first pro you saw at your local track

OldYZRider1
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OldYZRider1 12/6/2011 2:21pm
12/6/2011 2:21pm
I watched a couple of guys at a track in Sparland, IL in 1979. Don't know who they were, believe one rode a 250 YZ and one a 250 RM. Announcer indicated they were pros who were from the area. They let them race the 250 A class and they just about lapped the field twice in the seven lap race. Really eye opening how much faster they were over even the A riders. When I started racing the following year (250 B, don't remeber there being a C class back then) I also realized how good of shape they must be in, as I was petered out after the five laps we raced.
dr516
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dr516 12/6/2011 3:02pm
12/6/2011 3:02pm
Not the first that I saw but the first I remember was Johnny O in 79. Being a dunes local there were many..
mag23
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mag23 12/6/2011 4:05pm
12/6/2011 4:05pm
Tallon Vohland, Marysville, Riverfront Park, end of 1988, I think... he put a hurtin on fellow badass Steve Lamson. Awesome to watch a future champion and almost-champion battling like their life depended on it. Also, a Vitalmx lurker, Brian Roth on a CR80 at Sacramento Raceway Motobowl, sickkkkkkk
lumpy790
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lumpy790 12/6/2011 4:37pm
12/6/2011 4:37pm Edited Date/Time 12/6/2011 4:39pm
John Savitski at Trailways night race in PA....Bevo was his mechanic.

David Bailey.....when he was still racing a Bultaco.....he went Pro a couple years after that.....if that counts

The Shop

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BigDaddyG
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BigDaddyG 12/6/2011 5:01pm
12/6/2011 5:01pm
Back in 1985 when I first started racing the fast pros that were regulars were~

80's
Eddie Hicks
Steven Kotajarvi (The Flyin' Finn)
Bubba Smith
Jeff Emig
Butch Smith (Snowy)
Dave Miller of DMC would show up and rock on an 80!
Damon Huffman on 60's freakin ripped!
I know i am missing a bunch of fast kids here......its been a loooong time.


125/250
Willie Surratt
Kenny Zahrt
Jeff Mayberry
Rich Truchzenski
John Ortner (I think)
Tim Hanna
Ted Campbell (KTMs back in the day!) Dude ripped!
Mike Healy
Mike Pascaralla.....that dude was amazingly fast.

Shit I know i am missing a ton of local pros that we saw everyweekend. Back in those days it was totally common for Pros to race a SX on Saturday night then show up at a local race the next morning. Many times, Jim Holley, Micky Diamond, McGrath, RJ, Lechien, Wardy, Nicky Pounds, Ricky Ryan, Aj Whiting tey would all come and race. Really friggin cool...that shit don't happen now days, noooo way!
staycasted
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staycasted 12/6/2011 7:24pm
12/6/2011 7:24pm
Matt Wozney wrote:
Ryan Mills racing Schoolboy and whippin' everyone (myself included) in District 34/NY State.
The good ole days Matt, were you at diamondback the day Hansen was there for Wednesday practice.. I think spring 2000
Sawblade
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Sawblade 12/6/2011 7:52pm
12/6/2011 7:52pm
In 1984 Danny “Magoo” Chandler showed up at Freddy Vans Cycle Land in Pittsburg, KS. Honda box van, mechanic and a works RC 250 Supercross bike in the back. If I remember correctly, the Pontiac Supercross was the next weekend. Magoo put on riding show of unbelievable skill. Most riders, including my self spent most of the time watching as you couldn’t believe the shit he was jumping. I made the mistake of stopping next to the largest waterhole to take my goggles off. It had rained a few days prior and everyone was going around it. I heard Magoo coming and couldn’t get the bike started in time, over the grand stand jump he comes, sees me next to the water hole, points at me and wheelies right through the middle of it, drenching me to the bone. Classic Magoo.
DPW
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DPW 12/6/2011 9:09pm
12/6/2011 9:09pm
Josh Demuth and Kevin Windham @ Mosier Valley
SMITH201
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SMITH201 12/6/2011 9:27pm
12/6/2011 9:27pm
Travis on minis at Aquasco
queen of spodes 12/6/2011 9:55pm
12/6/2011 9:55pm
Ezra Lusk sometime in 01? Whenever he was on Honda.
plowboy
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plowboy 12/6/2011 11:55pm
12/6/2011 11:55pm
I saw this thread a few days ago and have been racking my brain trying to remember. I can't. But I do remember the first pro I met. My classmate and best bud was sponsored by the Kawasaki shop in Tulsa Ok....he asked me to come with him to the shop one night cause some Swedish/Norwegian/Danish/Viking famous dude was gonna be there. My memory is as weak as wet toilet paper but I'm pretty sure it was Rolf Tibblin. He told us to go WFO and all that stuff and then he taught us the basics of isometric exercises....which I still use. That was about 1975.
KellyMac
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KellyMac 12/7/2011 5:16am
12/7/2011 5:16am
David Pingree, Ogden Utah, 91, 92, 93? Crazy Fast!!!
lumpy790
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lumpy790 12/7/2011 5:47am
12/7/2011 5:47am
SMITH201 wrote:
Travis on minis at Aquasco
Travis on a 60 in MAMA
Kryan5
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Kryan5 12/7/2011 7:01am
12/7/2011 7:01am
All of my experiences with pro's was before they were pro's. First was james stewart at LL's. We were both on 50's. Pw's back then. We were also beside them at the hotel. He told me he was going to beat me today and..... he did. I finished 7th and he was 4th. His dad spent all night working on his pw in a small box trailer. Not sure what was going on in there... Then TP199 at budds, but i'm sure everyone in this area has rode with him there.
Kryan5
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Kryan5 12/7/2011 7:04am
12/7/2011 7:04am
lumpy790 wrote:
John Savitski at Trailways night race in PA....Bevo was his mechanic. David Bailey.....when he was still racing a Bultaco.....he went Pro a couple years after that.....if...
John Savitski at Trailways night race in PA....Bevo was his mechanic.

David Bailey.....when he was still racing a Bultaco.....he went Pro a couple years after that.....if that counts
Where are you from lumpy. I grew up racing Trailways. Looking back it was a shit hole of a track, but as a kid i didn't care I just wanted to be riding.
Axemaster31
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Axemaster31 12/7/2011 7:15am
12/7/2011 7:15am
I gave Brian Gray a ride home from high school one time

http://motocross.transworld.net/1000016510/features/2003-ama-motocrosss…

but my first encounter with a pro was the Alessi brothers in Alma Georgia, I was on an 80 and was around 14-15 yrs old, I think Mike was a year younger. They pulled up and had 4-5 80's each with them it was surreal.

Alma had a big 120' step down table that took me 8 months before I hit on my 80, Mike Alessi came in did one lap around the track and the next soared over it. That day he also raced the dash for cash race on an 80 and destroyed our local pro who was on a 250
jmc2
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jmc2 12/7/2011 7:25am
12/7/2011 7:25am Edited Date/Time 12/7/2011 7:27am
Bob Hannah in 1977...

But this guy was at Canyon Raceway a few years later...1980



munsch121
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munsch121 12/7/2011 8:35am
12/7/2011 8:35am Edited Date/Time 12/7/2011 8:35am
Scott Sheak at Walden MX while he was running second to RC in the 125 outdoors.....He then got beat down in all but 1 moto by Tommy Clowers rocking SMP gear and riding a suzuki.

Pit Row

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Jsking912 12/7/2011 10:05am
12/7/2011 10:05am
Tim Ferry at Tyler motocross in Tx. 1997 and he was a PRICK!
pacman00
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pacman00 12/7/2011 10:09am
12/7/2011 10:09am
Ted Campbell (KTMs back in the day!) Dude ripped!
todd campbell.
lumpy790
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lumpy790 12/7/2011 11:11am
12/7/2011 11:11am Edited Date/Time 12/7/2011 11:11am
lumpy790 wrote:
John Savitski at Trailways night race in PA....Bevo was his mechanic. David Bailey.....when he was still racing a Bultaco.....he went Pro a couple years after that.....if...
John Savitski at Trailways night race in PA....Bevo was his mechanic.

David Bailey.....when he was still racing a Bultaco.....he went Pro a couple years after that.....if that counts
Kryan5 wrote:
Where are you from lumpy. I grew up racing Trailways. Looking back it was a shit hole of a track, but as a kid i didn't...
Where are you from lumpy. I grew up racing Trailways. Looking back it was a shit hole of a track, but as a kid i didn't care I just wanted to be riding.
Maryland D-7
Trailways 1978



Big Berm 1979

drmarkr
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drmarkr 12/7/2011 12:26pm
12/7/2011 12:26pm
plowboy wrote:
I saw this thread a few days ago and have been racking my brain trying to remember. I can't. But I do remember the first pro...
I saw this thread a few days ago and have been racking my brain trying to remember. I can't. But I do remember the first pro I met. My classmate and best bud was sponsored by the Kawasaki shop in Tulsa Ok....he asked me to come with him to the shop one night cause some Swedish/Norwegian/Danish/Viking famous dude was gonna be there. My memory is as weak as wet toilet paper but I'm pretty sure it was Rolf Tibblin. He told us to go WFO and all that stuff and then he taught us the basics of isometric exercises....which I still use. That was about 1975.
Tulsa, '75. You remember Kerry Smith?
Mxfreak24
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Mxfreak24 12/7/2011 1:49pm
12/7/2011 1:49pm
Steve Boniface at Nocona Mx in what I think was 05. I was only on a xr 80 back then so I don't have a cool story about trying to hang with him.
petie11o5
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petie11o5 12/7/2011 4:32pm
12/7/2011 4:32pm
Ryan Sipes and Tyler Bowers at Horseshoe Bend MX. The track was really slick early in the day due to heavy AM watering so it would not dry out later in the Kentucky summer heat. I was sliding all over the place and could not get comfortable. It was like artwork watching Sipes carve through the slick track. I was completely blown away at the speed he carried throughout.
olddude
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olddude 12/7/2011 4:50pm
12/7/2011 4:50pm
olddude wrote:
Ronnie Clark was most likely the first. Billy Swap, Brian Edwards, Isaiah Johnson or even Gio Tedesco could have been there at the same time.
TripleFive wrote:
I cleaned out Brian Edwards in a dash-for-cash race when I was 16 and he tried to fight me afterwards; he was SUPER pissed. Regardless, he's...
I cleaned out Brian Edwards in a dash-for-cash race when I was 16 and he tried to fight me afterwards; he was SUPER pissed. Regardless, he's cool guy.
Har! I never would have pegged him as the fighting type, you must have really cleaned him out.
yamahaha131
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yamahaha131 12/7/2011 4:55pm
12/7/2011 4:55pm
Tyler Bowers on a Cobra at Honda Hills (Thornville Ohio) killing everyone.
wildbill
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wildbill 12/7/2011 6:00pm
12/7/2011 6:00pm


Ryan Huffman came to Madras Or. in 98 or 99 on a KX-250 and sized up the front two tables and hit it pinned in 5th and downsloped the 2nd one perfectly.

Crazy leap. We measured it at 160 feet.
over the hill
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over the hill 12/7/2011 7:21pm
12/7/2011 7:21pm
Steve Wise, El Paso 1976. It was an epiphany. He made it look so easy.
FormerPartsGod 12/7/2011 7:36pm
12/7/2011 7:36pm
I got passed on my way to Byron Il in '77 by a blue econoline van with "Barnett" on the door, with a trailer
load of Suzukis with #322 on them. Surprisingly, I don't believe he won that day as I recall him crashing
and crimping the pipe shut in one of the motos.
Pat327
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Pat327 12/7/2011 8:09pm
12/7/2011 8:09pm
Damon Huffman at LACR in 1999.

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