Vurbwes Chilidog
Can you remember the time when Instagram and YouTube didn’t even exist? Yea, well I can.
And because of that, in 2007, there really wasn’t a way to know about the next big thing in any amateur sport, much less motocross. When we, vurbmoto, officially launched at Mini O’s in that year, it was the first time the world was able to see, and expect, same day results and highlights from a national race. That garnered insane exposure for those guys that were excelling as they finally had a way to reach the globe. Suffice to say, we quickly garnered world renown attention plus the web traffic that came along with it and within a few short months, our platform had literally exploded. Pretty impressive for a bunch of young, dumb kids with video cameras and barely enough knowledge to build a website!
Fast forward to the summer of 2008, our dear friend, Kevin Kelly, owner and operator of Bremen Race Park in Georgia, called us with an idea. He proposed we use the vurbmoto platform to host a unique race in which we invite big talent names to, more or less, a local race. With that idea in mind, the Vurb Classic was born. We got on the phone with everyone from Justin Barcia to Adam Cianciarulo and extended a Golden Ticket invite, and for likely the first time in history, the southeast crowd saw a racing contingent filled with Loretta Lynn’s champions roll up on the gate of Bremen Raceway. And despite skill level, they were able to line up right next to them without the need to qualify.
You know what we found? When you put some local/regional talent on their home turf against national caliber racers, they were able to rub plastic and pique the interest of not only us, but everyone in the crowd as well, including sponsors. Now don’t get me wrong, the likes of JB51 and AC92 still put on a clinic, but the glimpses of raw speed and talent we saw from a handful of kids that first year truly paved the way for the vision of what the Vurb Classic would become.
From that point on, we realized we could use our platform to highlight these standout racers that perhaps needed a little push or bit of extra help and give them the exposure they needed and more so deserved. From 2008 until 2016, we found talents in every corner of the USA, including guys like Justin Cooper and Seth Hammaker, and gave them the spotlight and stage to get noticed. I truly believe we changed the course for many, many careers in that timespan.
Today, Instagram has given everyone their own platform, and I’d say it’s definitely a bit easier to get discovered. There are also way more races on the calendar, all with a ton of clout and more number one plates than you can count. For us, now that vurbmoto and the Vurb Classic are back, it’s very tough to stand out in a crowd this potent. But while all those races are insanely epic, we’re going to stay true to our roots and do what many of those other races don’t… invest HEAVILY in the media side of things, just as we’ve always done, to continue to give exposure and notoriety for the next cream of the crop to get discovered.
At a race like Loretta’s, the accolades mostly go to those standing atop the podium – and for good reason; it’s the pinnacle. However, you worked your butt off all year and got 8th (which is still absolutely insane, and most couldn’t even dream to accomplish) but you maybe didn’t turn the heads you were hoping. That’s where we come in. The Vurb Classic is still the place a high-level Loretta’s racer can come and compete with the champion of the class, and with the cameras and media we have dedicated to the event, getting noticed is exactly what happens. The genesis of our platform hasn’t changed; we’re still here to give you the exposure you deserve.
Here’s a perhaps lame and cheesy metaphor metaphor that applies here and rings very true: If a big tree falls in the woods, but there’s no one there to hear it, does it even make a sound?
Outside looking in, I’m sure it looks like we’re a gillion dollar company [insert laugh emoji here], we’re still very young and working off very small budgets but know we’re investing every dollar we can into giving back to you and everything we can within this sport. And that ranges from the Vurb Classic to Freestone to Daytona and everything else we can throw five dollars at. Just know the more you support us, the more we can support you, and that’s our tried-and-true promise to everyone that’s a fan of vurbmoto. As we continue to grow, so will everything under our umbrella on the media front, and our purse money, too!
We recognize the change in our world of motocross. We don’t want to rinse and repeat. We’ve always been known for pushing the envelope. With that being said, know we’ve just gotten started. Here’s to the next decade of finding the next superstars of our sport.
