Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Time Remembered Johnny O'Mara . Part One it's the opposite: Now he admires me for what I do in .racing." On the eve of the 1983 125cc National Championship, O'Mara and his mechanic, Jim Felt, knew it was time to clear the decks and batten down the hatches for the approaching storm. At that time, the Big Four Japanese manufacturers, hellbent on cashing in on the huge sales volume of 125cc motocross bikes in America, desperately lusted after the black-and-white AMA 125cc National Championship plate - which, in ail reality, equaled bike sales. Spending was not an issue, as the company ledgers were chucked in the trash can. Exotic and insanely expensive "one-off" 125cc factory bikes, littered with unobtainium, were rolled out at Hangtown for the season opener on March 27. Selected to ride those machines were company men Johnny O'Mara of Team Honda, Ron Lechien of Team Yamaha, Jeff Ward of Team Kawasaki, and Mark Barnett of Team Suzuki. "I knew it was going to be a war," says O'Mara, shaking his head. "My mechanic, Jim Felt, also knew it would go down to the very end. 1 was ready. It was a stacked class, as there were so many good guys in the class that year. There were seven to eight factory riders, and we had to run 45-rninute motos. 1 knew it was all going to be so competitive." 24 together. That was cool for me, and we were a good combination. Donnie became the 1982 supercross champion, and I knew I was hanging out with the best. You know, that was always a concern of mille: I wanted to hang out with someone better. Donnie and I were great friends and he helped me a lot. "I was there when he got hurt at Rolf Dieffenbach's track in Germany. I saw the accident happen - I was the first guy to him, and it was ugly. It was a bad situation, as he was aiready unconscious. Donnie was in a coma for almost three weeks and it was such a hard time for ail of us. As young as I was, I saw my best friend suffering with something other than a bad bruise or broken bone. The whole thing was a reality check for me, and I just didn't want something like that to happen to me." Both the MX des Nations and Trophee des Nations events would challenge O'Mara, both mentally and physically. Not only was one of his best friends lying in a European hospital in a coma, but O'Mara, due to death-gripping the motorcycle on the brilliantly fast Gaildorf circuit, tore the palms of his hands to shreds. "The Gaildorf 250cc race was excellent," he says. "1 got great results there, and I distinctly remember leading the field out of the first turn in the first moto. Then, in Switzerland, Magoo was just on fire. I had a tough time at that race because I ended up with a few blisters from Gaildorf that became infected and turned into tendinitis. That was all very painful, and the pain was so severe that 1 had to just grit it out - but 1 got it done. During my career, 1 always had the ability to block out pain and get it done. I held up the flag over there for both America and myself. During my career, 1 always held a high standard for myself and couldn't accept failure. Even as a kid, that was in me. It's a rule 1 took (to heart) and tha t is still with me today in anything I do." Through the actions of the amazing Danny Chandler, who would win all four motos in Europe, tl,e steadfast Gibson and David Bailey, who filled in for the injured Hansen, and the intrepid, O'Mara, America - for the second consecutive year - claimed both titles. And while he was there, O'Mara even managed to sign a few autographs. Did he remember meeting the then-9-year-old Stefan Everts? "Of course I remember Stefan from that time," laughs O'Mara. "I knew Harry and had met Stefan through him. During tha t point in the 1980s, every time 1 would go to Europe, which was four or five different times, Stefan would be the first kid over to see me. He just loved me and David Bailey. He loved to hang out with the American racers, and he seemed to be in awe of us when we showed up over there. Today, Stefan and I are great friends." Stefan Everts also has keen memories of the first few times he came into contact with the O'Show. "When I was ,a little boy, I would, hear about supercross in the United States, and one year the Americans came over to Europe to race, and 1 saw Johnny race live in action," explains Stefan. "I was so impressed with him and his great riding style. His style on the bike was so nice. 1 also remember watching him race the 125cc Grand Prix in Switzerland, where he smoked my father. It's kind of funny now, because Meanwhile, Felt, who had seen his fair share of U.S. motocross combat duty, was doing everything possible to . prepare his rider for the trenches. "1 had won previous championships with Glover and (Jimmy) Weinert, and 1 knew what it took, but at that time, Johnny didn't," explains Felt. "1 let him know that it could get ugly and that you can be on top of the world all year and something could go wrong and you'd be at tl,e bottom. But 1 also told him tha t if we did do it, at the last race, we'd be the ones with our hands in the air. "To this day, in the history of the sport, there has never been racing - at least in the 125cc class - as competitive as that year," adds Felt. "The best guys in the world were fighting every weekend in the class. Today the racing is good, but Carmichael is out standing by himself. During Johnny's era, there were four to five guys abreast for 45 millutes. It was so competitive that all of the mechanics were almost in a competition with one another. It was tough, but it was good because we were pushing the envelope." And so began the dangerous summer. Barnett won the opener at Sacramento, while O'Mara came back and won Saddleback two weeks later. Barnett, Ward and Lechien all won motos and National overalls during the next five rounds at Florida, lllinois, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas. And willie O'Mara had not won an overall since round two, he won motos and stayed consistent, leading the title chase by three points heading into Michigan, where he won the overall with a 2-1. Then, despite a major setback at the penultimate round in Colorado, O'Mara and Felt began preparing for the series finale at Minnesota: They had a slim, 10point lead to protect. .0'Mara was looking over the edge at his lifelong dream. Now he remembers back to his date with fate. "It went down to the last race at Millville, Minnesota, and what 1 remember the most about it was that I went into that race with a badly broken toe," O'Mara recalls. "The week before, at Lakewood, Colorado, I washed out at the start of the second moto and I slapped my foot down so hard that I sh~ttered my toe. My foot just went numb. 1 worked with a doctor all week and he came with me to the final National at Millville. We kept it hushed and no one knew, and I wasn't in conI tention to win there." At that time, O'Mara wasn't the onl one feeling the l)eat of a long, hard, bitl terly fought s.ummer. , . "I remember Saddleback and Coli orado because they were down, drugout, dirty battles. Mike McAndrews was Wardy's mechanic at the time, and while we were the best of friends off tl,e track - we ralsed our families together when it came time to race, it was like a cartoon. We would show up for work, clock in and proceed to fight all day. Then, at the end of the day, we would clock out and be friends again," explain Jim Felt, laughing. "And Johnny and Wardy did not get along at all. In racing, that kind of thing can just happen." As it turned out, Yamal1a's 125cc specialist, Ron Lechien, went out and won the first moto at Millville over Barnett and Brian Myerscough, while O'Mara came home a safe fOurtll. Ward, meanwhile, wound up a distant sixth. "In 1983, we were both contenders for the title, but neither of us - or Barnett or Lechien - domina ted," explains Ward. "It all went down to the last race at Millville, where I crashed in the sand whoop in the first moto. 1 got up' dead last and Johnny enaed up taking the title by nine points." Witl, the siege over, O'Mara and Felt celebrated with their hands held high up in the air. After 22 bar-banging motos, the two Van Nuys homeboys had made good and were ready to bask in the glow of their first championship together. But first, they need to catch their breath. "Millville was very, very tough: says Felt. "Johnny had to get shots of cortisone throughout the day from th~ doctor we flew in. And when the racing was done and he won the championship, 1 remember him throwing up out of the car window when we were leaving the circuit. He was so nervous throughout the day that be was just toast. Man, I was stoked. That was a real imporJant championship for me, because the 125s were my baby." ) "I can still remember sitting in the! hotel room after the race:' says O'Mara. "The team wanted to have a big a party for me, but I was totally sick. I don't know if it was from' all the pressure or the heat and humidity that afternoon, but 1 kept throwing up, and 1 stayed in the room. 1 guess it was a combinatiofl of things, but 1 knew 1 had accomplished a big goal." 1 Willie all of this was going on, John1 ny O'Mara had managed to develop into an outstanding supercross rider. Typecast by many insiders as a 125cc. hit man, O'Mara started off the 1984 super'cross season with a resounding win in Anaheim. Using his hometown race as a launching point, he continued on to win Atlanta, Dallas, Pontiac and Buffalo, and through a number of other strong and consistent performances, he won the AMA Supercross Championship during one of the discipline's most competitive eras. "After winning the 125cc National Championship, 1 was ready to win th supercross title:' says O'Mara of. his championship season, which saw him get the better of Balley, Ward, Lechien; Johnson, Glover and Barnett. "1 had been riding supercross for a couple of years and 1 was banging on the door. J was ready to win when the season opened up at Anal1eim, which was my hometown supercross and was run in

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