Troy Dog
The Vurbmoto World Mini event of the century is coming up on April 4-7 at Mesquite MX! Everyone in the world is invited. Click here to register now!
Back in the day, our crew never missed a World Mini event. It was a staple on the amateur national circuit and all of the top pros in the 450 class today cut their teeth racing at World Mini. Through the years the event changed hands, then last year WE brought it back in the biggest way ever. It’s a prestige event that you’ll need to race to become the next Eli Tomac. The trophies are taller than Benny Bloss and the fun your family will have at the event will be even bigger.
Yesterday I was browsing through our World Mini photo archives and we have so much goodness that it’s insane. Each week leading up to the event, I’ll pull a pic or video, and we’ll talk about it. Here we go!
- Nothing says peak 2007 like the Xtreme Team Green setup that young Austin Stroupe is running. If you were a fan of the amateur scene back in these days, then you wanted your setup to look like Stroupe’s.
- Another bullet point on Stroupe, this is when Thor gear was in its prime. All of the colors and gear sets were top tier and ahead of anybody else at the time.
- Another Stroupe comment. Those Thor helmets were unlike any other helmet design ever. They must have sold 20 million of those. I had a matte black one and I was faster wearing it.
- Jimmy Albertson on the 702 Suzuki had already gone pro at this time. He had ridden a handful of nationals in the summer of 2006 on his Yamaha and then made the move to Suzuki for the 2007 East Region. I can’t remember if he was hurt for most of that series, but his only result is a 16th at Indianapolis that SX season. He came out to World Mini to bang bars with his bff Trey Canard and crew,
- Who knew at this point that in a year Trey Canard would be leading the 250SX East Region points standings against a peak Ryan Villopoto? Canard signing with Factory Connection Honda at the time was groundbreaking and it started a new era for how the teams brought on amateur riders.
- I miss No Fear.
- I always wondered why Trey wore No Fear helmets at this time when the rest of the team wore Shoei. Canard made the switch to Shoei in 2008, so I’m assuming it was just a contract issue. I’ll ask him.
- Also in this clip we see a glimpse of PJ Larsen, who was also on Xtreme Team Green. He would have a great final amateur season in 2008 before moving to the pro side on the Canidae Motosport Kawasaki team, which was Bobby Hewitt taking the XTG team to the pro ranks.
