The List: 15 Reasons Why Supercross is for Pros Only
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 | 3:10 PM
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While digging through the Racer X photo archives the other day, we came across 15 mint, glossy shots of the old Meadowlands race in New Jersey, shot by Thom Veety of Action Photos. See, there was a time when AMA Supercross events would host amateur days on Sunday, offering local riders a chance to ride on real supercross tracks... That didn't go over so well, as you will see here. The men you see out there in Monster Energy Supercross are the best of the best, the world's most talented and precise riders, and the tracks have evolved, along with the race bikes. No, they don't hold amateur SX races in the stadiums anymore...
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Man I wish yamaha's where still White & Pink the engine was the right way...I would rock it
I have my own photos of the reason why Supercross is for pros only there called
X-rays
I remember after I got out of mx in 1986 to get into other pro sports. I would show at some local tracks periodically to see what all the HUB BUBB was all about. With the latest local Hot shoes, No names, but I remember this local Ohio kid showing up in 1989 dad owned a big construction company .
This kid rode Honda CR's. Motorhome big enclose trailer, then switched out to a 5th wheel deal with a big sleeper big bucks, of coarse he was at the gate about every moto I think he had 6 new bikes with him different displacements, I thought to myself all this for a trophy!!!!!!!!! Then he moved up to pro rode all classes,same deal like he was a factory guy or something.would get off the bike and had a full facial,massage,and pet acure by his crew , and the mechanical crew would have that bike look like the next phot shoot was coming up in 10 minutes...before he had to do it again,really impressesd. You thought that was Mc Grath in the House or something everyone at the track had there eye on this kid. Real show man
Now while this kid did all the little jumps,bumps,and things at your local track,I would see him get so far out front in like a 5 or 7 lap race he would slow to F**ck with the second and third place guy,typical kid crap. Then poor it on and win. The first race at the Nationals I seen this kid at Highpoint {Mt.Morris } this kid looked like an amatuer wouldnt even do any doubles,I thought you gotta be kidding me, so I would say to any kid starting out its not what you have as far as the best of everything,its what you do with what you have at the moment, never be intimidated by anyone or anything, or the posessions they may have...Everyone is a human first all the other stuff is crap. I used to get the doors blown off me by a kid that wore the rattiest gear never wore good goggles bike looked like crap so image and clean is just a side product.
9lives: Dude you got me craking up. I seen the same kid at Kenworthys eat it in "the dirty dozen". My God did he eat it!
131 looks like he's perfected the scrub...
I raced '91 on my '90KX500 at A1 amateur day the next day.It was ran by Goat (GFI) and went 3-1.Funnest race for me ever.Afterwards as everyone was loading up with races still going on,the lights had to come on.Goat came over to my truck(Ranger)and said ya,$5000.00 an hour to turn on the lights.Really cool dude,but I still think he wanted to impress my new wife.haha
2DamnOld2Race You know what I'm talkin about .
I got a story for ya Ill send next post, This is about the next post old Kenworthy man.. It was always hot there you know that,this is an ice story..
When you come in enterance pro pits on right you get down about 500 ft before you see the first signs of track to your left where the ICE truck parked, I got a bag duct taped it to my back around my chest had a camel back on walked to the back jump section far right in back it melted with my body heat and the temp outside ....it melted empty bag..... Steve Lamson & Mike Craig were laughing so hard now thats hot ..............
@ 2DamnOld2Race
In the mid 1990’s Kenworthy’s in Troy, Ohio was recorded the hottest day in MX History. Mid 90 degrees with 100% Humidty, Heat Index off the charts. I know I was at all of them," they were always Hot and Humid" . Interesting about this track that is no more, was the fact it was a Supercross esk track that was built on a farm property, track was flat in the woods which could provide some shade but always was a blast furnace due to the fact there was no air movement at all un-like out in the open!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was also a track you could only see what was right in front of you because of the topography …… I remember Duke Fench of AMA who was a family friend made a very tough call; you extend the intermission because of the heat, shorten the motos, or proceed!!!!!!!!!! Proceed as scheduled was the call; very nasty storms were moving in fast………..
I remember as the second moto was winding down and everyone was literally running to get out of the place, parking lot was an open corn field or farm field on property. When the rain and wind hit that field it turned into a quagmire that would rival any in the sport of MX. Eventually getting out and to the expressway headed home, I was reminded for the next 4 to 5 hours, which should have been a lot less because of the torrential downpours. The highway was shut down; just like that farm field because of the large mass of precipitation that was above us never let up, two hours into the drive the highway was plain stopped for hours till the water had subsided. I remember looking at this vast area that resembled the ocean at high tide, but in there was an Interstate that I drove frequently. Wow what a day!!!!!!!!!! Some days you just wonder what it’s all about!!!!!
I always was told by my father over 40 years ago “motocross isn’t a lifestyle, it’s a life, style is optional.
In 1981 I raced the LA Coliseum amateur day, about 1/2 hour into the first practice secession they had to stop practice because all the ambulances were gone with hurt riders. Fun race but back in the eightys the SX doubles and tripples were not as forgiving as they are now. I am not saying they were harder just the landings were very peaked.
Ok I dont want to insult anyone, because I did grow up watching these guys and I know our sport wouldnt be where it is today if it weren't for them,
but My god when I look at the ol-skool clips, they look like they are drunk and their crashed dont even make sense, now-a-day you see todays racers crash and you know how and why, and back then it looks like WTH? how did that happen...lol
Yea heat & humidity were terrible that day. Didnt bother Guy Cooper though, he was such a class act and could fly. There was a S. Ohio pro who grabbed the holeshot that day, excuse my old age, but I believe it was Chucky Reed. Friggin crowd went nutz! I remember the day I ripped my knee in 85, Chucky was running the 125's I believe for maybe the first time, his dad put down 2 milk crates so he could balance his KX prior to the start. Rest was history, he went 1-1 that day.
I think 156 is a guy named Steve Cox
Holy Mother of God.....you guys must have all hit your heads about 3 times each because this comment section has THE worst spelling and grammar I have ever seen. No wonder people think motocross riders are hillbillies!
Troy was the worst. Ohio has some great MX terrain and has/had some wonderful natural terrain tracks with lots of elevation changes, off-cambers, yummy black dirt, etc. It has mystified me for 40 years why Ohio National/GP/Trans-Am/etc tracks were always kinda crappy one way or another. But Troy... it had nothing good about it except maybe the dirt about one time in three.
Sidebar AMA attack: on quite a few years the Troy (Ohio) National was the same weekend as the Mid-Ohio Road Race National. At least two years, I remember, both were the same weekend as each other AND the same as the Dayton (Ohio) Airshow (biggest in the country from late 70s to about 1995). They were all inside a 70-mile circle. What else was inside that circle? AMA Headquarters. Really? This made sense to who?
If you were hurt, would you go to a hospital if the AMA ran it?
Ok, ok. I'm done. Took my pill.
I couldn't agree with you more, mxpunker!!
Re: amateurs racing on SX tracks, though: I raced in Texas Stadium long before most of you were born, in the Yamaha Texas High School MX Championship, and we (the amateur high school mx'ers) were the warm-up act for the pros, basically. I don't think there were a lot of crashes. I didn't crash, and finished 4th in Open Novice, and somewhere around 8th in the whole deal (Novice and Intermediate were combined!).
Whut r u takin bout MXpunker? Hahahaha. j/k.
@ ElsinoreRacer, I couldn't agree with you more about the AMA. It seems the more buearcracy, the more incompetence.............like our government.
YOU ARE ALL MOTOCROSS REDNECKS NO MATTER WHAT PART OF THE COUNTRY YOU COME FROM OR COLOR.RIDE OR SPECTATE ,YOU ARE FANS AND SOULS OF THE SPORT.GOD BLESS YOU.
I remember that day at Kenworthy's. I think that was the year Emig wore the black gear. Local rider Mark Musselman got a 125 holeshot and led a couple laps one year too.Good times
@ VISTAJIM
Yeah you know what I'm talkin about...........Mr-Mx in the house. I have to be nice or I'll be gone again!!!!
Hey I think I might go to this place in fall..........They should get the sport bikes there.
put an MX track down at around turn 11 or something,wonder if they will screw this up also ........
i miss my white and pink yamaha...screw you 4 strokes...you are killin the sport...
Yeah I was wondering how some are racing these things like renner and alike now and then you see someone show up at the nationals running one.I thought they didnt pass the db levels or something??????????
Sure mis them !!!!!!!!!!!!
@ elsinoreracer and Carlsbad
I was sooo happy to finally get my ama lifemembership 6 yrs ago so I could stop paying those inflated membership dues (so they could defend the right to not wear a helmet on a harley?and the right to bear loud pipes on your harley).
Now they send me letters wanting 29 bucks a year for a "special" lifemembership so I can start recieving that sick ama magazine again? Are you freakn kiddin me?
When I joined in 81' I think it was $12 bucks a year,now I'm paying $39 a year for my boy!
If you didnt have to be an ama member to race moto the ama would have been dead long ago.
As I flash back to 1980 in the Seattle Kingdome, where I was a dirt sampler on the stadium floor. That was my first ever experience with a supercross track, and I found it rather humbling.
I was a 16 year old kid, riding a borrowed bike, 1980 YZ 125, as my 79 YZ fried the crank practicing out in the mud at SIR.
They gave us three practice laps. I crashed three times in the first lap and only got one lap of practice. I got a good start in my qualifier, and was just trying to keep it on two wheels, only to be passed on the last lap and to miss the cut by one.
Ah thank you guys at RacerX for bringing back fond memories of days gone by!
@motorhead620 - I just got that same offer. Ooh boy, I could get their magazine again.
I was a little more connected to the pro scene at the time, and from what I heard, no one was sad to see Troy taken off the schedule, except maybe the promoter and whoever lived close by. It's weird they picked that track, because it wasn't even the best track in Ohio, let alone one of the 12 best in the country.
I don't think that guy on the 545 Honda, third to last picture, crashed for sure. Depends on if the front wheel was still on its way up when the photo was shot.
@ VISTAJIM
forgot to throw the link at ya
computer keeps cutting off I hate this windows 7 operating crap wife is always fooling with this junk
http://circuitoftheamericas.com/
9lives, That place looks world class,They are having a Moto GP race there next year.MX track would be cool there,could replace Freestone.
I did race a couple of those SX races at Indy in 92 and 93.World Sports ran them and they did mellow the track,filling in between the 2nd and 3rd jump on the triples and mushing down the whoops with a dozer,also knocked down the finish line jump a foot or two.I had 80 riders in my class (250B in 92, 30+ in 93) and had to qualify down to 20 for the main,I made it with 10th in the main both years.Still have a plaque in the garage.It was fun and hopefully I didn't look like any of those pics.
I have nightmares about having to ride SX tracks...Great shots. You can find me over on the vet track, on two wheels. (most the time)
The last race ever for me was on a 1991 KTM 125, baja acres. That g-d thing will not shift under full throttle, gaurentee ya he's in neutral. Nice parts on it though, none functioned like the RM, or KX, she was weird. 1 time i went to pontiac amatuer race (qualified at portland 5 ft of mud. Munched the tranny on a silly bump in the middle of a U turn corner, buster shift pin,,,zero fun, Honestly it wouldnt have mattered I could never get used to SX, Im a outdoor only. Ever try blitzing SX whoops for the 1st time??? ya get the picture.
When they have Supercross in England (which is pretty much arena cross) they used to (maybe still do) have the AMCA class at the start of the night. You could tell half of them were riding on adrenalin and looked like full on novices. Always easier in the stands I know. It was one of the best races to watch of the evening and reminded me of the pictures above.
So you show all these old pics of guys crashing, whats the differrence between then and the Pros now?
There is not one Pro rider who hasn't taken a soil sample this year. The top 5 known guys in the 450 class have missed races due to crashing and injury this year, and 3 out of 5 last year.
I was at that amateur day, in both '89 & '90!! Brings back a lot of memories....
Times have defiently changed! Go to YouTube and watch Adam C ride his supermini with Villo at the factory kc testing track.... All the top amateurs in the country in B and A classes could ride supercross of course not to the speed of our pros but they would handle themselves just fine! Back when these pictures were taking no one ever had the oppurtunity to ride on anything like those tracks.... Where as today if you are a fast rider when you get to big bikes it isn't very hard to go out and find an sx track ESP down south.
And I'm sure a lot more people miss kenworthys than you could all image. And from what I remember a lot of the pros enjoyed the track bc it was a sort of change in pace being more of a supercross track. It always provided great racing and the dirt was almost always prime, the track always got super rough and rutted as well!! The only downside I can agree with about kenworthys that was mentioned above was spectating was very limited!
Loved Kenworthys. I remember our local hotshoe Derrick Roe riding to a fifth overall at the national in 89'...(I think). Mixing it up with George Holland, Kehoe etc. Great memories!
'15 reasons...' but even more 1987 Hondas! And for good reason.If memory serves me, those things could do no wrong.
@ racepaintusa
1988 he was on the KX from Fort Wayne In...........Alot of my Ohio Contingent was on hand doing good that day !!!!!!!!!
Lakewood bought the Kenworthy's slot on the national circuit, and TX bought the binghamton slot, just sayin
that number 23 guy must have hit his head really hard......