Securing The Bag | Throttle Syndicate Bounty
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A few weeks ago Todd Ford and Ryan Pursley, partners in graphics company Throttle Syndicate, asked if I could help with a project they had started. As a sponsor to both Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM Throttle Syndicate’s products are always on display at the races, and they wanted to connect directly with the riders and teams with a contest. Called “The Bounty,” it’s a cash payout to a Throttle Syndicate-supported rider if they win a 250 Main Event a select round of the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series. The promotion was launched at Anaheim One, but Colt Nichols’ win meant the money stayed in the Throttle Syndicate account until Adam Cianciarulo won at Glendale and Shane McElrath won at Anaheim Two.
Because Atlanta was the first of two 250 East-West Showdowns for the year, Todd and Ryan wanted to do something a little bigger. For one week, 25-percent of the sales from the online store at throttlesyndicate.com went into The Bounty and ballooned the total to 4000-dollars. With that sort of money on the line, Todd and Ryan added a new detail to the deal and instead of the race winner getting every dollar, it was decided that the fifth-place finisher in the 250 LCQ should get a piece. The new payout allotted 1000-dollars to the rider that came up short of making the Main Event, regardless of if they had a connection to Throttle Syndicate or not and put the 3000-dollars of the money into the pocket of a Throttle Syndicate-backed racer if they won. But if a Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki or Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM rider didn’t win, all of the money was going to that fifth-place finisher. There was a lot on the line for all involved.
Now that you have some background on The Bounty, I figured you’d enjoy hearing about the actual process of getting the money and handing it out. Throttle Syndicate’s Valencia office is over a hundred miles and hours of LA traffic away from my apartment in San Diego County, so driving all the way up there amid a normal work week was out of the question. We decided that overnighting a check to my ATL hotel would be the easiest thing to do and on Friday evening it arrived via FedEx. Unfortunately, no banks were open by the time it was in my possession, so a quick stop on Saturday morning to an open Wells Fargo branch was going to be necessary.
This is a good time to fill you in on the general anxiety that was shared by myself and a few other people. Last year in Italy, all of the TWMX-owned camera equipment that I had was wheeled out of the pit area by someone other than me and never seen again. That incident and a frantic phone call resulted in a new nickname from swap and ever since, I have been referred to as “The Victim” whenever things go very, very wrong. When swap heard that I was going to be in possession of a substantial amount of someone else’s money, he was justifiably concerned and for the first time, I got nervous about walking around ATL with a pocket full of blue face hundred-dollar bills.
After some quick camera prep at the hotel, I was in the rental car and on my way to the Wells Fargo location that Google Maps recommended in the West End part of the city. I walked into the bank, saw the long line, and looked at the wallpaper that showed scenes of the civil rights movement and leaders. A great conversation with a woman in line about the 2Chainz listening party she went to the night before and the influence Atlanta is having on music, movies, and food made the 20-minutes fly by and soon enough, I was next in line to talk to a teller that stood behind a few inches of bulletproof glass. Turns out a Saturday morning withdraw of 4000-dollars isn’t a quick transaction. Following a phone call by the teller to Ryan for approval and repeated counts of the cash, an envelope of money was in my pocket and I dashed back to the car.
Aside from Adam Cianciarulo, who graciously shot an impromptu social media shout-out for Throttle Syndicate, no one saw the money on Saturday morning. I decided that it would be best kept my camera case in the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing hospitality rig, which Jess Harbour and Jenna Parker unknowingly guarded for the whole day (yeah, I later saw the similarities of my “Italian Job” but this time the case was put somewhere only a few people have access to and no one knew there was anything more than empty lens pouches inside). Once it was time for the night’s racing, the envelope went into the chest pocket of my Alpinestars media vest until the end of the 250 LCQ.
As exciting as the 250 LCQ was, I kept an eye on fifth place for the whole race. A handful of guys were in the mix and the fight for transfer spots into the Main Event went all the way to the checkered flag. Marshal Weltin, an American that spent the last few seasons in the MXGP series and is now a privateer that is coached by Broc Tickle, was the fifth-place finisher and I knew I needed to stop him before he rode out of the stadium. Weltin has been on the cusp of making a Main Event all year and Atlanta looked like it was going to be his breakthrough, as he was in the top-four until the last lap pass by Kyle Cunningham, so he was understandably frustrated when I got to him. The stack of Benny’s in my hand caught Marshal off guard. When I told him that he was getting a grand for his fifth-place finish, his mood instantly shifted from upset to surprised, and I explained that there was a chance he’d leave with more money if someone another than a Throttle Syndicate rider won the race.
Marshal Weltin, an American that spent the last few years racing in Europe, has been on the verge of making his first 250 Main Event all year. He finished fifth in the 250 LCQ in Atlanta, but took home 1000-dollars from the Throttle Syndicate Bounty. That took some of the sting of not making the Main Event away…
It became pretty evident that Weltin wasn’t going to get the rest of the money when Austin Forkner and Adam Cianciarulo started the Main Event at the head of the field. The two Pro Circuit riders came into ATL as the point leaders of their regions and the fifteen-minute plus one lap feature showed why their bikes are outfitted with the red plates right now. Forkner was admittedly hesitant in the whoops after a couple of practice crashes earlier in the day and Cianciarulo used section to set up the pass that earned himself the win and 3000-dollars, which I gave to him after the post-race press conference wrapped up.
Look, I know that riders of Cianciarulo’s status aren’t hurting for money, but it’s cool to see a sponsor go above and beyond for one of them when they win. And it was even cooler that Weltin, a guy that has no tie to Throttle Syndicate, left Atlanta with money he didn’t even know was being offered. I had a great time transferring the money to the guys, even if the responsibility raised my heart rate a few dozen beats for the full day, and I hope Throttle Syndicate brings The Bounty back for the 250 Showdown in Las Vegas. But Todd and Ryan, this time you guys are going to hold the money…
