The 8th Annual Baja Brawl turned out to be an awesome event with over 6000+ in attendance to enjoy all the festivities we had to offer.  Here’s a look back at what happened this past weekend at Baja Acres:

Prior to the event we busted our ass building the new entrance to the Baja Acres facility which will remain as the main entrance for future events.

This years track changes allowed for more spectator viewing which worked out great.  We saw a ton of people up on the old Kong watching below, it’s a great view – if you didn’t get a chance to check it out, make sure you head up there next time you visit Baja Acres.

Open A Start

In my opinion, the track changes were cool and something different to keep the locals honest.  I took time to talk to some riders about these new changes, and some of you had mentioned that the new Kong was not what you had wished for.  Only a few riders had been able to jump it in it’s entirety.  I agree that it needs to be changed for the better, so I will make the necessary adjustments to maintain rider enjoyment and the nation wide reputation of Kong.

Josh Woods and Shane Sewell

We did have some injuries over the weekend, but our medical/flag staff did a phenomenal job – when someone went down, they were there to direct riders safely around an incident and keep the downed rider out of harms way.  We had over 1600 riders over the weekend and had varying input as to when to groom the track – many of you wanted it rough, many wanted it groomed smooth.. It’s a tough situation and we try our best to please everyone.

The race action was great this year, we had riders from Oregon, Arizona, Texas, and others – and of course, Michigan.  Be sure to check out Motoplayground, Vurbmoto, RacerXOnline and more for all your race coverage and reports.  The Goon riding competition was some of the best yet – Nate Trager was hilarious, and Scotty T took the win with a great redneck interview that still keeps me laughing.  The Cobra Slip N Slide got tamed down this year for the kids, it was good fun and refreshing for all – for those of you who had a chance to take a run at it, let me know what you thought of it.

Nico Izzi Signing Autographs

The Pond Jump had new judges: Matt from Team Green, “G” from the DEW Tour and Nico Izzi… we had a ton of new competitors, serious bmx riders from around the state to beat 4 time champ Timmy Carpenter – but the kid still wins!  The Belly flop was quite a surprise with a bunch of youngins competing until a veteran flipper fat boy flopped his keg to win the keg.  Not sure what his name was but what a cool dude – he took donations for Justin Weeks in exchange for a cup of the brew.  Even with how tough things are for most families, many joined together and raised over $4K for Tyler Reamer and over $1.5K for Justin Weeks, both riders who have sustained serious injuries in the past few weeks.  That’s the MX Family for ya!  In addition to all the great things that we had going on at this years Brawl, we topped it off with the first annual Union Park Wakeskate invitational presented by Devotid Wakeskates.  It was so cool to be able to bring an emerging action sport to Baja Acres.

Pond Jump Podium

One last note, last year the Brawl had 5K+ in attendance and this year was 6K+… Thanks to all who came out to make this event a success!  We work for you! p.s. I can’t wait for the videos/pics – I think Motoplayground’s is out today.

-Pat

Well it’s Sunday night and we just completed some big track changes for the Brawl. Vaughn Smith of Fenton Indoor Motocross brought out his big ass D8 Cat Dozer and had Jeremy Booher at the reigns to move some serious dirt…  We moved Kong over to allow for better spectating from the back of the track, made it into a bigger and safer 80′ table top, 86′ to the sweet spot.  Kong is a signature jump so we had to do it right, it’s now KING KONG.  Now everybody can go around the back of the facility to get a great view of riders hitting Kong. Sweet.

The new 80' Kong Table

Corner + Angled Rollers

After Kong, we made some more changes – there’s a sweeper going into an angled corner, which you can get a great look at from Hank’s Hill.  On the other far east side of the track after the table top step up, we now have a quick left going into a small table, then hitting a banked berm setting you up for the 140.  I don’t know if a 250 has a chance at making the 140 right now but you never know.

After the Uphill Table Top

Snake Option

Josh Woods from GPF built a whoop section, more of a jumpable whoop section really, and added some flare to the snake section which will be run Sunday/Monday and on Friday’s practice.

Jumpable Whoop/Rhythm Section

We finished it all up by adding 15k gallons of water to the new sections for curing,  and with the forecast ahead, we’re on schedule to have a great event.  Props go out to Vaughn at Mid Michigan Crushing & Recycling, Jeremy, Jorey and Josh for helping out.  Track Decorations and the Cobra Slip N Slide start on Monday.  I’ll have an update on the new Union Park Wake Skate setup next!

Later

-Pat

Jeremy