Racer X Online is counting down the days to the Anaheim Supercross, which will be held on January 3, 2015, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. Each day we get a year closer, starting with 1974, the first year for a stand-alone “stadium motocross” championship, what is now known as the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. Today we’re up to 1977, the year that “Hurricane” Hannah truly took over.
From 1974 to ’77, AMA Supercross had grown from two events to ten rounds. There were also more promoters, as Bill West from Florida joined forces with Mike Goodwin to bring a “Superbowl of the South” to Atlanta’s old Fulton County Stadium. The series would kick off there, albeit under very dark and rainy skies.
There was also a new contender, as Jim Pomeroy came home from the 250cc Grand Prix circuit, where he had been racing a Bultaco. Pomeroy, the first American to ever win a Grand Prix motocross event (Sabadell, Spain 1973), was hired by Team Honda to deliver the brand its first AMA Supercross Championship. For most of the season-opening main event, it appeared that Pomeroy would win on his #102 works Honda, as Yamaha’s Bob Hannah, the pre-race favorite, crashed early in the race. But then in the very last corner he got cross-rutted trying to get around two lapped riders, stalled the bike, and basically handed the win to the Hannah, who had no idea that Pomeroy was even leading the race.
“I thought I was lapping him,” Hannah admitted to Cycle News reporter Charley Morey. “I lost track of where I was after I fell, and I thought Jim was a lap down. I was yelling at him to move over.”
One historical note: The event included a fifteen-lap “consolation” race for riders who did not make the final field. The winner? Bultaco rider Kenny Zahrt, who recently passed. Zahrt beat Suzuki’s Mike Gillman, Maico rider Denny Swartz, and a teenaged kid from Illinois who had just turned pro, Mark Barnett.
The second round was Daytona Beach, the cradle of the series, and Hannah once again found himself out front and riding away with the win, with former champion Jimmy Ellis second and the aforementioned Kenny Zarht third. Footnote in history: Zahrt’s podium finish at Daytona ’77 would mark the last time a Spanish-made Bultaco ever reached an AMA Supercross podium.
Hannah’s streak (which included the entire Florida Winter-AMA Series) finally came to an end at the Houston Astrodome, which hosted a double-header that meant that each race—Friday night and Saturday night—would count as separate races. It was Suzuki’s Tony DiStefano who beat Hannah on Friday night, earning a $1,000 bounty put on Hannah’s streak by the event promoter PACE Management.
The next night’s winner was Ellis, marking another milestone: His 1977 Houston Astrodome win was the last ever for the Bombardier-made Can-Am motorcycles. Ellis had snatched the win with a last-lap pass on Jim Pomeroy, once again struggling to pass lapped riders. For the second time in four races Pomeroy had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
The next round was in Dallas—a single night—and Hannah got back on track with a win over Pomeroy. By this point it was obvious that the title would be decided between Hannah and Pomeroy, as defending champion Jimmy Weinert struggled with crashes and injuries on his works Kawasaki.
When the series reached the Pontiac Silverdome on the first weekend of April, another double-header, Hannah swept both nights, firmly establishing himself in the points lead. It was the first of six straight wins Hannah would have over the years at the old home of the Detroit Lions. Tony DiStefano would finish second both nights, and Pomeroy went 3-12.
The next round of the series would not come until June, after the entire 250cc AMA Motocross National Championship, which was narrowly won at the last round by DiStefano over Marty Smith. The next weekend, at the Popeye’s New Orleans Supercross at the Superdome, Smith grabbed a consolation prize with the main event win over Hannah, with Ellis third.
It was at the Los Angeles Coliseum in July that Hannah clinched the title, ironically on the same night that #1 Jimmy Weinert finally got his act together and picked up his one and only win of the series. Check out the results right here and you will see that Roger DeCoster, making a cameo appearance from the 500cc World Championships, finished fourteenth. He was in town for the Carlsbad 500cc USGP and decided to fit the race in.
The series concluded in November with a return to Anaheim, which was an actual points-paying event this time. Bob Hannah won, capping his season with an exclamation point. And here’s a YouTube gem for you: The 1977 Anaheim Supercross:
Hannah had his first AMA Supercross title, Pomeroy was a frustrated second, and the ever-steady Gaylon Mosier finished third in the final standings on his Maico. Another milestone: This was the last time a Maico would end an AMA Supercross Series on the podium.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Check out 1978 tomorrow!
1977 AMA Supercross Standings
- Bob Hannah Yamaha 217
- Jim Pomeroy Honda 171
- Gaylon Mosier Maico 130
- Jimmy Ellis Can-Am 122
- Marty Smith Honda 117
- Steve Stackable Maico 112
- Tony DiStefano Suzuki 111
- Kent Howerton Husqvarna 110
- Tommy Croft Honda 103
- Chuck Sun Husqvarna 91
