“We all remember great moments for the racers, but what about the mechanics? They're a part of the celebration, too! I asked some of our sport’s top mechanics about the highlights of their wrenching careers."

“I have two very big highlights in my career. One was with Jeff Emig in 1996 when he beat Jeremy McGrath in the nationals. He had to beat him in the last two motos for the championship. In the first moto, Jeff won the moto but Jeremy got second so it came down to the last moto. Then he won the last moto, which he hadn’t done that often during the year, so that was really cool. [Another highlight was] when James won the opening round of the World GP Series in Toronto . It was a big comeback for us.”

“It was definitely the 2005 MX Des Nations, going over there and representing our country with Ivan, Ricky, and Kevin. The whole thing was just unreal! We had a winning effort, it turned out to be beautiful that day, and I got a chance to work with Ricky Carmichael. You couldn’t have scripted better.”

“Definitely winning the 2005 125 East Coast Championship with Grant Langston. Then we were in the hunt for the outdoor title; we got some wins and Grant had some unbelievable come-from-behind victories.”

“Winning the 125 West Coast championship, the outdoor title, and the MX Des Nations. It was a year I will never forget. Plus, I’m the only mechanic to win all those titles in the same year.”

“Probably winning the 1997 High Point National with Damon Bradshaw. We were total privateers, we were getting a little help from Honda, and the whole thing came together that day. We had no practice, went out in the mud, and had fun that day. He battled the whole time with Larry Ward and to see his face after that race was gratifying to me. He came back from all those years with this bike and we won that race.”

“It would have to be the 1999 season, working with Ernesto Fonseca. It was his rookie season and Yamaha of Troy hired me. My job was to get him into the country—I helped him get his driver’s license, buy his first truck, and trained him. Basically, he stayed with me, we trained, and then we would go to the practice track five times a week. It was a highlight for me because he won his very first supercross he ever raced. It was really exciting to me because I was part of it! ”

“The whole time I’ve been a mechanic has been exciting for me. I’ve worked with privateers all the way up to Damon Huffman. It’s just a privilege to me to be part of the circuit. Everyone is family and I love every minute of being a mechanic.”

“I have two career highlights: One was when I was a mechanic for John Dowd and we were privateers and we won the 1991 Hangtown National in the mud. It was amazing because we were on our own budget and we beat all the factory guys. The other one was winning the 1998 125 West Coast title at the age of 32. He wasn’t known for being a supercross rider and he was quite a bit older than his competition.”