Motocross, and athletics in general, to the public can often be deceiving.  The general public doesn’t see the amount of ‘work’ that gets put in for riders at the top of the sport to race at the level that they do.  That ‘work’ can come in various forms…obviously there is a large amount of actual riding being done on the motorcycle, but there’s also a large amount of off the bike training and exercise that’s all done to help a rider race at the highest level. 

‘Work’ can also come in the form of finding support in various aspects.  Whether it be having someone help critique your riding technique, design and coach your off the bike training program, or help you find outside sponsors.  The list of ‘work’ that goes into racing at a high level can get long and those riders who are lucky enough to have a team backing them helps take off a lot of that workload.  As we all know, not all riders are so lucky; Jace Kessler, a standout amateur racer in the Pro Sport class and Team EVS rider, happens to be one of those riders. 

Jace has been running his own program ever since he got into the sport of motocross and has taken on more of the ‘work’ involved with racing at a high level as his career has progressed.  Jace has a tremendous ‘corner’ of core supporters that are with him and help how they can, but Jace is still shouldering the load with riding, training, planning logistics, driving, finding support/sponsors, and more.  Jace is aware that many of the riders he competes directly against do not have to worry about most of those things and while he wishes he was in their position, Jace has been able to turn his role into a tremendous motivator for him and his racing. 

“Obviously the goal has been to get onto a team with some support behind it to help shoulder some of the load and while I’ve had talks with a few teams in the past nothing has ever really come to fruition.  But personally, I don’t mind it.  Running my own program like this for a number of years has made me realize how much I want to do what I do and, if anything, has made me more driven and motivated in every aspect.  From riding and training to getting on the phone and finding sponsors, running my own program has helped me learn a lot about myself and made me more driven than ever before to make it happen.”

Jace has been putting in the ‘work’ all summer long and has even dipped his toes in to the pro national scene to get even more valuable race experience leading up to the 2021 Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Championship. 

“The couple pro nationals I’ve done have really helped me fine tune a few things here and there leading up to Lorettas this year.  The Nationals are other wordly tough and you can’t replicate that kind of gate drop/race experience so that in itself has been really helpful.  But now that those are done and I have that experience I’m excited to continue to fine tune things here and there leading up to the Ranch.  I’ve put in the work and I know what I’m capable of…at this point I’m anxious more than anything else to show everyone what I know I can do.”

Check out Jace Kessler and the other #TeamEVS Loretta Lynn qualifiers at the 2021 Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Motocross Championships from August 2^nd through August 8^th.

Written by Jackson Halsmer

Photo Credits to Browndog Wilson and 7 Wonders Studios