Tuesday Toolbox: Jarrod McClure

This is Jarrod McClure's fourth year of racing GNCCs. Newly mounted on a Polaris on the National Guard Polaris Team and under the tutelage of William Yokley, the XC1 Pro said he hopes this is the year he'll bring home a win. Jarrod takes some time out from traveling to Florida to tell us why this might be his year.

Hi Jarrod, you told me yesterday you were headed to Florida today? I'm on the road now in Virginia. I'm headed down to meet up with Chris Borich to do some riding around his place.

How long are you going to be down there? I'll probably be there until about Sunday. I have to get back to do some Christmas shopping. I leave it until the last minute every year.

I do too, unfortunately!  Congratulations on your factory ride with National Guard Polaris by the way. You got signed by William Yokley, how did you two hook up? He called me out of the blue, on my way to work. He ran some things by me and said he was going to hang it up, or just do a few races in 2010. He asked if I'd be interested in filling his spot. And of course I said that it sounded awesome! But I wanted to ride the bike and get an idea about it so I went down to his house that weekend. I was really excited. I hung out with him for the weekend and worked some stuff out and ended up taking what he had to offer.

Any details you can talk about? Well, basically I'll have a certain number of bikes, and parts and a nice contingency and a decent salary, which is definitely a plus. He also said I could come to his house any time to train. He has a full track at his house-The Y

okley Racing Facility. I can go down anytime to test.

How far away does he live from you? It's about 12 hours.

Wow. Not really a hop, skip and a jump is it? I can go down for the weekend though.

So you get along pretty well with William then. I really like working with him. It seems like it's going to be a really good time next year.

William must have seen something in you to sign you. Why do you think he singled you out for the team? One of the main reasons I think was that he had contacted Mark Stataro at Moto Pro Training and asked who he thought would be good. Mark helped push me, and said I was in good shape. William liked that I was racing other series too.  He liked that I was out trying to promote myself. I also do the race reports for ATVriders.com.

That's right. You and Harlen at ATVRiders.com have a working relationship too. What's the deal with that? Harlen helps me out a lot.  I bought my first race quad from him back in 2003. Since he lives in Maryland, which is only two hours away from me, we raced some local races together and once he started the website he helped promote me. I had a decent name in the sport and that got me some sponsors and got everything moving.

Now that you're with Polaris, how will things change for you as opposed to how things were in 2009? It's definitely going to be easier as far as the money aspect goes. Right now, I'm going down to Florida to do riding and testing. William signed up all of my sponsors which is a huge weight off of my shoulders. I didn't have to make the calls to make things happen so that gave me a lot more time. Last year I didn't have the Yamaha until January and now it's December and I have my ride. So, I'm already ahead of the game. We've gotten a lot of time on it, too.

Do you work too? I work at Bowers Motorcycle Shop. I'm good friends with the owner. He helped me get through the past couple years in the pro class as far as bikes and parts. I worked there during the week and he really understood if I had to take off to ride. But I didn't really take off to go down south. I'm still going to work now that I have the deal.

You were on a Yamaha last year, how do you feel about switching to the Polaris? Do you think it can compete? William got a lot figured out in the past year. It's definitely a bike that needs some work. If you put the time in it, it's going to be a pretty good bike. I'm working with some good people, too. I have Mike from Exit Shocks that's helping out a lot. If we keep the hammer down, we shouldn't have any problem getting up on the podium.

That's nice because Polaris just came out with their contingency and it looks pretty good! They really gave me a good deal too. They seem really open to work with their riders, which is really cool. That's one of the things I considered when I signed up. Plus, I could bring over my own sponsors. I had some good relationships that I didn't really want to throw away. They don't just say, "You have to run this to ride with us."

So how long is the deal with Polaris? It's just a one year deal so far. But if all goes well, it could be a couple of years. They seem really cool to work with.

How long have you been racing GNCCs by the way? I've been racing since 2005. I started on a Honda 450R.

So you've tried a variety of bikes, apparently? I was actually on a Yamaha at the local series, then switched to Honda for their contingency, then I was on a Yamaha last  year.

What would you like to accomplish this year? I would definitely like to go out and get my first win this year, it's my fourth year in the pro class, so it's definitely possible. I could definitely see a win coming. I just want to put Polaris up there. They kind of had a bad reputation but I really think it can get on the podium. That alone would be an accomplishment for me and for my sponsors, just that we can get it up there.

Why do you think Polaris had that bad reputation? A lot of the guys who have switched over haven't had a lot of luck. People just say it's the bike, but it could be the rider too, they get stuff in their head like that it's the bike and there's nothing they can do about it. Polaris is constantly making improvements and they're trying really hard and that's what I like about Polaris.

Alright, anyone you'd like to thank before I let you get back to driving to Florida? I'd like to thank Polaris, and William Yokl

ey, The National Guard, Kenda Tires, Exit Shocks, Motoworks and anyone else I've forgotten and who is yet to come.

Thanks, Jarrod! We'll see you soon!