Troy Dog
Each year, Aaron Plessinger gets a new calendar and he rips out the other 11 months of the year, only leaving the month of July. He then takes his red, white, and blue sharpies and circles RedBud weekend and hangs it up on his fridge.
He shakes out his majestic Kentucky Waterfall and practices yelling REDBUUUD! in the mirror until he hits one that pleases him. It doesn’t take long, but this ritual is necessary.
Then he goes into his closet, which I’m assuming is only filled with about forty-five of these shirts…and puts one on.
I mean, hey, when you find something that you like, you have to buy more of them right? Well, this is all the man likes. He loves the United States of America, fans, patriotism, dirtbikes, mullets, airhorns, mustaches, Dale Earnhardt, fireworks, and REDBUD!
“I love everything about this race,” Plessinger said in the press conference. “The vibe it brings, the way the fans act, how many people are out there cheering, and this race in general brings a different aura and it is unbelievable.”
RedBud is somewhat of a home race for Plessinger, I mean WE do claim it as our own, as we grew up less than five hours South. Ironman is amazing too, as that is the real home race, but RedBud is just different, it’s been on the tour longer, the vibe is crazier, and AP explained why it gets him going.
“It’s two days after the Fourth of July and people still have that patriotism, man,” Plessinger said. “They’re celebrating America’s birthday and I love everything about that.”
Seeing AP on the podium at RedBud is the equivalent to watching my children show up to a new playground to explore. The excitement is unmatched and it stays for days on end. It’s a party.
“When I get up there I feed off of that energy,” Plessinger added. “I feed off what the fans are giving me and they were giving me a lot, so I was trying to return the favor.”
Also, if you watched the broadcast and you had a keen eye you may have noticed a really cool moment for Ohio Motocross. When AP came down to the fence line to spray his champagne on the crowd, he of course found Evan the Deer (more on him later), but he also found an old friend in Steven Mages. Mages is one of the fastest riders to come out of Ohio and he had a successful Amsoil Arenacross career, winning main events. Growing up he had a Team Green ride for several seasons, but out of nowhere in the 85cc days, he switched to a Plessinger Cycles KTM deal for one year.
These two enjoying this moment, relishing in Plessinger’s success, was a big deal to Ohio motocross. They aren’t just friends, they are family, and they’ve been spending time at the races together since they were kids and it’s cool to see them both still at the races in one way or another. Mages is the one in the Axcel Energy hat and American flag sunglasses that clearly says, ‘I love you, bro!’
I think it’s fair at this point to name AP the official President of RedBud. We’d say the King of RedBud, but you know, Democracy and stuff in America, so it just makes sense.
AP is a gem and a podium at RedBud is enough to give him that energy to comeback to life in this final half of the season to battle with Hunter Lawrence and Chase Sexton for some wins.
Long live AP and long live RedBud!
Main Image: Octopi Media
