Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
And of course Doug Henry, particularly in the area of mental toughness.
Lets not forget RC either, the ass whooping he threw down on everyone was simply not human.
Dude checked out of the hospital with a punctured lung, and with a tube hanging out raced that weekend and checked back into the hosptal. He had to be carried on and off his bike in the last race of the year because his knee was so bad and scored enough points to win the title. Nobody was tougher.
https://www.trailblazersmc.com/DickHammer.aspx
Two weeks later, Hammer suffered injuries at the Peoria TT that would have put many riders in retirement. He crashed heavily going over the jump in practice was knocked unconscious. A mechanic had improperly assembled the front forks on his race bike, and the first time Dick went over the jump the front wheel came off and he went head-first into the ground. He lay semi-conscious in an Illinois hospital for 27 days. Van Leeuwen remembers the incident well.
“He’s the toughest son of a bitch I’ve even seen,” Van Leeuwen said of Hammer. “A lot of people thought he’d never ride again, but after being out cold for a month he got out of the hospital and, the very next Saturday, there he is signing up at Ascot. His eyes were still all bloodshot, but he rode that night.”
Darrel Shultz? I was at Goat Breker's house when Darrel was there after the Anaheim SX. It hurt to watch Shultz walk. His knees were wasted, they had to be drained after every race.
Adolf Weil.
Jaroslav Falta.
Pit Row
You want to know what tough is to me? My dad. Back in 1999 he broke his leg racing at Baja Acres in Millington, MI. At 36yrs old, a mortgage, car payments, a wife, and three kids. Even after blood clots, and staff infection, him being given the wrong medication and nearly dying. First thing he did when could walk 8 months later was go to the local dealership and pick out his next bike for racing the next year.
A lot of MX guys have stories like that. They're all tough. I especially like the 70's era MX guys. They were hardcore. Modern times I like Ryan Hughes, Doug Henry they stick out of my mind..
Mark Barnett
Darrel Schultz
Magoo (broken handlebar, still goin'!)
Marty Tripes (once broke a footpeg off his CZ and finished the race standing on the engine cases)
Jammin' Jimmy Weinert (just watch the movie One Chance to Win about the 1975 500 National Championship and you'll see a lot of bad-asses. The Battle of New Orleans was legendary, and Weinert topped them all)
Post a reply to: Toughest rider of all time?