they were looking for their riders looking in totally different directions than I was. It was kinda strange normally in a crowd most of the spectators would all be looking in the same direction.

As I was walking out of the mechanics area after the race I was passed by the Honda people high fiving each other on their way the podium to celebrate Jet Lawrence’s 250 title. I walked back to the Husky pits which were almost totally dismantled now; the mechanics were once again washing the bikes off so they could be put away in the hauler. That made four times they had washed the bikes that day. They left all eight of the Twin Air filters they had only used once lying on the ground so anyone who wanted one could pick up one or two, or.

I wondered around the pits looking at all the pits being torn down and packed away. I stopped by the pit of the 450 privateer rider and his son I had talked with on Friday and asked how they finished they were both very happy his son had finished 18^th in the first moto and 10^th in the second which meant he earned points plus some hard earned prize money, it was a good day.

I eventually collected up my bike and my chair and went back to my motor home and cooled off. About 6:30 or so I rode back down to the grand stand area where the Dirt Diggers provided a great dinner and open bar for all the club members and volunteers, I’d say there were several hundred people there at least. After a great dinner and a few speeches I rode down through the totally decimated pits one last time and back to my motor home to spend one more night.

This was a totally different view of Hang Town one not many people get to see, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but I was totally whipped, that’s a long day for this old man.

Doug 21J