Troy Dog
The last month of the 250SX East Region truly showed the potential that Gage Linville has in Monster Energy Supercross. Linville progressed throughout the duration of his rookie season and went from a top fifteen rider to knocking on the door for a top ten by the end.
Linville had the opportunity to race for the Dirt Bike Depot Team for the Supercross season. It’s a small crew that is led by owner Max Schwartz. This is the team’s second season on the tour and they’ve already been able to accomplish a lot for a group of privateer riders chasing the dream.
Linville has been working with his coach Ezra Lusk, who is on a results based agreement. If Linville continued to build and progress throughout the season then Lusk would continue to coach.
“I was getting a little worried in the middle of the season because I was getting better, but it wasn’t really showing,” Linville said on the Vurbmoto Podcast Network. “I was still getting 15-18th mark and in Indy I didn’t even make the show and that was a rough one for me. My holeshot device broke on the gate for the LCQ and just struggled all day there.”
The lowest point from the season was after Indianapolis for the rookie. He said that he had a conversation after that weekend with Lusk about the future of them working together. Their work ended up paying off as Linville reached a career best 11th place finish in Philadelphia three rounds later, which is the best result for the Dirt Bike Depot Team to date as well.
It was a good feeling when I crossed the line,” Linville said. “Then I rolled back to get my mechanic and I was like 1.2 seconds away from tenth and three seconds from ninth. It was good to get 11th, that’s my career best, that’s always great, but at the same time I was three seconds from ninth. So, that kind of floats to the back of the head. You’re always wanting more.”
The Philadelphia result paired nicely with Linville’s consistent qualifying laps and a battle with Star Racing Yamaha rookies Daxton Bennick and Nick Romano in the Nashville LCQ. Linville would finish second to another rookie, Julien Beaumer, in that LCQ and he opened more eyes for this performance.
When the news of Hunter Yoder’s knee injury was released, Partzilla PRMX’s Team Owner Julien Perrier sent me a message on Instagram saying that he was looking for a fill-in rider for the Canadian Triple Crown. On my short list of riders that I sent him, Gage Linville was one of them. Perrier was already seventeen steps ahead like always and said that he already had reached out to him. So, then I asked if I could race too and he also said yes, so I don’t know where I stand right now. Do I go to Canada too?
Anyway, Linville ended up getting the job as they announced over the weekend in an IG post.
The team expects big things out of Linville this summer and he does too. It’s crazy what one phone call can do for a rider. Linville was looking at doing five rounds of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on his own, but now he has the opportunity to fight for a Canadian Outdoor Championship.
The progression is happening for young Gage Linville and he’s not letting any opportunity go to waste!
Listen to the entire interview with Gage Linville on the Vurbmoto Podcast Network right now!
