Troy Dog’s Shack: Introducing the Elite Athlete Program

I started a team. I don’t really know how or why, but here I am signing riders left and right like Star Racing on a random Tuesday. I’m proud to announce the Troy Dog Squad Elite Athlete Program. In 2022 I will be fielding a four rider team of super athletes that will be running my stickers on their helmets and wearing my merch. 

Where do I even begin to explain what “this” is? Let’s go back really quick to the first week of January 2021. My longtime buddy Kyle Chisholm hit me up to see if I wanted to be a part of his program. The company I work for had supported him at a race in the past. With the pandemic in full pandemonium at that point I knew the answer was no, but I wanted to help my friend. I went to the Vurb creative team of Bird and Chili Dog–definitely not Slaw. 

Chiz had joked and said “Hey, man, we could even put your face on my bike.” Like Michael Jordan said in The Last Dance, “I took that personally.” 

We had world famous designer Mike Fisher create the masterpiece that you’ve come to see all over now. My portrait is now the mark of superiority in the industry. If you have ME on your helmet then that means that you have been hand selected to represent my brand. It’s an honor and truly a way of life to represent the Troy Dog Squad. 

Before we get to the announcement, I want to give a quick shoutout to Mike Fisher and Braden Baumer of Dabaum Designs. Without their amazing creativity I wouldn’t have any of this and I realize that. These two have done an amazing job helping me with my logos. Thank you, gentlemen.

Now without further ado…I present the Troy Dog Squad Elite Athlete Program riders for 2022! 

Grant Harlan

Har Dog makes his return to the Troy Dog Squad for 2022! Well, you could argue that he never left after signing on as our first athlete to run the brand for more than one race. I mean, the dude even comes out and handles business deals at my house (The Dog Shack) from time to time, and to argue with Ginger Dog about sleeping on the floor instead of the nice spare bedroom she made all “cute for him”. Anyway, we wouldn’t be here without our Har Dog. He will be contesting the 250SX East Region on his Ti Lube Honda. We will announce his outdoor plans when it’s time, but just know that every race he goes to in 2022, WE will be represented on the helmet. Don’t forget that Harlan was sitting inside of the top ten in 250SX East points this past season with a career high fifth at Indianapolis 2 before his injury at Daytona. Har Dog is on the come up and WE are excited to see what this new season brings. 

Justin Starling

Star Dog will be contesting 450SX on his newly announced FXR/SKDA/JSR Motorsports GASGAS ride. The cool thing about Starling’s new deal is that it’s his own team and he signed a multi-year deal with the title sponsor! We have big plans for Star Dog, who will be our only rider on a 450 in Supercross. It also is pretty cool that Starling signed with us because he is a vurbmoto OG from back when the company started. Chili Dog has terabytes of footage of a little Star Pup, so we will have to dig into the archives for some never before seen clips. 

While we negotiated the deal, which didn’t take very long, Starling said that he, “wants to Troy Dog the world.” I’m assuming this means that he’s getting the logo tattooed on him, getting it spray painted on his lawn, and putting my portrait up in every room of his house. Look guys, it’s a lifestyle and Star Dog is IN. We’ve got some cool stuff planned already that WE think you’re going to like at the races. Star Dog told me that he gets his best results when he’s having fun and with me around it’s about to be the MOST fun year of SX he’s ever had. 

Ashton Bloxom

I signed Ash Dog midweek during Loretta Lynn’s just like Bobby Reagan would. If you’re tired of me telling that joke, well that sucks for you. My Elite Amateur Athlete here is racing Loretta’s this year and as many Lucas Oil Pro Motocross rounds as he can get to after on his Troy Dog Squad Yamaha. That’s right, I just created a team name for his racing efforts. He’s racing College and 250 Pro Sport, just like he did last this past summer. We have our goals set already and we know what we need to do. Ash Dog is ALL in on the Squad and he’s a very important piece to our R&D Department when it comes to merch. Bloxom is every team manager’s dream because he fights through adversity and never gives up no matter what gets thrown at him. We are going to have a great 2022!

Luke Renzland

I’m not going to lie, I went after Dozer Dog here maybe a little too hot. That’s what happens in business sometimes. I had to have him on the program. I sought him out specifically at Ironman a few months ago to have him run my sticker on his helmet. He did. Then he took me to the Baja Brawl and won a championship with me. After that he took me to GNCC racing and then after that he took me to a J Day Off-road Series race. The point of the story here is that Dozer Dog only races two strokes and his schedule is so unique that he races all over the board. I’m begging anyone to take notice of this. He’s almost got a Ryan Sipes program, but on two strokes. Why wouldn’t I want to support that? All of us here at vurbmoto love two strokes, especially Chili Dog. I’m not sure what his schedule is as of yet, but I’m assuming he will mix in some outdoors, GNCC, J-Day, and any other fun races that he wants, and he will do it with my program. 

That’s the lineup. A lot of work went into this deal. It’s four riders who are racing four different schedules in 2022. I wanted to make sure I covered all of my bases and that we were represented at as many races as possible. I think I accomplished that. Stay tuned to this dirtbike website for an insane amount of coverage on these four Elite Athletes, give them a follow on social media if you don’t already, and make sure you go and ask them for stickers and autographs at the races. These guys will be running my face on their helmets and that’s incredible. We’ve got a big year ahead of us and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish. We will see you at the races.