40 Day Countdown To AMA Motocross Opener: 1996
Friday, May 6, 2011 | 2:15 PM
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The 40-Day Countdown to the 40th Annual Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship continues, with a target set on 1996 today—a very big year in both AMA Motocross and AMA Supercross. We’re recounting history here, and also previewing the history-in-the-making coming this summer. If you want more info on the 2011 tour, visit the official series’ site at www.allisports.com or “Like” the new series Facebook page.
As the top rider on the then-blue Honda of Troy, Larry Ward graces the cover of the Kenworthy's National program.
(If you missed any of our previous years, please click here)
After a few years where its competition was beginning to find some championship success, Team Honda started the 1996 season back in its old dominant form. The Red Riders crushed it for most of the season, and the most impressive part was that the team featured just two riders: Jeremy McGrath and Steve Lamson. They were entrusted to go out and win both the 250 and 125 National Championships.
Although Ryan Hughes' unforgettable moment as a racer came to close the '95 season, the photo ended up on the cover of the '96 Steel City program.
Over the past few seasons, Honda lost Doug Henry to Yamaha—if he was ever going to make it back from his back-breaking crash of June '95—and Jeff Stanton to retirement. They didn’t replace them, but it didn’t look like they needed to. Around them, however, change was everywhere. McGrath’s 250 motocross rival from the previous year, Jeff Emig, switched from Yamaha to Kawasaki. Yamaha brought in the back-from-retirement Damon Bradshaw. And Suzuki’s efforts to find its old glory—with Roger DeCoster at the helm—looked good with Greg Albertyn back for his second U.S. season and Mike LaRocco, the ’94 250 National Champion, going yellow too.
Lots of changes, but it mattered little to McGrath. MC was in his prime, and the King of Supercross put together the best indoor season of his career, winning the first thirteen rounds of the series and threatening a perfect season until Jeff Emig halted the streak in St. Louis at the fourteenth round of the fifteen-race series. McGrath recovered quickly to win the final round, giving him a record-shattering fourteen wins in a single series—a record he still shares with Ricky Carmichael.
Jeremy McGrath was a dominant force in AMA Supercross, and he very nearly won the AMA Motocross title again in '96.
At one time, McGrath wasn’t known for his outdoor motocross skills, but by ’96, he was as fast as anyone on the planet outdoors. In fact, in the midst of his SX run, he also won the first three MX races of the season. Finally, at High Point, he showed some cracks, falling back to fifth in the first moto while admitting he just wasn’t motivated after racing and winning for about five straight months. Albertyn broke through for his first U.S. moto win but crashed out late in the second moto to throw away a certain overall. McGrath recovered to win the moto, but Emig collected the High Point overall with a pair of consistent finishes. The fans started calling Emig “Streak Breaker” for having ended yet another McGrath run.
Emig stepped up his game and challenged McGrath each weekend, but MC was still holding a big points lead—until Millville, when McGrath tried jumping a massive table-to-table double and cased it, spraining his foot badly. He could barely ride and struggled to score top-ten finishes. Emig went 1-1 and began an impressive streak of holeshots and wins—he was coming on strong just as McGrath faltered.
Jeff Emig chased after McGrath all summer long in AMA Motocross, then beat him on the last day of the '96 series to win his second career title.
McGrath pulled off at Washougal (a move he today says is one of the biggest regrets of his career) and surrendered the points lead to Emig. He came back to go 1-1 at the next-to-last round at Binghamton, setting up an amazing championship finale at Steel City. Emig led the points by just two going into finale—essentially, whoever won the race would win the championship.
Steve Lamson was almost as dominant in the 125 Nationals as his teammate McGrath was in AMA Supercross.
The McGrath and Emig rivalry was a strange one. At times they were fierce rivals; at other moments they would party and hang out together (the sport had come a long way from the “super training” era of the 1980s). Famously, they could park their boats next to each other at Lake Havasu and hang out all day without ever really making eye contact. Heading into Steel City, McGrath seemed to hold the upper hand, as he usually came out on top of one-on-one battles with Emig, and he had said Steel City was his favorite track on the circuit.
“Well,” said Emig to the ESPN camera, “we’ll see whose favorite track it is when you see who’s holding the #1 plate.”
Emig is flanked by Ryan Hughes and Damon Huffman on the '96 Team Kawasaki squad.
It was on, and it was good. Emig shot out to another of his patented holeshots, but McGrath was right there and passed him immediately over a double. Emig struck back with an aggressive pass around a flat corner to retake the lead. As McGrath explained, “He psychoed back by me.”
What followed was thirty minutes of nail-biting battle, with McGrath applying pressure and Emig riding flawlessly to win the moto and hold a significant five-point edge into moto two. Again, Emig grabbed the holeshot and rode a flawless race, while McGrath got a bad start and never challenged him. In one of the sport’s best-ever showdowns of star power in its prime, Emig toppled McGrath to collect the 1996 250 National Championship.
Lamson rates as one of the all-time great 125cc motocross racers, but he somehow managed to never win a Supercross in either class.
McGrath’s teammate Lamson didn’t have such trouble in the 125 class. He was challenged at times by Yamaha’s old-and-young 1-2 punch of John Dowd and Kevin Windham but his points lead was never in danger. Late in the year, though, Windham began to really find his form, beating Lamson straight-up at the final two rounds. But Windham would have to wait until 1997 to run for the title, because Lamson had already wrapped up his second straight 125 National crown—with nine wins, he won by a ridiculous 129 points!
Emig cuts in under McGrath on the old off-camber wall at Budds Creek.
Team USA had slipped from its unbeatable perch at the Motocross des Nations, losing the event to Britain in 1994 and Belgium in '95, but the Yanks returned with a vengeance in 1996. McGrath, Lamson, and Emig (riding the same KX500 that seemed to be deployed with a different rider each year) absolutely dominated the race in Jerez, Spain, winning their classes and reclaiming glory for the stars and stripes.
Other efforts back home weren’t going as well. Bradshaw had a decent but unspectacular season and was nowhere near the same rider he was four years earlier. Henry won a moto at Washougal to the delight of the fans but was generally a non-factor. Yamaha dropped Bradshaw for 1997, and they announced that Henry would ride an experimental four-stroke bike in the ’97 nationals. What the heck was that all about?
Suzuki’s rejuvenation effort fell short. Albertyn finally won an overall at Unadilla but still crashed too often to challenge Emig and McGrath. And LaRocco wasn’t gelling with the radical new RM. Suzuki’s 250 team would pick up a huge new star for 1997. So would the entire 125 class. Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
That's Greg Albertyn on the cover of the '96 High Point program.
3/3 Gainesville, FL Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA Hon
3/5 Sacramento, CA Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA Hon
5/12 San Bernardino, CA Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA Hon
5/26 Mt. Morris, PA Jeff Emig, Riverside, CA Kaw
6/16 Budds Creek, MD Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA Hon
6/23 Southwick, MA Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA Hon
7/7 Buchanan, MI Jeff Emig, Riverside, CA Kaw
7/21 New Berlin, NY Greg Albertyn, South Africa Suz
7/28 Troy, OH Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA Hon
8/4 Millville, MN Jeff Emig, Riverside, CA Kaw
8/18 Washougal, WA Mike LaRocco, South Bend, IN Suz
8/25 Binghamton, NY Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA Hon
9/1 Delmont, PA Jeff Emig, Riverside CA Kaw
1996 250cc AMA Motocross Point Standings
1.) Jeff Emig, Riverside, CA 566
2.) Jeremy McGrath, Menifee, CA 556
3.) Mike LaRocco, South Bend, IN 428
4.) Greg Albertyn, South Africa 403
5.) Larry Ward, Florence, SC 350
6.) Kyle Lewis, Rosamond, CA 306
7.) Brian Swink, Linden, MI 300
8.) Ryan Hughes, Escondido, CA 297
8.) Damon Bradshaw, Mooresville, NC 297
10.) Jimmy Button, Phoenix, AZ 272
As the top rider on the then-blue Honda of Troy, Larry Ward graces the cover of the Kenworthy's National program.
1996 125cc AMA Motocross Championships
3/3 Gainesville, FL Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
5/5 Sacramento, CA Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
5/12 San Bernardino, CA Kevin Windham, Baton Rouge, LA Yam
5/26 Mt. Morris, PA Kevin Windham, Baton Rouge, LA Yam
6/16 Budds Creek, MD Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
6/23 Southwick, MA Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
7/7 Buchanan, MI Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
7/21 New Berlin, NY Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
7/28 Troy, OH Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
8/4 Millville, MN Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
8/18 Washougal, WA Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon
8/25 Binghamton, NY Kevin Windham, Baton Rouge, LA Yam
9/1 Delmont, PA Kevin Windham, Baton Rouge, LA Yam
1996 125cc AMA Motocross Point Standings
1.) Steve Lamson, Pollock Pines, CA Hon 584
2.) Kevin Windham, Baton Rouge, LA Yam 455
3.) John Dowd, Chicopee, MA Yam 439
4.) Buddy Antunez, Moreno Valley, CA 301
5.) Michael Craig, Lakeside, CA 299
6.) Tim Ferry, Palm Harbor, FL 271
7.) Ezra Lusk, Bainbridge, GA 259
8.) Robbie Reynard, Norman, OK 244
8.) Chad Pederson, Fort Dodge, IA 244
10.) James Dobb, England 243
Mickael Pichon added a second 125 East SX title but still had yet to win an outdoor national after two years in America.
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Pichons riding a 250 on the cover of Moto Crampons
'96 was probably the last year I really enjoyed the SX series. From '97 on, not only the 4 strokes began their quest of world domination (for the worst), but the sport was somehow changing also. Good o'le days were gone I guess.
Yea, thats weird
How the hell can racer x not even give a little nod to RC's ride at Steel City in 1996!!!! Not only should they give it a nod, but they also should of quoted David Bailey when he said he thought Ricky was to fat to be the next Jeremy McGrath. Shame on you Racer x. Shame on you.
It's sad that the gear from 96 is better looking than the crap they have now...
Pichon's chrome kawi was themost beautifull bike ever.
This is probably my favorite period of time in the sport. The 86 to 88 years with RJ, Wardy, and the introduction of Bradshaw were great, but the 95 though 97 years were epic!! Great races, great riders with lots of personality, races on tv, and the introduction of riding videos. The first Crusty with all the top pro's was amazing! There had never been anything like it before. The Emig/McGrath rivalry was a great one. Who wouldn't have wanted to be a pro in the late 90's? Partying at the lake, racing on the weekends, and cashing checks!!
McGraths Fox gear from 96 was amazine, I still love it to this day. 1-800 Collect! Although I don't think the rest of the gear was as good as it is today. But I don't live in the past! How can you dudes saw you prefer them days.. Do you not no whats goin on in our little world right now.. This sx season has been amazin! In ten years time you guys will be like Man I think the 00's were amazine.. RC, Stewie, Reed, RV.. Ya don't no what ya got till it's gone!
How sick was henry?? Wins a moto about a year after a broken back!! Sick stuff man!!
Then in 97 breaks both arms, then in 98 wins the title!!
What they failed to mention was a privateer named Lance Smail showed up on a modified KTM four stroke trail bike for the first few rounds of Supercross. I believe he never made a main but in Seattle everybody was on there feet rooting for him. I can honestly say it was an awesome sound with one four stroke amidst 19 other two strokes. All you could hear was that bike and people cheering for him in the old Kingdome. To be honest we all thought it would just be a novelty. Then Henry shows up for the outdoors with the Prototype Yamaha which is what he won Washougal on. The mixers couldn't touch him on the big uphill. Thus the end of an era..
Looper, no disrespect to the GOAT but RC's debut was a minor footnote to 1996, and we will cover it as part of his real rookie season, which was 1997. and we will get into it then, I promise.
Thanks for reading everyone.
DC
Very good DC, keep us informed, honest, and on the right track(whats wrong with the left track?), and I am sure speak for the masses-THANK YOU(and your family) VERY MUCH for everything you have done to make this sport better!
Anyone using a MAC with iCal can download my 2011 AMA MX Calendar from here:
http://db.tt/KIGZXU3
Not spamming, just thought some people might be interested.
Ahh crap!! I clicked on the link!! You didn't just break into my bank account or anything....did you???
Love that Windham helmet!
As far as I'm concerned, I did not care much for McGrath until 1997 when he surprised the motocross community by signing with team Suzuki. Why? Because he became an underdog at that point and he gave a mighty FU to the powerhouse Honda team. Before that, it was like a so-called "reality show" in supercross... scripted and predictable. This year's SX season is great because the top 5 racers were all race winners and real contenders for the title. Outdoors should be excellent as well.
Didn't Henry break both arms at the same track that he broke his back on ( Budds Creek ) and then go back the following year to go 1-1? Truly badass.
And whatever happened to Sinisalo?
No disrespect to Emig, he won the title, but only because McGrath was injured.
The tracks for the MX des Nations were made more simple and fast so the Europeans wouldn't be at such a disadvantage. You know how it is. Simple tracks mean that intermediates can hang with pros, and fast bikes have an advantage on simple tracks with long straights. Technical tracks = American dominance.
McGrath's example shows what a horrible price you pay when you quit a moto during a series. Every lap counts. Even if you finish 2nd to last, that point might win you a title.
Doug Henry. What a bad ass hero, truly inspiring. There have been a number of riders who have shown similar grit since he showed what a bad ass is made of.
I heard that McGrath and Emig had dated the same girl at different times, and that was at the heart of their big rivalry in MX/SX. Is that true? Anybody know? I never asked them.
Every pic is sweet, the bike and the rider with the custom gear and bike is sweet. I am not mad at the riders and the time line. Keep up the good work.
@jairtime... yep... MC dated a girl... Then Emig dated the same girl who later became his wife.
And MC would try to get into Emig's head by saying that he still talks to his GF.. MC mentioned this in his book.
@I'm The Dude.. MC basically had no choice but to join suzuki as DeCoster & co were the only serious option out there.
Bear in mind, that the contract negotiations broke down late '96... So, MC did not say FU.. The guy was pretty much bummed he was not at Honda.. And untill today, C is a Honda guy for life.
Guys remember too, a major part of Jeremy moving away from Honda was the insane pressure for him to debut and win on the new alloy framed CR250. Which was like riding a rigid chopper! no flex in that first gen alloy frame, and I distinctly remember reading Mcgrath saying he felt like he was jarring his wrists through whoops when testing with factory suspension, and that he would feel tired after riding motos at the test track compared to his super smooth 96 CR (a bike that to this day he recalls as one of his best race bikes).
Then when Honda and him fell through, everyone else was basically all signed up for the year, and suzuki had a bit of cash. The rest is history....
And hey no one rag on Emig claiming that Jeremy was injured giving himthe title. Emig played bridesmaid for years and deserved more than anyone, he worked as hard if not harder than Jeremy to win that title, Jeremy's natural talent gave him a lot of wins - Emig was more of a sweat, blood and tears winner.
DC writ a message to me! Fair play, and Davey as soon as I writ that post I thought I was just being an idiot, at the end of the day I imagine RC is gonna come up quite a lot in the next 11 days, so I think I'll be able to live with that. My apologies.
No doubt the '96 CR250 was one of the All-Time great bikes. Sold mine to buy a '99 YZ400F, what an idiot!!! So many races given away to stalled motor & hard starting, What a mistake I made!!! First time I chopped the throtlle on jump takeoff was a sobering experience! I could've ('woulda, 'shoulda) bought the best suspenders for that '96 and kept on racing it 'till the cows came home!!! At the time I really thought the '97 CR250R was the shizz but after reading the write-ups & riding several throughout the season, I decided Honda actually laid a goose egg.
Saw those guys (Emig & MC) @ the river a lot more than any team manager would have approved of. Ryno, Phil Lawerence, Buddy Antunez & others as well..........I had a VERY hard time in my life at that point, had a (successful) business at the time and would see these guys doing the same clown acts I was doing and excelling @ moto stardom. I really wanted to hit the road and live my dream but, reality.......and my ex (the dream crusher), made me come to my senses.......and I'm not even bitter about it (much).
Saw Emig an MC at the river.. thats insane lol I once saw Justin Morris (ex British G.P. rider) in a MacDonalds, and Marc De Ruver in a garage.. but that's about it.. Jealous! Oh I did see Mr Emig at the Led Zepplin reunion gig couple years back in london, gotta admit he looked a lil worse for wear too lol
I HATE FOURSTROKES!
The sport will never be as good as it was in the two-stroke days. I used to attend 2-4 SX and 5-6 Nationals per year...went to the lawn mower engines and I just lost interest. Now I go to HighPoint and occassionally Steel City...the 4-strokes are just boring to watch!
Same thing with RR. Been to Daytona 11 years straight...lost interest with the lack of 2-strokes. First Daytona made the 200 into a diesel format...lost interest w/o the exotic 2-stroke factoy bikes and now Moto-GP. The World Championships haven't been worth watching since the hard to ride 2-strokes were dropped! It used to take more skill to ride a 2-stroke fast and people respected that. Now days, as long as the rider is in shape their are 3X as many riders capable of winning...not because they are better riders but because the bikes are so much easier to go fast on. Far less injuries in the old days when the tracks could be made safer because the bikes were harder to ride.
DID I SAY YET THAT I HATE FOURSTROKES?
BTW, I have my own list of the 5 greatest riders that I been priveledged to watch race MX...Henry is on that list!
Didier, MC stated that one big reason he left Honda was because they wanted him to stay away from participating in anything dangerous (outside of SX / MX activity). Because of the possible loss of thier big dollar investment, and that made McGrath feel like just a commodity and reducing his fun factor significantly. What he did not want to say is that he did not dig the '97 CR250 alluminum frame and since he had been riding a '93 frame since 1993, there was no way to disguise it as the '97. All this went on late in the year and DeCoster called with the Suzuki offer so MC took it. He also stated in his book that if he had won the '97 SX title he would have remained at Suzuki. DeCoster said that Suzuki told him to offer MC a one million dollar bonus to sign for '98 but McGrath had already left to do his own deal with Yamaha.
I love reading these articles because theyre short but ifnromiatve.