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/128644
TheEdgeSports.com Kawasaki Team Owner Jell Emig r------ - ------- - - - - - --------- - ----------------,:z=; ::> z Q "' ii: J: U ~ ~ c, B y C HRI S J O NNUM I eff Emig is turning 30 tomorrow . Actually , as you read • this, he has already hit the Big .-, 3- 0, but during o ur co nversation w ith him in his spac ious subu rban Southern Californ ia home , he is putting the fini shing tou ches on plan s for the following day's bash . T h e r e are some d i fferences i n E m ig ' s life sin c e he last ce l eb rated his b irthday . Fo r example, he hit 29 as a ra ce r, eager to beg in the 2000 Supercross Series fo llowing an em otional and lucrat ive victo ry in the U.S. O p en at La s Vegas . Ju st one ye ar later, he has retired fro m racing wi thout havi ng h a d the o p po r tuni ty to contest a singl e co mpetition in 2000. O ne year ago, the renowned parti er was an owner of the newly formed The EdgeSports .com Ya maha team , having lost his factory K awasak i ride just over three months earlier due to a drug-related arrest in Lake Havasu City, Arizona . Today , his same team is Kawasak i -m ounted . and Em ig is an avowed teetotaler who, while enjoying a lat e-aft ern oon stroll o n the golf co urse that bo rders his house. takes in such details as the glowing sunset and th e sw ay in g p in e trees that no t long ago passed th ro ugh h is wor ld unn o t ic e d . He wa nts t o dedi c at e som e effo rt to work ing o n his hous e, and to spend m or e time with hi s fam il y and girlfriend Jennifer, even m en tioning the possibi lit y of a m in i ' Fro comin g on th e sce ne in a few years. It' s apparent that the year between Em ig 's last two birthdays has been a part i cu larl y hectic one , fraugh t w ith b o d y - a l t e r in g inju r ies and care er alte ri ng d ec i sio ns , an d t he phrase "li fe changes" co mes up often in his speech these da ys . But then aga in , E m i g i s a c c u st om ed to evo l ution. Th ro u gh o ut his life, he ha s been a sort of ant i- cham eleon, ado pti ng ne w cha ra cters at p recisel y th e m om ent t ha t he see m s t o have bec om e at ease with hi s co ntext. True, not all of th e cha nge s have been vo lu nta ry, bu t o ne gets the fe eli ng t h at non e are regretted , and th at Em ig is truly co mfortable onl y wh en he is in the m id st of a transiti on . If that i s re a lly the c a se , Em ig should be ec st at i c with h is c urre nt posit ion , smack -dab in th e m id dl e of a good , old J eff Emig transformat ion . As is now pr etty m uch publi c kn owl edge , Jeff Emig the m otocros s rac er is a th ing of the past, and what form th e futu re J ef f Em ig will ass ume is 46 J A N U ARY 3 . 2 001 • eye . ... n e vv s