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!
If you read Troy Dog’s Shack on Friday, or were at the race on Saturday, you’ll know that I was there as an ELITE journalist to cover the event. It was the first race that I’ve covered since 2016 and as much as things change, they stay the same. I’m here to give you EVERYTHING that I learned, heard, or thought during my day at the races.
Note: This was my wife Ginger Dog’s first race as a media member and at some point I’ll pass it off to her. It was a very cold and miserable day, but we made our rounds.
Let’s start out with a vibe check of the stadium, shall we? I’ve been going to a Supercross in Indianapolis since 2003, whether it was in the RCA Dome or Lucas Oil Stadium. I’ve missed this race four times since then, in 2005 and 2006 because my dad had to work and I couldn’t drive and 2020 because it was canceled for some strange reason. Also, I’m not counting last year because I only went to one of the three (residency’s) and only limited fans were allowed in. So, this year was officially back to being a normal supercross with fans eager to have a fan fest in the pits and everything. I loved that we could all just be together in the stadium enjoying ourselves again watching the best sport in the world.
The stadium seemed about ¾ full and when something exciting happened (and we had some happenings) the place went nuts:
The weather was terrible this year, which seems to be a common theme lately. For a while there it was great spring weather for the event. So, most of the teams had their special greenhouse style weather protection up on the awning and no one was out and about. We tried to get Phil Nicoletti out of the truck and got ghosted, shocker: We went by the Star Racing rig in hopes of seeing Chiz, but I knew there was no way he would be there. It’s got to be at least 60 and sunny for that to happen. The NorCal dudes at the HEP Suzuki truck were in as well. With no one out and about to talk to we went in to watch practice.
With me and Ginger Dog on an unbiased journey through the pits, T-Dog SQUAD doggie Ashton Bloxom flew in from Texas to cover team manager duties for me with Braden Baumer of DaBaum Designs. We met up with them to watch practice and, man you really do see so much more. I always dig watching the guys figure out the track. This track wasn’t so crazy to figure out as most of the riders did the same things, but the ruts and the whoops were a factor as well as the triple/quad after the finish. Success was measured by how much you wanted to send it, which is usually the case in SX, I’m aware, but this track really catered to those who sent it.
The Jett sat behind the SQUAD during practice and I think that he was checking us out for next year. Ginger Dog thinks he’s a robot and not even real. His ride in the heat race from last to first was something that I haven’t seen since James Stewart, but I’m not sure if I remember James coming from last to first in a heat. The stadium went loco after his pass on Kyle Chisholm for the lead. It was an impressive ride, but man how cool would it have been for Chiz to get that win? I spoke to Chiz this week about it and he said he was mad at himself for that one because he made so many mistakes while out in front. He wanted that one bad! He’ll be back on his 450 program this weekend in Seattle hungry to land inside of the top ten.
The ‘fight’ has been reported on by everyone and dissected on the PulpMx Show in depth. I have to mention it here because I thought it was funny that it involved ARay. We were supposed to do a column a couple weeks ago and since then he’s been in the news quite a bit, so maybe we can lock something down when this blows over. I never knew that I would have to hear so much about his balls though. Ginger Dog said that she loves a good hugging fight.
During practice I went up and got chicken tendies and Ginger Dog watched a worker pour a draft beer and you would have thought it was the end of the world. I think that she fired them. The suds to buds ratio was all off and it was a big discussion the rest of the day. God bless her heart. Everyone was fired after that, she fired everyone.
After the tendies we went to visit Har Doggy in the pits and saw Momma and Papa Har Dog, which is always a highlight for me. The Harlan’s are a great family and you should know them. While in Har Dog’s pit I confronted him about not having my face on his helmet, and he said, “Oh, I was just waiting for the new ones that DaBaum brought.” I was like, “Huh?” Then they showed me the new sticker and you can see it below if Slaw Dog does his job correctly, which I doubt he can handle.
We watched the race and Ash Doggy signed the expensive phone case of a girl sitting in front of us. The biggest news of the night was Justin Starling getting a career high 11th on the night with the SQUAD and CEO in attendance. Star Dog is riding great right now and his confidence is through the roof. He knows he belongs up there and he REALLY wants that top ten badly. We went and visited him after the race and he let me ride his bike around the pit. It was a great night.
Ginger Dog had more comments, but I can’t post them here because she’s inappropriate at times, so our apologies. We were able to get her back on Twitter though, which is what EVERYONE seems to want now. Follow her @gingerrdog.
We had a great time and we can’t wait to get to another race soon. Thank you to all of those who stopped to chat and to those fans that stopped me in the pits. I see you guys and the support has been unreal.
