The Beginnings of JT Racing USA: A Car Trunk and a Pair of Socks
The story of JT Racing USA began in 1968, in a sporting goods store in Tijuana. John and Rita Gregory discovered long, colorful, cotton soccer socks there. Nothing like the military surplus wool socks that Californian motocross riders wore at the time. These were rough, hot, impossible to wash properly, and fell apart at the first contact with desert vegetation.
John and Rita immediately saw the potential. For 20 dollars, they bought their first stock. The following weekend, they sold them out of the trunk of their car, on the sidelines of AMA District 37 race tracks in Southern California. It was there, in the dust of desert races, that JT Racing USA was born.
In 1970, they filed a business license and looked for a name. John first suggested TJ Racing, referring to Tijuana. Rita refused, she didn't want to associate the brand with the Mexican city. She proposed reversing the initials. JT Racing was born.
A Decade of Building: The 70s
The early years were ones of experimentation and audacity. JT Racing began importing Australian rugby jerseys, Dutch air filters, and Finnish nylon and leather motocross pants. The brand was not yet manufacturing. It researched, selected, and imposed a level of demand that the American market had not yet seen.
It was also during this period that John and Rita Gregory invented something that would transform the entire sports industry: rider sponsorship. By signing legendary Belgian rider Joel Robert, a world motocross champion, for 100 dollars a year and all the socks he wanted, they laid the groundwork for an economic model that would be copied by all major sports brands in the following decades.
Lars Larsson of Torsten Hallman Racing became a distributor. The big names in American motocross gradually joined the JT Racing team. The brand grew. So did its reputation.
The Golden Age: The 80s and the Pantheon of American Motocross
The 80s were the peak. JT Racing USA then sponsored almost all the big names in American motocross and supercross, riders who are now in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame: Kenny Roberts, Roger DeCoster, Marty Smith, Marty Tripes, Ricky Johnson, David Bailey, Bob Hannah, Johnny O'Mara, Broc Glover, Jeff Ward. These names are not just ambassadors. They are the architects of an era. And JT Racing is their uniform.
Bob Hannah, nicknamed "The Hurricane," introduced JT Racing's yellow and blue pants during a Supercross on a Saturday night. The following Wednesday, the stock was sold out. John Gregory himself tells this anecdote, and it summarizes better than any marketing campaign what JT Racing represented at that time: the brand that riders wear, and that the public immediately wants.
David Bailey wore the legendary DayGlo colorway, fluorescent, provocative, inimitable. Broc Glover wore a pink outfit at a time when no one dared. These choices were not accidents: they reflected a brand philosophy based on visual audacity, assumed color, and style claimed as an integral part of performance. On the technical side, JT Racing constantly innovated. The brand introduced the first ventilated apparel in motocross. It developed the V1000 and V2000 chest protectors, nylon pants, synthetic gloves, roost deflectors, and ALS helmets, all products that redefined what MX gear could and should be. As Broc Glover summarizes: "They changed the way motocross gear was made and marketed. JT was the company others compared themselves to."
Jean-Michel Bayle: JT Racing's French Icon
It would be impossible to discuss the history of JT Racing without mentioning Jean-Michel Bayle. Nicknamed "Bad Bayle" for his fiercely competitive temperament as much as for his bewildering riding style, the Frenchman is one of the most gifted riders motocross has ever produced.
Under JT Racing and Honda colors, Bayle dominated the AMA Supercross and Motocross championships in the early 90s, imposing a unique style, a blend of technicality and aggressiveness, which left American specialists speechless. For an entire generation of French enthusiasts, the JT Racing logo is inseparable from his image.
Today, finding a vintage piece worn by Bayle is a Holy Grail for collectors. The JT Racing USA Honda collection available on Blackpines.fr directly pays homage to this period: same aesthetics, same colors, same heritage, with the technologies of contemporary high-performance MX jerseys and pants.
JT Racing Style: An Aesthetic That Defined an Era
Talking about JT Racing also means talking about design. In the 80s, when most equipment manufacturers were still playing it safe with sober colors and classic cuts, JT Racing USA broke the codes. Fluorescent yellow, electric pink, azure blue, bright red. The brand's palettes were those of an optimistic, color-hungry decade that refused dullness.
Geometric patterns, thick stripes, dynamic chevrons, angular shapes became the visual signature of a generation of riders. The JT Racing logo, prominently integrated into each piece, was no longer just a brand marker: it was a symbol of belonging to a culture, that of American motocross at its peak.
Throughout the 90s, the aesthetic evolved towards more structured constructions, more technical inserts, more targeted collaborations, such as with Honda, whose partnership with JT Racing produced some of the sport's most iconic outfits. But the spirit remained intact: audacity, color, identity.
JT Racing USA on Blackpines.fr: The Legacy, Today
After several decades of absence, JT Racing USA is back in France. Blackpines.fr is a distributor of the brand and offers a selection of pieces that faithfully embody this heritage.
The Dalmatian K9 pantsand jerseypay tribute to Ron Lechien and the Dalmatian livery that marked the 80s paddocks. The JT Racing Honda Team 1970s jerseyand pantsrevive the aesthetics of the official Honda team, from the great years of Californian motocross. The capsand accessories in the range bear the JT Racing USA logo with the sobriety and confidence that characterize brands that have nothing to prove.
Under each vintage design, modern technology: 4-way stretch fabric, triple-stitched Cordura, ballistic nylon, high-definition sublimation, anti-slip silicone waistband. The pieces are designed to perform on the track, not just to dress a rider, but to equip them.
The Gregorys were inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2010. The brand they built from a car trunk by a Californian track hasn't aged a bit. It simply waited for the world to catch up to what it had understood before anyone else: in motocross, style and performance are not opposed. They reinforce each other.
