When racers start winning early in their careers, it’s often interpreted as a sign of future greatness. With that in mind, we dove deep into the Racer X Vault and assembled a sampling of some of our sport’s biggest names who have won both supercross races and Nationals, and how many races it took them to notch their first ever win in each discipline. We were surprised at some of our findings, and if you take a close look at the list, we guarantee you will be too.
Keep in mind that before 1985, there was no 125 Class in supercross, so riders in the Ricky Johnson/Jeff Ward/David Bailey era and prior were chasing their first supercross win in the premier class. We’ve included the Dave Coombs East/West Shootout in our tally, as well as races in which 125/250F riders have temporarily jumped up into the premier class. If we missed anyone, be sure to let us know in the comments section at the bottom!
| Rider | Races until first SX win | Races until first MX win | Combined |
| James Stewart | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Christophe Pourcel | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Ricky Carmichael | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Jimmy Ellis | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Bob Hannah | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Eli Tomac | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Damon Bradshaw | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Ben Townley | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Marty Smith | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Brian Swink | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| Chad Reed | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Travis Pastrana | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Austin Stroupe | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| David Vuillemin | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Grant Langston | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Jim Weinert | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Ryan Villopoto | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| Dean Wilson | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| Blake Baggett | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Marty Tripes | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| Justin Barcia | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| Mike Bell | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Jean-Michel Bayle | 14 | 1 | 15 |
| Mike Kiedrowski | 10 | 6 | 16 |
| Ron Lechien | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| Mark Barnett | 9 | 10 | 19 |
| Kevin Windham | 8 | 11 | 19 |
| Broc Glover | 9 | 11 | 20 |
| Trey Canard | 1 | 22 | 23 |
| Ryan Dungey | 1 | 22 | 23 |
| Ken Roczen | 10 | 13 | 23 |
| Tony Distefano | 3 | 27 | 30 |
| Broc Hepler | 9 | 21 | 30 |
| Mickael Pichon | 3 | 31 | 34 |
| Ricky Johnson | 26 | 9 | 35 |
| Mike LaRocco | 1 | 35 | 36 |
| Marvin Musquin | 19 | 17 | 36 |
| Tallon Vohland | 14 | 24 | 38 |
| Donnie Hansen | 25 | 13 | 38 |
| Jeremy McGrath | 10 | 28 | 38 |
| David Bailey | 17 | 25 | 42 |
| Larry Ward | 27 | 15 | 42 |
| Stephane Roncada | 8 | 35 | 43 |
| Josh Grant | 9 | 34 | 43 |
| Jeff Emig | 5 | 39 | 44 |
| Johnny O’Mara | 33 | 13 | 46 |
| Kent Howerton | 38 | 10 | 48 |
| Jeff Stanton | 26 | 26 | 52 |
| Jake Weimer | 15 | 37 | 52 |
| John Dowd | 39 | 13 | 52 |
| Doug Henry | 37 | 15 | 52 |
| Ryan Hughes | 21 | 31 | 52 |
| Ezra Lusk | 11 | 44 | 55 |
| Tim Ferry | 17 | 41 | 58 |
| Chuck Sun | 20 | 44 | 64 |
| Rex Staten | 26 | 39 | 65 |
| Mike Brown | 40 | 35 | 75 |
| Jeff Ward | 46 | 35 | 81 |
| Ivan Tedesco | 26 | 56 | 82 |
| Jimmy Button | 22 | 88 | 110 |
Obviously, it takes a special talent to win so quickly in the pro ranks. But there are other factors in the list above. First, several riders near the top of the list came over from Europe with professional experience on the Grand Prix circuit. Christophe Pourcel, Ben Townley and Grant Langston, for example, had already won world championships before they’d even tried an outdoor MX National here in the U.S., so they came in ready.
James Stewart ranks #1 on the list.
Simon Cudby photo
Second, as we mentioned earlier, some riders dove right into the premier class of supercross to cut their teeth. That includes not only riders like Johnson, Ward and Bailey, who didn’t have a 125SX to compete in, but also Chad Reed, who raced a few West rounds in the 250 class before winning the very first 125 East race he ever entered. Finally, the relative professionalism of the amateur ranks has impacted the results, as fast learners like Eli Tomac, Trey Canard and Austin Stroupe jumped straight into top pro teams. Back in the day, even the fastest amateurs turned pro as privateers, and it often took years before they had the equipment and guidance needed to win races.
While doing our research for the list above, we uncovered some racers who have won in one category and not the other. It’s amazing how quickly some of these guys were able to score a SX win without winning a National, and vice versa.
| Ernesto Fonseca | 1 | Never | |
| Gary Jones | Never | 3 | |
| Mike Alessi | Never | 4 | |
| Larry Brooks | 4 | Never | |
| Ty Davis | 5 | Never | |
| Blake Wharton | 5 | Never | |
| Davi Millsaps | 8 | Never | |
| Tyla Rattray | Never | 12 | |
| Cole Seely | 15 | Never | |
| David Pingree | 18 | Never | |
| Josh Hansen | 19 | Never | |
| Jason Lawrence | 20 | Never | |
| Denny Stephenson | 22 | Never | |
| Jason Anderson | 24 | Never | |
| George Holland | Never | 25 | |
| Tyler Bowers | 26 | Never | |
| Steve Lamson | Never | 27 | |
| Micky Dymond | Never | 29 | |
| Erik Kehoe | Never | 30 | |
| Wil Hahn | 35 | Never | |
| Ramsey | 38 | Never | |
| Steve Stackable | Never | 44 |
What other trends jump out at you while surveying the stats?
