Heath Voss had a long career, notable by several bright spots, including a stint at factory Yamaha and the 2004 FIM THQ World Supercross GP title. In fact , winning that title earned him a spot at Yamaha, alongside Chad Reed and David Vuillemin in 2006. He was re-signed with Yamaha in 2006. Voss hung up in 2010 after wrecking his knee at the Houston Supercross. After retiring, Heath’s name quickly faded in to obscurity. That’ll happen when a speed is no longer lining up to the gate.
I visited Heath’s house in Mico, Texas, in the fall of 2005. We spent a few days together, shooting photos, going water skiing and talking about the game. Voss was soft-spoken and amiable. Here he was, a factory Yamaha rider, yet he acted like an old school pal who labored on an oil rig. Believe it or not, Voss hasn’t seemed to change in the past 12 years. Find out what Heath is up to, and what he thought about racing at the greatest level.
By John Basher
This photo was used at Heath’ s property within Mico, Texas, in the fall of 2005. Voss would go on to complete 16th overall in the 450 Supercross standings in 2006.
What are you as much as these days?
I have a helicopter business. I do charter work and a lot of hog hunting, where I voyage hunters around who shoot pigs. I also do utility work with the particular helicopter. It’s something I’ve been doing since I quit racing this year. I grew up around aviation as well as the business side of things up in Minnesota, so it was kind of a good match doing what I’m doing today.
Do you still ride motorcycles?
I actually do, although not on big bikes. Ill go riding with my kids on pit bikes. We do that day-to-day. My son is eight years of age, and my daughter is 5. I still have my property within Texas. My cows eat the particular grass where the motocross and Supercross tracks still sit. I have a pit bike track, so I’ll trip around that with my kids. We all also have some trails.
Do your children know everything about your racing career?
They do a little bit. My kids are into all sorts of different things. We’ve visited a few Supercross races. They like racing, even if they’re not thinking about doing it. They know that I was a former factory Yamaha rider, but that doesn’t mean very much to them.
Do you follow the racing scene?
I nevertheless watch all of the Supercross races. I’ve been missing the outdoor rounds, but I pay attention to what’s going on.
Would you change something about your career?
I am not really sure what I would change. I enjoyed my career. Looking back, I probably would have done much better if I had lived where all the other riders were, so that I could ride with fast guys. I relocated to Texas because it’s where my loved ones wanted to be.
What years were you the majority of fond of while racing?
I had my best results from the year 2003 through 2005, and then I did okay in 2006. In 2009 I began to go downhill, and I think it’s since I was getting older. I didn’t have the same drive and willingness to take the chances. It was a hard decision for me to retire. I broke my knee at the Houston Supercross in 2010, and am ended up needing a couple surgeries. In those days I was barely making the main events. Still, motocross was all I ever knew, and all I actually wanted to do. It was a sad day when I realized that I necessary to retire. I didn’t think lifetime would go on, but it does.
What was it such as being teammates on factory Yamaha with Chad Reed and David Vuillemin?
All those men were awesome. I always say that motocross racers are the most awesome individuals on earth. In the flying business everybody complains about safety. In motocross, no one complained about things. If you live the life as a professional speed, you think it’s the norm. There’s a certain mentality, but it’s really not that way in the broad view associated with humanity. Motocrossers are pretty exclusive. It was an honor to be round the guys I was, and also to be racing with them.
You had been at Yamaha when racers had been making the transition from two-strokes to four-strokes. What was that such as?
I was a bit afraid to ride four-strokes, because they were not proven and had issues. I never knew what was going to happen on one of them. Two-strokes–at least the Yamaha YZ250–was an awesome bike. It was therefore fun to ride. I loved being on the factory team plus having access to all the one-off parts. It had been amazing what the staff could make when it comes to parts. Now that I’m in the aviators business, I look at a lot of the components that plane companies make, plus they’re junk compared to what motocross engineers make. We always acquired the best of everything in racing. Components were new, and not old rubbish that was overhauled.
Yamaha is back with their factory system after many years away. As a former Yamaha racer, is it good to see all of them revamp their efforts?
Absolutely. It’s amazing how nicely Chad Reed has done. He’s quite a amazing person. Being as old as he is and still winning races is something else.
Voss was a multi-sport superstar. He chose a career in motocross, but he’ s the type of skill that excels in every sport. Right here, he carves up Medina River in south Texas.
Are you happy with your job?
Yes. I was extremely blessed to race for as long as I did so. I raced professionally for 16 years. I was very fortunate that I didn’t have any major accidents during that time. For me, it was hard when Ernesto Fonseca got hurt. I always raced with him. After that another friend, James Marshall, also got paralyzed. He used to visit and practice with me all of the time prior to he got hurt. Seeing those guys get hurt so badly took quite a bit of the fun away from what I was doing by racing. I began thinking about risk vs reward.
Do you want your kids to race motocross?
They’re both really good cyclists. They listen to me and have great form. I will say that I have to cut deals with them in order to get them to ride. My daughter has been riding considering that she was three. I jog through our neighborhood while the girl rides next to me, and I need to buy her a Build-A-Bear every time she rides [laughter]. I always have to cut deals with my son. When I was a kid I would perform anything in order to get a dirt bike and ride. My kids are different than how I was.
