{{short description|American motorcycle racer}} {{Infobox Motocross rider | name = Jimmy Weinert | image = | caption = | nationality = American | birth_date = {{birth-date and age|August 14, 1951}} | birth_place = Middletown, New York | death_date = | death_place = | years = 1972–1980 | teams = Kawasaki, Yamaha | races = | championships = AMA 500cc – 1974, 1975<br />AMA 250cc Supercross – 1976 | wins = 22 }}
'''Jimmy Weinert''' (born August 14, 1951) is an American former professional motocross and supercross racer.<ref name="Jimmy Weinert at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame">{{cite web |url=http://hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=292&lpos=-615px&letter=W&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0 |title=Jimmy Weinert at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame |publisher=motorcyclemuseum.org |accessdate=6 October 2020 }}</ref> He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1972 to 1980.<ref name="Jimmy Weinert Overall AMA Season Results">{{cite web |url=https://vault.racerxonline.com/rider/jim-weinert/points |title=Jimmy Weinert Overall AMA Season Results |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=6 October 2020 }}</ref> Weinert won 22 AMA Nationals and three AMA national championships during his racing career.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vault.racerxonline.com/rider/jim-weinert/races |title=Jimmy Weinert Individual AMA Race Results |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=6 October 2020 }}</ref> In 1973, Weinert became the first American to defeat international-level riders in the Trans-AMA motocross series.<ref name="Jimmy Weinert at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/><ref name="30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers: #25 Jimmy Weinert">{{cite web |url=https://racerxonline.com/2018/04/25/30-greatest-ama-motocrossers-25-jimmy-weinert |title=30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers: #25 Jimmy Weinert |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=6 October 2020 }}</ref> That victory marked a turning point that brought American motocross up to par with the then dominant European riders.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GvgDAAAAMBAJ&q=1973+trans-ama+motocross&pg=PA17 |title=Inter-AMA Motocross records |author=Amick, Bill |year=1979 |work=American Motorcyclist |accessdate=6 March 2019 }}</ref>
__TOC__
==Motocross career== Born in Middletown, New York, Weinert was the son of a motorcycle dealer and began riding at an early age.<ref name="Jimmy Weinert at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/> Early in his career, he split his time between motocross and dirt track oval racing however, an injury while racing on the high speed dirt track ovals convinced him to concentrate on the burgeoning sport of motocross.<ref name="Jimmy Weinert at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/>
Weinert began racing professionally in 1970 riding a CZ. He was the second-best American rider behind Gary Jones (Yamaha) in the 1971 Inter-AMA motocross series. The series featured some of the top competitors from the Motocross World Championships racing against the top American riders. As the AMA Motocross Championship would not be established until 1972, Jones was crowned the U.S. 250 Motocross National Champion, based upon being the highest placed American born rider in the series.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/detail.aspx?RacerID=204 |title=Gary Jones at the AMA Hall of Fame |publisher=motorcyclemuseum.org |access-date=1 January 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://motocrossactionmag.com/the-risk-of-asterisks-theres-more-to-the-story-than-just-a-blotch-in-the-record-book/#:~:text=FIRST%20AMERICANS%20Gary%20Jones%20on,by%20Vastimil%20Valek%20from%20Czechoslovakia. |title=First Americans |publisher=motocrossactionmag.com |access-date=1 January 2026}}</ref> In 1972 he again finished runner up to Jones in the inaugural AMA 250cc motocross national championship. At the end of the 1972 season, Weinert along with Jones, Brad Lackey and Jim Pomeroy were selected by the AMA to be the first American team to represent the United States at the Motocross des Nations where the team posted a seventh place result.<ref name="Can You Name Every American MXDN Team Since 1972">{{cite web |url=https://motocrossactionmag.com/can-you-name-every-every-american-mxdn-team-since-1972-you-can-once-you-read-this-story/ |title=Can You Name Every American MXDN Team Since 1972 |date=26 September 2012 |publisher=motocrossactionmag.com |accessdate=29 March 2020 }}</ref>
Weinert was hired by the Kawasaki factory racing team for the 1974 AMA 500cc national championship season.<ref name="30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers: #25 Jimmy Weinert"/> He won four consecutive races to overtake the early championship points leader, Tony DiStefano (ČZ), to win his first National Championship.<ref name="Jimmy Weinert Overall AMA Season Results"/> A photograph taken during the 1974 season by journalist Charlie Morey showing Weinert and DiStefano battling for the race lead in a right hand turn with Weinert's handlebar just inches away from DiStefano's chin, became one of the most iconic photographs in American motocross history.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cyclenews.com/2024/10/article/throwback-thursday-jimmy-weinert-and-tony-distefano-clash-makes-for-epic-photo-1974/ |title=Jimmy Weinert and Tony DiStefano Clash Makes for Epic Photo |publisher=cyclenews.com |accessdate=30 May 2026}}</ref>
Weinert along with Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy and Tony DiStefano represented the United States at the 1974 Motocross des Nations event where they finished in an impressive second-place, marking the best-ever result at the time for an American team at the event.<ref name="Can You Name Every American MXDN Team Since 1972"/> He successfully defended his 500cc national championship title in 1975.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fvgDAAAAMBAJ&dq=weinert%27s+way&pg=PA35 |title=Weinert's Way |author=Youngblood, Ed |year=1976 |work=American Motorcyclist |accessdate=6 October 2020 }}</ref> He also won the 1976 AMA 250cc Supercross championship.
In the 1979 Supercross championship, Weinert won the Oakland Coliseum round by using a scoop paddle rear tire to win both his heat race and the main event.<ref name="Forgotten Motocross Tech the Secret Weapon That Won a Supercross and Got Banned">{{cite web |url=https://motocrossactionmag.com/forgotten-motocross-tech-the-secret-weapon-that-won-a-supercross-and-got-banned/ |title=Forgotten Motocross Tech the Secret Weapon That Won a Supercross and Got Banned |publisher=motocrossactionmag.com |accessdate=6 October 2020 }}</ref> Within a few weeks, the AMA had banned the use of paddle tires.<ref name="Forgotten Motocross Tech the Secret Weapon That Won a Supercross and Got Banned"/> His last national victory came at the 1979 Daytona Supercross race.<ref name="30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers: #25 Jimmy Weinert"/> Nagging injuries as well as a new generation of younger competitors such as Bob Hannah and Kent Howerton led Weinert to retire in 1980.<ref name="30 Greatest AMA Motocrossers: #25 Jimmy Weinert"/>
Weinert continues his involvement in the sport competing in vintage motocross events and operating a motocross training facility in Maysville, North Carolina.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/JWTFMX/ |title=Jimmy Weinert Training Facility |publisher=facebook.com |accessdate=6 October 2020 }}</ref> In 1999, he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.<ref name="Jimmy Weinert at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=292&lpos=-615px&letter=W&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0 Jimmy Weinert at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame] * [https://books.google.com/books?id=fvgDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1974+Super+Bowl+of+Motocross&pg=PA35 American Motorcyclist, January 1976, Vol. 30, No. 1], {{ISSN|0277-9358}} * [https://books.google.com/books?id=vvUDAAAAMBAJ&dq=american+motorcyclist+weinert+kx450&pg=PA95 Jimmy Weinert's 1974 Kawasaki KX450 race bike at the American Motorcyclist Magazine] * [https://www.facebook.com/JWTFMX/ Jimmy Weinert Training Facility]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weinert, Jimmy}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from Middletown, Orange County, New York Category:American motocross riders Category:AMA Motocross Championship National Champions