It wasn’t very long ago that Jake Windham was struggling to make ends meet as a professional motocross racer. The money he made at each race sometimes wasn’t even enough to get him to the next. Just when he thought that his dream of riding dirt bikes for a living would never materialize, freestyle motocross (FMX) emerged as a completely separate sport. Jake got in on the ground floor and in three short years, has become a member of the upper echelon in one of America’s favorite action sports. Surprisingly, it all started for Jake in Fresno.

“When I was racing”, Windham recalls, “I considered it a good weekend if I came out twenty five dollars ahead. I started doing jumping demonstrations during race intermissions to make a little bit of extra money. The first freestyle contest that I ever entered was in Fresno in 1999. I did better than I expected to and things just took off from there.” That event was one of the first International Freestyle Motocross Association (IFMA) contests. The promoters were sufficiently impressed by the northern California native’s abilities and invited him to join their national series in 2000.

Jake’s new career ascended rapidly. He used a consistent, albeit conservative riding style to win the IFMA championship in 2000. With momentum on his side, Windham started learning new tricks and had a banner year in 2001 that included a bronze medal at the Summer X Games in Philadelphia. According to Jake, that was a financial turning point. “After I got third at the X Games”, he explains, “My phone didn’t stop ringing for about three months. The sponsorships became very lucrative and all of the hard work finally started to pay off.”

Despite all of the financial success, Windham was reluctant to make any risky career moves. He decided to continue working his full time job as a correctional officer at the El Dorado County Jail in the Sacramento suburb of Placerville. Now a typical week consists of 12-hour graveyard shifts Sunday through Wednesday, a flight to a contest on Thursday, competitions Friday and Saturday and a flight home Sunday morning where he starts it all over again. The schedule is hectic, but it seems to endear him to FMX fans across the country. “Jake is a crowd favorite wherever he competes”, says IFMA Public Relations Manager Jason Huggler. “He was nicknamed ‘Jake the Jailer’ and the fans love him because they see him as a normal, working class guy like themselves, someone they can relate to.”

With the IFMA series back at Selland Arena this weekend, it seems as though Jake Windham’s career has come full circle. Besides getting his start in Fresno, Jake has strong Central Valley ties. “I enjoy coming to Fresno every year because I have a lot of support in this area”, he points out. “My wife’s parents live in Madera and one of my long-time sponsors, Madman Apparel, is based in Fresno.”