If you work in the MotoAmerica paddock, then you know Jason Wade. If you’re a fan of MotoAmerica, then you should be happy we have him. Wade is MotoAmerica’s Manager of Operations, which means he’s good at a lot of things both behind the scenes and in the battle zone. If a ball gets dropped, he’s the one who you hope is there to catch it.
What was your introduction to the motorcycle world?
I was first introduced to motorcycle racing through World Superbike coming to Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. I was Track Operations Manager, and fulfilling the requests from World Superbike on an operations level was a massive undertaking. Man, what a blast!
What led to you working in the MotoAmerica paddock?
Chuck Aksland. In 2012, Chuck was VP at a still-under-construction Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. He hired/stole me from Miller to come work at the new F1 circuit in the U.S. Year one of F1 in 2012 at COTA still takes the cake for the hardest I have pushed myself in motorsports to date. If I knew then what I know now, I would have turned Chuck down. Just kidding. He contacted me years later after MotoAmerica had come to what is now the Utah Motorsports Campus, and asked if I could come help out with MotoAmerica.
What part of the job do you enjoy the most?
Motorsports operations hit me like a tank. It is something that comes very naturally to me. I truly love what I do and the people who participate in the series and the racetracks we work with every year. If there is one single thing I enjoy most it is taking something that isn’t working very well as a process and refining it to run as smooth and efficiently as possible.
What part of the job is the most difficult?
The most difficult part of my role would be doing everything you can to make so many people happy and make their experience the best it can be – both on the competitor side and the spectator side and every now and then coming up short. It’s quite devastating when I let something slip through my fingers. I take it really hard.
What do you like to do when you’re not at the racetrack?
When I am not in a paddock somewhere across the country, I am home in my shop wrenching on some project or another. Most of the time it’s my 2017 Harley-Davidson Road Glide, and/or a project car or truck I am building.
