Jeff Willow was a Southern California-based professional racer who was known for a hard charging and aggressive riding style. Turning pro in 1995 when he was a teenager, Willow spent nearly eleven years chasing his dream and racing at the highest levels of the sport.
A year after turning pro, Willoh earned a ride with the Honda of Troy team, a high-profile ride at that time. He would score his first, and only, win that season at the San Diego Supercross. After several up and down seasons racing supercross and the nationals, Willow made the switch to arenacross and found a second career there. At the conclusion of the 2006 Arenacross season, and after nearly eleven years, Willoh pulled away from racing and became a working man with a family.
We recently caught up with him in Glendale, California, during a break in his busy day.
Racer X: What are you doing with yourself since your retirement?
Jeff Willow: Well, the biggest thing I would say is that I am father of two little girls. My girls are Makenzie, who is 3, and Krista, who is 10. Aside from that, I’m just working away and running my own business and making a living. I’m not married, but my girlfriend and I have been together for a long time, so it feels like we are married! We live in Glendale, which is pretty much my hometown. Oh, and I recently started racing again, so that’s cool.
What do you do for work?
When I got done racing, I bounced around for a bit. But as I settled down, I was working at a water fountain shop. The guy would design custom fountains for commercial and residential use. We were doing corner fountains, wall fountains, mostly stuff for gardening and some commercial work. I started working on them and cleaning them, and I realized there was a business to be had taking care of them once they were built and up and running. So I launched into my own business and that’s what I do today. I work in the areas of Hollywood, L.A., Santa Monica and that general vicinity.
Tell me about your racing today. You say you are back on a bike?
Yeah! It’s a pretty cool story, actually. Over the years I was doing some stuff with a company called SSR, they are a pit bike company. In addition to the little pit bikes they were selling, they came out with a 450, and I have been racing that thing. It is actually a clone of a 2005-era CRF450 model, and the bike is actually pretty good. I first rode it in in 2013, and it was a dog—kind of like a big XR. Three years later, and after the pit bike thing dried up, I was going to race the Race Around The Lake in Castaic. They had made some changes to the 450 and offered me to ride it for free, so I grabbed it. We fixed it up, and it actually ran pretty well. I ended up getting second in the Vet Pro class and was battling with some guys who were on some good bikes. So they started supporting me and they wanted to make the bike compete with the Japanese and KTMs. So this season, I started doing the WORCS series and am riding the Vet 30 class.
That’s awesome. So you’re racing a Chinese bike against the competition?
Yup! And the bike is not bad. It has a $5000 price tag, and I am battling everyone on their $10,000 KTMs and battling for the championship. But more importantly, I’m back at the track, taking the kids and family with me, and that’s just a good thing. I’m also the R&D guy for SSR, which is sort of good and sort of bad. You never know when you might have a failure. But we are really working on the bike and overall it’s just fun. I haven’t broken anything major yet and bike is holding up. Some of the Honda stuff bolts right in, so we don’t have to do a ton of stuff to it. Our plan is to just do the WORCS series and whatever other races are fun on the off weekend. We might go and do Mammoth as well.
When was your last real season racing?
My last real year was the 2005-2006 Arenacross season. I raced the regional series. I wasn’t really finishing in the money in the big class, but I felt I wasn’t done racing. So I went out and raced the regional series. I did win that series both years I did it. But I got my first real job in 2006. That last season I thought it was going to be real easy and then some kid I never heard of beat me. His name was Jake Weimer! He went onto have a good career, but I did beat him for the championship that one year.
Lets go back to the start of your career, and talk about those early days.
Yeah, those were the good times. I turned pro in 1995, raced my first supercross at Anaheim. It was my dad and I in a box van. I did okay, made some mains and had some decent finishes. But then the next year I got a Honda of Troy ride, and I was able to win the San Diego Supercross. But then after that, everyone expected me to win and I think the stress got to me.
In looking at your results from that 1996 season, they were pretty inconsistent. But not many guys can say that they won a supercross main event.
Yeah, I don’t even know how it happened. I scored like a 9 and a 12 at the earlier races that season. We came into San Diego and it all just came together. [Kevin] Windham was supposed to clean up but he was out with mono. Then [David] Pingree was the favorite, but he went out and broke his femur in practice that day. So the race was wide open. Basically, I got the holeshot and was comfortably leading. I was telling myself to “Just ride the race, try to get on podium.” Well, I was still leading that sucker on lap 12, and I suddenly thought, “Wait, holy shit, I can win this thing.” I rode really tight those last few laps. I think I jumped the finish line in first gear on the last lap, but we won. It was awesome, and definitely the biggest win of my career. I think I even made like $14,000 total for that win.
What happened at the next race?
Ah, well, I think the nerves got the best of me. I didn’t qualify at the next round. I felt like that after you win, they (the team) want you to win every time. So I had a hard time. But that one win—man, it was a great time. It was a great race to win. It was only a few hours from home and all my family was there for it. Things were up and down for the next few years, and I wasn’t able to get another win. But I think the situation that happened at the end of the nationals in 1998 was the next big deal and was what caused me to switch over to arenacross. In hind sight, that was a blessing in disguise.
Oh, wow, are you willing to go there?
Yeah! I don’t give a shit! Lets talk about it!
Ok, tell me the story of what happened at Steel City in 1998. There was something about an AMA drug test and you pulled out of the event?
So, I was riding for Team Stiffie. Basically, the team had fallen apart towards the end of the season. They ran out of money. There were still three national races left back east and I wanted to go and race them. I had a buddy from Humboldt County, his name was JR Mason and he was racing as well. We agreed to drive together and split half the costs and go do the races. So we loaded the bikes up in a Chevy S-10 pickup and headed to New York. When we got to the last round at Steel City, Duke Finch, the AMA ref, announced at the riders meeting that they were doing random drug testing. He called my name and a few others. And here is the deal: I don’t know how random it was. I definitely feel like I was singled out. So he called my name. I went over to his motorhome to take the test and simply told them, “Look, I am not going pass this test.” I asked what would happen and they said it would be a five-race suspension, starting with this one and going into the 1999 season for supercross. So I asked to withdraw from the race and simply not take the test. They said that was okay and I would not have to take the test. So that’s what I did. I pulled my entry from the race.
So that’s it? That’s not really a big deal.
No, it wasn’t really. But I was trying to get a ride for the following season and I knew if I was suspended for supercross there was no way I would get one. One thing that was funny though, when we where leaving Steel City, Jordan and Eric from Moto XXX called me and asked if I would do some jumps on the way out. I was so bummed about the testing thing I was like “Sure, I'm here already.” Mike Jones lived right there on the grounds and at the front gate he had this huge double and it was me, him and Travis Pastrana. We proceeded to put on a sick show for the filming of one of the Moto XXX videos and we had a huge crowd watching us. That was a fun silver lining to a bad day.
So then what happened going into the 1999 season?
You know, I was pissed. I felt like I was being singled out. I said screw these AMA guys, I am going after some money. So I went off and got a ride with TUF Racing for arenacross that next season. I was banging bars with Buddy Antunez and was doing well. We were racing for the championship. But then a few races into arenacross that following season, I guess they heard the story from Steel City, so they drug tested me a few days before one of our races. I was fine, I knew I would pass. So they tested me on Thursday before a race, I think it was in Rockford. When I showed up to race on Friday, Mike Kidd told me I could not race as they didn’t get the results in time. I was really pissed, because that wasn’t my fault. So then on Saturday I showed up and he asked me if I was going to pass the test. I said that without a doubt, yes I would. So then he let me race. But I missed that Friday night race, and the points and money that went with it. I was right behind Bud Man in points. I got totally screwed and I was getting ready to fight them legally, but then I got hurt with three rounds to go and it was a moot point. John Gallagher was the arenacross ref back then and he used to be sitting at the bar making jokes about drug testing me, but it was not really a joke to me. I will say that the arenacross guys used to party a lot and doing that circuit was so much more fun. It was like a bunch of friends hanging out after each race and it was really a family environment with some racing mixed in. We raced hard and we had a good time as well.
Those days back in 1998 and 1999 were when guys like Brian Deegan and a young Travis Pastrana were really starting to push the envelope with doing some crazy stuff both on and off the track. It seems like officials back then really wanted riders to be square and buttoned up.
Yeah, that’s for sure. It was a different time in the sport and they did not like guys who did things a little different or liked to have fun.
What are some of your best memories from the sport?
Well, I think just the good times. Traveling all over the country with friends and racing. Hanging out with guys like Greg Rand and Denny Stephenson. Man, we had so much fun. Racing with Buddy Antunez, man, when I was on a pee wee he used to give me riding lessons! Then I was out there twelve years later trying to beat him! I guess it was just living the dream, traveling the country and running around. The money could have been a little better I guess, but I have no complaints.
Well, I often ask how the money was, but it sounds like you just answered it.
Yeah, the money was never really there for me. After I won in San Diego I still had to pay for my own flight the next week. I never really made money until I got to arenacross. Racing that series was awesome, though. The first year, in 1999, was really good. We had the Dash for Cash and four main events per weekend. You could make $5-6k per weekend if you finished on or around the podium. But once you got outside of the top five it wasn’t great.
Do you still keep in touch with any guys? And how closely do you follow racing now?
Yeah, for sure. I try to stay in touch with as many as I can. Charley Bogard is a great friend. As for following the sport, yes, for sure. I love to go and watch supercross, but honestly after a week of working it’s too easy to stay home and watch it on the tube. They do such a great job with that. I would say that for a few years after I quit I wasn’t really interested in watching it, but now I’m totally into it. It makes the week go by faster.
Well, good luck with your racing and thanks for taking the time to chat.
Thanks! I don’t get out to ride much now, I’m just racing on the weekends it seems like, but that’s good enough for me. Last week I raced at 29 Palms for the Big 6 series, which is a local off-road series out here and before that I was in Havasu at the WORCS round. I am off to a pit bike race this weekend and just trying to keep it as fun as possible. I will say there is nothing better than being at the track and having your family there to support you. I do love this sport.