Matt Huggett ‘On the Road’ | RedBud AMA National

Photos and Story by Matt Huggett

RRREEEEEDDDDDD BUUUUDDDDDDD. Okay, now that is out of the way, buckle up because RedBud turned out to be an epic weekend.

Friday morning I rolled out around 9:30 am. I was in the USA by 9:35 am, and after a quick stop for fuel, parcel pick up for my fiancé from our American mailbox, and a healthy Burger King breakfast I was cruising down I-69 toward RedBud. The drive is just over three-and-a-half hours from Sarnia. My goal for Friday was to check out the MX Sports Amateur Combine, and the Red, White, and Blue found across the paddock. Everything was going to plan until I checked the weather app and to my surprise, the forecast that only hours earlier was calling for a clear weekend had turned to storms, right during the time that the amateur combine motos were to be run. With no weather gear on hand, I found the nearest Walmart and some trusty Zip Locks.

 I arrived at RedBud shortly after 1 pm, received my credential for the weekend, and headed to the media centre to set up for the day. To my surprise, it was already buzzing under the media tent, with many folks prepping for the amateur combine motos. The Combine motos provided a great opportunity for me to try out the new lens I had purchased, and scope angles for Saturday’s National. Haiden Deegan was on fire, sweeping both of the 25 min +2 lap motos. Thank goodness for the Zip-Locks as the rain came down as the gates were loading for the second combine moto.

Some observations from the Moto Combine:

“Danger Boy” Haiden Deegan has boatloads of talent and speed, turning a lap time that would have been good for 3rd fast in 250 Pro.

Chance Hymas and Daxton Bennick also had loads of speed, clocking laps that would have put them in the top 5 on Saturday, but struggled with consistency.

Casey Cochrane brought a knife to a gun fight and put a 125 on the podium against a pack of top-level talent on 250s. Bravo, Sir.

Mark Fineis was the first and one of a select few on a 250 to jump The Leap all weekend.

Between combine motos, I was able to tour the pits and capture all the team’s 4th of July liveries. While they all looked awesome, the Honda HRC machines throwback to 90’s era MXON bikes were the class of the field. Throttle Jockey also had a major setup at Honda as part of a 30th-anniversary celebration.

There was some Can-Con in that memorabilia with a Colton Facciotti MXoN number plate sprinkled in among the mostly works Honda shrine. As the teams began to pack up I decided it was time to head to the hotel.

This week it was yet again another college town, South Bend, Indiana, the home of Notre Dame and some guy named Rudy. I stayed a couple of miles from the campus at a surprisingly nice Motel 6. A quick shower and it was off to find a bite to eat. On my way to dinner, I took a drive through campus to see some of the famous landmarks. Notre Dame Stadium, Touch Down Jesus, and the Golden Dome.

From there I made my way to downtown South Bend. I grabbed a Bird scooter and took a ride to check out the vibes. I ended up going to an Irish pub and grabbing a piece of rail at the bar. The guy to my right was wearing a Rockstar Husky hat and a Thor sweater. I asked if he was a crew member and found out he was at the race on behalf of Feld to look at best practices they can learn from MX Sports and bring to the Supercross series. He is in charge of Safety for Feld and was a major part of the COVID response that resulted in the series going ahead. We bench raced and he told me several stories from his years following Feld and all the various entertainment properties they own. It was very interesting to see the back-end side of Supercross and hear about some of the things they deal with to make the show go on.

The diversity of this little bar rail continued when a couple grabbed some space beside me. He works as a professor of Chemical Engineering at Notre Dame, and she is an immigration attorney. I have a fairly extensive educational background with both bachelor’s and masters degrees on the wall, so we talked academia and about Notre Dame. Incredibly nice people, and very interesting to hear about the inner workings of one of the largest and most prominent schools in America. The morning started to grow closer so I paid my tab and grabbed a Bird scooter back to my truck. To my surprise, the lot where my truck was parked was now bustling, and about 30 seconds later I found out why. The city of South Bend was launching their Independence Day fireworks on a nearby bridge. Being that Friday was July 1st I took these as a Canada Day celebration.

Saturday morning started early once again. 6 am wake-up call, a quick stop at Starbucks for some morning nutrition, and off to REEEDDDDD BBUUUDDDDD. I may have jumped the gun a bit as I was the first person in the media tent. I spent some time getting set up for the day, and before long the flood gates opened and the tent was full.

I once again set up shop with Jeff Simpson from Vurb Moto. Awesome dude who is from Michigan, and to my surprise spent a number of years living in Port Huron, MI, which is a quick 5-minute drive across the Bluewater Bridge from my home in Sarnia.

The morning safety meeting ended just as the first practice session was blasting off. I made my way over to the race track and got some of the staging shots of 450 A who, due to NBC, were running before the 250s all day. I then started to work my way around the race track, looking for the morning light that I love to shoot.

I made the trek back up for 250 A staging, and then worked the other side of the facility. All was going to plan until I was on my way back to the media tent after 250A Practice. DISASTER STRUCK. My main camera dropped off its mount hitting the dirt. Thankfully, the new 80-200 F2.8 lens attached to it was not damaged, however, the body was toast. My 2nd camera is a Sony mirrorless which is a fairly new setup for me, and I only have one shorter lens on it which would not work for the day. Panic mode set in, however thankfully South Bend had a very nice camera store that was open on Saturday. I grabbed my truck keys and the broken camera, leaving everything else in the media tent and B-lined it to South Bend.

The staff was awesome and they had a body very similar to what I had just broken. A quick slide of the credit card and I was racing back to REEEDDDDD BUUDDDDD. I missed the second round of A Practices but we were good to go for the motos.

Observations from the Motos (pretend Southwick didn’t happen):

250’s

– Jo Shimoda was absolutely on rails all weekend, setting the fastest qualifying lap, and taking the overall.

– The star 250’s are in fact “bad fast.” The entire team including amateur Deegan were able to jump The Leap.

– Ty Masterpool buys a USED, stock KTM 250, throws a pipe and suspension on it, and goes 8-8 for 6th OA.

– Hunter Lawrence was rewarded for his consistency, going 2-2 for 2nd OA, with a points lead he did not seem pumped on. It will be a busy week for HRC trying to find the gremlins in the 250 motors before the deep sand and heat of Southwick.

450’s

– Eli Tomac is starting to take over, winning 3 of the last 4 450 motos in convincing fashion.

– Chase Sexton has shown speed and consistency. Expect the HRC rider to keep Tomac honest through the remaining 7 rounds.

– RedBud was very hot and humid and it seemed to get to the 94 of Ken Roczen, with him dropping from the lead mid-way through moto 2 to a 7th place finish.

– Joey Savagty had a career renaissance in moto 1.

– Ryan “Diesel” Dungey just keeps churning, posting a 6 -5 day for 7th OA.

– Marshall Weltin had a career day, keeping kickstarters alive.

Saturday after the racing had ended I hung around in the media tent, attending the press conference, and downloading photos. With the Motocross of Nations coming to RedBud in September, it presented the perfect opportunity to ask Hunter Lawrence which of the two brothers will ride the 450. To the surprise of many in the tent, Hunter very casually confirmed one of the hottest rumours for 2023, the fact that Jett Lawrence will move to the 450 next summer full-time, and will race the 450 at the Nations.

I headed back to South Bend and grabbed a quick shower at the hotel. From there it was off to find a place to eat. I drove around and decided on a place near Notre Dame called Brothers Bar and Grill. I once again grabbed a piece of bar rail. I ended up beside a privateer from Texas by the name of Brandon Pederson. He was 41st quick in the 250 class so he was able to race moto 2 as an alternate. Brandon had spent some time north of the border pre-COVID so he was familiar with our series. It was great to hear from a rider’s perspective on some of the ins and outs of Pro Motocross in America. Brandon trains with Chase Sexton at Tyla Rattray‘s place in Florida. They recently had some court battles with the county and lost, so the only way they can still ride the facility was to remove the jumps, thereby removing its classification as a motocross track. We had a few beers and then it was time to head back to the hotel and grab some shut-eye before the morning trek back home.

I left south bend around 6 am Sunday, and I was having a peaceful drive back to Sarnia, where my fiancé had just gotten the keys to our new home that morning. The peaceful drive lasted until Flint when she called saying Bell had drilled into a gas line at our new home while installing internet, and that she got to greet our new neighbours with the fire department at 9 am. From there I raced home, and the last week has been an absolute blur. I have a busy few weeks ahead, but I will be back at the races for the penultimate round of the series, the Ironman National in August, and the Motocross of Nations in September.