Troy Dog
Troy Dog joined the Blu Cru and you should too! Have you seen the new 2024 models with the special livery? Go look right now! It’s amazing. Yamaha also supports T-Dog Squad ELITE Athletes Grant Harlan and Marshal Weltin. Purchase a Yamaha today and shred like them, Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, Haiden Deegan, plus more!
Shame on me, but I’ve saved one of the biggest talking points of the Philadelphia Supercross for my Tuesday opinion column. After watching Jalek Swoll and Seth Hammaker come together in the sand on Saturday night, I had just assumed that this was going to be chalked up as a racing incident, but it seemed to be more than that.
The two were in podium position at the time of the crash and would remount with Hammaker finishing in seventh and Swoll in eighth.
When the race concluded, Swoll was hot about this, and yelled at Hammaker…
…but then afterward he cooled down and went over to apologize to the Pro Circuit rider.
It’s been an interesting month for Triumph as they parted ways with Evan Ferry and had to deal with some backlash on that. For the most part, I think they came away just fine out of that situation. We’ve been left with more questions than answers on the split, but when legal documents are involved, what can you really say?
With all of this drama aside, it truly was a night to remember for Swoll and Triumph. The team invested in Swoll to help develop a new bike and accomplish milestones together. In my opinion, they’re knocking it out of the park in their first eight races as a manufacturer.
Swoll, who spent the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season on the sidelines with a broken arm, is now having his best indoor showing since 2021. In Philadelphia on Saturday night, Swoll checked off “heat win” on the list of accomplishments for both Triumph and himself. He also put himself in a position for a podium until late in the Main when he came together with Hammaker. That’s a racing incident though.
I’ve noticed Swoll going on social media to defend himself on some comments, which I get to an extent, but this whole social media situation is strange to me. Swoll shouldn’t have to respond to any of the comments, but it is a great look for him especially since he’s handling this the correct way. His story hasn’t changed. He tried to show Hammaker his wheel for a couple of laps, thought he had enough room for the pass, then the racing incident occurs. That is him taking responsibility for his actions here. We can’t let a great night get overshadowed by this pass attempt that simply didn’t work.
The real news here is that Triumph is off to a successful start as a manufacturer in the sport. Swoll has done a great job in carrying the team flag. He’s been in the mix all season long. When you go back in Swoll’s results, he’s always a top ten guy no matter who is in the class. It makes sense why Triumph decided to go with him to debut their bike this season.
In less than a month, Triumph will make their Pro Motocross debut and Joey Savatgy will join Swoll at Fox Raceway for the opener. Savatgy hasn’t raced a 250 since the end of the 2018 season. It’ll be interesting to see him back racing in the 250MX class, but I personally have high hopes for both riders and the manufacturer. It will be a successful inaugural summer for the brand, the personnel, and the riders.
The future looks bright for Swoll and Triumph. Philadelphia was just another step in the right direction. Sure, it could have been a podium night, but they will get there, maybe as soon as the season finale in Salt Lake City. One thing that is for sure, is that Triumph and Swoll will never forget the night they accomplished their first heat win!
Main Image: Octopi Media
