May 5
1996
Local hero Steve Lamson continued his title defense of the '95 AMA 125 National Championship with a second straight win to start the season on his Honda factory CR125. Yamaha's John Dowd and Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Mickael Pichon were second and third, with Great Western Bank Kawasaki rider Buddy Antunez fourth and Yamaha's Kevin Windham fifth.
Bruceton
In the 250 Class it's was a win for another defending champion on a Honda, Jeremy McGrath. He went 1-1 to easily top Kawasaki's Jeff Emig's 2-4 and the 4-3 of Suzuki's Mike LaRocco.
1974
Appalachia Lake MX Park in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, hosts its first-ever AMA National Motocross race, and the 250 Class winner were Yamaha's Pierre Karsmakers, while the 500 Class win goes to CZ rider Tony DiStefano. There were seven different brands of motorcycle in the top seven of the 250 class. Karsmaker's Yamaha was followed by Gary Jones' Can-Am, Billy Grossi's Honda, Bob Grossi's Husqvarna, Ken Zahrt's Bultaco, Frank Stacy's Ossa and Peter Lamppu's Montesa. DiStefano was followed in the 500 class by Bultaco rider Bryar Holcomb and Maico rider Steve Stackable. (On a personal note, this was the first pro race my parents Dave & Rita Coombs.)
1988
The Los Angeles Police Department announced that the Mickey and Trudy Thompson slayings from March 16 were contract murders. The supercross promoter and his wife were gunned down in their driveway as they left for work that morning, but no cash or jewelry were stolen. Trudy was wearing at least $2800 in jewelry and Mickey had $600 cash on him. The police also offered a reward of $175,000 to anyone who had knowledge of the killing. The police also announced it had begun looking into the acrimonious relationship between Thompson and his former partner Michael Goodwin, which started over who had control of the Southern California "dirt dates" for stadiums like Anaheim, San Diego, the Rose Bowl and the LA Coliseum.
1974
Czech rider Miroslav Halm won the 250cc Grand Prix in Police, Czechoslovakia. It was a great day for the country's brand CZ as Halm was the overall winner with 5-2 moto scores and fellow Czech CZ riders Jaroslav Falta and Jiri Churavy were the moto winners, and second and third overall, respectively. The top non-Czech was U.S. rider Jim Pomeroy, who scored third in the second moto on a Bultaco. And get this: There was only one Japanese bike in the top ten in either moto, and it was the Suzuki of Gaston Rahier.
Meanwhile, in France, Finnish Husqvarna rider Heikki Mikkola kept his perfect start to the season with a second straight double-moto sweep in the FIM 500cc World Championship. Suzuki's Roger DeCoster, the reigning three-time champion, was second in both motos. U.S. rider Brad Lackey finished 11th overall aboard a Husqvarna.
1996
Seventeen-year-old French rider Sebastien Tortelli of France won his second straight 125cc Grand Prix aboard his Kawasaki in Spain, with fellow countryman Frederic Vialle second overall. U.S. rider and former 125cc World Champion Bob Moore was fourth in the first moto.
Meantime over in Italy Belgium's Marnicq Bervoets topped Stefan Everts to win the 250cc Grand Prix at Montova.
2001
Ricky Carmichael capped his nearly perfect run through the 2001 AMA Supercross Championship with his 13th win in a row to close out the series. Carmichael's Las Vegas win matched Jeremy McGrath's record of 13 straight from five years earlier. It also marked Carmichael's last SX win aboard a Kawasaki, as he will be switching to Honda at the end of the '01 AMA Motocross season. Yamaha's McGrath and Tim Ferry place second and third.
In the East-West Shootout Yamaha of Troy's Nathan Ramsey topped Suzuki's Travis Pastrana and KTM rider Brock Sellards in the 15-lap combined race.
2007
James Stewart ended one of the best runs of his supercross career with a seventh straight win to close out his championship run in Las Vegas. Yamaha's Chad Reed was second, Honda's Kevin Windham third.
The 125cc East-West Shootout Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider Ryan Dungey wins ahead of Honda rider Jake Weimer and KTM pilot Martin Davalos.
2012
With the title already in hand, Ryan Villopoto is forced to sit out the '12 Las Vegas finale due to a knee injury. It opened the door for his rival Ryan Dungey to close out his first season with KTM with a fourth main event win. Yamaha rider Davi Millsaps is second, Honda's Justin Brayton third.
In the 250 SX East-West Shootout GEICO Honda riders Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac go 1-2 with Martin Davalos third.