JASON ANDERSON
Illustration by Bohdan Burenko | Words by Andrew Campo
“STUFF DOES NOT ALWAYS GO THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO. BUT FUCK IT. I RODE MY DIRTBIKE.”
It is with these words that Jason Anderson candidly describes sitting atop one of Glen Helen Raceway’s massive uphill climbs, helplessly willing his lifeless motorcycle to start. He’d suffered a mechanical DNF while running in third place with only two laps to go during the second moto of the opening round of the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships. To the casual reader, this statement could be mistaken for a canned line by a frustrated factory racer. But to those who know his story, it defines a special character in Anderson that has helped him to rise through the ranks on his own terms.
There’s a universal binding code among those who push the envelope: Stand alone and continue driving forward into the unknown. Somewhere along the line, a strand of DNA activates, altering the electrical patterns of their brains every time their two-wheeled machines come to life. Then and only then are they truly living, in revolutions per minute, redlined with a grip full of tomorrow that will lead them that much closer to realizing a dream.
Like most of today’s racing prodigies, by the time he was 3 years old Jason Anderson was already obsessed with the genius of a dirtbike. Admittedly, the young New Mexico native’s first day of riding was marked by a trail of tears and a cold engine as his father pushed him back and forth in the driveway, more than a little terrified when it actually came time to twist the throttle. Soon the fear melted away, replaced by the exuberant joy that only a child can experience—pure ecstasy. His road to tomorrow became clearly defined at an age when most kids are shaking in their shoes to ride the bus for the first time...
