Troy Dog
Parker Ross
I’m going to be honest here, but I hadn’t paid attention to Parker Ross at all until this week at the Ranch. If you go back into the Vault you will find a great Loretta Lynn’s career full of top five overall finishes and podiums dating back to 2014 in the 50 classes. However, after a second overall in Open Pro Sport and a third overall in 250 Pro Sport, you can say that I’m shocked at these performances. Ross rides for the SLR Honda team and races off-road, so you know that he’s in shape and down for any condition thrown his way. This is similar to the Derek Kelley route from amateur to pro and you can see how well that is working out for him. Good job, Parker, I will be watching to see what your next move is.
Leum Oehlhof
To be fair, Oehlhof’s breakout happened last year in the Supermini classes, but this year after moving up to the B classes he didn’t skip a beat. Oehlhlof chose to race the Limited classes ala Levi Kitchen Style and he brought home the 450 B Limited title, while barely missing the 250 one with a bad third moto. Kitchen told me in the latest Squad Pod episode that he had been training with Leum at the GOAT Farm and giving him advice on what to do with the Limited classes. It looks like that advice worked and Oehlhof will be one of the favorites next year in the A classes. I don’t see why Star Racing won’t be looking to add him into the mix for 2024, but that’s just me speculating.
Klark Robbins
Robbins had up and down years since he started coming to the Ranch back in 2015. This year he was finally able to break out in the 125 Jr. (12-17) B/C and Schoolboy 1 (12-17) B/C classes. Robbins used consistency and straight up moto wins to bring home both titles. It’s not only impressive that he was able to bring home both of these championships, but it was the fact that he was able to beat a favored Tiger Wood in the process.
Landin Pepperd
There are two things that I know:
- Pepperd just scored his first overall podium at Loretta’s with a second overall in the Schoolboy 2 (12-17) B/C class.
- His last name is how I like my steak.
Pepperd gets help from GasGas, Monster, Fox, and 100% and has really come into his own on big bikes. He also finished eighth overall in a very highly competitive 250 B class and he even finished fourth in the first moto of that division. Pepperd is from Alaska, which is cool and rare to see in the motocross community. Maybe he wrestles bears and swims upstream to train, just like Ben Lamay.
Jackson Vick
Impressive showing for Vick in the 65 (10-11) divisions. Vick landed on the podium all six motos and brought home one title in the Limited class and was second overall in the other. This year marked his first time at Loretta’s and I’m sure he’s going to have first pick of support rides from the manufacturers this offseason. He will be one to watch at Mini O’s this winter.
Main image: Mike Vizer
