VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P147
I
f you talk to most motocross
and Supercross fans about
Yamalube/Star Racing Ya-
maha's Jeremy Martin, most of
them will probably tell you how
he has an older racing brother
named Alex, and many will even
be able to tell you that he liter-
ally grew up at Spring Creek
Raceway in Millville, Minne-
sota (because his parents have
owned the AMA National track
since 1987).
But that's not all there is to
talk about when it comes to
Jeremy Martin's racing heri-
tage. Racing dirt bikes is liter-
ally a part of Martin's blood-
line. Jeremy's father, Jon, is
actually the 1985 AMA National
Hare Scrambles
Champion.
"He raced en-
duro and he was
the Hare Scram-
bles Champion,"
Jeremy Martin
says. "He rode
for Bombardier/
Can-Am."
Dick Burleson recently told
a story about watching Jon
(widely know as "Johnny" back
then) Martin racing on his Can-
Am. He said Jon was short and
that the Can-Am was very tall,
but Burleson was amazed at
how fast Jon went on a bike that
seemed to fit him so poorly.
Because of this racing heri-
tage, and with his parents own-
ing a motocross track, Jeremy
Martin started riding motocross
early in life, chasing his older
brother around the family prop-
erty that just happens to be
Spring Creek Raceway.
"I was four years old when I
first started riding and my first
race was when I was four years
old, right in the backyard," Mar-
tin said. "I think it was something
that was just a part of the fam-
ily. Like we had the track in the
backyard. Alex and I, we each
had our own motorcycle. My
dad's friends would come over
and we'd all just get together
and we'd ride. We weren't set-
ting the world on fire, but we had
Jeremy Martin
follows in
his father's
footsteps by
landing his first
AMA National
Championship
BY STEVE COX • PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER AND COX
