I started racing motocross because of my big brother Fin who is 4.5 years older than me, I was only 2 years old when he started racing. We would normally go to races as an entire family; me, my brother, my mom and dad. When we were at the track my mom would watch me when it was time for my brother to race because my dad was my brothers wrench. But when my mom couldn't make it to a race because she had to work, my dad would just hand me off to another MotoMom so he could be with my brother at the starting gate.
I had my race number before I started racing. My brother's number was 711, because he was born on July 11. My parents wanting our numbers to go with each other made my number 117 since I was born November 17. Our team name was Walters Brothers Racing and our logo was 711WBR117 which my dad got tattooed across his back. I was practicing on dirt bikes at the age of 3, but was too small to race it so I had to race a quad instead. I did not like it because Fin raced dirt bikes and I wanted to race bikes like him. I was pretty good at racing and won the runner-up track championships at Amherst Meadowlarks that first year on my quad. I kept practicing on my bike and my dad finally let me race it even though my mom was scared. I went 6 straight years of winning multiple track and series championships in motocross, flat track or motocross-country racing before I stepped away from racing.
In 2012 Fin raced The Amateur National Arenacross Championships in Las Vegas at the South Point Hotel and Casino. I was 5 years old when we were there and I said I wanted to bring the family back to Vegas because I wanted to be like my brother. Luckily I didn't say it would for racing, because it ended up being for archery. When I found out that the 2019 The Vegas Shoot was being held at the exact same place that Fin raced ANAC at, I thought that was cool. Even though we were there for archery and not dirt bikes, we still got to do some of the same things like going to the strip, swimming, bowling and we even recreated some photos.
Through all those years of motocross racing I worked out every morning for a few reasons. One was because I was so small, I needed to work out so I could handle the bike while racing and lift it up if I went down. If you don't know me I am small, I have always been small so it normally puts me at a disadvantage doing things. An archery friend made me a custom shirt that says, "Before you ask I'm 12 and yes I know I'm SHORT, next question.". I'm 14 now and yes the shirt still fits me. Another reason I worked out like I did was to help me not get arm pump or get hurt on the track, working out does nothing to keep you from breaking something but does helps you not get hurt. Even though I don't race anymore and just do archery, I still do morning workouts every day. I do this so I can pull 50 pounds on my bow because I have such a short draw length. I also workout so I don't get hurt, shooting as much as I do I can really hurt myself by doing the same motion over and over again. Doing my workouts also gives my muscles and bones lots of different ways to move, which I need to do since archery is just the same movement over and over again.
Even with all the racing and championships I won, I was never one with my bike. I didn't know how to make it go faster, I didn't know how to tune it, I didn't know or understand the bike like my brother did. My brother and dad would check over my bikes to make sure they were 100% for me to race so I could do my best. But in archery I know my bow, I know what I'm shooting, I understand it and I keep tweaking with it to make it shoot and feel how I want it. I watch a lot of videos made by pro archers and industry companies. I check over all my archery equipment myself to make sure everything is 100%. In racing we would need to prep my bike by making sure that all the bolts are tight, gas is full, oil is changed, have a clean air filter and lots of other things. In archery to prepare for a shoot I need to make sure my arrows are good, release moves correctly, my sight and stabilizers are tight, my peep and D-loop aren't loose and more. I do all this myself because I want my equipment set correctly, and if it's not then it's my fault.
In racing I wasn't able to practice but once or twice a month since we didn't have our own track. In archery I can go in our back yard and shoot everyday up to 20 yards. If I want to shoot a farther distance then I go to The LaGrange Hunting and Fishing Club. If it's raining or snowing or just to hot or cold I go to Black River Archery and shoot indoors. Like in archery as in motocross, you cannot just throw money at your equipment and think you are going to shoot Xs. You have to use beginner equipment and slowly move up to the next level until you are ready to advance and it fits you. It makes no sense to upgrade to a faster bike if you can't handle the speed of your slower bike. The same way it makes no sense if you can't shoot consistently to upgrade to a PSE Supra Focus with a 30" front bar, 15" back bar, with 3 pounds of weight, an Axcel sight with a Shrewd Optum scope. When I first started off shooting archery I shot a stock Bear Apprentice 2. Once I learned how to shoot that bow I needed something that would let me shoot longer distances and upgraded to the Hoyt Klash. When I got all I could get out of a part and it started holding me back, my dad would tell me to do research on what I thought I needed. He would then talk to people that would know more about it to see if I choose a good new part or not. Now my dad trusts me when I say I need a new part, especially since I am paying for half of it with my own money and I don't want to waste my own money on something that I don't need. At the end of the 2019 season when I said I needed the new PSE Perform X SD, my dad agreed because he saw what I was shooting against at National events. I'm happy that he didn't make me pay for half of that new bow. My dad will not pay for half on a part if I just want to get a new color, if I want to change a part to just get a new color I have to pay for that all myself. I make my own money by doing yard service jobs, I started my own business called www.JaceWaltersRakingAndMORE.com. This year I bought myself a brand new PSE Citation 36 with 60 pound limbs with the money I made from my business, I got it because I maxed out the poundage on my SD.
If you didn't think there was a correlation between motocross and archery, there is and here is what they are. Workouts, practicing, progression of equipment changes, understanding and checking over your equipment and consistency. Since I did all that in racing since I was 3, it was easy for me to carry over that work ethic over to archery. And I still have to study and stay on the honor roll, that is the only way my mom will let me miss school to go to archery tournaments. My dad made a deal with me that he will buy me a new gun at the end of the school year if I make the honor roll the entire school year, I've done that for the last 3 years since my dad said that. He said he would rather buy me a gun for having good grades since I can use the gun forever, instead of a dumb video game that I will probably only play with for a few months. In racing my heart was never in it but I was good at local and regional events, but not at really big races. I still have fun riding to this day, but I don't want it enough to win a race anymore. When my good friend Todd Krieg #531 crashed and got paralyzed that really put an end to competitive racing for me. Because now I am scared of crashing like he did and becoming paralyzed, and he was a real professional motocross racer. If you didn't know, you won't win or safely race if you are scared. I have had a lot of people come up to me at archery events and say that I am going to make it far, and I know I will. I am not there yet, but I do have a few national podiums now. With all the work that I put in and people that are standing behind me and helping me along the way, I will make it!