Jade Dungey | Championship Wrench

Jade Dungey | Championship Wrench

When GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton wrapped up the 2019 Eastern Region 250 Supercross Championship in Las Vegas last weekend, he also gave his mechanic Jade Dungey his first number-one plate. The older brother of multi-time Supercross and Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey, Jade had been spinning wrenches for several years alongside his brother at Red Bull KTM but in 2019 made the switch to the GEICO Honda squad in order to regain a role as a race mechanic. After losing his rider Broc Tickle to a failed WADA drug test early last season, the elder Dungey found himself in a supporting team role for the remainder of the year but longed for some one-on-one action with a racer of his own.

Jade congratulations on your first professional championship!

Thanks. Yeah, it was pretty sick and I was really pumped. It’s nice to get a number-one plate and have it not be my brother’s for once, for a change. (Laughs)

You’ve added to the Dungey family legacy of motocross championships. How does it feel?

Actually, I don’t think it has sunk in yet. Today we were back out there testing and getting ready for the outdoors. Right back to business you know? I think once we get a little break it will set in and I will realize how cool this all is.

At the beginning of the year, it was shocking to see you over her on the GEICO Honda team. What led to the switch and was it a tough decision to make?

Honestly, I was pretty happy at KTM and I have been there for a lot of years. But I wasn’t going to have a rider this year and Chase was in need of a mechanic so I told Dan Betley to sign me up. He is so talented that it was almost impossible to turn down, you know? That’s why I left, pretty much, to get to work with Chase. 

When you lost Tickle to the WADA scandal last year, how did your role change?

No, I became the test guy and helped the guys test. I kind of became the helper for Frankie Latham and Carlos Rivera. When they win you kind of feel like you won too, but not really. (Laughs) So that’s why I changed – I wanted my own rider. I still had to go to all the races, and the travel with no rider got a little boring. Unfortunately, with what happened to Broc, I was still going to all the rounds but without a racer. It was still fulfilling, but not as much as I wanted it to be.

Was there a learning curve at all, switching to Hondas?

Honestly, I just had to get rid of my 13mm T-handles and my Torx. (Laughs) It was pretty simple, really. All of the bikes are so good these days, working one on from another isn’t that different. There are a couple of little things here and there with every manufacturer I’m sure, but they’re all motorcycles. A Honda is an awesome bike and nothing comes loose. It is an awesome chassis to work on.

The mid-week rebuilds are a bit more labor intensive, right? Because now it includes polishing the frame… 

(Laughs) I enjoy that. I take pride in that so for me that is something I enjoy. I like making the bike look as cool as possible.

Beyond a weekly rebuild of the bike, what are the little extra things you enjoy doing to your bikes? I remember seeing some Instagram “battles” between you and some other mechanics, showing off how shiny you could get the bolts…

I just like making the thing look factory. Super cool. I like everything to look perfect. No grease showing. Clean the grease off your bolts. You have to make sure the bike is built and put together properly, but after that paying attention to detail is what makes the difference. 

How different is it being at the races with your brother retired now?

Honestly, at first, it was fun. You see your family so much with him at the races too. So at first it was cool being at the races alone, but now I don’t get to see my parents as much so it gets lonely. I definitely miss them but I am so busy that the weekends go by so quickly that I don’t notice it now.

This year’s championship was crazy for you guys. What was it like experiencing Chase’s first race win and championship with him?

Honestly going into the season we were taking it race by race. You always want to win a championship, but for Chase our first goal was to get him his first win, you know? Get the wins and keep building. You have to do it in steps. He got his first heat race win, then his first main event win. You have to give it up to Auston Forkner – he rode awesome – but at the end of the day consistency is what counts and you have to be there all series long. We saw that with Ryan and then Jason Anderson and now Cooper Webb. Consistency counts most. You can be the fastest guy but if you’re not there for every race it can cost you. Chase wanted that first win so bad. The little mistakes would make him so mad. It’s cool how pissed off he gets when he finishes second. He really held it together those last two races when it counted and I am proud of him. A lot of guys would fall apart, but he stayed on it and was really professional.

What’s he like as a rider? As a mechanic, you build the bike and maintain it, but you are also the last guy he speaks to on the line so you also have to maintain his mind as well…

Honestly, I just have to keep him calm on race day. Pump him up but not to the point of him getting a big head. (Laughs) Point out when he’s not riding well, but don’t keep beating a dead horse. With Chase, he just has a good head on his shoulders. I just have to keep the bike together and I don’t have to baby him at all. He is very mature for his age. He has the training side down at 19, and that’s a lot more than you can say for other kids his age.

He just needs to know when to tone it down on the mountain bike…

(Laughs) Yeah he needs to know when to tone it down on the bicycle. He’s young and you can expect that though. We’ve all been there.

I think my favorite thing about watching Chase win in New Jersey was television catching the “F yeah!”

(Laughs) Oh, I know! I said it first, but the camera wasn’t on me luckily. Jeff Majkrzak got a text from someone and told me about it, so then I rewatched it later and thought, “Oh man.” It was just his raw emotions and that was cool.

I was surprised that for as emotional as Dylan Ferrandis was on the podium in Las Vegas, Chase was cool as a cucumber when he won the championship.

I think Chase knows he can do it, and that’s why. He had the mindset and when he did it he was not surprised. Now he is focused on winning the National title. No time for celebrating.

What goals do the two of you have in mind outdoors?

Honestly, we want to get on the podium every race. Get some wins. It will be tough. There are a lot of tough dudes but I think he made a lot of progress since last year. Hangtown will be tough because everyone is wide open, but as things settle down I expect to see him at the front.