Benny Bloss has suffered a knee injury this week that will see him sitting out the entire 2019 Supercross series for his Team Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM team and he’ll be replaced by Justin Bogle.
Bloss injured the knee in a practice crash this week, and after having a MRI done it has been discovered that he has a torn ACL that will require surgery to repair. “Benny has been riding and progressing so well, it’s heartbreaking to Benny, his family, and the team. Benny has been with us since being a rookie in the summer of 2016, and 2019 was really ‘the year’ we were all ready to see what he could do. Really, there isn’t much to say as there are other injuredriders too, or ones that have been there. We say it’s not fair, butit’s part of the sport and instead of wishing what could have been,it’s time to just focus ahead, get surgery and put in the hard work to be ready for the 2019 Motocross Nationals”, says team ownerForrest Butler.
BennyBloss had this to say, “It was the silliest crash and there was nothing spectacular about it, extremely frustrating. I landed off a triple, and just went to the inside to make a new line, nothing crazy. I hit a slick spot and just lost the rear end doing the standard slide out, unfortunately, I had my leg fully committed and it got pinned under the handlebar and the ground. I knew I caught it at a bad angle, and that’s pretty much end of the story – just the worstpossible position I could have slid out in, and now it’s off to get my ACL fixed. I am young though, I have a lot of good people and sponsors behind me, I already have surgery scheduled as of today and have my full vision set on making the start of the Outdoors”.
With the unfortunate loss of Bloss before the start of the 2019 Supercross season, the team has been able to secure the services of another top 450 rider. Team Rocky Mountain ATV/MC – KTM – WPS is proud to announce the signing of the 2014 250 East Coast SX Champion, and 2017 450 Budds Creek National Winner – #19 Justin Bogle. Bogle, young himself to the 450 Supercross class in what will only be his 4th year in the premier class, has the team extremely excited to work with the young star.
“As much as it hurts to watch Benny go down, we are a race team and we were very fortunate to get the opportunity to have Justin come in to join the team for the entire SX series. Justin has been a rider I have always been a fan of, I believe has incredible 450 bike skills, and I look forward to seeing what we can build over the course of the season”, says team manager Michael Byrne. The team will see Bogle launch alongside his new teammate Blake Baggett next weekend at the season opener in Anaheim, CA. Bogle will be participating in pressday riding on Friday Jan. 4th, where most media will have a chance tosee the #19 on his new KTM 450 SX-F.
Justin Bogle had to say of his new gig, “I am really humbled by the opportunity to be able to join the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC – KTM – WPS team. I know it’s last minute, and it’s been a bit of a roller coaster the last couple of weeks, but I really couldn’t be more excited for this opportunity. This team is more than proven, the KTM is arguably the best bike out there and I am again just really excited to throw my leg over the bike and get to work in the coming days. Thank you to all of the sponsors of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC – KTM – WPS team for having me join the team. And I also want to give a special thanks to all of my personal sponsors for being supportive of me taking this opportunity. I truly thank everyone of you, as well as wish Benny a speedy recovery. Now it’s time to go racing!”