Supercross veteran competing again without a net

The arena will not be quiet, Lusk will not be wearing a polo shirt and matching shorts, and sneakers probably wouldn’t be the best choice of footwear when the 34-year-old competes in the U.S. Open of Supercross.

Instead of playing tennis for fun, he’ll be racing for $100,000.

The only competition Lusk has faced since retiring from the raucous and risky world of Supercross in 2004 has been high-speed serves on tennis courts in amateur leagues near his Georgia home. The recreational pursuit provided an outlet for his competitive drive.

"Hitting tennis balls is a lot different than getting hit with dirt BBs from someone’s rear tire," he said.

Lusk was one of the hottest Supercross riders in the country in the late 1990s. After winning the 1994 AMA Super Lites championship, he added 12 titles in the premier Supercross division. Had Jeremy McGrath not been dominating that era, Lusk might have won a championship in the top class.

He had factory deals with Yamaha and Honda along with other major sponsors.

"I’m lucky I was set (financially) before I retired," Lusk said.

He crashed during a Supercross race in April 2004 at Salt Lake City, breaking a leg, an ankle and a rib, which punctured one of his lungs. Lusk returned to motocross four months later.

He said he might have rushed his return, but it wasn’t those injuries that eventually led to his temporary retirement.

Lusk’s younger brother, Shane, was 19 when he crashed in September 2004 at a motocross track in Cairo, Ga., and severely damaged his C6 and C7 vertebrae.

"The realization of him being considered a quadriplegic after that meant he needed the most support he could possibly get," Lusk said. "That outweighed any importance of my racing career."

Lusk joined the rest of the family in devoting four or five days a week for the next year to helping Shane through each day’s most basic chores along with physical rehabilitation. After a year, Shane had regained use of his arms and nearly full use of his legs, and he started college.

"Some muscles didn’t come back fully, so he still has a little bit of a hard time walking, but he can walk," Lusk said, adding that Shane is in his fourth year of college. "I’d like to pat myself on the back for helping him, but he’s the true Superman here. He dragged himself out of bed every morning to get better."

By the time Shane began college, Ezra was content with playing tennis for fun and being at home with his wife, Jennifer, and their two boys. There was no reason or desire to race.

But a recent phone call from a Supercross team to gauge his interest in competing full time in 2010 got Lusk thinking about a comeback.

"I want to race this weekend and see if it’s something I want to commit to again," Lusk said. "For me to do Supercross full time, I’d have to be offered a great opportunity with a great team and know it would be the best thing for my family.

"I know I’ve probably done my best racing, but I can still ride."

Lusk no longer is a highly paid member of a factory team. He will ride a Suzuki tonight and Saturday that he bought along with some spare parts.

He must earn a spot in each night’s feature race like the rest of the riders invited to compete in the all-star event.

Lusk’s oldest son, 6-year-old Hayden, will be seeing him race for the first time, and that might be what matters the most to Lusk.

"Yeah, that will be cool," he said

Anything else, he added, will be a bonus.

Jeff Wolf’s motor sports column is published Friday. He can be reached at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247. Visit Wolf’s motor sports blog at lvrj.com/blogs/heavypedal/ throughout the week.