A new chapter in supercross and motocross history will begin this weekend when the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championships begin at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, which is part of the Charlotte Motor Speedway complex (the NASCAR track, the Dirt Track at Charlotte and several other tracks and facilities all live on the property).
The race will mark the return of professional dirt bike riders to the Tar Heel State for the first time since the FIM World Motocross Championships held a USGP next door at The Dirt Track. But looking through the moto history books North Carolina has long hosted major events, going back to the late seventies.
Metrolina Speedway was on the AMA Pro Motocross schedule from 1977 through '79. This was set at the Metrolina Fairgrounds in Northeast Charlotte. Before that, it was best known as the home track of Dale Earnhardt Sr. (and his son Dale Jr. now owns the original sign). The first Metrolina motocross was a 500cc National that was won by Bob "Hurricane" Hannah, who was able to complete a "grand slam" of winning at least one round of all four major series of that time--SX, 125 MX, 250 MX, 500 MX--in a single season. (He would later add a Trans-AMA win as well in what has to have been the single most versatile season a rider has ever had.) Hannah went 2-1 on his Keith McCarty-tuned Yamaha works bike in what was called the Mr. Pibb 500 National. And for some reason he had a fin on the top of his helmet with his signature lightning bolt featured prominently. Second went to Suzuki's Tony DiStefano while local privateer Mickey Boone placed a popular third overall on his S&M Cycles-sponsored Suzuki.
The next year Metrolina hosted a combined 125/500 National. Winning his first outdoor national (as well as Kawasaki's first 125 National) was Gaylon Mosier, who went 1-1 on his KX125 to top the 4-3 score of "Flying'" Brian Myerscough. Of note was the fact that rookie Yamaha rider Jeff Ward led the second moto until the last corner, where Mosier got past him. The 500 National was won by Yamaha's Rick Burgett, who won both motos ahead of Maico-mounted Darrell Shultz.
And then in 1979 Metrolina held its last national, again a combined 125/500 race. Suzuki's Mark Barnett topped the 125 class while Yamaha's Mike Bell topped the 500 class. After that Metrolina Speedway hosted local and regional motocross races but never another outdoor national. According to an article in The Clio (where these abandoned track photos were found) the track closed in 2000, as did the fairgrounds. Both were put up for sale, but the track never sold and remains standing and abandoned. Here's what it looks like from a recent drone visit:
In 1981 North Carolina hosted the last AMA Youth/Minicycle National before Loretta Lynn's came along the following year. Rolling Hills Cycle Park in Reidsville hosted the Kawasaki-sponsored event, and it drew some of the nation's future superstars to race, including California's Ron Lechien, Michigan's Jeff Stanton, Indiana's Mike LaRocco, Florida's Ronnie Tichenor, Minnesota's Donny Schmit and more. You can find the results of that '81 race here, along with all of the other pre-Loretta Lynn's Youth and Amateur Nationals.
AMA Supercross came to Charlotte in 1990 on the heels of North Carolina's own Damon Bradshaw, who was just 17 years old at the time and racing as an absolute sensation in the premier class. The series wanted to tap into Bradshaw's popularity and the event was a sort of homecoming race for the Yamaha factory rider, known as the Beast from the East. He delivered too, as a near-capacity crowd filled old Memorial Stadium in downtown Charlotte to watch him win a close one over Team Honda's Jeff Stanton. The 125 class winner was Suzuki-backed Denny Stephenson. Second went to first-time podium finisher Doug Henry on a DGY Yamaha. "Mad" Mike Jones finished third on a Honda CR125.
Finishing dead last in the '90 race was Honda's Jean-Michel Bayle, who was noticeably booed by the Bradshaw-favoring crowd, so when the series returned in '91 he was ready for vengeance. The Frenchman would win his seventh round of the '91 AMA Camel Supercross Series, which was run in a downpour. Bradshaw would finish 11th after an early crash. The 125 class would be won by PEAK/Pro Circuit Honda rider Jeromy Buehl.
Bayle wasn't done with Charlotte or the booing. Despite mostly cruising through the '92 season, his mind already on his upcoming transition to road racing, he got serious again when the SX tour returned to Charlotte's Memorial Coliseum and won for the first time all year. His Honda teammate Stanton would finish second, while Bradshaw crashed himself back to sixth. The winner of the 125 class was Jimmy Button.
1993 saw a new hero emerge in Jeremy McGrath, and Charlotte was another notch in his belt on the way to his first of seven AMA Supercross Championships in eight years. Yamaha’s Jeff Emig was second and defending series champion Stanton in third. The 125 class was won by Doug Henry, by this point a Honda factory rider.
The next year saw McGrath have a rare bad night, finishing seventh. The Charlotte 250 main event winner was Kawasaki's Mike LaRocco, ahead of his teammate Mike Kiedrowski and Honda's Steve Lamson. The 125 class winner was again Jimmy Button, this time on a factory Suzuki RM125.
Charlotte Memorial Stadium held its last AMA Supercross in 1995. McGrath won again and LaRocco cased a jump and broke his arm. Lamson actually led most of this one, but McGrath pulled off a last-lap pass to steal the win. That was the closest Lamson ever got to winning a supercross, but he did place a supercross career-best second overall. The 125 class winner was Honda of Troy-backed Mike Brown, though Frenchman Mickael Pichon finished third and clinched the 125 East Region title.
In 1996 the Charlotte round of the series moved to the infield of the massive Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile superspeedway. McGrath would win again, as he continued his streak through the first 13 rounds of the series. Honda of Troy's Larry Ward and Yamaha-mounted Kevin Windham would round out the podium, Windham for the first time in the premier class. The 125 winner was Michael Pichon on his Splitfire/Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
The 1997 race was a weird one. Kevin Windham, who was racing the 125 West Region, just as he had the previous season, again moved up to the 250 class for select eastern rounds. He ended up winning in Charlotte, marking the first time a 125 rider would ever win a 250 SX in the same season. Finishing second was his Yamaha teammate Ezra Lusk, and the two celebrated with side-by-side tricks that became a historic photo--not historic for the tricks but for the fact that the late Steve Bruhn, AKA The Factory Spectator, shot it with a digital camera. The TFS picture went viral before that was really even a thing!
Charlotte held its last AMA Supercross in 1998, this time in pouring rain. Yet another 125 West Region Yamaha rider, John Dowd, again won the Charlotte SX. In doing so the 32-year-old Dowd also became the oldest man yet to win a 250 SX. The 125 winner was Ricky Carmichael, who was en route to a perfect 125 East Region SX season. One race later Dowd would win again, only this time in the 125 class at Dallas, on his way to the West Region title. (And that Dallas race would also set the oldest-winner mark for Dowd, this time in 125 SX.)
There would be no more AMA Supercross or AMA Pro Motocross events in North Carolina for the next 18 years. The interest was still there, despite Damon Bradshaw being long gone from the spotlight, but when another rider from the Tar Heel state, Cooper Webb, emerged as a top rider, motocross racing came back in the form of a United States Grand Prix in 2017. That race would be held at The Dirt Track here next door to Charlotte Motor Speedway as well as the zMAX Drag Strip. Riding for Star Racing Yamaha, Webb had a sensational MX2 (250) showdown with Dutch visitor Jeffrey Herlings, and the two traded moto wins, with Webb getting the overall via his second moto win, which was held under lights.
Sweeping both motos in the MXGP class was then-Kawasaki-mounted Eli Tomac. The Charlotte MXGP would not return in 2018 and instead moved to Jacksonville's WW Ranch in Florida. Charlotte has yet to return to the Monster Energy AMA Supercross map, but with a good turnout this weekend for the first SMX Playoff round, North Carolina may someday find its way back to the regular schedule.
