Hall of Famer Spotlight: Gary Jones

November 11, 2022

By Keaton Maisano

Fifty years ago, AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Gary Jones began his run atop the world of American motocross, collecting the first three 250cc titles of the AMA’s newly instituted national motocross championship series.

Jones’ introduction to motorcycles came by way of his father, who was a BSA/Matchless dealer and one of the first Yamaha dealers in Southern California in the 1960s. With that two-wheeled familiarity, Jones had what he needed to start on his path to what could only be called a dominant racing career.

Aboard a BSA, a young Jones competed in local TT, scrambles, flat track and motocross. He won his first expert class race at age 15.

In 1971, Jones placed first in Edison Dye’s Inter-Am series and won the Baja 500 desert race. He rode that momentum into 1972, the inaugural year of the AMA’s newly founded and sanctioned motocross race series, and he continued his winning ways.

With the AMA championship in its infancy, Jones wasted no time leaving his mark as he captured the first three 250cc national titles. His three-peat came with three different bikes — a Yamaha in ’72, a Honda in ’73 and a Can-Am in ’74.

Jones eventually turned his efforts toward other off-road competitions, winning the SCORE Off-Road World Championship in 1982.

Jones was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.