Troy Dog’s Shack: 7 Reasons Why YOU Love Aaron Plessinger

As an ELITE journalist in the field of supercross and motocross I am not supposed to be biased. I must put my love for Kyle Chisholm aside sometimes and call it like I see it.

Although, Chiz gets a hall pass because he can do no wrong in my eyes. Here I go again on a Chiz tangent. My column is not about Chizzy this week, however I must mention him every week. 

Anyway, you clicked this to read the 7 reasons why WE (I am speaking for everyone at vurbmoto today, except Slaw, because he’s not SUPER fast on a dirtbike) love Aaron Plessinger. As I said earlier, as media we are not supposed to love anyone, so it will be 7 reasons why YOU love AP7. If you are reading this you are officially a member of the T-Doggo Squad, so I can speak for you. Did you keep track of all that?  

7.) Moto X Compound

Matt Walker and I used to text back and forth a lot when I worked at Racer X. Do not ask me why, we just did. At the time, Aaron was already a very good pro, but this was before his championships. If you do not know Matt he will tell you everything you need to know and in the process you feel like you are in the principal’s office getting told to never ever fart loudly in class again. He is a firm believer in his program, and he should be. It works. He has 834 amateurs racing at Loretta Lynn’s every year. Aaron was Moto X Compound’s first success story and look how far both MXC and Pless have come since then! Also, Matt Dog, if you are reading this, hit me up man.

6.) He Has an Incredible Memory

I wrote a feature story for Racer X Illustrated on AP in 2016 entitled “Out of the Woods”. If you have not read it, it took over the industry in my opinion and even Davey Coombs himself wrote to congratulate me. Anyway, I interviewed everyone from his father Scott to Bobby Reagan. I had Aaron on speed dial and we had so many phone conversations that even the CIA had to have been listening in. Fast forward to the end of 2018 after his two championship runs. We are at an Eastfork race together and I went up to thank him for his time again and to catch up. Well, Aaron had no idea about anything I was talking about and had no clue he had a feature story in Racer X. I swear, the disrespect is real.

5.) Always has Style

I’m not sure what you call Aaron’s riding style… but it is unique and obviously he makes it work. You kids can learn something from this. If you spend all your time trying to ride like Roczen or Tomac, you will never make it. You have to make your own style like Pless has. If you go fast then who cares! But who am I to tell you young whipper snappers how to make it in the dirtbike game? You do not know who I am, and Aaron sure doesn’t either.

4.) Fluff the Crowd

I have said it once and I will say it again. If you do not thank or acknowledge the fans every time you step onto the podium then you are doing yourself a disservice. AP7 thanked the crowd at Daytona after fighting back tears about how hard the past two seasons have been for him. Then on top of that he yelled “DO IT FOR DALE!” That was the icing on the cake for a podium well deserved and it made the crowd very moist in the process. Good work all around.

Aaron Plessinger, FINALLY, has a podium finish in @SupercrossLIVE 450.

And after doing so at @Daytona, has a message: "DO IT FOR DALE. WOO!" pic.twitter.com/hv9cmEdWS7

— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) March 7, 2021

3.) Remembers His Roots

I said he remembers his roots and not that he remembers Troy Dog, got it? Literally the dude grew up bouncing off trees and jumping tree roots in the woods with GNCC racing. He’s talked to ME in interviews where he said he plans to go back to racing GNCCs after his current chapter of SX and MX is over. Do you understand how jacked up those races will be when he signs up for an entire season of woods racing? People do not forget.

2.) Loyal

SO FAR so good as far as loyalty is concerned for the Plessinger camp. He’s ridden for the Blu Cru since he was on an 85cc. The brand has not given up on him even after some rough injuries and it is nice to see both parties working together for so long. Bobby Reagan must think of the dude as his own son at this point. Plessinger and Yamaha have been together so long that we can almost call him Doug Dubach Jr.

1.) Never Gives Up

It is a great story. Champions always hit some rough spots during their career. The past two years could not have been much fun for Plessinger. Whether it came from bike setup, injuries, or confidence issues the first two seasons in the 450 class have been tough for the Ohio native. He would start to build and put together some nice results and then he would have a bad injury and must claw his way back. A career best third place finish two years later at the same event that started the injuries is a nice present from the moto gods.  Hopefully, Aaron can show us his true potential this second half of the season and keep the ball rolling. I respect his drive…even though he does not remember me.

BTW: Despite my new fame and constant harassment, Bird Dog has not delivered a title sponsor for Troy Dog’s Shack. If you have monies send them to Bird AND DEMAND you want more of me.

Also, use the code troydog at checkout on vurbmoto.com/shop to earn a 0% discount on all the amazing merch items that WE have for sale. It keeps us going, allows us to travel to cover cool events, and allows Troy Dog to continue his influencing. It also allows Jeff Simpson to not mention me each week in his VMZ rundowns.

If you want to get in touch with Troy Dog you can email him at [email protected], whether it be a story idea, to talk about a previous column, or even if it is to say hi. Troy will answer all emails sent. Also be sure to follow @troydogvurb on Instagram and Twitter.