“Fantasy” Jim Smoot

St. Louis, MO

In the early ’70s, Jim Smoot was an avid dirt bike rider & amateur racer. His first race was the Steel Helmet Enduro where he took a 3rd place award. But Jim’s interest in dirt bikes would take a unique & interesting turn.

While attending the University of Missouri in St. Louis, he accepted a position as the National Marketing Manager for Diversified Management Co. out of Century City, California where he would be responsible for setting up telemarketing offices, known as ‘boiler rooms’, throughout the country.

His first assignment was in Charlotte, North Carolina. So, at 19 yrs old, Jim loaded up his Yamaha YZ125 in the back of a 1965 Chevy van (that he had customized) & hit the road. Dirt bikes were still his passion & his very first 1st place trophy would be in Columbia, South Carolina. He remembers the excitement of the win, then disappointment that his friends & family were back in St. Louis & not there to share the glory.

In the next 6 months Jim opened up several offices, but when he was assigned to Santa Monica, CA, his exposure to the West Coast scene changed his career path.

In 1975 Jim returned to St. Louis, and with a $500 loan, opened up Fantasy Coachworks (a van customizing company). Many of his first clients were motocross racers who used custom vans to haul their bikes to the track. “I remember that during our first year in business, we closed down for the entire month of January, loaded up our race bikes, and took off for the West Coast to ride Saddleback Park & Indian Dunes… We were crazy!” Jim remarks. However, with business booming his dirt bike riding would soon take a back seat.

Jim was a creative promoter. He developed a persona known as “Fantasy” Jim, who would appear in television commercials with an entourage of bikini-clad beauties that he called the Fantasy Girls. He went on to promote a contest where the first prize was a modeling contract to appear in the next series of television commercials. More than 50,000 screaming fans attended the 1983 world finals of the Ms. Fantasy Beauty Pageant at the Cervantes Convention Center.

“Fantasy” Jim & the Fantasy Girls would go on to star in hundreds of TV & radio commercials, thousands of full color posters & make hundreds of personal appearances. A local news reporter dubbed “Fantasy” Jim the Hugh Hefner of St. Louis.

With this phenomenal success, Jim developed a franchise expansion plan. To promote his new Fantasy franchise, Jim & fellow motocross racers “Radical” Randy Shekell & Mike Giaffino raced a highly modified Dodge van complete with a 340 V8, 12 point roll cage & 130 gallons of fuel, from coast to coast (Boston to San Diego) in the 4-Ball Memorial Rally. The story made national headlines and Jim would go on to see Fantasy Coachworks expand to 34 franchises in 8 states within 2 years. Not bad for a guy with (not even) one semester of college.

“Fantasy” Jim developed 3 publications that he used to promote his company & the “Fantasy” lifestyle… Fantasy News, Auto Show Weekly & Auto Exotica Magazine. Hundreds of thousands of issues were printed & enjoyed by motorsport enthusiasts all over the country. This explosive growth & multiple ventures, however, would be his undoing, and by 1992 the company imploded. “Fantasy” Jim was left with just one store, his original location. “There are no failures, just lessons learned,” he says with a smile.

But once again his love for dirt bikes opened up new opportunities. “I remember the time that my good buddy Bill Burns & I jumped on a pair of Honda SL70s & ran those things till we broke them in half, we laughed till it hurt! I think that was the most fun I ever had on a dirt bike.”

When Pit Bikes hit the market, “Fantasy” Jim opened Fantasy Powersports, and became a top Pit Bike dealer for Layne Smith & Guy Cooper’s Xtreme Motor Company. He then began racing again. “The adrenaline rush of the starting gate, along with the belly-laughing-fun of adults bangin’ bars on mini bikes was more exciting than that 1st win in South Carolina,” said Jim, “I was hooked!”

“Fantasy” Jim is the self-proclaimed “Worlds Oldest Pit Bike Racer”, now 59 yrs old, he has won 4 State Championship Pit Bike Titles (2009, 2010, 2011 & 2013) and 2 track championship titles (2012 & 2013). “If I can do it, anybody can do it. It’s all about the fun, plus a great way to stay in shape,” he says.

“Fantasy” Jim brings more than 35 years of promotion, publicity and public relations business experience to the Pit Bike industry with his latest venture: Pit Bike Junkie Magazine. Based on the past, it’s going to be a wild and exciting ride!