Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127698
Two-time Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath· t .... ~ " By Davey Coombs could say that Jeremy McGra th has a "nac" for s u perc ross. The Tea m Hond a / 1-800-Collect rider h as the physiqu e, background and attitude that were apparently custom-designed for the spo rt of stadium racin g. A t 23 yea rs o f age, McGrath alread y ha s two 12Scc West Coast SX Championships, two AMA SX Championsh ip s a nd one World SX Champi on sh ip to his cre dit, and he doesn 't ap pear to hav e ideas of slowing down in the nea r future. Argua bly the most talented athlete the spo rt has ever seen, McGrath is deservedly the undisputed favorite at any supercross' race he enters . . Bu t McGrath is more th a n ju st a motorcycle racer; he's also a bit of a historian . The California n reads the record boo ks, and he ' realizes that he's within reach of su rpassing his child hoo d hero Rick Johnson - as the rider with the most su percross wins . Beginning what will be only hi s th ird season, McGrath need s just nine wins to tie Johnson, who won 28 main events in his illustrious career. In his neve r-endi ng sea rch for another challenge, McGra th looks to Johnson's mark as the next obstacle in his path to hist ory . We would n' t bet against him. Was it harder to defend your supercross title than it was to win the first time? I think it was definitely harder to defend it. Everyone is a little more prepared the second time. They can expect what you can do and go from there. Those other guys are always gunning for you when you have the number-one plate. It was hard er than I thought it would be. You also s uccessfully defended th e title in '92 after you won the 125cc Western Regi onal Championship. That was a little differen t because it was on the 125, not the 250, where the compet ition is twi ce as stro ng. I rememb er th e firs t race be in g the to ug hest tha t year. After that it wasn' t too hard; not like last year, anyway. What's a day at the practice track like with you? I d o so me long motos on my practice track and then play-ride a little bit, too. Doing jum ps mak es it a little more fun and a lot more interesting when you 're ou t there by you rself. What is your training program like? Last year I didn' t trai n as mu ch as I did in ' 93 for the Supercross Series. This year I hired a trainer so that I would be eve n s tronger tha n I have been in the past. How did you come up with the idea for the nac-nac? I wa s riding one da y at my house and my friend is a BMX champion . His name is Eric Carter. I used to rid e BMX a lot with him and do stuff like that on BMX bikes, and he said, "Jus t try to do it on your motorcycle." So I was doing it, and finally I started practicing it and getting it a little better. Then in a jump contest over in Spain I just tried it once and they dug it. Then I used it in Europe a couple of times and then that's when I brought it over here. Y ~ ~ ~ 26 OU