APRIL 1, 2008
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Jason Thomas was a big fan of bad boy, Ricky Johnson. |
By Steve Matthes
Photos by James Lissimore
BTO Sport/Butler Brothers Honda’s Jason Thomas
"Atlanta SX 1990. I was standing on the stadium floor. You can actually see me jumping up and down in the background when RJ goes into the lead. I was 10 years old and a huge RJ fan. The lead changed like five times, at least, and [Jeff] Ward outlasted everyone and pulled the sickest fist-pump ever!”
“Miami SX 1989 was the sand supercross. I think it was one of the best comebacks in the history of SX. [Damon] Bradshaw crashed a bunch of times and still ran down Ty Davis to win. He was going so much faster than everyone and was just riding like his hair was on fire. It’s pretty much impossible to not be a fan after watching that race. On the podium he just looks so young, but you can tell how intense he was about winning.”
“Montreal SX 2005 was probably the best race I've ever ridden. I knew I had a good chance of winning; I had the fastest lap times all day and won my heat. JSR is so strong up there though; I knew it was going to be all out war. We both got bad starts and he was on my back wheel all the way to the front of the pack. I made a move on [Jeff] Dement with two laps to go and he kind of got stuck behind him and that was all she wrote. I just remember being in the zone all day... nothing else was in my mind but winning that race. I didn't take any time off whatsoever after outdoors; I just started getting ready for Montreal. I was dead set on winning and it worked out. It was one of those nights where everything just clicked.”
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Ronnie Hyde is true superfan of MX; he came all the way from Vancouver Island to watch the Toronto SX. |
Fireman Ron Hyde
“Motocross of Nations 2007 was a great race, just to come back to the United States after so long. Having the different countries and cultures all represented there was so cool. It was exciting. I had an all-access pass and to walk around the track and the pits was really special. The racing was okay also, seeing Ryan Villopoto and how good he rode was amazing. Just annihilated them, really. Seeing RC and Ferry go down in the first turn and both come from dead last to top three was unbelievable. It was the best race I’ve ever been to. The after party was also amazing, seeing Danny Brault rip sleeves off was really cool! Matthes throwing the cookie at Everts and hitting him in the cheek was classic [laughs].
“The 1989 Toronto Supercross—I raced in this one. It was the first ever event held in the SkyDome. There were two nights and both nights were great. The field was stacked with Factory Yamaha guys, like Damon Bradshaw, Mike LaRocco and Jim Holley. The Rollerball got second both nights but rode pretty phenomenal both nights coming from the back. He was having a pretty crummy season at that point, Al Dyck had beat him all year and supercross wasn’t his strongest forte. He really dug deep and made me proud to say he was from my country.”
“The third best one was another one that I rode, but didn’t win. It was called the West Coast challenge and was held at Duncan, BC in 1989. My buddy Darrell Martens and I were there and the track put up a huge purse to win, like $10,000 or something big. My plan was to go back east and ride the Nationals no matter what, but Martens didn’t have any money to go; he had to win this race in order for us to go east. He ended up winning both classes and I got to go east! It was cool and at the same time nerve racking because I really wanted to go.”
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Take one wild guess who was in Matthes' #1 moto memory? |
Steve Matthes
“1999 Summercross. Tim Ferry, under the tutelage of my wrenching skills went out and beat Jeremy McGrath at the LA Coliseum. MC was, at this time, pretty much unbeatable. The promoters of this race gave $25,000 to the winner but figured on MC winning so they made a deal with Jeremy to give him $50,000 to show up but he wasn’t eligible to win the purse money. They probably thought they could’ve made it one billion! Anyways, Red Dog absolutely ate poop in practice; I had to change the clamps, shock, sub frame, bars, seat, fender—it was all bent. In the main, he went out and MC got a five second lead or so before crashing on the 17th lap and letting Red by. The last three laps he was all over the #3 (the number for Timmy for some reason) but couldn’t make the pass. It was very exciting for both of us and Larry Brooks made me jump into the Coliseum Olympic pool from the high dive board.”
“1996 Unadilla National. It wasn’t eventful for anyone but me. Y’see, I had just become a mechanic earlier in the year and my rider Cory Keeney had pretty much sucked all year at this point. At this race he fired me on Saturday morning without giving me a warning at all, so I went and started working for another rider on the team by the name of Shaun Kalos. Shaun went out and got 11th in the first moto and it was the highest position a rider I’d had wrenched for had ever gotten. I just remember feeling like I belonged up there with guys like Skip Norfolk and Jeremy Albrecht. My rider was in the mix. No big deal. I just remember thinking how some kid from Winnipeg was at Unadilla working for an almost top ten rider.”
“2000 Southwick National. For some reason this race sticks in my mind and I was just watching the 250 class after my bike was all done. Team Suzuki’s Robbie Reynard fell in the first turn and was dead, dead, dead last. I can’t stress enough how far back he was after he got up and dusted himself off. He then ripped through the pack all the way to fourth. I know, I know, it was just fourth but it really was an incredible ride and I remember watching him go through five/six riders at a time. I can’t tell you anyone else’s position in that race but Robbie Reynard worked harder than anyone for his fourth.”
