BLAST FROM THE PAST: JIMMY WEINERT

Jimmy Weinert, “The Jammer” came onto the burgeoning motocross scene the very first year of the AMA National Motocross Championship in 1972. Jammin’ Jimmy Weinert ended up second to Gary Jones, took home a top ten in the 500 class and won his first national in Wisconsin. He became a real threat in 1974 and ’75, winning the 500cc National Championship both years, in ’74 on a Kawasaki and then on a Yamaha in 1975. The Yamaha was unique at the time because it ran air forks, and in order to relieve the air forks trait of ramping up too rapidly as the fork compresses, Yamaha fit the machine with canisters that added volume and therefore made the ride plusher. They ghosted the idea after a one-year production run, the Jammer switched back to Kawasaki in 1976. From 1977 on the Jammer would deal with both injuries (both knee and neck) and the onslaught of young talent in Bob Hannah, Kent Howerton, Broc Glover and the Bomber Mark Barnett.   His last win would come in 1979 at the Daytona Supercross, even back then the closest thing to an outdoor track on the stadium tour. Jimmy will always be known for the 1979 Oakland Supercross where he ran a paddle tire, that was outlawed after the 40-foot roosts that Jimmy threw in the event that he won.