Troy Dog
I love Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. I love it so much that I just want to watch the event unfold from the comforts of my own home and never step foot in that place again. It’s the best week ever and I once spent seven days there in 2010. I met a lot of great people from my time there and Cooper Webb still owes me his championship jersey from that week.
Anyway, I took a look at the classes for this year’s rendition of the Ranch and I can 100% say that amateur motocross is not suffering in the talent department. Let’s take a look at the Pro Sport Classes first. I see at least ten riders who should be in the mix for these championships. My clear favorite for the Nicky Hayden AMA Horizon Award is of course Daxton Bennick, however there are a lot of riders such as Julien Beaumer, Gavin Towers, Matti Jorgensen, and Preston Boespflug, and crew that are looking to stand in his way. Last year the clear favorites did not have the week they wanted to remember and Caden Braswell came away with that award. Anything can happen at the Ranch. I want everyone to do me a favor and pay close attention to Bryce Shelly as I think he’s going to open a lot of people’s eyes next week. Another sleeper in these classes will be Evan Ferry who will be looking to redemption from an underwhelming performance in 2022.
The B classes are also going to be ‘straight fire’ as the kids like to say. (Do the kids still say that?) Looking down this list I see so many riders who expect themselves to be “the next guy”. The 250 B and Schoolboy 2 classes are set up to be an absolute barnburner with Rockstar Husqvarna’s Casey Cochran and Team Green Kawasaki’s Drew Adams facing off. I can’t wait to watch these motos. Also in the mix will be Krystian Janik, Landin Pepperd, and Enzo Temmerman. I’ve been on the record for years now saying that I believe that Cochran will be the next big champion in this sport after the Lawrence brother wave is over. He seems to have the complete package.
Yet, keep in mind that Loretta’s is well known for providing us with several standout riders who flew completely under the radar up until late in their amateur careers. These B classes are full of surprises, so who will it be this year? It’s the Levi Kitchen effect.
The 25+ class is stocked to the brim this year (once again) with a ton of former pros. Heath Harrison is always one of the favorites in this class, but is he going to have enough in the tank to stop a recently retired Ben Lamay? Also on the list this year is Lance Vincent, who I just did an interview with on the Squad Pod (available on the VurbPodNetwork now). Vincent took ten years off from racing and decided to return this year to show his two sons what their father is capable of, as well as have some fun. We will see these guys on the podium all week.
One of my favorite classes to watch is always the Supermini 1 and 2 classes. This year we will see Seth Dennis, Landen Gordon, and Deacon Denno square off, with Canyon Richards in the mix as well. I know we will see some other kids stepping up to the plate to battle in these classes and that’s what makes them so fun to watch.
I like to watch the 50 and 65 classes to see who will be the standout riders to watch, just like Kade Nightingale has done the past few years. However, these classes are always harder to judge because you never really know if you’ll see any of these kids race again. Their attention spans last five seconds, and let’s face it, they are probably more excited about season three of Bluey now airing on Disney+.
There you have it, a quick rundown of some really big LL favorites. See? Not only does Troy Dog CEO handle AMA Supercross, WSX, Pro Motocross, but I also handle the amateur ranks as well. You’re welcome. I need to give myself a raise. I’ll be here giving you some inside stories from the ranch all next week, so stay tuned please and thank you.
