Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

planes, team personnel... or whatever or whomever they felt was in need of it. Johnny O'Mara is, without a doubt, one of the main screws - albeit a loose one - that held together the American empire that ruled the world with an iron fist in the great 1980s. And from the time 1 first saw pictures of him on the blood-red Honda, lead ing the 1981 American Trophee and Motocross des Nation team to victory, [ was dazzled by his exploits in the sport. To that end, and after a host of historical articles tha t I have penned for this paper, I now feel that the time has come to let Johnny O'Mara tell his story. Culled from a number of interviews and phone conversations I held with jolumy, and with the men who played a role in his colorful career, what you're about to read is an account of the amazing life and times of the O'Show. Raised in the smoggy, traffic-congested, life-in-the-fast-Iane world of the sweeping San Fernando Valley in Southern California, johnny O'Mara, like a number of American kids in the 1970s, was attracted to a colorful and chaotic sport called motocross. "1 grew up in Van Nuys, California, and rode minis as a kid," recalls johnny O'Mara, speaking from his home outside of Los Angeles, when asked to reflect on his early racing days. "The Mini class was in existence then, and guys like jeff Ward and Brian Myerscough were really doing well at it. Unfortunately, I ~idn't have the resources that they did, so I was pretty much just a local kid that raced at Indian Dunes. "I started riding when I was 10 and didn't really get into the mini racing scene that much," adds O'Mara. "1 raced a 100 and didn't have much success, as 1 really had to grow into the bike because I was such a small kid. I was a backmarker for a willie and had to deal with that because it took me a couple of years before I was able to begin winning trophies. It was a little discouraging, because my father was real hard on me then, ,md when I wasn't doing well, he thought I wasn't giving 100 percent - he expected me to be right in there. I guess I was doing it then more for him than for myself. He was a desert rider that wasn't into motocross that much. In fact, that's how I started riding; out in the desert, riding around the campfire." Using the renowned Indian Dunes, a riding park in Valencia, California, as a "sandbox" in which to hone his racing fundamentals, O'Mara soon found his rhythm, rising up through the rninicycle ranks and, ultimately, into the live-bythe- word, die-by-the-sword, slam-bam world of So. Cal. 125cc racing. "1 didn't ride a 125 for a while, beca use 1 spent a number of years in the 100cc class, which was real popular in Southern California at that point in the early 1970s," explains O'Mara. "There was a lot of competition in the class, with guys like Steve Sclunid t, Jim Holley, A.j. Whiting and Chris Heisser, and growing up in that area, there was always really fast guys around. From spending time in that class, I started feeling better and got used to being a threat. Then, in 1976, 1 started riding the 125 around a little in a division we would probably call the 'B elass' today: I was dominant in that class right away and really started to make a name for myself." Not content with his time spent at the race track, O'Mara would pedal his bicycle down into Van Nuys and drop in on a race shop that was located in his n.eighborhood stomping grounds. Through his unannounced visits, the blond-haired grommet ended up befriending a man who would eventually become his mentor. "About that time, I met Al Baker, who owned a shop in Van Nuys which was located just a few minutes from my house," says O'Mara. "At that time, Al was the king of the desert, and he won the Baja 1000 so many times that people had lost count - he was Mr. All-Arowld. I got to know him through a guy I went to high school with named Tom Halveron, who would end up being a mechanic for me la ter on. I was this li ttle kid, 12 or 13 years old, going down to the shop. I'd ride my bike down there because I had no other interests. I'd go to sellool, then I'd go down to the shop where I'd sweep the floor or try and help out. Everyone kind of knew me and one day AI said, 'Who is that kid?'" Jim Felt, who twirled wrenches for O'Mara during his championship seasons at Honda in the 1980s, explains, "I knew Johnny long before he came to Honda, because I watched him grow up in Van Nuys. I wa working for AI then, and Johnny would always come rolling into the shop on his bicycle or moped (laughter). He was a little wingnut, all small and skinny and blowing things up and playing pranks." Soon thereafter, Baker took the determined kid under llis wing, and tl,e p set out to conquer not only Indian Dunes but the overall (and, at tha t time, booming) Southern California motocross scene. "AI started· to take an interest in me and we began to talk a lot," O'Mara recalls. "1 didn't have any resources then and I was doing paper routes to try and earn money, and bumming rides to the races. My parents helped out as much as they could, ·but there wasn't a lot of money. Without AI's help back then, 1 wouldn't have made it anywhere." Baker gave O'Mara his big break. At that time, Hirotoshi Honda, son of the world-famous motor tycoon, had a strong desire to take his Japanese-based "Mugen" motocross team to the United States. In an effort to breathe life into his scheme, Honda hooked up with his American .friend AI Baker. And, as they say, the rest is llistory. "Mugen happened through another one of AI's connections," O'Mara says. "He developed a four-stroke in Japan and got to know the Honda family. Hirotoshi Honda, the owner of Mugen (today, Mugen provides engines to the jordan Formula One team, which backs drivers Damon Hill and Ralf Schumaeller on the FIA Grand Prix circuit) - and Al became friends and developed a real good relationship. One day, all of a sudden, he told Al that he would love to have a race team in America. At that time, he had a race team in japan that dld the japanese ationals and a few GPs. "Al managed the team in the U .5., and I rode the bike. 1 was a 17-year-old kid who was in the right place at the right time. I was the main rider, and Jim HoUey was a fill-in for me when 1 broke my back later that ummer in a car accident. However, it was really a one-man show, as I was the one and only guy to ride the Mugen." White and bristling with teclmology, the Mugen - and its teenage operator made a huge impression on aU those with whom they came into contact. "1 didn't know who Johnny was, because he was an Indian Dunes guy and I was a Saddleback kid," says Jeff Ward. "1 ·was racing the Nationals two to three years befo~e johnny, and the first time we raced against each other was at a Golden State race. He had the white Mugen and his white clothes and boot guards, and his entourage With him. I had just come off a broken sternum, which happened at Kent Howerton's place in Texas, but 1 wanted to run the Golden State race, so I showed up with my practice bike. I remember that johnny was damn fast and his bike was just bitchin'. From then on, we were competitive with each otheL" On March 23, 1980, the big white M ugen truck rolled in to the pits at Hangtown, California, and unloaded. The time had come for O'Mara and the wonder bike to cross swords with America's finest in the AMA National Championship Series. "My first National race was at Hangtown, where I finished fourth or fifth in the first moto," O'Mara says. "Then, in the second moto, I led for 30 of the 45 minutes and had a big old lead, and I couldn't believe tha t Barnett and (Broc) Glover hadn't run me down. I kept thinking, 'Where are these guys?' Eventually they caught me, but I hung on to finish third. "The Mugen generated so much interest. The bike was unique and had a lot of style and flair. The whole deal and all the parts came right from japan. I remember when the bike first came over, I said to AI, 'What's this?' It was all white with a blue seat, and it was so . trick, it looked like the space shuttle. It was just unbelievable, because I had the best bike. Tha t bike was better than the Honda works bike. It was as trick as it could get, and I was leery about riding it becau e 1 didn't know if I would be able to back it up with results." If O'Mara was concerned about his place in American motocross at the time, his worries were put to rest on July 27, 1980. On a wet, muddy day in Lexington, Ohio, the O'Show - whose California aura was in complete juxtaposition to the dark-brown Ohio slop took tl,e measure of the world's best racers at the Mid-ohio 125cc United States Grand Prix of Motocross. "1 won Mid-Ohio in 1980," says O'Mara. "It was a complete mud race, and I was able to ride strong and open up big leads. I beat all the favorites there, including Mark Barnett, Broc Glover and Harry Everts - Stefan'S dad. Even more amazing was that Mid-Ohio was my first race back after the car injury I suffered in California that spr.ing, where I fell asleep at the wheel of my truck. I d rove off the freeway in Westlake (in California) and broke (some) vertebrae. The injury was pretty bad, and 1 missed most of the races that summer because of it. "Winning Mid-Ohio was a huge upset because no one in Europe knew w.ho I was, and to win something like that was a big break. I was stulmed to win it, but by then 1 had success in my mind - I expected it. I felt like I belonged at the front. I'd made it there at MidOhio; I'd beaten the guys I had looked up to in the magazines. Winning at MidOhio was a big motivation, and I now knew that I belonged up there. I had experienced a lot of success early in my amateur career and had built up a lot of confidence, but Mid-Ohio put me on another level." That autumn, and certainly leveraging his Mid-Ohio success, O'Mara came to terms with American Honda, thus making the transition from the .lone Mugen "white knight" to Honda factory pilot. The O'Show was now an integral part of what was soon to become known as The Big Red Mac1line. "Hiro had a hand in it," O'Mara explains, regarding his joining Honda. "Even though I was riding a Mugen, it was like I was riding for Honda. Mugen vO;as Hiro's deal, but we had factory Honda suspension from HRC (Honda Racing Corporation), and while 1 wasn't in the Honda box trucks, we parked right next to them. It was all just perfect. If I would've written a book about a successful career in motocross, I would've started .it with Mugen. It was a one-man team, and people always remember me from those days. It was picture perfect and I was part of the Honda family. Hiro only wanted to do the team for one year - it was a short-term deal. lt gave me a wonderful opportunity as a 17year-old. Towards the end of the year with Mugen, 1 signed with Honda and I was now officially part of the family." Now on the factory payroll, O'Mara went into the 1981 AMA National Championship confident and poised to win. With a potel1t motorcycle and a veteran, championship-proven mechanic named jim Felt at his side, nothing stood in O'Mara's way - except Mark Barnett. The "Bomber," as Barnett was known, would win every single 125cc moto that summer, and heading into the series' last round at Carlsbad, CaliforIlia, he had a chance ·to score a perfect eason. But as fate would have it, the rider 1rom Illinois broke his collarbone during a midweek practice session, thus leaving the door wide open for O'Mara. "1 won the last ational at Carlsbad; the one Barnett had to sit out because he was hurt," explains O'Mara. "I ran with him all summer and could get pretty close to him but could never beat him. Also, I would always have Wardy Qeff Ward) right bellind me. [ won the last race at Carlsbad, and it was my first ational win - which was a good feeling." "That's what starts a champion - getting a taste of winning," Jim Felt adds. "He gained confidence from that win and started building on it. When he first won Mid-Ohio, he was young, and at that point, he never saw himself as a champion. When I started at Honda in 19 1, it took u a few years to dial the bikes in. That's about the time the 'Honda Regime' started, and HRC started to jump in and help us. It took us a few seasons to get the bikes developed, and the team, johnny and I built it up together." Concurrently, O'Mara was keenly aware that being fast on a motorcycle was one thing, but being able to run with the ferociously competitive Mark Barnett for 45 minutes was another. "Mark was just unbelievable," ays O'Mara with respect. "I was in awe of him. I couldn't believe how fast he was. Mark WaS so hungry and dedicated that he was a total animal. 1 would just shake my head at what he was doing. From watching him, I knew that, basically, .if 1 was going to be in his category and be able to run 45 minutes at his pace, I wouldn't be able to win on talent alone. I was a skinny little kid that had a lot of talent but who need.ed to get stronger." In the early fall of 1981, rumors began to swirl that the AMA was interested in sending an American team to the Trophee and Motocross des ations in Europe. Renowned around the globe as the "Olympics of Motocross," the United States, for one reason or another, had not sent a team to the world's most important motocross races since 1978. Sadly, politics and second-guessing entered the equation, and the wheels feU off the effort shortly before the team was to be organized. That's when five-time 500cc World Champion and multi-time des Nations Champion Roger DeCoster stepped in. 21

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