Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Jeff Nash, the 2000 AMA Pro Thunder Champion and current candidate for the South Central AMA Board of Trustees seat, has retired from AMA Pro Racing as a rider but has taken the first step toward improving his presence as a racing team owner by relocating his Advanced Motor Sports Ducati shop to a larger facility.

We were surprised to first hear of Nash’s retirement as a rider from a third party and called the New Zealand immigrant Tuesday, January 8 to check on his situation. “I’m still trying to deny it myself,” said Nash, when asked about his retirement. “Basically, with the changes in my life, I felt that it was the right time to retire. Unfortunately, I’m suffering from a bit of…the knock on the head from Virginia (2001 AMA Pro Thunder race at Virginia International Raceway) is still giving me some trouble with balance. It hasn’t got a lot better. That’s one of the reasons.

“Other than that, I want to stay involved in the sport. So the best way I can do it, stay in racing, at this stage was to move shop, buy a bigger building, and do it from a support-type side and eventually get a team going in the future. I’ve sort of decided to turn my focus a little more to my business in order to stay sane, you know?”

Nash crashed at high speed in the Pro Thunder heat race at VIR on Saturday, September 29, breaking several ribs, injuring his right hand and suffering a serious concussion. “It’s kind of like a vertigo problem that I get,” disclosed 39-year-old Nash. “Like, I can’t stand on a ladder or anything like that, unfortunately. I’ve been to see some specialists, and they say it’s a time thing. It may or may not get better. It’s just one of those deals where you just have to wait and see.

“That wasn’t my decision for retirement. I’ve enjoyed racing, and I gave it my best shot last year to win the Championship, but Tom (Montano) had a little better luck than I did and congratulations to him. I feel like I rode better than I have ever ridden before. Certainly, I had put in as much effort as I had the year before, if not more, in terms of physical training. I thought it was a good time to park it. I would rather park it, stay healthy and work with some new, young guys in the future. It’s not an easy thing to do when you’re a racer. I’m not saying that I won’t do any club stuff or the occasional ride here in the future, but as far as the commitment for AMA Pro Racing, it’s definitely time to retire.”

But aside from hoping to serve as the AMA Trustee from the South Central Region of the United States (ballots are being accepted until January 15) , Nash is already working through his plans to expand his business in an effort to build another racing team in the future. “Obviously, over the years of racing, we’ve developed a pretty good clientele as far as Ducati service is concerned,” explained the soft-spoken father of two. “I’ve really kept it small because of the fact that we were traveling all of the time. So now I’ve sort of broken out and purchased a 10,000 square foot shop. Obviously, our main focus will be on Italian motorcycles, everything from customer service to race preparation and race services.

“It’s something that where probably the next time you pass through Texas you have to stop in because it’s quite unique. We’ve built it with lots of different facets in mind. It’s definitely a niche market shop. We’ve built a showroom that’s pretty ‘out there’ with a museum of Ducati racing motorcycles, dating back from the ‘70s right through to 2002. To give you an idea, we have on display Neil Hodgson’s 2001 Ducati Superbike. I purchased that for a customer of mine, and that’s on display. We have a couple of Supermonos, another 996 Superbike, Casoli’s 2000 Ducati 748. As I said, Ducati factory racebikes dating back to 1973. I’ve had a lot of my customers bring in their bikes for me to display. It’s a pretty neat place to visit.

“Our (old) workshop was 1200 square feet, but we also had three warehouses full of crap. We’ve combined it all into this large building, which is fantastic. We’ve completed the showroom and the workshop. Phase two, which will start in February, will be a fully climate-controlled dyno room and machine shop. It’s all here, but it’s just taking the time getting it the way we want it.

“We’re located in Alvarado, Texas, just South of Fort Worth. R.E.S., Racing Engine Service, is probably just 400 yards down the road. GMD Computrack’s new shop is seven miles from us. It’s the new hub of motorcycling.”

Nash ended our conversation by saying that he plans to put someone on his 2001 Ducati 748RS for the Pro Thunder race at Daytona and possibly may field a team for the entire season with a major new player in AMA Pro Thunder.

Advanced Motor Sports’ new address and phone numbers follow:

11550 East F.M. 917
Alvarado, TX 76009
Phone (817) 790-0200
FAX (817) 783-8883