Jeremy McGrath
Long live the King

Everyone knows there is only one king of rock-n-roll, and that is indisputably Elvis. There have been countless great drivers in NASCAR, but Richard Petty is the king. The same is true in the sport of Supercross; There is one all-time record holder for Supercross main event wins and titles. He may also hold the record for the most nicknames, of which MC, JMac, Mac Attack, Super Mac, the King and Showtime are but a few.
Such is the enduring legacy of Jeremy McGrath and how he conquered the world of Supercross racing… For that he has been acknowledged.

How he forever changed Supercross, and literally the essence of what it was to be a professional motorcycle racer, he has not been given his due…until now.
Everyone has that one friend who is predictably late to go riding. Jeremy McGrath is not that guy. He showed up on time, bike ready and enthusiasm gauge reading full. Here is a guy that has logged countless hours on dirt bikes and doing magazine articles, and he is still pumped to get the show on the road and off the road. Today, we will do more of the latter. It is a weekday and the National Forest is ours to go land surfing on behemoth bikes. MC has the new Kawasaki KLR 650 and I am aboard Yamaha’s T7. Neither are single track friendly steeds, but fun and competent bikes all the same. Before we leave, we step into the shop for one more cup of coffee and a quick chat. The stage was preset with a bevy of McGrath toys and collectibles, which launched our first conversation.

The Boy Who Would Be King
The storied career of Jeremy McGrath started with humble beginnings.
His Dad, Jack, was a recreational rider and no doubt exposed the young Jeremy to the world of two wheels. That seed sprouted the passion in Jeremy’s soul for motorcycles. It wasn’t long before he set his eyes on what would be his first bike. The object of his attention turned out to be a 60’s era, Cat mini bike that was literally submerged in hardened mud up to the handlebars. It was almost as if it sprouted out of the ground for young Jeremy to find. The buried treasure was eventually excavated and resurrected to become his first motorized two-wheeler.
While the tube chassis and lawnmower-style engine were minimalist in nature, they proved to have a maximum effect on the burgeoning, adventurous spirit in the adolescent McGrath. The plumbing pipe exhaust did little for performance, but made all the right noises when the throttle cable was stretched to piano wire tension.
A used Yamaha GT80 soon followed and was the next step up in machinery. Spoke wheels, a two-stroke engine and motorcycle styling were big time when it came to backyard play bikes.
A ’77 Suzuki RM80 was next in the line of succession and was finally a real race bike, at least for the day. Jeremy was starting to find his riding groove and it wasn’t on the ground. It was jumping; Getting air was his favorite thing to do. Turns and straightaways were just the stuff that led to the next jump. Flying, weightless, was where it was at and he was good at it. Maybe a little too good, because at one point he broke the forks completely off the frame. Regardless, he enjoyed showing off for his friends and folks so much that his dad nicknamed him, “Showtime.” Yup, it goes back that far.

Pumping the brakes
On one of the countless days out riding with his cousin Travis, Jeremy had a get-off that left him sprawled out and “dirt napping” on the unpaved road. As expected, Momma McGrath was none too keen on the risk factors that went along with a young boy and a motorcycle. She put the kibosh on the dirt bike in short order and steered Jeremy towards BMX racing. A natural competitor, he excelled quickly, rising through the ranks, landing a factory BMX ride and becoming a top rider on the national scene. That maternal detour from motorcycling would prove invaluable, not only to his future, but also to the future of the sport. While he openly admits that he was not the best BMX racer in the country, he was still very good. More importantly the skills he honed in BMX racing transferred over to Supercross in ways that no one would have expected.

Seemed like a good place to stop talking and start riding. After all we were burning daylight. On the way to the first trailhead Jeremy’s Maxxis rear tire was spitting off knobbies like it was bullets out of a machine gun. After flagging him over and inspecting the situation we found that his new rear tire was slightly too wide with the big Kawi swingarm. No worries… MC just rode it to a custom fit; A funny way to start a funny ride. Off the asphalt and on to the terra firma we went and the bike suddenly became a lot more fun. Coupe de Ville, flat out on a dirt road kind of fun. I could tell that Jeremy was digging the mountain as much as the machine and that is always a great combo. After the 30-minute sprint to “Arm Pump Corner,” we took a breather and the conversation turned towards his early years of racing.

Ascension to the throne
By today’s standards, Jeremy was a late bloomer, not entering his first motocross race (on a motorcycle) until he was 14 in 1985. He only rode the Junior class for six months before advancing to Intermediate. By 16 he turned Pro. In 1989 he finished 8th in the 125 West Region of Supercross. In 1990, he won his first Supercross in Las Vegas on a KX125, finishing 2nd in the west region supercross series.
That accomplishment did not go unnoticed by team boss Mitch Payton at Pro Circuit. He hired Jeremy on to his Splitfire Honda squad soon thereafter. In doing so, Mitch gave MC the tools he needed to win the West Region championship in 1991 and 1992.
The pattern of dominance was starting to emerge and Jeremy was now bonafide “hot property.” American Honda adamantly wanted to keep him under their wing so they signed him to a multi-year deal. He rewarded their confidence in him with three Supercross championships in a row!
His win streaks were mind blowing and boring at the same time. The fans piled into the stadiums and in front of TVs across the country in anticipation of great races. For a spectator, a great race is one where the win is up for grabs until the checkered flag. When Jeremy was in his prime (which was a long damn time), he erased any and all doubt as to who was the best Supercross racer… There was McGrath, and then there was everyone else.

His BMX experience dovetailed perfectly with the Supercross environment. The man-made jumps, whoops and bowl turns were a larger version of the track on which he had cut his teeth. The techniques he learned to go fast on a bicycle paid big dividends on a motorcycle. In BMX, you are the engine and need every minuscule advantage you can gain through maintaining momentum and keeping the wheels driving on the ground. Minimizing the height over jumps while still getting the necessary distance are all fundamental skills to becoming a good BMX racer, and nobody had ever transitioned them to SX before Jeremy. His highly talented competition was left scratching their heads at what he was able to do. For MC it was natural. In his own words, “Supercross was something I was born to do.”

Helmets back on and kick stands up, we were soon cutting and carving our way through the mountains that surround Big Bear Lake. Watching McGrath on the KLR would make anyone want to buy one. He made it look so capable and easy to ride at pace. Darting in and out of the forest shadows, feet up, head up and haulin’. You just can’t ignore his natural talent and intuitive riding. The next hour and a half literally flew by. Before I knew it, we were pulling into our lunch stop.

Weight of the crown
While perusing the cafe menu I thought about how the weight of the crown (celebrity) has been the downfall for so many. When you are at the top the only place to go is down. Not so for Jeremy McGrath. Whether it was being raised as a commoner or his own moral compass, he avoided the narcissistic tendencies that often come with fame and fortune. He has remained affable, approachable and most of all, he has remained himself. Not an easy task when you are a young, testosterone-driven man, shy on the wisdom that comes with life experience. Navigating and negotiating that road can be a perilous endeavor when you consider the heights from which you would fall. Jeremy not only made it through, he did so with a signature style and grace.

The Long Reign

So, Jeremy, you won your first SX over 30 years ago… how has your perspective of life and racing changed?
MC: 30 years ago, I was at the beginning of my career and solely focused on that. Today I have a wife, two daughters and various business interests that I focus on. Don’t get me wrong, I still love riding my dirt bike, probably more than most ex-racers, but I have a very full life. I am the brand ambassador for Kawasaki, Maxxis, ARMA, and TLD so that allows me opportunities to do many things that I otherwise might not get to do. They have lots of different products so I get to go to different venues. It keeps things interesting.

How has your perspective of motorcycling/off roading in general changed?
MC: My job still involves riding but I don’t have to race at a professional level. That allows me to enjoy the ride, as they say. Dual sporting up here in the mountains is a perfect example. Driving side-by-sides with the family in Utah is another. It’s all fun.

Do old injuries plague you?
MC: I recently had a knee replacement but it went well and I have no trouble with riding. So, I am good.

Epic Battles

Battle with Lamson at the LA Coliseum in ’97
MC: I am still not sure what that was about. I had just switched from Honda to Suzuki and he took me out twice in the main. Before that we were not only teammates, we were friends. Not after that night. We never discussed it, which might seem weird, but we just didn’t.

Battle with RC at A2 in ’01
MC: I won two of the first three SX mains in 2001, so it felt like business as usual. A2 would turn out to be different. Carmichael had been training and he was simply in better shape than I was. He put an aggressive pass on me in a right hander and when we came to the following left, he pulled up to the top of the berm and waited. I think he was anticipating a “payback” but I just went low and tried to gap him. He never passed me again but he hung close until the end. In doing so, he realized he could run my pace and that gave him the confidence he was missing. Sometimes that is all it takes.

Battle with Honda over Yamaha watercraft
MC: The Yamaha watercraft issue was exaggerated by the press. That was not what ended my association with Honda. It is true that there was a photo of me riding the Yamaha watercraft, but Honda did not want me getting hurt on any watercraft, much less a competing brand. The real issue that caused me to want to leave Honda was the ’97 alloy frame 250. I crashed hard twice testing it in Japan. Then, while we were testing at Glen Helen in November of ’96, I just knew I couldn’t race it at the level I needed to. So, we sought out other options. Suzuki stepped up, so I went that direction.

Battle with Emig in St. Louis ’96
MC: I still watch that race pretty often, just to make sure that I still feel the same way about it. I don’t really look at that race as a battle with Emig as much as I look at it as a combination of bad factors. I got a bad start, had to fight my way through the pack and LaRocco ran me off the track. When you combine those elements in any race, they don’t usually add up to a win. I still finished second and still won the championship. It would have been nice to have a perfect season, but winning the championship was the goal.

Battle with No Fear
MC: Jeff Surwall was behind that venture and while it got off to a rocky start with the Fox debacle, the brand did good and we made money. I was a paid racer and owned a portion of the company, so I was getting compensation on two sides. That was all agreed up front and was working, but Jeff decided at one point that I shouldn’t get paid as a racer, even though I was out there winning races wearing the gear. I told him that I would go get a gear sponsor from another brand and I did just that with THOR. He eventually agreed to buy me out, and even that turned out good for me.

Battle with KTM
MC: At the end of the 2002 season, Yamaha Race Team Director, Keith McCarty told me that they were going to give half of the money I was making in ’02 to Vuillemin for the ’03 season. I had won three SX titles for them and finished 3rd in ’02, so to my way of thinking they were nuts to give that money to a guy who hadn’t won any SX championships. I sure wasn’t going to ride for a 50% pay cut and be the number two guy on the team, so I went to KTM. It was not the KTM team they are today, nor was it the quality of bike they produce today. They promised me that they had a new bike in development and I would get to race that. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and they expected me to ride the old bike, which was just not up to the task. I crashed hard in pre-season training and dislocated my hip. I recovered as much as I could from that before having to head to the European rounds that were included in the series that year. I won one, but it was a constant struggle. Finally, I just came to grips with the fact that I needed to retire or end up more injured than I already was. I wanted to beat Yamaha and show them that they made a mistake, but the KTM wasn’t the bike to get the job done.

Battle with Don Maeda
MC: Don Maeda was working at Transworld Motocross magazine at the time and he wanted to do a photoshoot with me as I was making the transition to the No Fear gear. My contract had not yet expired with Fox so I made it very clear that he could not publish any photos until the No Fear contract was in effect. Problem was, he went ahead and published pics of me in No Fear gear in an effort to get the scoop on everyone else. He accomplished that goal but I got sued by Fox.

Battle with Mitch Payton (Suspension)
MC: There was a time I was riding a KX on Team Green and Pro Circuit was doing my suspension. I was struggling with the bike and I wanted to try someone else. So, I went to PC and talked to Mitch about it. He basically told me that I was the problem, not the suspension, and that I was never going to amount to anything in the sport. I left in tears but it might have given me a little more motivation to prove him wrong.

Battle with Kim’s cancer
MC: In 2010 my wife Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had to endure 15 months of chemo treatments, surgeries, ongoing pain and unthinkable fear. Then, when we thought the worst was behind us, she was diagnosed with leukemia. The nightmare of chemo treatments, medications, hospitalization and more continued. There were nights I just laid in bed and cried at the thought of our girls having to grow up without their mom, and me without my wife. All we could do is not give up, and we didn’t. Eventually, we found the right donors, the right doctors and the right determination to get through it. Hands down, it was the hardest battle of my life and my family’s.

Battle with Jeff Emig
MC: Jeff and I were rivals for sure. I didn’t like him much back then and I imagine he didn’t like me much either, but that is how it goes in racing. We battled some in SX but much more in MX. I was not a natural motocross guy. I had to work at it, but once I decided I was going to do what it took to win outdoors I did pretty well. I won the 250 motocross title in 1995 and was headed for a repeat title in ’96, but I got a little overconfident and hurt myself on a jump at Millville. I struggled with the injury for the rest of the season. It was still close in points at the end, but not close enough.

What would you do to make Pro Motocross better?
MC: Three things: Have less races, not disc the track so deep and have a shorter program on the day.

What would you do to make Supercross better?
MC: I would slow down the track design and have alternate rhythms sections so everyone isn’t doing the same thing.
I also think that the capabilities of a current 450 have outgrown the size of a baseball stadium.
It used to require more skill to do certain sections and now a 450 will clear them 20 yards out of a corner and everyone can do it.
I would like to see more of an emphasis on the human element and rider talent.

With that we paid the bill and headed for the door. The bikes were right where we parked ‘em, just like a couple of horses outside a saloon. We saddled up and headed off to the afternoon loop that chased the sun west. As we rode, I thought about how light in the mountains changes a lot of things. It is a different place in the morning than it is in the afternoon. The same place but the visual perspective makes it very different. Jeremy McGrath is a lot like that. He is the same guy but his perspective and ours have changed.

Legacy of a Legend
There is no doubt many will achieve greatness as the years roll by but there will only ever be one King of Supercross. That is not an opinion as much as a widely accepted fact. What hasn’t been equally as acknowledged is how Jeremy McGrath proved the value of loving what you do. He is the first motorcycle champion whose love of riding his motorcycle superseded his talent, work ethic and his determination. He achieved greatness not because he was the most fit or the most gnarly rider on the planet. No, he became a champion because he loved riding his dirt bike more than anything (family aside). If you question that assessment, look at how he raced. He went hard for a few laps, pulled a gap and then enjoyed himself. He didn’t make it a grind. He made it fun and he still does. Follow him on any of the social media and you will see a very happy, content Jeremy McGrath riding his dirt bike… a lot.
You will wish you were MC all over again.
This approach to professional racing won’t work for everyone, but it certainly worked for Jeremy. It also rubbed off on some guy named Travis, who has done pretty well for himself on two wheels.

But that, as they say, is another story.