Troy Dog
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Before I had kids I wasn’t sure how involved they would be in this sport that I love so much. Bub Dog is 4 while Duke Dog is 2, so they are still young pups who are still truly just feeling this life thing out still. On the weekends we will have the race on and if they’re still awake, we’ll ask them who they want to win.
“I want the cowboy to win,” Bub Dog (my four-year-old son Eli) will say from time to time, usually while wearing the AP7 shirt that he picked out to wear that day. When he says this it’s pretty funny to me because he’s of course talking about Aaron Plessinger. I’ll tell Bub that is a great choice and then immediately remind him that AP grew up about 10-15 minutes from where we live!
It’s rare to have a rider truly make it in this sport out of the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana tri-state area. Sure, we’ve had a solid group of riders in the past from this area, but none of them could ever manage to win a championship let alone race for a factory team. Brock Sellards comes to mind as the most successful rider in the new age of motocross from this area, but his hometown was 5 hours north of me. I’m not sure that counts. Now we claim Cade Clason (although he likes to say he doesn’t count) and Logan Karnow, who have done extremely well in 450SX. Yet, this AP story is just different, at least to me.
The Plessinger heritage runs deep in Ohio’s District 11 MX community. We don’t have a lot of tracks left and in the last ten years most of them have declined and closed down. Yet, one man, Aaron’s father Scott has kept the dream going for all of us here. Scott Plessinger needs no introduction. He’s a two-time GNCC champion and two time National Hare Scramble champion, as well as one of the greatest off-road racers of all-time. When Scott was finished racing he opened Plessinger Cycles and promoted local races around the area, most notable was his Gravelrama series. These days he’s the brains behind East Fork MX and Chillitown MX.
These tracks are two of the nicest run facilities that we’ve ever had in the area and we owe Scott a great deal for his hard work. Aaron even told me this week on the Vurbmoto Podcast Network that his dad is constantly working on his two properties to make sure we all have the best tracks available for the Race Ohio MX Buckeye Series.
The Plessinger’s can average around 600+ sign ups on any given race weekend and the bigger races like the Race of Champions will get more than that. For the Ohio MX community this is huge. It gives us a top tier facility that is outdoor national worthy prepped ALWAYS. The tracks deliver a perfect blend of obstacles for every sized bike to enjoy with a long lap time. If you haven’t checked these tracks out then you should definitely hit up one of their races or prepped practice days. It’s a must.
Aaron now calls Florida home and doesn’t get to visit Ohio too much these days. Yet, I’ve seen him show up to his father’s big race weekends in the past, especially when his racing season is over. You could find Aaron signing autographs for kids, talking to new and old friends, and enjoying every minute of being around the local track. That’s about as core as it gets in any sport. Aaron told me that he truly enjoys talking to his fans and that he likes people to know that he’s just a normal guy who rides dirt bikes. This cowboy persona is now a way of life and it’s not an act. Despite being from the midwest, he’s still a cowboy at heart, which has led him to buying horses recently. His fan base has also grown exponentially from his Daytona podium in 2021 when he now infamously yelled, “DO IT FOR DALE, WHOOOO!” Now he can’t go anywhere without the fans clawing at him every step of the way. For Aaron he enjoys it and he even told me that his team has to take him away from them when it’s time for him to be somewhere on race day.
Motocross racers are truly built differently. Most of them remember where they’ve come from and have stayed true to themselves. Their road to the top wasn’t easy and at certain times a professional career may have even seemed like a longshot. That was the case for Aaron as he didn’t even concentrate on racing motocross until later in his amateur years. His prime focus was on the GNCC series in those days. Yet here we are now in 2023, Aaron, a past 250SX Regional and Motocross Champion, just signed another year extension with Red Bull KTM. He’s about to take on the world again as Captain America in France at the MXoN. He’s one of the best and most popular racers in the world, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that by talking to him.
He’s as humble as ever.
Photo Courtesy: Red Bull KTM Media
Photographer: Align Media
