Troy Dog
Hey, there is a big race this weekend. It’s called the Mad Skills Motocross 3 Vurb Classic. It’s at NXT LVL 101 in Gray Court, SC. It’s gonna be awesome and you should come. Go sign-up now!!!!!!
If you’ve been following me for a while then you should know I’m one of the OG’s of Vurb. I started contributing to this company at the end of 2009 and then was appointed to CEO almost two years ago. Follow your dreams kids, you just never know what will happen in this life.
In the fall of 2012 I went on a road trip to the Vurb Classic at Echoconnee MX in Georgia. It was a big weekend that I had circled on my calendar that year. I didn’t go by myself. I grabbed my buddy Christian Telker from nearby Indiana to head down with me. Telker, at the time, was trying his best to make it on the pro side of things back then. Like most privateers, he dabbled in both SX and MX on a shoestring budget and a local shop deal.
The local shop is named Motoxtremes and they used to be a Husqvarna dealer that supported Willy Browning, Scott Metz, as well as a few locals early in their careers. Telks worked at Motoxtremes full time for the owner at the time Kevin Orschell. Telks even helped me pick up some side work for Kevin back then and I spent a lot of time at that shop. Kevin invested in and made it a serious destination store. He’s since moved on to other business ventures and sold the store to Michael Ivers. Motoxtremes still lives on!
Anyway, in 2012 I was a sophomore in college at Northern Kentucky University and I had planned to drive to Motoxtremes after my Thursday classes to meet Telker. Our great idea was to drive as far as we could on Thursday and pull in for Friday, practice all day, and race on Saturday and Sunday. I know it sounds like a loose program, but at that time I was a struggling college kid, so yeah it was a loose program. Somehow I made all of this sound like a good idea to my fiancé Ginger Dog. I was going to ride and race Collegeboy and 450 B as well as cover the event as an elite member of the media with my Vurb family.
If I remember correctly I drove up to NKU that Thursday and when my classes were over in the afternoon I drove to my parents house, where I lived at the time, and loaded up my CRF450, a pit bike, and everything else I needed for the weekend. I attached my dad’s old classic Hi Point Trailer and drove the 40 minutes to Motoxtremes to pick up Telks after his day of work. We packed up his bike and headed south around dinner time.
I really don’t remember too much from our journey down. I do know it was a good road trip. Telker wanted to sleep the whole time, but I made him drive a lot too. We ended up getting a very sketchy hotel around 3 a.m. that had bulletproof glass protecting the check-in counter. I was scared for my life that night and slept on top of the covers in that room. I didn’t bring any of my personal belongings either. I’m very surprised we weren’t robbed of the bikes. I didn’t dare touch anything in that room.
We awoke at 7 a.m. and finished the two hours of driving we had left to the track. We got in and met up with Chili Dog, Bird Dog, and the rest of the crew. I signed up for practice and for the first time I got to shred some laps with Chili and Bird. I was so impressed with my Stew-like speed against them that I didn’t even notice Jace Owen coming around to rail pass me and I never saw him again. I did another session and I remember the track being so awesome. I never had the chance to ride the sand growing up and I’ve always enjoyed it.
After practice I went over to help Chili Dog pound some banners into the track for race day. He invited Telker and I to sleep in his hotel room and that was Friday. I wasn’t scared for my life at this hotel. It even had breakfast and hot coffee the next morning too.
Saturday was race day. I decided I didn’t want to race. Telker lined up for a Pro Sport class and all ll I remember was Cooper Webb lining up next to him. Jace Owen was in there too. Telker’s bike started to sputter early in the moto and he called it a day after it shut off completely. I was a bit bummed. We spent all of this time and effort in driving to the race to get him some exposure and his day was finished before noon. We decided to head home after that . I bid farewell to the crew and headed north to Cincinnati.
The 2012 Vurb Classic was awesome. We had some big names there and the track served up some great racing. I enjoyed being at the track with my friends. We even had a Teen Mom sighting when Maci Bookout showed up to hang out. I’ll never forget hanging out in the announcer’s tower with Donn Collings and Justin Odom, or running around with Bird Dog all over the facility learning how to run a race.
You need to take a road trip to this event. It’s the feel of an amatuer national without all of the pressure. It’s more media for you and all the good vibes. This event has continued to grow over the years and this weekend will be the best Classic to date. We’ll see you there!
Viva la Vurb!
