Troy Dog
You’ve all seen the photo by now. Jerry Robin’s shoulder from the end of last season is something that you shouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, yet Robin RACED THE ENTIRE SEASON WITH IT LIKE THAT!
According to Robin, he had no choice but to race with it how it was at the time. He started off 2022 feeling the best he has ever felt and then got COVID to start the year and then two months later he destroyed his shoulder.
“Originally the first surgeon I talked to said that if I got it fixed that I’d be done racing,” Robin said. “I wouldn’t have the range of motion that I needed and that’s why I kept racing. They said my shoulder was never going to be the same, just because of how much damage I did to it. That was pretty difficult to deal with, especially since I thought I was going to be done, so that’s why I kept showing up every weekend.”
Robin kept grinding and showed up to all of the outdoor races and tried to enjoy possibly his last season of racing as much as he could. Jerry said that he couldn’t finish most of his second motos last season because he couldn’t even put his hand on the bar, as he said it would just kind of “dangle” there. He ended up getting a second opinion and now we know that Robin didn’t have to quit and got his shoulder bingo-bango ready to go-go.
The plan for Robin was to race a GASGAS in the 450 class this summer, but his sponsor FCC Motorsports had a 2023 Yamaha YZ450 laying around in a crate and they just gave it to Robin to race Pro Motocross.
The season opener at Fox Raceway went well considering Robin had ridden the Yamaha less than a handful of times before the race. Robin actually told me that he doesn’t have trouble adapting to different bikes and he can jump on anything and go fast. This is apparent throughout his career as he once made a name for himself racing his way to Loretta Lynns on a 1985 CR250*.
(*Side note: That bike still belongs to the Robin family and Jerry still rides it from time to time.)
As you’ve seen, Jerry went 8-14-10-9 for an 11th overall at Fox Raceway and an eighth overall at Hangtown. He currently sits ninth in points and has scored more points in the first two rounds than he scored all of last season combined. It’s been quite the comeback story.
“Now after two good weekends the main guys at Yamaha come over to my van and ask me if everything is all good,” Robin said. “It’s pretty cool, they actually let me place a big parts order yesterday and I’m getting a lot of support from them.”
So, the next time you feel like poking fun at Jerry for fantasy issues or whatever, make sure you know why he had trouble finishing motos. He’s now riding the best that he has in his career and is a nice surprise to the 450 class this year.
New shoulder. New Jerry. New goals.
Jerry wants to give a shoutout to FCC Motorsports, Mazda of Everett, RJC, MxCulture, Enzo, Dubya, Works Connection, Dunlop, Sunstar, FXR, 6D, Alpinestar, XBrand, Hinson, SKDA, VitalMX, FMF, ODI, ETS Fuel, and FCP for helping him get to the races this summer.
Main image: Jerry Robin IG
