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/127938
Supercross Champion Jeff Emig By Eric Johnson Photos by Kinney Jones ~ fter his olid second-place finish at the AMA Supercross Series opener at the Los Angeles Coliseum, many believed that defending series champion Jeff Emig was on the fast track toward title number two. Lightning-quick and supremely confident after defeating stadium legend Jeremy McGrath in 1997, Emig div~d headfirst in to the new season with a solid, resourceful, championship-proven team at his behest. With longtime mechanic Jeremy Albrecht twirling the spanners and teammates Damon Huffman and Ryan Hughes supporting him as tail-gunners, it was all systems go. Or so it seemed. After relatively consistent finishes at rovnds two and three in Houston and Tempe, Emig experienced a dismal outing in Seattle's Kingdome, in which he started well but. faded back to a bitterly disappointing 14th-place finish. It was there that the well-documented downward spiral in his results began, thus setting off a whirlwind of conjecture and second-guessing. And like a number of empty candy-bar wrappers and spent newspaper pages swirling around in a windstorm, one rumor after another regarding Emig swept over the supercross circuit. Whether they pointed to motorcycle troubles, relationship struggles with his longtime girlfriend, outside-the-sport business interests, or the dreaded drugand-alcohol accusations, one rumor after another surfaced regarding Emig's sudden slide down the results column. In an effort to set the record straight, and to let Emig speak his piece - and put to rest a number of asinine rumors - we contacted "Fro" at his home in Riverside, Ca lifornia. There to heal up from a serious back injury, Emig was positive about returning to the circuit but very troubled about the rumors and fingerpointing that has taken place in recent months. You haven't raced the past three supercross events in Minneapolis, St. Louis and Pontiac. What have you been doing? I just went back to St. Louis and did a bunch of public-relations work, radio and TV interviews for the promoters. I'm from Missouri and felt like the event needed the champion there. While I was there, I met a kid named Josh Wheeler who is recovering from a cancer tumor he had in the back of his head. He used to race and wanted to meet me, so one of the dealers set it up through Kawasaki. We went to a St. Louis Blues hockey game and hung out together. It was real nice. There has been a lot of speculation and conjecture as to why you've been off the circuit in recent weeks. What has really been going on? I know a lot of people have been talking. The reason I have been out is that I have severely strained ligaments in my back. My doctors believe it happened from a crash I had at the Osaka Supercr?ss back in Nqvember. It's really flared up now. The only way it can heal up is if I stay inactive and don't do anything that can aggravate it. The only way it's going to get better is by the special treatment 1 have been receiving. Through the treatment, the doctor has to put needles into my back and inject glucose and sugar in order to bring blood to the area to help the healing process. When are you going to be able to come back to racing? . . I'd like to ride Charlotte and DaJ,las, •