The countdown to the opening motos of the 40th year for Lucas Oil AMA Motocross continues, and today Racer X looks back at the 1979 season.
(Click here for previous years.)
But we have to start 1979 with an apology for a mistake in yesterday's 1978 review. The 250cc AMA Motocross Champion Bob Hannah was back in California for the last rounds with an injury after clinching the title early with his dominant rides through the first seven rounds of the tour. He was working on getting healthy for the upcoming Trans-AMA tour, which he also won in what was surely one of the most impressive seasons in motocross history. I also should have mentioned that the famous Dick Miller photo of Hannah coming out of Gravity Cavity was shot in 1978 at the Unadilla 250cc U.S. Grand Prix, the rare race that Bob did not actually win in 1978. Our apologies for the oversight on both counts.
Bob Hannah kept rolling right into 1979 on his Yamahas, winning another AMA Supercross title as well as another AMA Motocross title.
Danny LaPorte would take the AMA 500cc Motocross crown and earn another MXA cover.
Saddleback, arguably the hub of the motocross world at the time, finally joined the AMA Motocross tour, taking the place of nearby Escape Country, which was on the schedule for a single year in 1978 before being sold for housing. And a track just below Denver in Lakewood was added to the schedule, though it was not on the same spot of what is now Thunder Valley, which is on the 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship schedule.
The legendary Saddleback became part of the AMA Motocross tour in 1979.
"In 1979 the game plan was for Keith McCarty and I to continue to hand out ass whippings – and we did,” Hannah told Racer X Online. “That was, until I went water skiing with the competition. Then the Colorado River gave me an ass whipping for next year and a half!”
Marty Tripes' works Honda was claimed by a privateer and then tore down by a magazine.
Hannah's younger teammate Broc Glover was once again the class of the 125cc class, winning the title there for the third time in a row in what was shaping up as a legendary motocross career. But Glover did find new competition in the form of Suzuki's super-fast newcomer Mark “Bomber” Barnett, as well as Brian Myerscough.
After after losing the 1977 AMA 125cc National title to Glover on a tie-breaker, Suzuki's Danny LaPorte avenged himself with a championship effort in the 500cc class in '79, narrowly beating Yamaha's Mike Bell by just three points in the closest title bout of the season.
And in what was now called the Trans-USA Series, Howerton topped the almost-all-American field on his Suzuki. The highest-placing European in the five-race series was future world champ Andre Malherbe, who finished ninth in an abbreviated tour.
That's Mike Bell at the '79 Trans-USA race at Sears Point in Sonoma, California.
1979 250cc AMA Motocross
3/25 Sacramento, CA Bob Hannah, Whittier,CA Yam
4/1 Irvine, CA Bob Hannah, Whittier, CA Yam
4/8 Phoenix, AZ Bob Hannah, Whittier, CA Yam
4/22 Herman, NE Bob Hannah, Whittier, CA Yam
5/20 Southwick, MA Kent Howerton, San Antonio, TX Suz
5/27 Atlanta, GA Bob Hannah, Whittier, CA Yam
6/17 Sonoma, CA Marty Tripes, Santee, CA Hon
6/24 Lakewood, CO Bob Hannah, Whittier, CA Yam
7/1 Buchanan, MI Marty Tripes, Santee, TX Hon
7/8 Mt. Morris, PA Kent Howerton, San Antonio, TX Suz
1979 250cc National Point Standings
1.) Bob Hannah, Whittier, CA 454
2.) Kent Howerton, San Antonio, TX408
3.) Marty Tripes, Santee, CA 315
4.) Jim Weinert, Middletown, NY 253
5.) Mark Gregson, Salem, OR 226
6.) Larry Wosick, San Jose, CA 208
7.) Mike Guerra, Bolton, CT 205
8.) John Savitski, Atlas, PA 190
9.) Steve Wise, Pharr, TX 188
10.) Ron Sun, Sherwood, OR 148
1979 500cc National Motocross
5/20 Southwick, MA Danny LaPorte, Yucca Valley, CA Suz
5/27 Atlanta, GA Danny LaPorte, Yucca Valley, CA Suz
6/17 Sonoma, CA Gaylon Mosier, Huntington Beach, CA Kaw
6/24 Lakewood, CO Mike Bell, Lakewood, CA Yam
7/1 Buchanan, MI Danny LaPorte, Yucca Valley, CA Suz
7/8 Mt. Morris, PA Gaylon Mosier, Huntington Beach, CA Kaw
8/5 Houston, TX Rex Staten, Fontana, CA Yam
8/12 Center Isle, NY Mike Bell, Lakewood, CA Yam
8/19 Charlotte, NC Mike Bell, Lakewood, CA Yam
8/26 St. Petersburg, FL Mike Bell, Lakewood, CA Yam
1979 500cc National Point Standings
1.) Danny LaPorte, Yucca Valley, CA 399
2.) Mike Bell, Lakewood, CA 396
3.) Gary Semics, Huntington Beach, CA 233
4.) Arlo Englund, Denver, CO 219
5.) Rex Staten, Fontana, CA 217
6.) Gaylon Mosier, Huntington Beach, CA 213
7.) Darrell Schultz, Orangevale, CA 205
8.) Mickey Kessler, Framingdale, NJ 201
9.) Marty Moates, Waukegan, IL 188
10.) Greg Thiess, Omaha, NE 161
1979 125cc National Motocross
3/25 Sacramento, CA Brian Myerscough, Calimesa, CA Suz
4/1 Irvine, CA Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA Yam
4/8 Phoenix, AZ Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA Yam
4/22 Herman, NE Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA Yam
8/5 Houston, TX Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA Yam
8/12 Center Isle, NY Mark Barnett, Bridgeview, IL Suz
8/19 Charlotte, NC Mark Barnett, Bridgeview, IL Suz
8/26 St. Petersburg, FL Mark Barnett, Bridgeview, IL Suz
1979 125cc National Point Standings
1.) Broc Glover, El Cajon, CA 369
2.) Mark Barnett, Bridgeview, IL 299
3.) Brian Myerscough, Calimesa, CA 269
4.) Warren Reid, Westminster, CA 244
5.) Donnie Cantaloupi, Stockton, CA 225
6.) Jeff Ward, Mission Viejo, CA 210
7.) Jim Gibson, Orange, CA 172
8.) Ron Turner, Whittier, CA 149
9.) Pat Moroney, Newburgh, NY 146
10.) David Taylor, Glendora, CA 124
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