Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Rev Up. With the recent sad news of the passing of Unadilla co-founder Peg Robinson, I am devoting this week’s column to some of my favorite memories of the world-famous racetrack.
Unadilla was the first great outdoor track I had ever seen back when “MotoWorld”would broadcast the U.S. Grand Prix. Thinking back, it’s funny to hear some folks complain about a one-day or a one-hour delay because I’m fairly certain that when I popped in my blank VHS tape to record the race, it was at least a month after the checkered flag fell. That’s kind of how it went back then. You would get the Cycle News a week after, then a month later you might get a chance to catch the broadcast. And you were very stoked about it! Anyway, Unadilla personified everything that I thought a true motocross track should embody: a huge, long start-stretch; rough, loamy dirt with spray-able berms; and awesome elevation change.
The track back then was an entirely different animal than the one in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship today, and it was awesome. Things look different when you’re 9 years old, but as I listened to the sweet sounds of legendary announcer Larry Maiers calling the action on the track, I just fell in love with Unadilla. That poor VHS tape must have been tough, because I would rewind the sections when Bob Hannah and Johnny O’Mara were going bar to bar and dropping in and out of the Gravity Cavity and Screw-U portions of the track. The deep, dark grassy soil was awesome, and I’m not sure what they call the one uphill with the huge rolling kickers, but it is still a part of the track today. The legend was they never groomed that part of the track for ten years or so, and it was just so rough. Those guys seemed to barely make it up, lap after grueling lap on their works 250cc machines. Hannah would always take the far outside line and carry more speed, with his feet flying off the pegs and the black grassy dirt violently flying off his rear wheel in all directions. I can close my eyes and still see the tear-offs flying from his helmet, which had gold lightning bolts on top of it. I can hear those works 250s like they’re in the next room.
It was the golden era of our sport, and Unadilla was the ultimate canvas for our heroes to go to battle on. Hannah won the race after O'Show ran out of gas, and O’Mara came up to the podium and gave his empty tank to Hannah as a keepsake reminder of his victory. Then Larry Maiers sounded off from “MotoWorld,” saying, “Keep your wheels on the ground and your feet on the pegs.”
While Hannah will always be Unadilla’s favorite child, virtually every great motocrosser in history has raced and won at the New Berlin, New York facility. From Roger DeCoster, to Stefan Everts, to Ricky Johnson, Jeff Stanton, Jean-Michel Bayle, Jeff Emig, Jeremy McGrath, and Ricky Carmichael—they’ve all been tested by the ultimate motocross track. As far as memories go, one of my favorite pictures of all time was Ricky Johnson wearing the new Fox Racing zebra stripes outfit at the 1988 USGP. He was #18 with a green number plate I believe. There was another picture I remember of Bob Hannah officially passing “the torch” to RJ as the new King of Unadilla. Subsequently, Johnson would quickly pass it to Jeff Stanton, who was himself became a beast at ‘Dilla.
It’s crazy how one track can produce so many memory-based highlights, although motocross videos like “Terrafirma” helped engrain them. From David Pingree’s gnarly first-turn pileup to Ricky Carmichael taking out John Dowd, there were some incredible late 90s highlights as the track began to become more and more hard-pack. As the millennium came to pass, one particular ominous memory comes to mind, as Travis Pastrana pretty much ended his racing career leading the last lap of the second moto. Everyone remembers that one!
This column isn’t about my memories or me, though. It’s dedicated to the passing of Peg Robinson and her lifetime effort of operating arguably the greatest motocross track in history. We only have a short amount of time on this mud ball, and the best thing we can hope for when we leave is a legacy. What did you do with your time, how much did you accomplish, and what are you leaving behind? I didn’t know Mrs. Robinson, and never met her even though I attended the Unadilla National a couple years in a row. All I can offer is the utmost respect for a person that founded something that brought passion, thrills, and excitement to hundreds of thousands of motocross racers and fans. My favorite motocross memories of all time would have never happened if it weren’t for Peg. I’ll never, ever forget that old 1986 VHS tape and actually getting to walk down to the bottom of Gravity Cavity to get my picture taken with both arms up. Thanks Peg, Godspeed and long live Unadilla!
Thanks for reading, see you next week.
