JIMMY WEINERT: MOTOCROSS PIONEER

JIMMY WEINERT: MOTOCROSS PIONEER

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
With three AMA titles to his credit, Jimmy Weinert must go down as one of the great pioneers of the sport. He took home both the ?74 and ?75 AMA Motocross championships, and were it not for a busted kneecap, the ?76 MX crown would have been his as well. He was still able however, to win the ?76 Supercross title. Dirt Bike caught up with the former Kawasaki Team rider to find out what life was like on the track, and what life is like now, off the track.

ON BOB HANNAH
“Surviving!” That was the response we got when we asked Jimmy what part of his racing career he was most proud of: Oh, and the three titles and some great memories. “Riding with a legend like Bob Hannah was a lot of fun. I remember on some days I would just walk up to him and say Bob, today I?m gonna? beat you.” And sometimes he did. In “The Jammer?s” last year of professional racing, 1979, Hannah was nearly invincible. Weinert however, beat the unbeatable and took the mains at Oakland and Daytona, finishing second in the points.

ON JEFF WARD
He also has some fond memories of a fellow Kawasaki legend by the name of Jeff Ward. “Kawasaki kind of wanted me to take Jeff under my wing” says the three-time champ. “I?ll always remember him eating a lot of chocolate chip cookies and Red Hots, and the Red Hots he didn?t eat he threw at me.” Aside from the pranks however, “He was a very hard worker, all of his MX and SX championships, and his current success racing Indy cars is no fluke.”

ON YOUTH
When asked about riders these days Weinert had this to say: “Most of the young riders today don?t know what we went through”, says Jimmy, “We were like Lewis & Clarke?charting new territory.” He?s proud of his pioneering role and hopes that maybe some of his hard work will bear fruit for his 3? year-old son, should he ever decide to follow in Dad?s footsteps.

ON LIFE
As for now Weinert stays busy running a recycle and scrap yard with his brother in Middletown, NY. “The transition out of racing is tough, and anyone who tells you different is full of it”, says Jimmy flatly, “But most of the memories are good ones and there isn?t a lot I would change.”