April 22
1952
Gary Jones is born. He will go on to become one of the top riders in the early years of American motocross, finishing as top-American in the 1971 Inter-AMA Series, then winning it in 1972, and then winning the first three AMA 250cc National Motocross Championship (1972-'74). The championship trophy for the 250 class in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross is named the Gary Jones Cup in his honor.
1979
Omaha Moto Park in Nebraska hosted a 125/250 National and Bob "Hurricane" Hannah topped Kawasaki rider Jimmy Weinert and Suzuki's Kent Howerton for the 250cc overall. The 125cc class win would go to Hannah's teammate Broc Glover, who was working on a third straight AMA 125 National Championship. Suzuki riders Mark Barnett and "Flying" Brian Myerscough were second and third.
In Austria, U.S. hopeful "Bad" Brad Lackey, now riding for Kawasaki, had to settle for second overall in the 500cc Grand Prix opener with 5-1 moto scores while Honda rider Graham Noyce of Great Britain went 2-2 to take the overall win. The first moto was won by Maico pilot Ivan van den Broek of Belgium.
Also, this was the race where Suzuki's Roger DeCoster first lined up with that Ride "leading link" type front end, which involved two Ohlins shocks.
1990
Team Honda's Jean-Michel Bayle won the second day of the Pontiac Silverdome doubleheader, followed by Suzuki's Mike LaRocco and Kawasaki's Jeff Ward. It's JMB's second-ever AMA Supercross win, and it comes at the expense of his Honda teammate Jeff Stanton, the hometown favorite. Stanton finished sixth.
In the 125 class Suzuki's Denny Stephenson once again topped Pennsylvania Honda privateer Mike Jones, with another Suzuki rider, Tallon Vohland, third.
1995
At the old Charlotte Memorial Stadium Jeremy McGrath clicked off another win as he rushed toward the 1995 AMA Supercross Championship, which would be his third in a row for Team Honda. His teammate Steve Lamson finished second, with Sizzler/Noleen Yamaha rider Larry Ward third, and Yamaha factory pilot Jeff Emig fourth.
In the 125 class Tennessee's Mike Brown got a popular win, with F&S Suzuki rider Davey Yezek second and Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Mickael Pichon third. For Pichon it's enough to clinch his first title, the 125 East Region. (You'll see MX Sports' Roy Janson, the U.S. Supercross boss back then, hand him the #1 plate at the 19-minute mark below.)
2006
The Dallas Supercross and the boat! As three-way battle for the title was raging between defending champion Ricky Carmichael, Kawasaki's James Stewart, and Yamaha's Chad Reed, the Suzuki-mounted Carmichael crashed on the fifth lap and his bike hit a sponsor boat sitting on the infield. He got up and then had a hard time starting his bike and would ultimately finish sixth. Stewart also crashed, and Reed was the beneficiary of both mistakes, taking the win and staying in the thick of things.
The Lites race was also memorable. It marked the first career professional win for rookie Ryan Villopoto. Honda's Andrew Short finished second, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Grant Langston was third.
