BEST OF JODY’S BOX: STATISTICS DON’T LIE, I’M FASTER THAN GARY JONES

Jody (54) with Lars Larsson (58) stalking him in the weekly moto wars. They are both thinking about standing up through these bumps, but neither one of them did.

By Jody Weisel

At last week’s Glen Helen race I got lapped by Gary Jones. He got me on the last lap of our race even though I hugged the inside line and put my boot on his front wheel. I was pretty happy about being lapped. What was there to be happy about? As I told Gary after the race, “I think this proves that I’m getting faster as we get older and you are getting slower. In another decade I’ll be beating you regularly.”

“What makes you think you’re getting faster?” asked Gary.

“Simple math,” I said, but I knew he really wanted to know why I thought he was getting slower.

“How do you figure?” asked the four-time AMA 250 National Motocross Champion.

“Because in 1976 you lapped me twice in every moto at Saddleback Park and today you only lapped me once, and if I hadn’t gotten my tongue stuck in my spokes on the last lap I don’t think you would have gotten me at all. To my way of thinking I’m 100 percent faster and you are 50 percent slower.” I said.

“That isn’t true,” said Gary.

“Yes it is. Statistics don’t lie. Do you want me to write it down on a piece of paper and do the math for you. It’s all there in black and white,” I said as Gary laughed and walked away.

“I DEFINE MY PERFORMANCE BY THE PEOPLE AROUND ME. I DON’T NEED A LAP TIMER, MECHANIC WITH A STOP WATCH OR A FANCY IPHONE APP TO TELL ME HOW FAST I’M GOING. WHY NOT? BECAUSE I’M LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE LARS LARSSON.”

Lars Larsson (192) with Jody Weisel (58) stalking him. Yes, they swapped bikes to make it fairer—but they didn’t know for who.

As with all motocross racers I define my performance by the people around me. I don’t need a lap timer, mechanic with a stop watch or some fancy iPhone app to tell me how fast I’m going. Why not? Because I’m lucky enough to have Lars Larsson to gauge myself against. When Lars and I were young pups, he was light years better than me. He was fast enough to race himself into the AMA Hall of Fame, while the best I could do was get my photo tacked to the Hall of Fame ticket counter wall with an inscription warning employees, “Do not let this man in.” I’m to the AMA what a bounced check is to Wal-Mart.

Lars Larsson and I have been racing against each other forever—which in motocross terms is twice as long as Adam Cianciarulo has been alive. We are the two oldest MXA test riders, but the most competitive. Note that I didn’t say the fastest, just the most determined to beat each other. We like to think that even though we are going in slow motion compared to decades ago—racing keeps us young.

If we had been keeping track of our wins and losses against each other, Lars Larsson would have about 400 wins and I would have about 40. But, I don’t care about the record book, largely because my name is not in it. What I do care about is next week’s race—where Lars will be the rabbit and I will be Elmer Fudd. That may not sound like an accolade to either one of us, but Lars is the man I grade myself against (when I don’t have Gary Jones around to lap me).

Lars will get a better start and I will stalk him. If all goes well—as it has 40 times before— I will get him with one or two laps to go and then just barely hold him off as the 1970’s Swedish star suddenly remembers how much faster he is than me. If scientists ever need a cure for Altzheimer’s disease, it just might be being beaten by someone slower than you. That snaps you back to reality in an instant.

Lars is always gracious in defeat. He shakes my hand after the moto and says “Jody, du måste ha fuskat. Visste du skär spåret någonstans? I next moto kommer jag att slå dig illa.” Which he tells me is a big compliment in Swedish and translates into, “Jody, to my way of thinking, you are at least 100 percent faster than you were back in 1976. I must admit that I’m about 50 percent slower.”

It’s only natural that as you get older, you get slower. I’m glad to still be fast enough to race with Lars Larsson and only be lapped once by Gary Jones. I wish every young motocross star of today has a career as long as Gary, Lars and I—a feat that Adam Cianciarulo will be able to match in 2064.

I am lucky to get to race into my golden years against my idols—even if they lap me. Plus, there are advantages to be lapped. You save money on expensive electronics lap time gizmos, you use less fuel, your tires last 10 percent longer and you get to finish right behind the leader—which makes unobservant spectators think that you finished second.