Troy Dog
I have been going to races for over 12 years now as a member of the ELITE media and I just accomplished the greatest day at a dirt bike race. I was all over RedBud and the day flew by so fast. Here is everything I saw, heard, and witnessed at RedBud 2022.
First off, I met Kirk Newman about two years ago on Twitter while playing Denny Stephenson’s MotoXDream360 fantasy game. You should play it because it’s super fun, but Kirk and I kept in touch. He’s the head of security at RedBud and I think they should now call it KirkBud. He even helped me pick a spot at RedBud last year when we came up with our young children at the last minute. Anyway, I bring all of this up because without Kirk Dog we would not have gone to RedBud this year. He created a CEO parking spot for me, took time out of his busy schedule to make sure we were situated and then he checked on us the entire weekend. His hospitality is 100/100 and I can’t thank him ENOUGH. We will be getting you a swag pack the next time we make some! We met his wife too and she seems awesome as well. Great people, those Kirk Dogs.
I keep saying WE, and while I am not fluent in French, we stands for Ginger Dog and I. Yes, Ginger Dog and I absolutely dominated and at one point during the weekend she said that “I was so cool” and I wrote that down as a moment in history. Ginger Dog wrote about her experience earlier this week and you should read it. She was a first time media member and we put her to work. Mostly she followed me around and filmed me talking to people, but she also passed out Vurb shirts and hats to fans who earned it.
While we were out and about handing out merch Ginger Dog pointed over to Davi Millsaps who was standing by the leap with a headset on. I went over and introduced myself and now I want to be like Davi Millsaps when I grow up. The man is one of the most genuine, down to earth people I’ve ever talked to. He said, “I’ve been down with vurbmoto for a long time.” He is truly a Vurb OG and he seemed pumped that we are back. He’s been working with Benny Bloss this summer and it seems to be going well. Benny went 11-14 at RedBud and earned the Privateer Power Award.
Obviously we met up with the Troy Dog Squad’s own Grant Harlan, Ashton Bloxom, and Braden Baumer. Luke Renzland AKA Dozer Dog was also there, but I could not locate where he was parked and I had absolutely zero service, so that was a bummer not to see him. The Squad I did see was decked out in vurbmoto and everyone was having a great time. Har Dog seemed stoked that we were all there and Papa Har Dog was definitely pumped. Har Dog came around third on the start of the second moto (barely missing the holeshot) and it truly made my day. Seeing him up front with Roczen, Tomac, Barcia, Dungey, and Sexton on his stock Merge Racing/Troy Dog Vurb Kawasaki was a proud moment. Moments like that are why the Squad exists and why I do what I do. Har Dog had a bad one with Chris Canning over by the leap (Trey Canard said it was a bad one, he saw the whole thing) and it smashed his header pipe, he had to DNF the moto. He’s going to take Southwick off and regroup for Millville. Regardless it was a very successful day I think. Har Dog will get a holeshot before the season is over.
I ran into Cade Clason and he met Ginger Dog for the first time. I’ve been doing a random Cade update on Twitter since the summer started and he’s delivered. The people want more Cade. I helped him get his WiFi working and then he started following me on Twitter…finally, which was the most shocking news from the day. How are you not following @troydogvurb on Twitter/Instagram? Later on in the day we found SGB team manager Alex Ray and talked to him about how he’s the greatest team manager of all-time. It’s up on my Instagram if you want to see that. It’s amazing.
Somehow I ended up playing a game of “Jett” with Jett Lawrence on the basketball court. I made my first basket off of the rim and then the kid comes up and sinks it with nothing but net. The champion was determined not to get beaten by me. He had to leave before we could finish the game, so we have unfinished business here. At some point down the road we will finish our game Jett, I promise.
We found Trey Canard over at the Honda pit and that is the nicest human I’ve ever met. Ginger Dog and Trey had a moment over both being redheads and talked about how redheads are a dying breed. I just wanted to talk about Ironman in 2014 when he put two pairs of goggles on. Ginger Dog has always been the biggest Trey Canard fan, so seeing him in person and talking to him truly put her on the moon. He signed her media pass and took a photo with her too. It was a cool moment. Thank you Trey for being a great human.
At the end of the day I went over to my team truck. The HEP Suzuki/Twisted Tea/Progressive team had a good day, highlighted by Marshal Weltin’s first career top ten overall finish in the 450 class. I interviewed him in the rider lounge and then talked shop with my team manager Dustin Pipes. We talked about how he saved my life again at Oak Hill in 2010, how the team did at RedBud, and whether or not I have a spot for the World Supercross races. Pipes told me that I have a spot if I can ride one lap around RedBud how it was after all four motos. Well, hold my Twisted Tea because I would have been launching and scrubbing all kinds of ish out there. I was going to suit up but sevendeucedeuce and I don’t wear the same size pants.
For some reason I saw the kiddie pool for Weltin and Hartranft and my first thought was, I need to jump in this. The Racer X Best Post Race Ever gets filmed at the HEP truck every race, so why not really make this the best show ever, ever, forever ever? (I just hit you with a little Outkast humor, you’re welcome.) I talked to Weege about it and he was suggesting that I don’t but said that I could come on the show. Our crew of Weege, Tommy Tenders, Jeff Simpson, Wes Williams, Kellen Brauer, and Ginger Dog set off walking in slow motion to make history at the HEP tent. Over there we met up with Jaxson Canard who was celebrating his 21st birthday and got to be on the show too. I told him that the last time that I saw him he was like 9 running around RedBud with a football. He’s now playing college football at Oklahoma Baptist University and he’s an ELITE running back. Maybe he should join the squad?
Anyway, I jumped in the pool, Vurb took over the Racer X show, and we had some Twisted Teas. The sus water went into my mouth, but as of Thursday WE are feeling fine.
I missed a bunch of stuff I’m sure, but this was a really productive day. We’re trying to get to more races in 2023 and we have some big stuff in the works for next season. I enjoyed meeting and seeing old and new friends. Thanks for reading and I appreciate your support!
If you want to talk about anything feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or DM me on Twitter/Instagram @troydogvurb.
