The List: Every Team USA Rider (Part 1: 1970–1984)

And we’re throwing in a 2022 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations Souvenir Event Program (produced by the Racer X staff for RedBud), as well as a 2022 MXoN event decal featuring one of the all-time Team USA heroes, Michigan’s own Jeff Stanton. We’re calling it the MXoN Celebration Pack, and it’s all yours for just $30.

Now, on to The List. The Motocross of Nations (formerly called the Motocross des Nations; the “of” switch officially occurred in 2004, but we’ll probably end up using them interchangeably here) began in 1947, for 500cc motorcycles, while the Trophee des Nations (250cc) began in 1961. Team USA began participating in the MXoN back in 1971, but the year before that they entered the Trophee race for the first time. The two events were combined into one event in 1985. Team USA hasn’t participated in every MXoN, as we will explain below. And oftentimes there’s a little extra tidbit of information about the lineup or the event itself. The first half of this List of Team USA riders covers the years there were two events, 1970 through ’84.

Team USA at the Trophee (250cc)

Let’s start with the very first team in 1970, which consisted of three young riders, all on Husqvarnas: Californians Mark Blackwell and Bob Grossi and Michigan’s Dick Robbins. All three went on a trip to the Husqvarna factory in Sweden and realized they had enough riders to enter the Trophee des Nations, which was also being held in Sweden. So they lined up on a very wet and muddy track with the world’s best Grand Prix racers—and they got thoroughly beaten. The Yanks finished dead last, 13th place. But the die was cast.

1970 (Sweden) | Mark Blackwell, Bob Grossi, Dick Robbins | 13th

The next year, only two Americans were on hand for the Trophee race—Sonny DeFeo and Tom Volin—so they did not actually qualify and were awarded 16th place. But they did get enough guys together for that year’s MXoN race for 500cc riders, which is below.

1971 (Czechoslovakia) | Sonny DeFeo, Tom Volin | 16th

Team USA had a huge breakthrough the next time they did the Trophee race, which was not until 1975. Bultaco rider Jim Pomeroy won the first moto outright, beating all three of that year’s world champions—Roger De Coster (500), Harry Everts (250), and Gaston Rahier (125)—all of whom happened to be on Team Belgium. The Belgians still won, but Team USA ended up third overall.

1975 (Italy) | Tony DiStefano, Kent Howerton, Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy | 3rd

1976 (Switzerland) | Tony DiStefano, Bob Hannah, Kent Howerton, Rex Staten | 6th

1977 (Holland) | Tony DiStefano, Kent Howerton, Gary Semics, Steve Stackable | 4th

1978 (Belgium) | Tommy Croft, Bob Hannah, Chuck Sun, Rex Staten | 5th

After the ’78 race, Team USA began losing interest. The importance of supercross in America was growing, and sending four riders and eight bikes (four 500s, four 250s) for two races spread across two weeks was just too expensive. The race was not featured on TV, and finally beating the Europeans wasn’t as big a deal as it used to be. Top riders didn’t want to go, and Team USA sat out both races in 1979 and ’80.

Fortunately, the collective attitude changed in 1981 as a group of industry friends got together and decided to do the fundraising themselves for Team USA. Motocross Action magazine editor Dick Miller, Bel-Ray’s JJ Hanfield, Hi-Point Racing’s Larry Maiers, and JT Racing’s John Gregory all got behind the idea of fielding a team. They got with Honda’s Dave Arnold and new co-team manager Roger De Coster and got Honda’s support to send four Team Honda riders to the event. None of the four riders—Donnie Hansen, Danny Laporte, Johnny O’Mara, and Chuck Sun—was an AMA champion in 1981. But they went to Europe together and ended up winning both the Trophee des Nations in Belgium and the Motocross des Nations in Germany, beginning a remarkable and unprecedented 13-year winning streak for Team USA.

1981 (Belgium) | Donnie Hansen, Danny Laporte, Johnny O’Mara, Chuck Sun | 1st

1982 (Germany) | David Bailey, Danny Chandler, Jim Gibson, Johnny O’Mara | 1st

Team USA was all-Honda in ’81 and ’82, and they swept the two events both years. Now the rest of the teams wanted in on the action, so in 1983, one rider from each of the four Japanese OEMs was chosen. (European brands like Maico, Bultaco, Husqvarna, etc. had fallen way off in America by this point.) Honda sent David Bailey, Suzuki sent Mark Barnett, Yamaha sent Broc Glover, and Kawasaki sent Jeff Ward. Yes, they won both events again.

1983 (Czechoslovakia) | David Bailey, Mark Barnett, Broc Glover, Jeff Ward | 1st

1984 (Sweden) | Broc Glover, Rick Johnson, Johnny O’Mara, Jeff Ward | 1st

Following the ’84 events, the FIM decided to switch the format of the two races, combining them into one race with just three riders per nation, not four. And teams would have to field a rider in each of the three major classes: 125cc, 250cc, and Open. So let’s switch gears here and focus on all the times Team USA raced the MXoN, which goes back to 1971.

Team USA at the MXdN

Back then, each team needed five riders, and while Team USA couldn’t pull that many together for the ’71 Trophee race, they did have five for the MXoN: Sonny DeFeo and Barry Higgins from New York, Ohio’s Bryan Kenny, Swedish transplant Gunnar Lindstrom, and a guy named John Barclay, who happened to be living in Europe at the time and available to line up. Barclay was in over his head, and he only finished one moto—in 42nd place. But Team USA was able to finish 10th out of 12 teams.

1971 (France) | Sonny DeFeo, Barry Higgins, Bryan Kenny, Gunnar Lindstrom, John Barclay | 10th

1972 (Holland) | Gary Jones, Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy, Jim Weinert | 7th

1973 (Switzerland) | John DeSoto, Mike Hartwig, Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy | 4th

The first real step forward was the ’74 MXdN in Sweden, which saw the team lead by GP veterans Jim Pomeroy and Brad Lackey, plus top young domestic riders Tony DiStefano and Jim Weinert. Their second-place finish would be Team USA’s high-water mark until 1981.

1974 (Sweden) | Tony DiStefano, Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy, Jim Weinert | 2nd

1975 (Czechoslovakia) | Tony DiStefano, Kent Howerton, Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy | 9th

In 1976, a solid Team USA was chosen that included Tony D., rookie sensation Bob “Hurricane” Hannah, fast Texan Kent Howerton, and “Rocket” Rex Staten, who finished 12th in the first moto—on a Harley-Davidson!

1976 (Holland) | Tony DiStefano, Bob Hannah, Kent Howerton, Rex Staten | 5th

1977 (France) | Tony DiStefano, Kent Howerton, Gary Semics, Steve Stackable | 2nd

By 1978 the Americans were starting to feel it against the Europeans, and the brash Hannah went after the best GP rider, Finland’s Heikki Mikkola, in two fantastic motos. But the Flying Finn was not deterred, and he ended up sweeping both motos. Team USA finished fourth overall … but then they stopped coming to the event for the next two years.

1978 (Germany) | Rick Burgett, Tommy Croft, Bob Hannah, Chuck Sun | 4th

1981 (Germany) | Donnie Hansen, Danny Laporte, Johnny O’Mara, Chuck Sun | 1st

We told you about 1981’s amazing wins, but ’82 also deserves huge respect. That was the year that “first Americans” Lackey (500) and LaPorte (250) each won FIM Motocross World Championships, but because they were not Honda riders, they were not on Team USA. Instead, Honda sent another quartet, three of whom were not even on the winning team the year before. Johnny O’Mara was the only holdover after Donnie Hansen ended up getting badly hurt the week before the race. He was replaced by David Bailey, a future Team USA standout. Jim Gibson was also new to the team, as was the fourth member, Danny “Magoo” Chandler. And it was Chandler who stole the whole show, sweeping all four motos in the Trophee and MXdN events—the one and only man in history to ever accomplish it.

1982 (Switzerland) | David Bailey, Danny Chandler, Jim Gibson, Johnny O’Mara | 1st