Interview with Jonah Joyner, Privateer Mechanic

As in most sports, Supercross and Motocross have their stars. Carmichael, Stewart, Reed, McGrath, Windham. Each is recognizable. Each has made a contribution to the sport. And when people talk about the sport these are the names that come up. But behind the scenes are hundreds of people who make the sport what it is today. Without them, Ricky Carmichael would have no where to compete. These people range from event planners to vendor management; from score keepers to track designers. Perhaps the most invisible person associated with MX/SX is the privateer mechanic. Jonah Joyner is one of those guys.

Joyner spent the first five months of 2004 traveling to each Supercross event. It was Joyner’s job to make sure rookie privateer rider Joshua Bagge’s bike ran flawlessly for the entire event. "Working as a mechanic is only half the job," says Joyner. "Racing was the easy part, surviving between the races is what took the most effort. By the time the race is over Saturday night, we’re packing up and getting back on the road to the next event. There’s no rest. It’s hit the road and go. Then, if you show up early to the next venue, you’re told, ‘Hey, you’re not supposed to be here ‘till tomorrow. You can’t stay here.’"

At age 31, Jonah Joyner has been involved in motorsports all of his life. His family has always been active in the racing world. When he was young his dad made him do his own mechanic work. Joyner’s brother took the lessons from his dad and now works with one of the top NASCAR teams. But Joyner took a different direction in life. Attending Brooks Institute of Photography, Joyner took a part time job at a local motorcycle shop. It was there that he met Joshua Bagge, one of the fastest riders in all of Santa Clarita. When Bagge decided to compete in the 2004 Supercross Series, he asked Joyner to join him as his mechanic.

We caught up with Jonah at Bagge’s practice track this past week to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to be a mechanic for a privateer. Here is what he had to say:

MTM: Jonah, thanks for taking time to speak to us. Tell us, what’s it really like to be a privateer mechanic?

JOYNER: It’s not nearly as glamorous as it looks. Remember that Supercross is run in the wintertime. Once you are outside of California it gets really cold. Even at San Francisco it was cold. We were right on the waterfront and the wind would blow in over the bay and it was freezing. But at least we had good parking. A lot of stadiums are built right down town. There isn’t a lot of parking space available. At one race we were parked underneath a freeway, all jammed in.

MTM: Are you treated any different than the factory mechanics?

JOYNER: Not really. Everyone is friendly. The factory mechanics are good at helping us out when we have a problem or if we need a part or something. You just have to remember the factory guys are getting the big bucks and have hundreds of people waiting on them. The privateer has himself and maybe a mechanic. And the system works different for the privateer, too. I don’t just wrench, I plan the travel, the meals, the entertainment, workout schedule, keeping the rider focused and out of trouble, etc.

MTM: So, you drive from race to race. What’s that like?

JOYNER: It’s crazy. When the races are close to each other, like here in Southern California, it’s great. But once the West Coast races are done, it gets really crazy and real cold.

MTM: You drive a special kind of vehicle. What is it? Tell us about it?

JOYNER: It’s called a Fun-Mover. Half of it is like a motor home, half is like a box van. The bikes stay in the box van part and we live in the motor home part. We cook almost all our meals in it. We have a DVD player, music, and the basics. We took 15 DVD’s with us when we left California and thought we had enough. Wrong! We ran out of DVD’s by the first week. When you’re on the road there’s just nothing to do until practice at the race.

MTM: When you were on the road, did you stay in campgrounds?

JOYNER: No. There was no money for that. We basically stayed in parking lots. Walmarts were our favorite. We could stop, shop, and sleep, all in one location. And a lot of the Walmarts we stopped at were superstores so they were open all night. We would eat dinner and then set out a few chairs and watch people come and go. It’s amazing how funny people who shop at Walmart are. In one college town, the Walmart seems to be the place to go to meet people. Kids would be coming and going until the wee hours of the morning. Usually we didn’t tell people who we were but, once, we were in a Walmart, in the magazine section, and we were talking to these girls. When we told them, they didn’t believe us. It just so happened that we were in that month’s issue of some motorcycle magazine. So we pulled it out, and bam, there we were.

MTM: Saved by Walmart. As a mechanic, your job is to help Josh during the race by writing messages to him on the pit board. Is that really necessary? Does it help? What do you write?

JOYNER: It definitely helps. Sometimes a rider gets into a pack of other riders that are slower than he is. When that happens it’s my job to wake him up and get him to start moving. I don’t put lap times down because they are all relative. I don’t put positions down unless it’s critical for Josh to move up one or two to make the qualifier. "Breath" is a word we all use because sometimes your rider just forgets to relax and take deep breaths. Oxygen is essential for energy and to prevent arm pump.

MTM: Do you have any code words you use?

JOYNER: We have a word, "Caboose!" It means pretty much what it says, get moving and don’t follow. We are not here to follow. We want to make the main event and get on that podium. You can't do that by following the other guy, unless it's Bubba Stewart. That guy is amazing.

MTM: Is there anything you would suggest to the AMA that would help the privateer?

JOYNER: Yeh, longer practices. The pros have half as many guys who get twice as much practice time. They probably need it far less than the privateers. The Factory guys fly out to all the races. During the week they get practice time on factory practice tracks. They show up fresh. The privateers spend long hours on the road with nowhere to practice. Just ten minutes more at each race could make a big difference.

MTM: Thank you, Jonah, for your time. Before we go we have some "get to know you" questions we would like you to answer. First, Who is your non-MX related hero?

JOYNER: Ghandi.

MTM: Favorite place on Earth?

JOYNER: Galapagos Islands.

MTM: Most interesting person you ever met?

JOYNER: A guest speaker for a class. He was a native American Indian that told us of how he was displaced from his tribal lands, had to change his Indian name, and underwent a lot of hardship. I started looking at life differently after that.

MTM: Favorite rider of all time?

JOYNER: Jeff Ward.

MTM: Favorite song?

JOYNER: Bob Marlee Redemption song.

MTM: Favorite Movie?

JOYNER: American history X.

MTM: Favorite non-MX related athlete?

JOYNER: Shaquille O’Neal.

MTM: Favorite book?

JOYNER: Motorcycle Diaries.

MTM: Words to live by?

JOYNER: Don’t be the Caboose!

MTM: Thanks again. Good luck next season.