Brandon Clarke
Some of you know him as Jericho. Some of you PulpMX diehards know the voice that calls in every other full moon to chirp Matthes and trade war stories. But to me—and to the ISRT Kawasaki race team—he’s Derek Rankin, the crew chief holding it all together while keeping a band of privateers punching way above their weight class. Freddie Noren, Bubba Pauli, and Logan Leitzel are his current riders, but the story starts long before he was calling lap times from the tower or telling mechanics what to write on pit boards.
Let’s rewind. Way back. Like… backwoods Indiana back.
Rankin was born and raised in what he calls “the middle of nowhere,” right on the Kentucky border. “We did normal rednick sh–,” he laughs. That translates to growing up in a literal junkyard, with four-wheelers, old dirt bikes, and a solid dose of DIY hustle. “Junk cars everywhere,” he remembers. “We always had something to ride. Hunting, fishing, and woods-running—that was the routine.” But what he wanted was a nice new Honda Foreman four-wheeler. What he got was a dirt bike—cheaper, more practical, and very Rankin: a Honda XR80.
He rode that thing into the ground, trail riding with a buddy until one day he figured, “Hey, I should race.” So he entered a county fair race. Still on the XR80. He had to borrow proper gear and boots. “I’d been watching Supercross, and K-Dub was testing four-strokes… so I thought I was a badass showing up on one.” The result? We can only imagine.
“Fair racing is huge in the Midwest,” Rankin explains. “It’s under the lights, has that Supercross vibe.” He was hooked. After a growth spurt, he upgraded to a CR125—not because it was a two-stroke, but because it was just… bigger. He didn’t know much, but he figured it out. That would become a theme.
He started riding more moto. His dad, a hard-working, blue-collar guy, would work all day, drive him to the track, crash in the truck, and leave Rakin to fend for himself. Luckily, the local crew welcomed him. “I learned everything by hanging around those guys,” he says. Rankin rode and raced religiously until he was about 22.
Straight out of high school, Rankin took over managing the family restaurant. He was stacking cash on the weekdays and riding on the weekends. Traveling wasn’t foreign to Rankin. Between chasing the races and his sister’s country music gigs—but in 2012, he made a decision that would eventually change his whole trajectory.
He went to WrestleMania.
Seriously.
Rankin and a buddy hit the road to Miami on a whim. First real trip without the parents. It was cool, sure—but it was the following year, WrestleMania went to the Big Apple. In New York City, things really shifted. “This is mental compared to Indiana,” he said. That trip lit a fire. “I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to get out of here.”
So he called MMI.
“Hello, this is the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute.”
“Yeah… what’s this about?”
And with that, Rankin packed up his F-150 and moved to Orlando. Told nobody but his parents. Once there, he found out Supercross was rolling into the Georgia Dome. So he, wearing a Muscle Milk Honda shirt and his buddy, wearing a Yoshimura Suzuki shirt, donned their MMI badges and walked right into the pits. On Friday. Through security. No official credentials. No plan.
We don’t recommend you try this in 2025.
They talked to everyone they could, and eventually met Gus Decker—aka “Godfather to the Privateers.” Gus told Rankin, “As soon as you’re ready, come on the road.”
So he did.
In 2014 at Muddy Creek. Rankin showed up with Team Gus. No rider—just learning. He saw James Stewart have an engine grenade on a Yoshimura Suzuki and watched the full swap. By Millville, Rankin got his first wrenching gig with a Russian named Evgeny Mikhaylov.
That summer, he met Noah McConaughey and the rest of the privateer crew. But $100 a week doesn’t go far, so it was back to the restaurant. Still hustling. Still making calls. He linked up with Jace Owen briefly, but Rankin was green and although he never had a mechanical issue, it just wasn’t a good fit. Team Gus brought him back for a full season, this time wrenching for McConaughey.
Briefly hitting the bullet points over the next several years we arrive at Alex Ray, then Rocky Mountain KTM. Then Star Racing Yamaha. Back to Rocky Mountain KTM… IndyCar? (Yeah. That happened for a hot second)
But motocross always pulled him back.
Fast forward to 2024. Bubba Pauli—owner of ISRT Kawasaki (formerly MaddParts Kawasaki)—called him up to be crew chief full time. The two work incredibly well together. A literal Yin and Yang. Now Rankin’s the guy in the tower, on the track and within the team. He keeps the whole operation from falling apart. “Bubba’s got a lot on his plate,” Rankin says. He’s the cement that holds the fortress together.
Under their canopy, they’ve had a rotating cast of high profile riders—many of whom you probably forgot. “We had Colt Nichols for the 2023 SMX playoffs,” Rankin reminds us. “P5 at the LA Coliseum. Best 450 finish of his career.”
So what’s next?
Starting with last weekend’s Foxborough mudder, all ISRT riders have had a 16th or better result this season. That’s no accident. Rankin knows how to build a fast bike and do a lot with very little. He continues looking at talent and is searching for that marquee name. Because even though they’re considered a privateer team, the mindset is anything but.
“If you’re not out there to win, then what are you doing?” Rankin says.
From a junkyard in Indiana to crew chief of one of the grittiest teams in the paddock, Derrick Rankin—aka Jericho—is proof that there’s more than one path to the top.
