January 12
1986
Australia's Jeff Leisk, California's Erik Kehoe, and Washington's Phil Larson won the 125, 250, and 500 Pro classes at the Golden States race at Sand Hill Ranch in Brentwood, California. Over in Brooksville, Florida, New England legend Jo Jo Keller topped the Dutch sand master Kees Van Der Ven in the 500 Pro class. Bob Hannah topped the 250s, and Canada's Ross "Rollerball" Pederson won the 125 class.
1991
The Camel AMA Supercross Championship opened on January 12—the earliest it had ever opened to that point—after the first round was moved out of the West Coast from Anaheim to Orlando's Citrus Bowl in Florida. The race also marked the professional debut of Mitch Payton's new Peak/Pro Circuit Honda team, a new satellite program built in conjunction with American Honda as a feeder system to their full-factory team. The plan pays immediate dividends when Michigan's Brian Swink wins the 125cc main event in what is also his first-ever AMA Supercross. Kawasaki Team Green's Ryan Hughes and Suzuki's Tallon Vohland round out the podium.
In the main race defending series champion, Jeff Stanton, beats his Honda teammate Jean-Michel Bayle in the 250cc main event, with Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw rounding out the podium.
2002
James Stewart wins his first professional race at the San Diego 125 Supercross at Qualcomm Stadium, just three weeks after turning 16 years old. Yamaha of Troy riders Rodrig Thain and Ivan Tedesco finish second and third.
In the 250 class, Yamaha’s David Vuillemin gets his second straight win and Sobe Suzuki rider Travis Pastrana finishes second in what will turn out to be his best-ever finish in the premier class. Mike LaRocco finishes third, with Ricky Carmichael hobbling to fourth, still beat up from his big Anaheim crash the week before.
2008
James Stewart outguns Chad Reed at the Phoenix round of Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship, making them even in points at 47 apiece after two rounds. Fans are salivating at the prospect of a season-long duel between the two rivals, but Stewart is hiding a secret that will change the nature of the entire 2008 season: a knee injury he suffered while practicing on December 20. Despite being tied in points, Kawasaki-backed Stewart will not line up again for SX in 2008.
In the Lites class, Torco Racing Fuels Honda's Jake Weimer takes a thrilling win over Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey. It's a great victory for Weimer, who had failed to qualify the previous weekend at the muddy Anaheim opener. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Brett Metcalfe finished third.
Travis and Shane Sewell had a big weekend at the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series in Baltimore, Maryland, as the brothers went 1-2 (Travis winning) on Friday night in the AX Lites and then followed that up on Saturday with a 1-3 (Shane winning). Only Tyler Bright got in between them all weekend. In the AX class, Kelly Smith and Chad Johnson took turns winning.
And at Dade City Raceway in Date City, Florida, Honda support rider Justin Barcia won seven of his eight motos, over four classes, in the Florida Winter-AMA Series. Only Ian Trettel was able to keep Barcia from having a perfect day.
2013
In his second-ever 450 SX race, Justin Barcia took the win on his Muscle Milk Honda at Phoenix. Finishing second was James Stewart, who was questionable before the race after tweaking his knee in Anaheim. Third-place was Rockstar Racing Suzuki rider Davi Millsaps, the winner of the opener and still the points leader—and he was riding a bike that team owner Bobby Hewitt bought because his team was not getting any support from Suzuki.
In the Lites class, GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac was locking horns with Red Bull KTM's Ken Roczen in the battle for West Region supremacy. In Phoenix, it was Tomac who once again took the win, making two-for-two at that point in the season.
