The List: All-Time Rider and Mechanic Duos

Check out the video above as Carmichael finishes the first 24-0 perfect season in history. 

Tomac with Kranz - 2011 to 2021

Notes: Eli Tomac/Brian Kranz is second all time. Kranz spun the wrenches for every Tomac win as a pro except one, as Tomac had different mechanic when he won at his pro debut in 2010 at Hangtown. Kranz, at GEICO Honda, moved to Eli in 2011 and then they both moved to Monster Energy Kawasaki for the 2016 season. As you’ll see from the list below, 11 seasons is an unheard of run at this level, as most of the legendary rider/mechanic combos lasted about half this long.

Tomac is now moving to Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha for 2022, and Kranz will remain at Kawasaki to take an in-house position at the race shop.

Matthes: Bet you didn’t have this as #2 all-time, right? Congrats to both of these guys are on a great partnership. When we heard Kranz was hanging it up as a mechanic, Weege and I dug into the number of wins these guys have together. Kranz is as low-key as they come. I’ve seen the wins, bonus money, and fake fame get to some mechanics and they start thinking they’re the reason the rider is winning. Not with Brian, though. He’s a worker bee who’s done a good job under some trying circumstances when you think about the 450SX titles that Eli didn’t win when he was the best guy. The pressure of being expected to win every race, and win every title, must be immense.

Eli Tomac after his final moto with Kranz:

McGrath with Norfolk – 1991 to 1996

Notes: An iconic combination, Skip and Jeremy took cool to a new level, both in their win rate and their style. The McGrath/Norfolk combo ruled 125 West Supercross in 1991 and 1992 with the Peak/Pro Circuit Honda team, and then moved to Team Honda’s 250 squad for 1993. Then they rewrote the record book, including a near-perfect  season in 1996. Plus, the duo’s run in the AMA 250 Motocross Nationals in 1995 and 1996 was probably underrated.

Skip put the wrenches down after the 1996 season, but would actually return to work with Jeremy a few times, including coming out of retirement for the 2001 supercross season. Randy Lawrence handled the mechanic duties for McGrath for his last three title seasons. Jeremy would then win his last two supercross races with Norfolk at the pit board.

Matthes: Skip lives in Las Vegas these days running a brewery, so I see him here and there. He’s always very complementary of getting hitched with McGrath early on in the Team Green days and getting on that run. He blames himself for Jeremy losing St Louis in ’96 and ending his bid at a perfect season. Skip took on a much larger role than just building a bike, as he felt it was his job to shield Jeremy from some external obligations so he could focus on racing. In St. Louis, he didn’t do it, and he blames himself for Jeremy’s loss. That’s how tight these guys were. When Skip was MC’s wrench, I was around him a bit and he couldn’t have been any cooler or down to earth back then. I was just some new guy greaseball privateer mechanic, and he was much cooler and more helpful than he needed to be. Also, bonus points for getting 95 percent of those wins in a box van.

Stewart with Albrecht – 2002 to 2008 SX

Notes: As with Carmichael, you know James Stewart will rank high on this list with someone (RC and Stew are 1-2 in all time AMA combined wins) and you also probably know Jeremy Albrecht was on his side for most of those Kawasaki wins in the early days. At the end of the 2008 supercross season, Albrecht left Kawasaki to begin building the JGR MX program. Stewart went on to a 24-0 perfect season with Mike Williamson as his mechanic.

Matthes: J-Bone had a great run as a wrench, first with Jeff Emig and then right into another icon with Stew. And he left some wins on the table as Weege explained when he moved to team manager role at JGR. J-Bone had an Oakley ad! J-Bone was in Fresno Smooth! J-Bone was cool.

Carmichael with Gosselaar – 2003 to 2007

Notes: Carmichael split his career wins in half with Watts and Mike “Goose” Gosselaar. It’s another list for another day, but when you look at Gosselaar, who wrenched for Carmichael, Steve Lamson, Ezra Lusk, Ryan Dungey, and Chad Reed, you’re likely looking at the winningest mechanic ever.

Matthes: Yeah, Goose was the mechanic’s mechanic. As in, most of us in the pits sort of acknowledged he was one of the best wrenches or maybe the best. His bikes always looked great, they never broke, he came from being an actual mechanic from the California Highway Patrol so he never seemed to get caught up in the life. He was always very nice and an understated guy. There’s no doubt Goose has the most wins ever as a mechanic when you look at his list of dudes. Yet, you would never hear this guy brag about his success!

Villopoto with Williamson – 2009-2014

Notes: Villopoto scored 29 career wins with John “Throttle” Mitcheff as his mechanic at Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Mitcheff moved to the factory Monster Energy Kawasaki 450 unit with Villopoto in 2009 but was replaced by Mike Williamson mid-season. Villopoto scored all of his 450 wins with Williamson as his mechanic.

Matthes: I worked with Mike at Red Bull KTM in 2001 when he was Broc Sellards’ mechanic and came from the old NCY Yamaha team. He was always very meticulous, and I think he was a bit more forceful with his opinions on bike setup than some of the other guys on this list, but I also know him better than the other guys. Going 24-0 in the outdoors is simply insane and he’s one of three guys to do it in the history of the sport. When he moved to become the crew chief for Tomac at Kawasaki, I’m not sure that was the best thing for him. He walked away from the sport with his head held high.

Dungey with Rivera – 2012 to 2017

Notes: Carlos Rivera was originally known as Davi Millsaps’ mechanic in his amateur days with Suzuki, and then he followed Davi into the pro ranks. KTM hired him to work with Ryan Dungey and they produced quite a bit of success, and Rivera’s run is still going today with Cooper Webb, who now has 19 career 450SX main event wins (to date) under his belt and two 450SX titles.

Matthes: I thought this would be higher, to be honest. Carlos is meticulous about shaving weight off his motorcycles and Roger De Coster at KTM really leaned on Carlos early on in the KTM days. He’s also one of those guys who's not in it for the headlines and endears great loyalty from his riders after he’s done with them.

Johnson with Lunnis – 1986 to 1990

Notes: Rick Johnson and Brian Lunnis at Team Honda were peak 1980s. Johnson was the winningest rider of that era and Lunnis, who had wrenched for Bob Hannah before Johnson came over to Honda, was considered the top mechanic. Like so many stories from the 1970s and 1980s, this one includes a massive what if. Johnson broke his wrist at the peak of his powers in 1989 and would have no doubt won many, many more races. It’s just like Bob Hannah, who broke his leg at his peak (Hannah’s wins are split between Bill Butchka and Keith McCarty at Yamaha, and then Lunnis at Honda). Still, winning this much in a gnarly era of driving box vans around the country is no joke.

Matthes: Bro, Lunnis got a Ferrari from Hannah as a bonus once! I mean, that’s all you need to know about Brian. One of the all-time great motivator mechanics from the box van days, I’ve also heard a ton of stories about how hard of a trainer Brian was as well. He was going on bicycle rides with his guys. By the time Brian worked with Damon Bradshaw and Damon Huffman, I think the “yelling at your guys to make them better” mode didn’t really work. I’m sure guys like Hannah and Johnson didn’t mind it one bit. An amazing career, no doubt, and he also found great success after his mechanic days working with the Mechanix Wear brand.