Photography: Ryne Swanberg

Nestled in Buchanan, Michigan is of one of the most legendary motocross tracks in the world: Red Bud Track 'N' Trail. Red Bud plays host to one of the biggest stops on the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship Series and also lays claim to big events such as the ATV National, Vet Fest, and a wildly popular Loretta Lynn Regional. It is one of the most popular tracks in the country- and for good reason, as tens of thousands of moto-heads make their way to Red Bud every year. The beautiful facility is a matter of miles from Lake Michigan as well as Indiana. The weather turned out great at Mid-East Regional Qualifier last weekend as the countries fastest amateur talent showed up to stake their claim on the gate at Loretta’s.

Junior 25+ is likely to become a stacked class in Tennessee, as big names from the shallow past pop up on the gate. Nick Vaughn could easily have been confused for Mike Alessi last weekend as he ripped off EVERY holeshot he lined up for. The #648 of Vaughn went on to sweep the weekend convincingly in Junior 25+, which is saying something as he took the win over names like, Mitch Dervin, Derek Rose, Tommy Barron, and Jason McDonald.

The B Classes were looking more like another A class at Red Bud as guys like Eric Saunders, Frankie Lettieri, Eric Senk, Austin Brack, and Eric McDonald set blazing fast lap times- and battled it out to trade wins. Eric Saunders has become a serious contender in this year's B classes, as he proved that his speed at Log Road's LLQ was no fluke. Saunders went on to battle it out with Lettieri in the 450B motos all weekend to land on the podium consistently aboard his Suzuki. Frankie Lettieri rode through great battles all weekend to find his #461 Suzuki with three overall wins on the weekend. Eric Senk looked strong as he swept the 250B Mod class and won motos after crazy battles in the other B classes and Four Stroke. Senk appears faster every time we see him, and the next seven weeks could be just what the doctor ordered for Senk to hone his skills in to take titles from Loretta’s on his #63 Kawasaki. Austin Brack had a rough weekend as his speed and fitness appeared to be great, but the ground bit the Schererville, Indiana rider hard. He was torn between the podium and less than stellar finishes all weekend in the 450 B classes but we expect to see more from promising rides at Loretta’s from the #486 Yamaha.

Larocco's Leap is widely known as a legend found at Red Bud. The 140 foot uphill triple step-up divides the men from the boys. When you climb the wall of a face 4th gear wide open to float next to a packed bleacher of amazed fans, you had better hope that you have the momentum to inch over the landing. To "case" or "face" the landing spells disaster, and is likely to destroy your wheels, frames, and skid plates. At the Regional, a select few riders were able to rail the rough corner and carry their momentum over the rough straight leading to the massive jump face. If you have not experienced Larocco's Leap, then plan on hitting Red Bud's AMA National on the July 4th weekend. This is something so epic that everyone should experience the excitement behind the uphill that claims bikes and riders every weekend.

250A, 450A, 250 Pro Sport, and 450 Pro Sport were ALL the #381 of Justin Weeks. Weeks freight trained Red Bud for twelve moto wins and a perfect weekend way out front. The Rockstar Suzuki/ Pant Saggin Dezign rider had exciting battles on his way to domination with the likes of Sunny Drake, Drew Yenerich, Lowell Spangler, Greg Durivage, and Shawn Rife. Another solid weekend from the Cincinnati, Ohio rider, Weeks proved that Texas was far from a fluke. Sunny Drake fought through a Saturday full of less-than-great starts, his contacts falling out in his goggles, and great battles with guys like Mr. Weeks to make a good weekend with a handful of podium finishes. Lowell Spangler had some intense crashes but became a beast and pushed through all his troubles to turn some wicked lap times and take a ton of second and third place finishes. Drew Yenerich has bloomed from a character that always has a smile on his face- to a FAST character with a smile on his face. Drew rode consistently fast and landed in the top five all weekend, minus a crazy moto where a rear tire blowout led to his rim strip whipping him in the back- like a jockey racing a horse. Shawn Rife was one of the most well known impressive guys at Red Bud, and was the only noted rider to bust the legendary Larocco’s Leap from the inside rut- as very few were able to get over it from any line. Rife rode as if he had been racing the A/Pro Sport classes for years- as the sixteen year old kid from Ohio got great starts, pulled great lap times, and landed 3rd overall in 250A and 450 Pro Sport. Greg Durivage snuck himself into 4th overall in 250A, Four Stroke, and 450 Pro Sport, while bringing home 3rd overall in 250 Pro Sport, respectively.

Mike McDade came to Red Bud with a ton of momentum off of an impressive run in the Pro Arenacross series this winter and has been improving all spring. McDade is no stranger to haulin’ the mail and is a serious threat in the Pro Sport classes. Mike was among the fastest of the fast in practice at Red Bud. In his first moto McDade went down on the start, wildly charged through the pack like James Stewart used to on his 125’s and had a spectacular yard sale all in the matter of about a lap. Mike landed off a tall jump near the famous flagpole wide open and passed two riders by cart wheeling after a swap gone wrong- bucked him far from his flipping PSD Honda. The section was so rough that Mike settled in a daze nestled in a knee deep hole.

We caught up with Mike and confirmed everything rumored in Pant Saggin Dezign’s rig.

VurbMoto:  Mike, you went from being so fast in practice to being scooped up by the medics… Are you OK?
McDade:   Basically this weekend was kind of a bummer. I seemed to finally have things lined up, and I’ve had a full two months of riding and training. Pant Saggin Dezign has been supporting me a ton, and they just hired Greg Schnell to train me the two months prior to Loretta's. PSD just put me on some sick Honda’s that could really be competitive. I felt really good in practice and I did Larocco’s leap my second lap and I’ve never been there before. (Laughs)

VurbMoto: Take us through your one spectacular moto.
McDade: My one good moto I got taken out in the first turn. Like I always do, I tried to be in first by the end of the first lap. Going down a straight away I took a different line than normal and was going twice as fast. I ended up hitting a huge braking bump and riding an endo for something like 60 feet- to be slammed into the ground.

Anyways, I ended up breaking my fibula and bruising a lot of my body. Also I busted up my sick new PSD paint job on the scorpion lid. Being that I only have one regional left, I’m willing to tape up my leg to make it to Loretta’s- and let it heal after regionals are done. My plan is still to win Loretta’s and land top 10’s in the last 4 Outdoor Nationals. I’m trying to grow as a rider and lose the image of "checkers or wreckers." I learned a lot in just one moto this weekend and will change a lot for High Point’s Regional. After talking with Justin Weeks, and him kind of being the same way, he has changed a lot and I’m going to do the same thing. I'm really pumped to train my butt off with Schnelly for the next seven weeks while I'm prepping for Loretta's for sure.

VurbMoto: Awesome, Mike. It’s cool to see that you learned from getting bombed into the ground instead of just shrugging it off. That is progression.
McDade: If you aren't first your last- is a way of my past (Laughs)

VurbMoto: Thanks Mike.
McDade: Yeah man thanks so much. I’d like to thank the people that support me. The guys at Pant Saggin Dezign have put me on the right path and I can’t thank them enough for everything. Pro Circuit, Smith, Moose, Scorpion, Decal Works, Pirelli, Vortex, Pro Wheel, UFO- thanks to everybody.

After another great weekend of racing at the incredible Michigan facility. Red Bud leaves us looking to the future; Loretta's is obviously going to be stacked - especially in the A class - as the Regional at Red Bud was amongst the most difficult regionals we have seen. Also look forward to the Pro National at Red Bud, where many Amateurs are rumored to jump up to the pros in front of the thousands and thousands of crazy fans.