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! Thank you to Yamaha for believing in my ELITE columns on this dirt bike website enough to sponsor me. What a dream come true! BTW: Have you seen the all-new YZ450F? OH. MY. GOODNESS. I can’t wait to test that bad boy.
10 motos down and 12 motos remain on Jett Lawrence’s quest for Pro Motocross perfection.
It’s time to ask the question and actually have an opinion about it. Will Jett go 22-0?
The real answer is, I don’t know, and going undefeated in a season is so damn impressive that it’s virtually impossible. Take a look at the history books. Look at how many badass legends have won championships. It still doesn’t make sense that James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael were able to accomplish this feat, let alone twice with RC.
The problem is, I have to take a stance on this. This is Troy Dog’s Takes after all and it’s presented by Yamaha and they pay me the big bucks to make the tough choices. So, here it goes…
I think that Jett pulls off the perfect season.
The biggest reason is truly because I feel like we haven’t seen him go over his comfort zone yet. No one has pushed him past his limits. Jett has a game plan and he utilizes that plan every weekend.
The Game Plan:
- Get the holeshot.
- Put in some fast laps right away.
- Get a 10 second lead.
- Maintain the gap.
- Win.
It’s simple, yet effective, and no one has been able to match it yet. I thought the trio of Cooper Webb, Dylan Ferrandis and Aaron Plessinger would be able to close the gap on Jett with Chase Sexton out, but that did not happen. Ken Roczen made High Point interesting, but it was Jett that did it to himself when he crashed in the first moto.
If anyone is going to stop Jett it will be Sexton, which could very well happen this week at Southwick, or any of the remaining rounds. Sexton coming back at RedBud was great for the series, but the fact remains that he still is racing with mono. I’ve heard of people unable to get out of bed with mono and this guy is going to try and beat a 19-year-old with the confidence of a lion at a wildebeest buffet. I’m not sure how that will play out, but if anyone can step up to take down Jett it will be Sexton. Sexton doesn’t take losing very well, especially when it’s his younger teammate on a team that he’s the captain of.
How important is this perfect season to Jett? I don’t know, I haven’t talked with him since Nashville and we didn’t even talk about racing. I’m guessing it’s not very high on the priority list to remain perfect as long as the point’s lead is intact. The championship will always be the number one goal. Yet, if I were his age and I had a leg up on the competition like this I’d want to destroy everybody’s confidence every weekend and show them that I’m the guy. I’d assert my dominance all season long. I’d try for a perfect season, but I wouldn’t want to think about it until the last two rounds. That’s a lot of pressure. Jett doesn’t seem to feel pressure, or at least he never shows that he does.
We obviously have a lot of laps left to race. Jett could be caught in a first corner pile up, have a mechanical problem, or even just have a straight up DNF. A lot of factors go into an undefeated season. Am I really going to put myself out there and put my faith in a 19-year-old premiere class rookie and say that he won’t make any big mistakes? Yeah, I guess I am.
This isn’t your ordinary athlete. Jett is dialed in and it’s his perfect season to lose.
Let us know what you think in the comments!
Main image: Honda HRC
