Privateer Profile: Jake Masterpool

So, you just stopped because of your back? It wasn’t like, I don’t want to race. I’m not going to make any money or whatever. It was the back?
Yeah. I was pissed actually because when I stopped, I was qualifying pretty good. I was pretty often in the top ten, multiple top-six qualifying. The hard part was I couldn’t finish strong because of the back, and they told me I had to pull off if the pain went down my leg, if the sciatica was really bad. They said, if it goes down at all, you have to stop or you’ll get limp foot, and if you get limp foot, you’re kind of screwed. You know how it goes. You can block out a lot of pain and ride through it, which I had to. The hard part was I had to pay attention to it as well. It was very annoying to pay attention to the pain and all of that. I was really bitter, just trying to push through the pain. It was really tough because I was like, I can legit do this, but I was just in so much pain that the quality of life was not there.  

Your last race you got 11th. The race before that, you got 10th overall. These are good results as a privateer.
That’s when my back was terrible.

Was it a herniated disc, or what was the diagnosis?
I had four bulging discs. I had it on the L3, 4, 5, and S1, and really bad sciatica pain. I could barely lift my leg. That was the real tough part.

So, three surgeries, and the doctor maybe didn’t quite get it right the first couple times, do we think?
Yeah, the second doctor just said he was trying to not be that aggressive with it. He was just trying to take a more minimal approach. It was tough, too. It damn near brought me to tears when he said, “You need surgery again.” I was like, “What?” But luckily that went good. Super blessed to be where I am now and just not be in pain every day. Super grateful.

When did you start thinking about racing in 2024? When did it get better where you’re like, “Hey, do I still got it?” When did you get back on a bike?
It’s kind of been on and off this last year, because I was actually kind of trying to come back last year but I got Epstein-Barr really bad. So, that just destroyed me. Then I threw a bunch of money at it and tried to get healthy. I am now. I didn’t have my training block. I didn’t have any of that. So now we’re just working through the season. Speed has been good, but I’ve also been working full-time. I’m working during the week. I still am working during the week and then just racing on the weekends. I want it. I want to give it another good shot. If the opportunity is there to go all the way, that’s what I want to do. But I’ve got bills to pay. Just enjoying it now.

Do you have to compensate for the back, or are we 100%? Is there anything you have to change about your riding style or training, bicycle rides or anything because of the back? Or are you feeling pretty much limit-free?
I’m pretty good now. Definitely a lot more training and just building the core solid. It’s funny. I joke about it now. I’ve always been kind of flat and chiseled, and now I’m more of a keg. I’m really round. I’m so strong. It’s hilarious. I’ve been blessed to work with great physical trainers. Peter Park has helped me a bunch, and these other guys. It’s changed my understanding of physical training tremendously. It’s helped me so much with pain and all of this stuff. That’s been great. That stuff has helped me a bunch with riding, and especially with all the working I’ve been doing and coaching has really helped me stay super sharp mentally. Learning that way has helped me in my riding tremendously as well. Just much more joy in it now.

Back when I was riding, I was seeing the opportunity slip away because I knew I could do it. It’s not that macho like, “I can win everything.” I was pretty close, and I was doing that in severe pain. I was just super bitter and just felt like I was getting robbed. Luckily now, it’s humbled me big time. I’ve grown so much. I’m really enjoying it now and just really working on being better every day. When you do that, it’s great.

So, two years off a bike?
Pretty much. I rode a couple times after a year and a half. Maybe once a month, if that.

Being off all that time, last time you raced in 2020, are you frustrated because you don’t feel as fast as you were?  
Yeah. Obviously, I’m not that much better than I was. I took two years off. But luckily the quality of training we have, His 956 Training Facility that we have in Paradise, Texas, we have a different track every day. We have several different textures of dirt and all this stuff. I was training not much at all, two to three days a week, and I was able to progress very quickly by quality over quantity. It was super tough when I had Epstein-Barr because I physically couldn’t do a 15-minute moto. It was just pathetic. So, we just kept it sharp, clean through that. We had Ty as a gauge and these other guys, and the speed wasn’t that far off. I’ve got so much room for growth right now. Just kind of keeping that learning and growing. Once we got the equipment set up and all this. Pala was my first time racing my race bike, so it was not ideal. We’re just building through the season. We knew I wasn’t ready, but we’re just having a good attitude with it and wanting to build through. I’m not doing this just to participate. I’m one of the guys where it’s like, I want to go.

I had to look up who the hell was 416 out there on the track.
[Laughs] I know! I was talking to this one kid, and I was like, “What the heck is my number?” I tried so hard to get 946 and it just didn’t work out. I couldn’t do my 920, my birthday. So many things I wanted to do and I’m like, you’ve got to be kidding me.

So, you’re feeling good. You’re trying to get back. Obviously, we saw your brother Ty crushed it last summer on HBI. Is that like, I want to ride - can you guys take my bike? Why are you on a GasGas and the team is a Kawi team?
We were trying to actually do Kawi as well, but we just had such great support from our dealership here at Adventure Moto in McKinney. It just financially didn’t make sense. Matt at HBI was all good for that. The guys at Adventure Moto have been great to me. They’ve stuck with me when not many people have, because you get forgotten about when you don’t race for four years. So, they’ve stuck with me and they’ve believed in me. they’ve helped me out tremendously. Actually, the owner of the shop, Austin Jones, was my mechanic at Pala. He was there doing some technician training I believe for KTM. They’re just great people over there. The whole shop is just such great people, helping me out tremendously. It was just great. Super appreciative of both of them, Matt and Darla. All of the guys at the team have been super supportive.

So, what did you make of Pala? Your first race back in four years. You ran up front early in the moto. Anything surprise you? What was it like?
Surprisingly, I felt very good. It was weird. It felt like I never left, which was really strange. I’m like, is this a good thing or a bad thing? First moto was actually good. I’ve really got to have respect for those guys. That’s all those guys do. All those guys are serious. For me to be working full-time, two full-time jobs and racing, I’ve got to have respect for those guys. I felt good. I got to double check, but I was pretty solid top fifteen I think for the majority of the race, and then I just hit a wall. I faded, just because I did not have that training block and building through the season. Luckily, the speed was pretty good. I just felt super flat that first moto. We were playing around with nutrition. We don’t really have a set program for me yet. We’re working on that as well. I just didn’t feel good that first moto.  

But that second moto, I was exhausted. I was so tired. Luckily, I was able to just snap out of it and go to work. I felt great. I was able to get in the zone and ride. I worked up to near top ten, and I was about to make a pass on Shane [McElrath] and a couple of the guys right there. I was feeling very sharp. Then the bike just made a weird feel. I had a problem with it on the sight lap. It kind of shut off on me, and then it wouldn’t start. I was like, “That’s weird. I’m going to punch this section and see if it does anything, and it was fine.” I was able to get a good start, sneak in on the inside, and I felt good. I was so mad because I was making my way forward and I felt sharp. I was like, “I do not want to stop.” Afterwards I was just really reflecting on the race. Like, was I looking for a way out or some BS? No. I wanted to pass some dudes. Anyway, the bike just lost power a little bit and it was just enough for me to be like, “What is this thing going to do?”