Once we got to the track, we met up with Larry Kastner, the team's transport driver. Most everyone calls him Trucker, and Kastner, living up to his nickname, had the big-rig parked and ready for us when we arrived. Besides piloting the semi, he's also in charge of just about everything. If you want to know where something is, you ask Larry since he probably put it away. Want to know what place the riders are in during the race? Ask Larry-he's wired into the team's headsets and spots each moto. Want to know how to fit all the race essentials inside a semi-truck? Ask Larry-it's his truck.
It was officially time to get to work, and it wasn't even 8 a.m.
It didn't take long for the back of the truck to open and the unloading process to begin. One of the first things to get unloaded each weekend is the canopy cart. The cart holds all the poles, beams, tarps and hardware necessary to construct the ultracool awnings gracing the sides of today's race team big-rigs. Tim "Timmy" Easley, Tucker Hibbert's mechanic, explained the numbering system on the poles and where to lay them out on the ground. I asked him seven or eight times how the system worked, and he nicely repeated it each time. I eventually got it down, and as we laid out the awning's skeleton, I realized something obvious: These guys didn't need any help. They were dialed, and I made a mental note to stay out of the way. It wasn't long until the awning was up and the rig was race-ready. Well, almost. We still had to unfold the tables, put on their tablecloths and distribute chairs in the hospitality tent; install the mechanic's workbenches on the outside of the truck; set up garbage cans; unload coolers; roll out the barbeque; lay down the work mats; set up bike stands; and unload the race bikes out of the truck. Then we were ready.
Men and Machines
When I see a race bike, I lock onto it with a miniskirt stare. And when the Motoworldracing.com/PPG/Yamaha YZ250Fs rolled out of the truck, I couldn't take my eyes off them. Now that I was actually on a race team and had full access, I took full advantage to inspect every nook and cranny as we waited for practice to start. Personally built by each mechanic, the race team's bikes were sporting some unique setups for the Southwick sand. Most notable were the modifications to keep the bikes cool, as they would run at the boiling point around the horsepower robbing track. Air scoops on the shrouds as well as vented fenders, radiator louvers and front numberplates adorned the machines. These mods were cool in their own right, but what made them sano to an outsider like me was all of them were handmade by the mechanics and crew. Even the numberplates were cut, drilled, riveted, masked and painted by the guys on the team (some were fashioned under the tent at this very race!). There were even some one-off pieces. Bowen had a fabricating friend rig up a bolt-on spark plug retainer. It seems they've had issues with the caps vibrating loose and lifting off the plugs a little, so Bowen brought enough of the custom parts for everyone on the team to install and test out. I wasn't surprised to see the crew's teamwork, just impressed with how quickly it came about during the weekend.