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 this summer! Thank you to Yamaha for believing in my ELITE columns on this dirtbike website enough to sponsor me. What a dream come true!
RedBud is my favorite national. It may not be your favorite, but it’s definitely my favorite. I’ve gone just about every year to RedBud since 2005. With that being said I’ve not been to every national. I’ve been to most, but not all of them. So, with the races I’ve been to, RedBud is my favorite race overall. Below I’ve cooked up four BIG reasons why it is indeed my favorite, in honor of the 4th of July of course. Come along on my spiritual journey with me.
The Vibe
The real MVP of this race is the overall feel of the entire weekend. It’s America’s Birthday at “America’s Track”, ya know? You really can’t get any more American than that unless you have Aaron Plessinger dress up in red,white, and blue and fly on the back of a bald Eagle as fireworks explode in the sky around him. The race has fireworks, mullets, stars/stripes, Clawed up fans, and most importantly dirt bikes. If you’ve never attended this event, well you really are missing out. Last year, Twisted Tea was the title sponsor of the event and they served them ALL over the event. It was Heaven on Earth for real. It’s the biggest motocross party in the world with a National race scheduled during it.
Fans are Cray Cray
Compared to other nationals, RedBud fans are the loudest, most insane people I’ve ever seen at a race. I’ve heard that back in the day that other tracks had some gnarly folks attend, like Unadilla and High Point, but these days those tracks are more tame. RedBud fans scare the bejesus out of me still to this day. I’ve seen countless puke and rallys, people passed out by practice 2, and even people surfing down the hills on coolers into another pack of people (AND that’s just Ginger Dog doing all those things, let alone everyone else joining in). Last year Grant Harlan had to sit the second moto out and he thought he would go watch out in the crowd with his buddies and T-Dog Squad members Ashton Bloxom and Braden Baumer. Well, as he’s watching the sand whoops some random large fan comes rolling down the hill and rolls UP and OVER young Har Dog, who was sitting on the ground. You guys are gnarly and I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings us all.
The Place Never Sleeps
This is a fact. No one sleeps at RedBud. They hold races the entire weekend. If you plan on racing the night track and you end up being moto 16, well get ready because your second moto will not start until 5:15 a.m. You could race a moto, pound a 12 pack of Claws, eat an entire pizza, nap, yell RedBud six to nine hundred times, nap again, take a giant dump on the roof of your biggest competitors motorhome, and eat some chicken strips before your next moto started. Last year, Ginger Dog and I brought our 9 month old and 2.5 year old son up to camp out for the weekend. We are crazy I know. It wasn’t bad! Anyway, we had the heat on Friday night because it was amazing weather. Well, the generator ran out of gas around 4 a.m. and I went out to fill the tanks back up. Back by the tanks there were a pack of what looked like 4-6 year olds ripping on their Strider bikes. I’m serious. They quietly judged me as I went back in my RV. I could feel their disappointment as I wasn’t going to jump on Bub Dog’s Strider bike and shred with them. Where were their moms? Probably getting blown out I’m sure. Were these just children of the RedBud corn? I look to find out more this year.
The Track
RedBud is the only national track I’ve ever ridden. That being said, I absolutely shred there. I pulled a holeshot 12 years ago in B class and then crashed while running in the top five and still beat former pro Nick Desiderio. Then that same year I came up short on the landing of the Leap. Every jump on the track is iconic to me. I can scrub the balls off of the finish line, LaRocco’s Leap is sick (when it’s built right), my favorite jump is the table top connecting each side of the track before the sand whoops. I love the damn sand whoops too. You know what? I may just have to dust off my YZ250F and throw on my FXR gear from my guy Brad Behrens and shred it up this weekend! Can I get a RedBud?!
