Like father, like sons: Tolar teens pursue motocross passion, career

At the age of three, most of us were still playing with Legos, dolls and Play-Doh.

But for the Jamison family, their activity of choice during their toddler years was a bit more challenging than coloring books.

Joey Jamison said he remembers being on a racetrack and riding a Suzuki JR50 minibike at only three years old.

“I’ve been on a dirt bike my whole life,” he said.

He passed down his motocross fascination to his two older sons — Josiah, 17, and Jeremiah, 13, who were both riding four-wheelers and dirt bikes at the age of four.

However, it wasn’t until two years ago that the boys’ fascination with motocross turned into a huge passion.

“One of Josiah’s friends, Marshall, he wanted him to come to the Turkey Bowl — it's a beginner's race in Fort Worth — and he did it,” said Lorena Jamison, Joey’s wife and mother of their children. “He got fourth place for his first time to ever race, and he was sold. The rest is history. Jeremiah didn't want to race at all, and then a few months later, he was all in.”

Motocross is a family passion — so much so that the Jamisons now have a personal three-and-a-half-acre dirt racetrack at their home in Tolar off of Paluxy Highway.

“We have a small group of kids who come out and train with us, and we have trainers to train the boys,” Joey said. “Everybody calls it the sandbox, so if you ever hear some of the kids that come out to our place and train, they call it either the Jamison MX compound or they call it the sandbox. It's a track that is built for endurance and it'll put a whoopin’ on you because it's so sandy, so it is twice as hard, which is what you want for a training facility than any other normal prep track out there that has dirt and clay.”

Joey said normally, six of their friends regularly ride on the track, but each time someone does, the track has to be maintained.

“They wear the track down when they ride so he has to go back and resurface it,” Lorena said.

“We just have to fix the ruts and make it rideable,” Joey said.

But the track isn’t the only thing that riders have to maintain.

PREPARATION

The Jamisons travel to compete in motocross competitions about twice a month, and a lot of work goes into their preparation.

Each time the brothers compete, they have to make sure to load up everything including their bikes, tools, gas, gear and food.

Gear is one of the most important components in motocross because it keeps the riders safe.

“We wear knee braces, leggings so the knee braces don't hurt rubbing against the skin, boots, helmet, chest protector, jersey pants, goggles and gloves,” Jeremiah said.

“They do so much work for this whole thing because it's loading everything up and then they get home and then unload it all, change their filters, change oil, tighten all the bolts. They have to thoroughly, meticulously go through their bikes,” Lorena said.

The boys also have to make sure to bring different tires depending on the terrain of the track.

“Every racetrack is different,” Joey said. “There's black soil, red clay, sand or sand and clay mix, so every track has kind of got different conditions, so having the right tires and knowing to bring the right tires, it's huge.”

Even using different types of gasoline can help the motor in a bike have a longer life expectancy.

"To get to the level that we're trying to achieve and we're at, you can't get there without knowing these key components,” Joey said.

HIGH RISK

Motocross is considered a high-risk sport, but so far, the boys have avoided any major injuries. Of course, they’ve still suffered from the occasional burn and a few concussions.

There is also a slight disagreement in the family in whether motocross is more dangerous than football.

“Football is way worse than motocross,” Joey said.

“I'm gonna agree with Dad,” Josiah said. “It is dangerous, but I think football's more dangerous.”

“I'm gonna say it's completely not,” Jeremiah said. “Motocross is way more dangerous. You're not flying 30 to 40 foot up in the air in football. You’re not going 40 to 60 miles per hour in football.”

But dangerous or not, the boys are still wanting to pursue motocross as a career — which is why they spend so much time and money on the sport.

“They really quit the whole video game thing for the most part,” Lorena said. “They don’t have time for girlfriends; they're too busy working.”

“It's awesome to see that dedication, focus and want to be faster and better,” Joey said. “It's four or five days a week with training and working on bikes. We leave for the race on Friday and come back Sunday night at midnight. It's full-time amazingness.”

COMPETITIONS

Joey said in the last year and a half, Josiah and Jeremiah together have placed in the top five 56 times in various motocross competitions.

“Their first year of racing, they won the championship, first place,” Joey said. “Then, we just won it again two Saturdays ago in the Crosstown series.”

During the 2022 Crosstown Series in Fort Worth on Aug. 20, both boys earned first place in one of their classes. Josiah earned first place in the 125cc B/C 12-17 class and second place in the 250 C 12-16 class. Jeremiah earned first place in the Supermini 12-16 class and third place in the 85 9-14 open class.

Even their younger sister, Sophia, 9, has ranked high in motocross competitions.

She earned first place in the Stacyc class during the 2021 Crosstown Series and third place in the Stacyc class during the 2021 MiniXcross competition.

“This little guy does it too,” Lorena said, pointing to their 3-year-old son, Jedidiah. “He doesn't even know how to ride a bicycle, but he can rip on one of those bikes. It's crazy. He does the hills.”

“He's got an electric bike that he started riding at age three,” Joey added. “Princess over there (Sophia), she was my pit boss over the weekend, bringing an umbrella and drinks. It's a family to me. It takes a team to do what we do.”

JUMPS

For an average competition, motocross riders typically reach speeds between 50-60 mph on a straightaway and can jump more than 50 feet in the air.

“I've got a video of Josiah and from the top of the dirt up, he's probably 85 foot in the air flying 111 feet,” Joey said.

“That's the part I didn't know I was getting into,” Lorena said, chiming in. “Now he's starting to pass people in the air on these jumps.”

“You can imagine you're on a dirt bike, and you don't want to clear the jump because you’re just not there yet, and as you're jumping the little hill, somebody is over the top of you and landing in front of you on the third hill. I mean, the rush,” Joey said.

PASSION

When asked what the boys like the most about motocross, Josiah said, “the camaraderie.”

“I made so many more friends since I've been in it,” he said. “It's helped me be more social. It's very competitive. It helps you like, be more self-efficient and self-productive. It helps you with your confidence. It's definitely an experience to have.”

“That is, in my opinion, more than 50% of the battle in this sport is confidence,” Joey said.

“It’s not cheap,” Jeremiah said. “But it’s something to put on a bucket list.”

Joey said he misses motocross himself, but loves seeing his boys follow their passion and dream.

“They're doing so awesome,” he said. “The progression is just truly amazing. I'm not just saying that because they're my kids — we're winning championships so we're doing something right — but it's my turn to get them there and let them succeed, but boy would I try it again.”

NEXT GOAL

The next accomplishment the boys are trying to achieve is to compete at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Tennessee, which Joey describes as being the “Super Bowl for motocross.”

“That is by far the main goal that everybody that races competitively is trying to get to,” Joey said. “We qualified for area. We're qualified to go to regionals. We just didn't go. We held back because we wanted to do more training and local races before we head up there, but we will make it.”

Until then, the boys will continue to train every week to achieve their goals.

“It takes a giant team, sponsors and family,” Joey added. “It takes so much to get to where we're at. Anybody can just go buy a bike and just go to a race and have fun, but for us, we're trying to pursue it as a career for the boys if that's what they want to do. It's crazy, but man I wouldn't change it for the world to see them smile and do what they do; it's truly amazing.”

The Jamisons are grateful for their sponsors and all of their support: ProSource, Baker Services, Hill City Chop House, Evo Suspension, Progressive Powersports, Adventure MotoSports, North Texas KTM, Village Creek, Terry Cordray and Gryder Motor Sports.