Jeremy Martin's Incredible Ending

He had not won a moto since 2021. In between came years of injuries, including concussions, and his career looked to be done. He was eventually back with his old team, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, but not as a racer but as a VIP host for fans at Monster Energy AMA Supercross races. Team owner Bobby Regan offered him a shot on the bike for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, and while the test track times proved J-Mart showed was still fast and fit, he wasn't able to execute at the races. He went 20-20 at round one and crashed out of round two. The comeback went on hold until Millville. Suddenly, there, at the track his family owns, he was good enough to go 3-1 for second overall behind teammate Haiden Deegan. That's a twenty position improvement from his previous finish less than two months ago!

“I mean, to be honest, I was terrible the first two rounds,” he said. “If I would have gone 5-5 today, that would have been a win for me. After Southwick I went back down to the Star Racing facility and had about five days on the bike. I said, ‘Look guys, here’s the deal. I’m not as polished as I was during my career. I need a start map that’s dummy proof.’ I needed something there, and Brad Hoffman came up with a good map. He crushed it. I had two holeshots today. Insane.”

If you ever want proof that starts are about mindset and adrenaline as much as horsepower, Millville was proof, and Martin even dropped teammate Deegan off the start in moto two. 

“It was a fairy tale kind of ending to my career," Martin said. "We all know I was doing the VIP gig. I lined up Pala and Hangtown and then when I was practicing starts, I was a yard sale. Like I literally tried these really tall starting blocks. I hit them in the middle of where they dropped the gate. I was just all over the place. I was not dialed in. I took a break, got everything better, and now we have a dream day, really. I mean it's just insane and it's an honor to be able to battle with these guys. I mean to see the pace of the next generation. I mean, I was good back in my day, but these guys are really good now.”

Martin kept heaping praise on the likes of Jo Shimoda and Deegan after the race.

I definitely put a lot of heart into it to keep the, keep the number one at bay. It's not easy, right, to keep these guys, like I said, that next generation speed is insane. um. I've had another proper dig like that at Millville here, and I think of 2020, the COVID year with Dylan [Ferrandis]. We went down to the last lap of moto two or whatever. We had a gnarly brawl, but, yeah, I was just grateful. I was trying to hide, hide the tears, man."

“He's raced a lot of badass dudes on a dirt bike, so for him to say that it's, it's awesome,” said Deegan. “Age is just a number clearly for him, to go out there in the second moto and dig like that. I'm gonna be honest, I sprinted towards him, but with like five laps to go, I'm like, ‘It's all yours. I ain't got really nothing left in the tank.’ Props to him, man, he was moving.”

After those bad first few races, the Star team brought him back down to Florida and told him to get a little more old school.

"When I came back and got the gig, they told me ‘Hey man, you’re going fast, but what’s up with your turns?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, man.’ I’m just focused on this technique, trying to stand up [more] because it’s the new generation. They told me ‘When you were with us, your turns were amazing. Let’s get that back. Because you won when you did that.’ So, we went to work and just slowly chipped away at it. Just a fairy tale day, really.”

The craziest part of all. There was literally an old-school part from J-Mart's prime on the bike on Saturday.

“We dug up some settings…we may or may not have…I had a shock spring that I took off my championship bike, last night, and rode with it.”

A ten-year old shock spring on the bike that wins? That’s crazy.

“I’m blown away, too,” Martin said. “It’s a different generation Yamaha, a different chassis."

Also, as it often does in the movies, fate intervened. Jo Shimoda was leading the moto after passing Martin until his brakes failed. 

“I’m not gonna lie, obviously Jo lost his rear brake and he did a wildcat maneuver off the track,” explained Martin. “I got back into the lead and I said ‘All right this is it, dude.’ I saw Danger Boy Deegan, and I was like, ‘Frick, I’m in the Danger Zone.’ I saw five laps to go on the board, and I was like, ‘Boy, I will suffer.’ He tried to put on a push and I tried to put on a push. Also, he’s battling for a championship. He did his job today. But I was like ‘Man, I ain’t giving it to you today.’

“I was trying to hide the tears, man,” Martin said. “I went up for the Grand Marshal deal [in opening ceremonies] and I broke down on the podium. I saw my brother and my family at different times throughout the day and I was like, man, you gotta get your shit together. These are the last two mottos of your career. So, I was able to do that and, as Deegan says, lock in. I locked in and get ‘er done.”