With a week off from the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series I headed home to Detroit for a FMX show at the Palace of Auburn Hills. This was my first Freestyle show of the season and it was great to see the crew and do some catching up. We had a couple of new faces this year as Mike and Wolfy decided to jump on the FMX thrill ride. It had been a while since I saw Troy, Ellen and Kenny so I was interested to hear what they had been up to. Kenny got married and T and E got engaged. Congratulations to all!
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With the Detroit Pistons in town Friday night the crew had their work cut out for them with what we call a same day move in. The boys got to work at 6 a.m. and were at it all day. By the time I got to the venue for the production meeting at 3 p.m. they had been going for 7 hours straight and the place was looking great. Of course you know my style, high speed-low drag, and it rubbed a couple of people the wrong way. Sorry for the whirlwind guys! Sometimes I have to remember these guys have a job to do and don’t need me to entertain them back stage. After our meetings and what not, we put on an awesome show for the near capacity crowd at the Palace of Auburn Hills. This is one of the largest venues I visit all year and it was great to see the fans fill it up for the Freestyle Motocross. Ray Larue from Monster Energy hooked up the whole crew with the best energy drink on the planet and it definitely “unleashed the beast” in all of us.
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As the show was ending I nearly walked thru a police escort on my way back to the production office. I don’t know exactly what was going on, but a couple of guys were heading for a long night of poor sleeping conditions courtesy of the local authorities. As if that wasn’t enough the staff was busting their butts trying to pack up the office when a fire extinguisher when off! Ellen was on it immediately and got the situation under control. Her quick thinking and fast action kept us from having a room full of dry chemicals. After our near encounter with a hazmat we headed to the hotel for an after party with the riders and a cadre of fans. We were staying at the Crowne Plaza and the pub down stairs was FMX central. Carrie and I parked ourselves at the bar and fielded questions from the anxious fans that were looking forward to meeting the guys. Amy rolled in and got a text update saying Jack Rowe and the rest of the crew were five minutes away. Of course in pro freestyle rider time that is more like 20 minutes. So by the time they got there it was almost last call. When they came in the door they were instantly mobbed and it was funny watching all the grown ups getting their pictures taken with the boys. The riders were gracious enough to smile for the cameras and sign everything put in front of them. It was good ending to a great night and I look forward to seeing the West Coast guys next week in Lexington, KY for our next stop.
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I am going to be doing double duty next week when the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series makes its way to the Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center, in Pikeville, KY. I am flying in early on Friday and making the two hour drive up to Pikeville for Friday’s racing then doing the FMX show at the Rupp Arena, in Lexington on Saturday. It should be a great weekend with the points chase heating up for the Toyota AMA Arenacross Championship. If you have any questions or comments let me know at mxannouncer@hotmail.com. DK
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