Troy Dog
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Welcome to Troy Dogs Takes where most of the time I have to look into my crystal ball and try to guess the future. This week is no different! I’m here to tell you who I believe is going to win the Nicky Hayden Horizon Award!
I’ve narrowed it down to two contenders and these choices will shock you. Just kidding, the two favorites are Julien Beaumer and Daxton Bennick. I wrote in all of my Loretta’s previews that Bennick is my favorite and so I’m going to continue going with that and not switch my choice. Keep in mind that I’m writing this with the first motos of Open and 250 Pro Sport done and dusted.
If you would have asked me yesterday after the Open moto I would have told you very confidently that Dax would be the unanimous winner. However, the seventh place for Dax this morning was concerning for me, especially with how stacked the field currently is. Entering the week Juju and Dax had the hype and it’s clear to see why.
I’m also not counting out Mark Fineis, Avery Long, Gavin Towers, or Parker Ross for the award at the moment either. These guys are the cream of the crop this week and they are all showing that they have what it takes to make something of themselves in the pro ranks.
This evening the second Open Pro Sport moto will take off and when it concludes we will start to see who actually will win this award. Sometimes weird things happen, I mean after all it is Loretta’s and putting together three long motos is hard. Last year Caden Braswell wasn’t the biggest name in the class and he went on to win the award and he’s kept developing since.
I’m going to keep this column shorter than usual because this is all that I have to report on for the moment. All I know is that the first motos at the Ranch are ridiculously hard to predict because of the gate pick situation. We’ve seen two Dax Bennicks racing this week as well. Dax ripped through the pack yesterday morning with ease and dominated the Open moto, whereas this morning he could not get through the pack and actually got passed. Consistency will be the biggest factor in the deciding of this award.
In parting I’ll ask two questions and please answer them in the comments.
- Who do you think will win the award?
- Is there a Pro Sport rider who is underperforming so far who you had really high hopes for?
We still have so much racing left, but in my opinion Dax Bennick will get it under control and be the Horizon Award winner.
Main image: MX Sports
