Troy Dog
Notice that this column now has a sponsor? That’s right! Troy Dog joined the Blu Cru and you should too! I have one in my garage right now and I can’t wait to go shred it! Thank you to Yamaha for believing in my ELITE columns on this dirt bike website enough to sponsor me. What a dream come true! BTW: Have you seen the all-new YZ450F? OH. MY. GOODNESS. I can’t wait to test that bad boy.
Cade Clason had a breakout year of sorts in 450SX. He scored his first ever top ten in a main event and had several other top 15s. Obviously Cade has a large fan base and he interacts with fans and keeps everyone up to date on what he’s doing. Except for right now. Apparently it’s out there about what team Cade will be riding for, yet no one knows. I’ve texted back and forth with him the past several months to get my “Random Cade Updates” on Twitter and everytime I bring up about 2023 plans he goes silent on me. That’s weird Cade Dog. So, I said you know what? Let’s just call him up and hear what he has to say. Whether or not I’m allowed to post this I don’t care. He said he will get in trouble, but I say GOOD! That’s what you get for keeping secrets Mr. Clason.
Cade has been busy since SX ended. He healed his knee that had been bothering him since a crash in Oakland, raced some outdoors that he said didn’t go to plan, raced some pro mountain bike races against World Cup athletes, and raced the World Supercross Championship for ClubMX. We caught up with him on Tuesday to get to the bottom of some important topics, including a beef he has with us here at Vurb, which he made sure to start the conversation with…
Okay, what is your favorite story of Vurb?
Alright, so I was training at [Nico] Izzi’s and I was in the B or A class, I don’t really remember the timing. Someone came out to shoot some photos and there was one photo of me in the album and it ended up being the cover photo on the site. Then it said: Izzi Compound featuring Osby, Older, and Stack! I was the cover photo and didn’t even get mentioned. I was like, “Sick, dude!” I was just that under the radar, bro.
Yeah, but now look at you!
I can’t believe I remember that. I guess I’m pretty salty.
Cade, what are you doing for next year because everyone wants to know and we here at Vurb need the exclusive.
I’m going to fly a unicorn to the races! No, I’m going to ride the PRMX Kawasaki again. I’ve talked to Julien [Perrier, team owner] nonstop since I’ve raced for him in the past. I’m really happy to move back over there and I think their program is taking steps up in the right direction. They wanted me to help grow it and help some of the kids on the program in the right direction. They have a couple of kids from Canada who are going to be on the team to learn supercross as well. I think it’s going to be fun. I’m excited about it. I’ve been on the bike for a little over a week now, since I’ve been home from Australia. We’ve been doing suspension testing yesterday and again today. We’ll do some more testing with Pirelli on Thursday. Like I said, they are making strides in the right direction and they’re trying to make me comfortable on the bike. Their goals are as high as mine. Obviously we want to be consistently in the main events and always be in that top 15 fight. I’m striving for around that top ten mark. I feel like two years ago that it was a fluke if I got in the top 15. This year it was kind of a fluke that I got tenth, but I still did it. I think if we keep making strides to be consistently up there it won’t be a fluke. I had multiple top 15’s this year and I think with some good effort from everyone around me, being happy and all that good jazz, then we’re in for a good year.
You had the top ten, but you also had an 11th and a 12th. I don’t know why you’re calling it a fluke because you were legit this year.
I only say that because I know how it works, right? I know a lot of dudes got hurt in a three week span in the 450 class last year and I was able to take advantage of that. So yeah, it’s not a fluke, but at the same time I like being super real with myself. I like to tell myself, “Hey, I got this,” but at the same time I know I need to be better if I do that all the time.
That’s fair. You went 12th at Indianapolis, 15th in Seattle, 11th in St. Louis, 13th in Foxborough, and it all started in Detroit with that tenth.
Yeah, in Detroit we kind of went on a roll. It’s weird because Seattle was a struggle. I crashed a bunch and in the main it felt like I just was riding around in first gear the entire time. That was a bump in the road. We honestly had a lot of bike issues last year. Like any team does, we just tried to keep everything in house and make the best of it. That kind of took me out of where I wanted to be towards the end of the year. I really wanted to be with Breece and Starling and we just kept having issues. I don’t think I finished five mains all because of bike issues, which for this day and age is pretty unheard of. That really sucked. I had some goals for the end of the year points wise. You know, that stuff pays. It might sound dumb to certain people to strive to get 19th in points, but an extra 10K at the end of the year is really nice. Also, people were wondering why I got so mad at Rodbell when he cleaned me out in Denver. That was basically the final straw of getting in the top twenty in points. That sucked.
Yeah, you were clearly upset and even on social media you made it clear that 21st was not where you wanted to be. You missed that 10K by one spot.
No, you’re right. I wouldn’t say I acted immature about it. I was just really bummed and mad at the same time. I’m over it now and I have goals for next year to be back in that fight and be back up there.
I liked how you handled the situation because you were real about everything. I didn’t take any immaturity out of that situation from you.
I think about half of the pits heard my emotion when I got back to the semi at Denver. I was quite upset.
Cade, just screaming at everyone…
I wasn’t screaming at everyone! We just happened to be parked next to each other! It’s all good, we’re good now. It is what it is, I’ve cleaned out plenty of people in my day. I talked to Rodbell at Washougal and said, “Hey, I just want to be cool, I’m sorry.” Now we’re actually going to ride together at SOB sometimes. I don’t have any hard feelings about that.
That’s good to hear! So yes, back at SOB and PRMX. I feel like the PRMX team has been around now for at least a decade now, right?
We actually had a meeting yesterday and Julien has had a team for 13 years. He’s been helping guys race all 17 rounds of Supercross the past five years, but he’s had a SX team the last seven. He’s definitely trying to grow. He has ambitions like say a Bobby Hewitt. He started out helping a bunch of amateur guys and hopefully one day grow it to have the support of an OEM. They’ve got a really nice semi now and a lot of guys, so they have a pretty good presence. Hopefully I can get them some good results like I did last year and try to make them look good.
The Kawasaki Contingency Program is really good from a pro to an amateur level. It helps motivate people to want to ride that bike at all levels. I do believe that they have stepped up for this program this year. That’s what I love about this level of a program. I’m married and I enjoy my time away from the track a lot. I enjoy re-doing our house, hunting, and I’m super into mountain biking the past couple of years. When I’m not at the track I don’t want to think about riding. The responsibility of sponsors and all that stuff goes to someone else and I can do certain deals on my own, but I give so much respect to Freddie, Starling, and those guys who run their own programs. Those programs are elite. Justin’s program looks very professional when he’s at the races and it’s a lot of work to manage all of those sponsors, manage all of those relationships, and ride great on the track. I have no interest in that responsibility at all.
That’s honestly an angle of it that not many riders have told me. It’s a lot of work. Just talking to Justin about his program, he’s always on his phone, he’s got a million things going on, driving to the races. He’s spread thin and yet his program looks incredible and organized and you don’t get to see the logistics that go into it during the week.
It would honestly piss my wife off so bad if when I get home from the track I had to make ten extra phone calls to order parts and all the other crap that I don’t want to do! Like, I enjoy having a face to face relationship with sponsors, but I hate calling and asking for stuff and budgeting. I just want to ride and grind in the gym.
You’re probably happy that you raced a little bit outdoors because you got the call to race the World Supercross Championship for ClubMX. How did that experience go for you? Did you enjoy traveling?
Usually my experience traveling outside of the US doesn’t go that well. Like, I went to Germany once and had a panic attack when I got there because I couldn’t talk to anyone. I was struggling. Then the next time I went to Finland and I enjoyed myself. I went with some friends. These past few times I’ve gone and just embraced all of the different cultures. I had a blast in Cardiff. We all stayed together at this house. We had a chef and experienced all the stuff together while we were there. The World Supercross promoters did an awesome job taking care of us, to the point where we riders had something to all go and do together. They could do some media with us while simultaneously the city was embracing us as their own. In Cardiff we did a riverboat tour and in Australia they took us to this urban surfing area. We got to experience different things and then the racing was awesome. I had some really bad luck in Cardiff, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I don’t think I’ve crashed that much in a while. When we got to Australia it was all about getting a good result for the team and myself. I knew why I was there and what I deserved to get. I did it! It went really well and had some good luck from other people’s mistakes.I got to work with some really good friends with the guys at Club. One of my best friends is one of the crew chiefs over there. I’ve worked with them for a very long time and I appreciate them giving me that opportunity.
I got to work with your boy Grant (Harlan). I gave him a lot of crap for cleaning me out at the first round, but he stood his ground and said it was my fault.
Yeah, that was for sure your fault. Did you ever figure out what was in his backpack?
I think it was empty everyday. It might have had water in it, but I never saw him take anything useful out of it. He would come to the shop everyday with all of his gear on and he’d be carrying his helmet and goggles. He doesn’t bring lunch up there, so like what’s in the backpack?
I just figured you’d take him in at your house and you never did…
No. No.
He’s low maintenance. He won’t even ask for any water or anything.
He was there for a month and a half. He should have driven.
Well, you ended up getting fifth in Australia! I know you’re always downplaying your results, but I heard several reports that you were flying at the test track.
I raced that bike really well. I was very happy with how I was riding. ClubMX has a solid platform and they’ve had the same sponsors for quite a while. You’ve got to think about the dudes that have ridden for them like Marchbanks, A-Mart, Phil, all of these guys have ridden for them and given input on the bike. They’re also working with Enzo, which has Yamaha’s dialed to a T. It was a simple platform to get on and all I was allowed to change was a shock spring. When I got on the motorcycle I put lower footpegs on and a heavier shock spring. That’s all I tested and that’s mostly due to the short timeframe we had to prep bikes to send them to Wales. They had to send them a month in advance or something like that. I didn’t have a ton of time on the bike to even have an idea of what I wanted. It was kind of a shot in the dark to where I might have gotten there and my bike could have been super far off. I was super comfy on that bike. It was easy to be comfortable in my surroundings and hopefully that translated to on the track results.
That’s a good point. Now at the end of Supercross in 2023, what are the goals that you hope to reach? What will Cade be happy to accomplish?
I obviously want to be top twenty in points, that’s a sure goal. It’s weird because last year I had more top twenty finishes than not, but all of those DNF’s just cost me that goal. I want to have a more consistent year, whether I get 18th every weekend and finish 18th in points, that’s a major goal. I would like to get another top ten forsure and be more in that mix. I’m not sure who I’ll be battling with, I’m sure Starling and Breece will be up to spec, but I want our group of dudes to move forward and be taking the spot of the factory guys that make more money than us. I want to show that the team that I ride for is legit, I’m legit, and I deserve to get phone calls from OEM supported teams. I was pretty bummed I didn’t get a WSX call earlier than I did. I want to show that I’m a guy who deserves those phone calls. I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I deserve more respect than I get sometimes and I just want to go out and show people that I’m good at riding supercross. I want to be a good starter, so I have some starting goals. I want to win some LCQ’s, that’s a big one for a lot of privateers because we all have bonuses for winning those things. People at home might not notice that, but a lot of times some gnarly stuff happens to try and get that win. I remember back in 2021, Brayton was arguing with me on the line of the main and asking me why I raced him so hard in the LCQ when we were 1-2. I was like dude, it’s over $2,000 to win this race! You don’t get anything! Then he was like, “Oh, I didn’t know that, if I would have I would have just let you win!” It’s just that little bit of TV time and getting to stand on the stage in front of everyone. That’s a big goal too.
Main image: Mike Vizer
