Grand National Champion Jason Rich - Road Trip

I guess my Road Trip would have to take place on the road that led me toward winning the 2001 250-B Grand National Championship. I won't bore you too much with the details of the season itself, instead just hitting the highlights.

Although I had raced in the past, 2001 was my first full season of ATV National racing. Growing up in McRae, Georgia, racing motocross, you pretty much had to live in the shadow of MX superstar Matt "The Stalker" Walker. Instead of lurking in shadows, I chose to race quads. At first we raced all over Georgia, but it didn't take long to figure out that the highest level of competition was to be found at the nationals. So 2001 began with a commitment to race the entire GNC season (this is back when the GNC consisted of both MX and TT) and see where I truly stood in the grand scheme of things. My dad was all for it and was taking steps toward improving the racing in Georgia; he decided to invest in a couple of local tracks (Echeconee and Paradise Park) and seemed more excited about MX than I was, which was good being that he'd be flipping the bill for the season.

The season started off pretty well for me; I left the first two MX rounds (Echeconee MX and Daniel Boone) with a pair of third-place finishes. It wasn't until the third round at Muddy Creek where things got interesting. After piling up in the first lap and starting dead last, I managed to make my way into second place. Between motos, I got a surprising visit from Sean Sermini of Nac's Racing who apparently had just watched my race. We talked for a few minutes before he offered me a spot on the Nac's team. At that time, Nac's was the biggest team in ATV racing, and I about pissed myself at the thought of joining their squad. The next race was at Red Bud and the pressure was on to perform well. I had to prove to myself and everybody else that I deserved my new ride. Rather than really stress about it, I decided to keep my mind off of the pressure through the magic of ATV Offroad Fury and my PS2. My dad, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck-he almost blew a gasket when he woke up at 3 A.M. on the night before the race to find me still up playing PS2. Despite all the pressure (and video games), I somehow scored my first GNC win that weekend, and it felt as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

The best part about being on Nac's was my new teammates: Zac Willett was nuts and we hit it off immediately. Dustin Shuler, Dana Creech, Nate Leverenz, Nate Frees, Keeton Hanks and Jimmy Elza were all pretty damn cool, too. Everything was really coming together for me, the TT rounds were going well, I scored a solid fourth at Danville in my first TT ever-it was actually the first time I had ridden a TT bike. I even managed to win the Georgia round at Paradise Park (home court advantage?). Orville was pretty interesting, the promoter had a freestyle show and two of my teammates entered. Creech was amazing, while Frees managed to overjump the freestyle ramp by 25 feet resulting in a snapped axle and sore ankles. The crowd loved it but it scared us half to death. The following week was pretty much the highlight of my season. I spent the week in between Orville and Ashtabula at Matt Bartosek's place with Willett, Mark Kendall, John Woodward and a bunch of other guys. We had way too much fun to even mention here, but let's just say that it was one of the best weeks of my life.

The year wound down and I had not only scored a ride on a great team, but also scored enough points to win the 250-B Grand National Championship. I knew it was time to jump into the deep end of the pool and move into the A class. I spent the entire off-season training and had my mind set on winning the first A class race of the season, which was scheduled to take place at Echeconee. Having the opener at my track was a huge psychological advantage, though I was the only one who knew I never really got to practice there. Practice was going well, I felt fast, and my lap times were right where they needed to be. During the final practice, I misestimated the triple and crashed pretty hard. In my heart I knew I was hurt pretty bad, but I couldn't and wouldn't accept it. I decided to race anyway. My parents knew something was up, so I pretty much hid from them until they called the 250-A class to the line. I lined up, but something still didn't feel right. The gate dropped and I pulled the holeshot, I was right where I wanted to be, except I was feeling rough. As the laps wore on, I began losing sensation in my limbs and had to slow down. I then knew something was wrong but figured I'd finish the race. I held on for third and rode my quad straight to the ambulance. I got transported to the local hospital where they realized I had broken my collarbone as well as a vertebra in my neck. I wish I had a happy ending, but my racing career pretty much ended that day. It took a lot longer to heal than I thought it would, and the wreck scared the MX right out of my parents. I tried a couple of small comebacks without them, but it wasn't the same. Our family's plan to invest in the tracks gave me the opportunity to stay involved with racing without actually riding. I still look back and wonder where I would've ended up, but I'm glad I ended up where I did. Just about every guy I raced with in '01-'02 has made it; Dustin Wimmer, Pat Brown, Joe Haavisto, Jason Dunkelberger, Matt White and Mark Kendall are just some of the class of 2002. I still get to see those guys and we still laugh at all of the antics of what is still one of the best years of my life.