Troy Dog
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Hometown races are the best. We’re always super busy here at vurbmoto and making sure our Shred Tours are as awesome as possible is a full-time job in itself. So, we put a lot of time in effort into those and most of our air and road miles. As a crew we usually hit up around ten supercross races a year in some sort of capacity. Whether that means it’s Wes and crew filming a project, me doing what I do, or one of our high ranking contributors doing some photo and written work.
Either way, we make time for Monster Energy Supercross. Indy is my home race. I live only about an hour and a half away and I think I’ve only missed the event three times since 2003. So, this year naturally I chose it to be my season debut, since my big switch to full-time duties here.
I loaded up my esteemed contributor Ginger Dog and off we went to one of our favorite cities ever. The commute went quick, I didn’t get lost, and we got there early. I told you, I’m amazing with directions.
We did manage to park a mile away from the stadium as we were trying to channel our inner Weege and not shell out $40 for event parking. So, it was a cool morning walk. We had our iced Dunkin coffees and it was a vibe.
Then, as we made our way to the exact spot that the Media Will Call trailer has been for the last ten years, I noticed something…
It wasn’t there. It was either invisible, moved or gone forever. I asked three event security guards if they had any idea since a map of the event didn’t exist. I was sent three different places before I spotted it on my own in the far back left of the pits and across the street. We got our passes and walked into the pits to the tunnel below the stadium.
I had an important deadline that I had to get done and I didn’t have much time for small talk, but I did see HEP team owner Dustin Pipes, so I went over to talk to him. In our conversation he finally found out that Ginger Dog is a teacher and I’ve never seen him so excited to talk about something in his life. He wasn’t even that excited after Ken Roczen’s first win with the team last year! So, as those two talked about school and teaching I started thinking about my super important deadline. We had to go.
I walked towards the tunnel and was kicked out. My “track access” wristband just didn’t make the cut for the security guard and we were told to go to gate 5 for entrance. We walked out the only way we could on the other side of the pits. That’s when Ginger and I ran into MX Sports’ Tim Cotter. I’ve never had a chance to meet him, so I introduced myself to him and he said some nice things about Vurb. I showed him where the Media Will Call Trailer was located and we parted ways.
Then WE finally set off for gate 5. My deadline now was several hours late, but like whatever man, I didn’t realize that the stadium was so on lockdown. We made our way in through gate 5, took the elevator to the press box and I hammered out my deadline.
By this time it was almost time for practice to start, so we went down to get a closer look at the track and to get a vibe. I wanted to see the guys figure the lines out and see how they dealt with the SOFT conditions. But seriously, the next person who says that the track is soft is getting their head shaved. That means YOU Cade.
Speaking of shaved heads. I went by the Beta truck and they had their plastic up to keep the wind out. Benny Bloss, who threatened me all week, couldn’t see me and he had his chance. Grant Harlan, who was in a horrible mood, also had his chance. However, as you would expect, I won. I kept my hair and I’ll never shave my head. You guys lose.
Anyway back to practice, Ken Roczen was the first rider to start jumping from the roller before the whoops into the whoops. The only other rider that I saw try that was Jett and that would be a story come night show. Also, at one point in the last five minutes of each A practice the board couldn’t keep up with the amount of fast laps that were being put in.
A rider who really stuck out to me in practice was Justin Barcia. He was trying to get out front first in every session and was throwing whips and looking comfortable. That was great to see. He hasn’t quite been the same rider this year, but he does have a podium finish. I think he will close out the season strong because Indy was a big step in the right direction.
I finally had the chance to meet up with my good friend and Vurb contributor Denny Stephenson. He watched practice with us and provided some of his insight to some of the riders. He told me stories about racing Ultracross events in Indy back in the late ’80s, which were his first events inside a stadium. I thought that was pretty cool. We talked about the RCA Dome as well.
After practice GDog and I went out to the pits to see if we could learn anything. The pits were packed, which was nice to see. but most of the riders were either hiding or going to dinner. Others weren’t in a good mood. I stopped by to say hi to Julien Perrier the owner of Partzillla PRMX, but he wasn’t around. Cade and I talked on the phone for a minute, but he was getting something more important accomplished and Marshal Weltin was getting dinner.
We stopped by to see Justin Starling before the LCQ. I brought the vibes, we vlogged, and talked about his upcoming venture into Dadhood. I’m not saying that it’s a coincidence that he went out and made his first main event of the season. Speaking of LCQs, can we just have those all season? That 450 one was insanity from the gate drop. Chiz ended up Chizzing, but behind him the battle of Starling, Simonson, Breece, Noren, and Harlan was unforgettable. All race long these guys were going for it and it was one of the best races of the day.
Then Ginger Dog and I went upstairs to get posted up in the pressbox for the night show. She was helping me Tweet and keep an eye on news going on social media.
I’m not goiing to sit here and break down the race, but I will say that the place was packed. I was a little bummed that opening ceremonies started ten minutes late for all of the fans. They had to rush the show a bit, and that’s something that people look forward to when coming to these races. Hometown Cowboy AP had the biggest applause and it would have been louder had he let me be his hat holder, but oh well.
After the race we headed down to the press conference and I had the chance to ask a question that has been on my mind all season. I wanted to know where this season ranked in terms of roughest conditions and weather with the top three. Jett said it was his first season and didn’t want to comment, but Chase and Kenny weighed in agreeing that it has been one of the roughest, at least in a while. I also asked Haiden Deegan what he had to do to put Birmingham behind him and focus on the task as hand. He didn’t seem to want to talk about last week too much, but mentioned that he’s still behind the eight ball as far as getting injured before the season, so he’s been trying to focus on getting back to where he should be, Indy was a step in the right direction.
After the press conference, we gave Denny a ride back to the hotel because we were staying at the same one and called it a night. We ended up walking 9 miles on the day and Ginger Dog’s dogs were barking.
I’m not sure if we will make it to anymore supercross races this season, it depends on my Shred Tour schedule coming up, but it’s always nice to see some familiar faces at the track. IF I do go to one it will be Nashville. We’ll keep you posted. I really don’t want to miss out on that!
Main Image: Octopi Media
