Troy Dog
One of the coolest stories of the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship is the re-emergence of 40-year-old Billy Laninovich. I get it, the man has gotten a ton of press from other media outlets and even on the broadcast, but here is something new to fathom.
As I was watching Lano keep Max Sanford honest in the Last Chance Qualifier on Saturday night, on his way to his 56th career 250SX main, I did some digging. Laninovich made his first supercross main event on January 19, 2002 at Anaheim 2.
Max Sanford was five months old.
Jo Shimoda won’t be born until four months later.
Carson Mumford was barely a month old.
Talon Hawkins won’t be born for another year and seven months.
Max Miller won’t be born for another five months.
Josh Varize will be born in two months.
Hunter Yoder won’t be born for another two years and two months.
Ryder DiFrancesco won’t be born for another three years and two months.
Julien Beaumer won’t be born for another four years and four months.
Kyle Chisholm was 47-years-old.
James Stewart was a rookie.
Troy Dog was 11 years old.
Ricky Carmichael hadn’t had a perfect outdoor season yet, nor had he won a premier class supercross championship.
Chad Reed had just come to America.
Two-strokes were still the chosen weapon for supercross AND outdoors.
Justin Starling will win the 51cc 7-8 AMA Class 2 Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in eight months.
Let this be a lesson to all of us out here. Age is just a number. If you set your mind to it and dedicate yourself you can accomplish anything that you want. Billy is out there having fun and reaching some goals against a class that is majority half of his age. The dude turns 41 on February 26! It’s a feel good story and he’s gaining a ton of fans in the process.
Props to you Lano, we see you!
Main Image: Octopi Media
