Jesse Pettis never met Jesse Masterpool. He never had that chance.
Masterpool's life was cut short at age 14. Ranked as one of the top motocross riders for his age group in the United States, he died of head injuries sustained in a national race close to his home in Texas in March 2010.
Aside from having the same first name, Pettis has much in common with Masterpool. The 14-year-old Prince George rider found out firsthand how their lives have followed similar parallels when he spent six weeks with the family in Boyd, Texas last spring, honing his motocross skills at the Jesse Masterpool Training Center.
Masterpool's father Jerry trained athletes for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and in addition to his hands-on teaching with Pettis on the bike, he introduced him to a program of gym workouts and cross-training methods similar to the type his own son had practiced.
Over the next five months, Pettis went on to prove his family's considerable efforts in getting him to Texas would reap handsome rewards, culminating in three Canadian national championships.
It started when he entered a U.S. grand national race at Oak Hill, Texas, an event that drew 73 of the top riders from North America in the supermini class. Pettis placed eighth in both heat races and finished 15th overall as the top Canadian.
"We were pretty stoked about that, because we had no idea where we'd fit in with all those fast American kids," said Doug Pettis, Jesse's father. "This was by far our most successful year. It was the experience of a lifetime spending six weeks with Jerry Masterpool and his family. When we left, it was like we have some long-lost friends forever."
On the drive back to Prince George, Pettis stopped in Wellston, Okla., to compete in a regional qualifier for the Loretta Lynn championships, the most prestigious annual amateur motocross event in the U.S.
Pettis pulled off a stunning achievement, finishing first and eighth in the 12- to 14-year-old 85cc class, and he was third and fourth in the supermini class.
With his two fourth-place overall finishes, Pettis punched his ticket to the Loretta Lynn finals in Tennessee Hills, Tenn., but that trip was ruled out in May when he broke his wrist practicing at the BCR Industrial Site in Prince George.
After six weeks in cast, with only one practice behind him, he headed to Raymond, Alta., for the CMRC Western nationals. Though still not fully-healed, his wrist stood up to the punishment of the races and Pettis successfully defended the supermini and 12-16-year-old 85cc classes titles in won in 2010 and he placed ninth in the junior class.
That set up a trip to Walton, Ont., in August or the CMRC Eastern national event. After a week braving the heat and humidity at a training facility in Ontario, Pettis won the supermini class, placed second in 85cc class and was 10th in the schoolboy event, racing 125cc bikes with his 100cc Kawasaki.
Pettis was in the start gate for one of his schoolboy races in Walton when a tornado warning was issued and the track was cleared. Fifteen minutes away in Goderich, a twister touched down, killing one person and injuring 37.
This weekend at Blackwater Motorcycle Park, Pettis will put the finishing touches on his eighth motocross season, among 160 entries in the Prince George Motocross Club's season-ending event.
"This year, other than my broken wrist, everything has been good," said Pettis. "I took the sport way more seriously than any other year and got on a training program and I got my stuff together. I'm going to the gym and road biking and I'm just doing a bunch of cardio stuff.
"It's the end of the season and this weekend I'll just go out to have fun and try not to get hurt. I like that track and I want to end it off good."
Plans are in the works for Pettis to spend a month or two this winter in the U.S. training with Kyle Beaton. The Surrey rider, who now competes on the pro supercross circuit, has invited Pettis to live with him at his home in southern California.
