Johnny "O’Show" O’Mara had a successful career in his day, with an AMA 125 National Motocross Championship and am AMA 250 Supercross Championship to his name. These days he can be found under the Honda HRC Progressive tent helping Jett and Hunter Lawrence. Steve Matthes caught up with Johnny after Southwick where Jett and Hunter went one-two. Steve also wanted to talk about old-school Southwick with O'Show, though!
Matthes: Alright. Johnny, O’Show here we are at Southwick. Your riders went one-two. They had a great day. I don't really want to make it about them, but let's talk about them first. Got to be really rewarding. They've done it a lot. They've won both classes, all of that. But when you see today, Hunter catches Eli, who we know one of the baddest dudes ever and gets second overall. And Jett is gone. It's got to make you feel pretty good.
Johnny O’Mara: Yeah, it's definitely good to watch because that's my job with them. And it's been my job for six years now. So, to do what they did today, we're just always pinching ourselves. It's just a lot of hard work. Obviously, everyone would know at this level. It's exactly what we kind of all work for and to achieve it, it's definitely something that for me, I'll feel it a little bit more tomorrow. I'll be like, "Wow." I don't want to say I'm numb to it because we all work so hard and stuff, but I'll think about it a little bit during the week when I keep track of them, what they're doing on a daily basis. I know exactly what everyone's doing every hour of the day. Like literally, that's how we operate with the Lawrence team, with HRC, Honda and myself. It's just a well-oiled machine. A lot of people use that term, it's literally that, but with a lot of work behind it.
Are you surprised that Jett's ACL recovery?
Yeah, it's pretty amazing. But does it surprise me? I have to be pretty frank. No. I have the best medical team on our side. Warren Kramer [Kramer Orthopedics] is the one who did his knee surgery and, and I never had a doubt in my mind. Like, nothing really even surprised me. I mean, maybe a little bit, like, “Hey, when do you think we can just maybe jump on the motorcycle a little bit?” And the fact that I got the answer really quick, I was like, “Really that quick?” That would be something. where I'm like, “Wow, okay.” I just have to have full trust in him. But I never thought we wouldn't be ready for Pala, Fox Raceway.
I was talking to Ian Harrison [Red Bull KTM team manager] in the tower, and obviously, Chase [Sexton] had a rough Pala and just kind of decided to take some weeks off. Jett missed some of supercross, comes back for nationals. Last year Jett got hurt, comes back for SMX. The point being is, I think we're entering an era where the Dungey's and Ricky's, the guys that win indoors and out all year, guys that didn't get hurt, did all the races at handled the pressure and the level that those guys are at, we're thinking it's either over or it will be pretty rare going forward from here. For all the reasons we just said. Do you agree? Do you disagree?
So, I just want to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying. Just meaning the longevity type deal? Like is that basically what you've asked me?
Well, injuries happen in our sport a lot. And to stay healthy for 31 races or even in Chase's situation, which we believe isn't as much of an injury but more of, “Hey, I just need a break after a long supercross season,” those days of doing all 31 rounds and winning both the supercross and motocross titles, are going to be rarer.
Yeah, it's almost a difficult question, but I totally know where you're coming from on it. I've always, even if you go back as far as I go back to [when I raced] in the 80s, I think all athletes thought about that ten-year deal. Like, if you can keep that flame going for ten years, that's pretty amazing. We're seeing it happen more regularly now, Eli and all that. So yeah, I just would say that literally the science and everything, the knowledge and what we talked about just earlier with our medical teams, I just think the science of the sport, it looks like they can recover quicker and go a little longer. But I think I'm kind of walking all over here with my answer. I do see some wear and tear on my guys and I mean, Hunter and Jett were two years ago, three years ago, they're like thinking they're Superman, can do everything. So, when I hear anything about the Paris supercross, like Bercy and all that stuff, I kind of go, “Well, we'll see how long you want to continue that,” because I've been around so long, I did all that even in my day. So, I do see that coming into play now. Like, okay, we're doing Aussie Open. So, I do see that part.
And then, like we talked about earlier, it's just people are hard on everyone, at every level now. But I do kind of look at it like I feel like our team, we've built something really strong here. And you're seeing a lot of the strength, and that could be [measured in] wins or longevity, is what we built. The foundation has really been really set with both Lawrence brothers and the team, obviously. So yeah, I think we're probably midway [through the career] or something like that. I really can't say because, you know how things can change overnight. And I think I probably stress that more during the week, just making sure they're okay, like, “Okay, you guys got through your motos” and all that and whatever they're doing, testing and all that. I will go out on the limb and say the race is almost the easiest part. It's all the other stuff, the wear and tear and all that we were just talking about. So, for us to go one-one, two-two with Jett and Hunter, I don't know. It's just amazing. But it's kind of just what we've been like aiming for the whole time. Like literally.
I watched an ‘86 Southwick clip on Instagram. You and RJ [Rick Johnson] battling, you were leading for a little bit. When you go to High Point or Southwick or RedBud, do you look at the track and be like, “Oh man, I passed RJ there.” Do you think like that or is that just so long ago?
Yeah, I guess I do. It's still in my blood. So, I know the race you're talking about. It's in me, so when I see Jett do his stuff, that one off technique over everybody else, or Hunter with his technique, I mean, they're so technically sound. It's really nice to watch, especially in my position because I was a technical guy, too. So, when I see these little things, like Jett’s the ballerina on the motorcycle and stuff, I mean, I kind of feel like I was that too. I kinda helped change the sport and supercross and all that. David Bailey and myself. I remember all that stuff.
I definitely can relate, but the way the tracks develop now is quite a bit different than they used to be. They were rough in our day, too, especially when we didn't have machinery [track prep] like they have today. So, I think all that stuff, it kind of comes back naturally, but it's not about me anymore. Like, it's literally just about them. I had a great career, and I was blessed to be in the position I am to even stay in it as long as I have. Right now, people still want me in their corner. So, I just feel really blessed.
Yeah, interesting. And how come you never won Southwick?
Yeah, it's like Southwick… and it always really bums me out I never won Daytona. That was one that I got second like five times or something like that. But yeah, like usually the tougher guys win those and I think I was kind of known as that. There are some venues I just wasn't able to win. But I was a multi-time champion in the sport, and I just have to live with that. I would have thought I would have won here a few times. I raced in a time period when there was quite a few guys (up front), not just me. Even now, I mean, there's just so many good guys. Just one of those things with the sport.
