A Glimpse at the Career of ATV Racing Hero Jeremiah Jones
By Stephani McIntyre
Mar.11,
2004 – It all started the day he hit re-dial on the telephone after his
father had just ended a conversation.
The voice on the other end of the phone said, "Sanders Honda, may I help you?" They may or may not have been the exact words, but it was enough for the sneaky 7-year old Jeremiah Jones' suspicions to be confirmed: He was getting an ATV for Christmas.
Looking at him now, you'd never guess that Jones could have been so mischievous. But just 17 years later, the soft-spoken 24 year-old from Bowling Green, Ky., is one of the most dominant forces in the Grand National Championship motocross series.
Jeremiah is the youngest of three to parents Jim and Brenda Jones. His first ATV—a Honda TRX125—was technically to be shared with his brother, Chris, and sister, April. But it was always them who were standing in the yard glaring at Jeremiah to hand it over for their turn.
Living in the country, it was easy to find time to ride, especially when he had friends he could spend time riding with.
But it wasn't until 1993 when a friend bought the new Honda 300EX that he found out they actually raced the machines he was just playing around on.
In 1995, Jeremiah and a friend made their first trip as spectators to a Motocross National at Daniel Boone in London, Ky. He watched from behind the fence as Doug Gust put on a show over the rest of the Pro class, widening Jeremiah's eyes to a dream of becoming a Pro ATV racer.
That fall, Jeremiah became a national competitor for the first time at the infamous Dirt Days in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.
"I came out in both motos dead last and I had to work myself up because I was scared to death with 20 four-wheelers going into the first corner," he remembers. "I just wasn't used to it. Our local guys would run 10 in a corner. At the nationals you're going in wide-open with 20 quads in there. I thought it was nuts.
"Then the next year, 1996, I came in and won the 250 B class the first year of running the full series."
Taking just two years as an amateur, in 1998 Jeremiah jumped into the Pro class at age 18. His first year out he didn't fair so well as an injury kept him from making a statement as a rookie Pro.
However, in 1999, he came back strong, taking fifth in the Grand National Championship and placing as high as second in one of the TT nationals.
Then, in the 2000 season, he claimed his first ever Pro Motocross title over the field of veterans that he once looked up to and learned from as an up and comer with a head full of goals.
He placed fifth in the Grand National Championship overall.
For 2001 it would be a different story. Not only did he defend the motocross title he won the year before, but also claimed his first and the very last Grand National Championship title. For 2002, rule changes separated motocross from TT to create individual series and crown individual champions.
Jones lost the motocross title in 2002 to Tim Farr. He regrets he didn't take the series as seriously as he should have.
Only one of about four two-stroke riders left in the field of thumpers, Jones' struggles throughout the 2003 season with his LRD Honda 250R motor were endless.
"The two-stroke is a lot with the cylinders, because of the port work, and if they get a little bit off in the porting the motor still runs but it wont do a true run off the cylinders," Jeremiah explained.
The first three rounds saw how excellent a two-stroke can be with great cylinders as Jeremiah waxed the field with his finely tuned motor. In an effort to duplicate that later, something went wrong and regaining that perfection in the touchy two-stroke motor was lost.
He got it back only once more at Lincoln Trail where he got his fourth and final win for the season, although through consistency he remained in the points lead for all but the last round.
Down by one point to Joe Byrd heading into Southwick, Jones said he was focused.
"I learned from years past racing against Tim (Farr) and Shane (Hitt), you just need to stay focused on what you need to be doing and let the other guy just do what's going to happen to him," Jones said.
"Basically, it's all mind games anyway. It might have been good for me to have lost the points lead beforehand, because it put all the pressure on Joe."
Jones rode his race and clinched his victory, reclaiming the title he worked so hard for despite the challenges he had to face in the two-stroke against four-stroke wars.
Finally in the off-season, he's able to sit back and relax as one of the few full-time ATV racers that make a living at it.
He does all his own seeking of sponsorship, searching for new avenues to further his career. One definite bonus for next season is a sponsorship from Yamaha of Troy, which is helping him with bikes.
He will be back again with Curtis Sparks as his tuner for next season.
Living in his native Kentucky, Jeremiah recently became the proud owner of a log cabin home on 100 acres of land, which he just bought not far from where he lives now.
Although he has his own practice track, he'll visit different places to add variety to his workout because he never quits working on becoming a better rider.
In a few weeks you may even catch a glimpse of him at a local track in Georgia as he works on getting back in touch with the four-strokes. Those are the only bikes you'll be seeing on the line for next year's Pro class.
"I knew it was going to come before too much longer anyways—the two strokes were going to be pretty much gone," he said.
Having no hard feelings at all about the Pro class rule change to production-based ATVs, Jones actually takes a bit of comfort in it.
"The way I was thinking about it is more than likely people will definitely remember who I am now, because of both those things, (the last GNC champion and the final one to win a championship on a two-stroke). That's definitely one of the things I wanted people to know when I do get out of this," he said.
"I want people to sit back and remember who was the top rider racing it, and hopefully they'll be able to mention my name."