first pro you saw at your local track

dkride991 10/9/2017 12:09pm
10/9/2017 12:09pm
Doug Jackson, 1980 in Kentucky at Dizzy Land Mx. He was scrubbing a single in a way we had never seen or heard of before. He was on a completely different level that day.
willie838
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willie838 10/9/2017 1:47pm
10/9/2017 1:47pm
d34 love.

Ryan mills from 60s-80s then up up and away from d34. He was nasty.

I was at Walden for a few different events.

I was flagging mid track when Pastrana came and ran a LL qualifier there....he was on a 125 at the time so it must have been....96/7/8?

He killed his qualifier then destroyed Carlo Coen who was basically the local hero, at that time.


I believe the year before or after that they ran a charity race at walden and it was raced by dowd, henry, and scott sheak.


nothing is as humbling as watching a guy like coen (who was just crushing the district), get completely dusted by dudes who showed up and saw the track that day- and pulverized a very very fast rider that had a lifetime of racing walden under his belt.



mills went down his rode, shame

sheak is locked up in fishkill cf right now (multiple dwis)..

ah well, those are my favorite years as a kid, flagging there on the weekends was basically my first job and it was awesome.
SPODEBOY
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SPODEBOY 10/9/2017 2:18pm
10/9/2017 2:18pm
The Beast and Dubach rolled up onto a track I used to ride (roll) up off El Toro Rd at the foot hills. As he (Bradshaw) was gearing up I was busy riding (rolling) the track, he looks over at my bro Joe Tottobene and asks, "Who's the spode"? Hence my name ever since...
woodsrider427
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woodsrider427 10/9/2017 3:39pm
10/9/2017 3:39pm Edited Date/Time 10/9/2017 3:40pm
willie838 wrote:
d34 love. Ryan mills from 60s-80s then up up and away from d34. He was nasty. I was at Walden for a few different events. I...
d34 love.

Ryan mills from 60s-80s then up up and away from d34. He was nasty.

I was at Walden for a few different events.

I was flagging mid track when Pastrana came and ran a LL qualifier there....he was on a 125 at the time so it must have been....96/7/8?

He killed his qualifier then destroyed Carlo Coen who was basically the local hero, at that time.


I believe the year before or after that they ran a charity race at walden and it was raced by dowd, henry, and scott sheak.


nothing is as humbling as watching a guy like coen (who was just crushing the district), get completely dusted by dudes who showed up and saw the track that day- and pulverized a very very fast rider that had a lifetime of racing walden under his belt.



mills went down his rode, shame

sheak is locked up in fishkill cf right now (multiple dwis)..

ah well, those are my favorite years as a kid, flagging there on the weekends was basically my first job and it was awesome.
It's been a long time since I've heard the name Carlo Coen, but that brings back some good memories. He was the first 2-digit pro (I think he was #69 or so that year) I saw ride. My first race ever was at Ace in 1994.

John Dowd was the first top level rider that I can say I was on the track with at the same time, humbling to say the least. It was a mid-week practice at Diamondback after the Broome-Tioga national and several pros showed up (don't quite remember the year, but between 94-98). The only other one I remember was Ty Wallace because he used me as a berm!!

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Falcon
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Falcon 10/9/2017 5:00pm
10/9/2017 5:00pm
When I first saw Mike Craig, he was racing YZ80s at Barona Oaks and shredding everybody. He's the first pro I've seen at a local track but I'm a SoCal guy, so....

Although in most cases they don't know it, I've ridden with Craig, MC, Steve Lamson, Ryan Hughes, Jeff Emig, Scott Sheak, Tony Amaradio...
Ken202
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Ken202 10/9/2017 5:08pm
10/9/2017 5:08pm
Boo Stichter
Boo, almost won the national at Lakewood CO. I think it was '80 but could have been '79? Boo grabbed the holeshot and led to the last lap when he bobbled and Hannah got by him.
olds cool
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olds cool 10/9/2017 7:13pm
10/9/2017 7:13pm
Mickey Boone. Early '70's at a track behind Hickory Speedway in Hickory, NC.
NorcalVet
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NorcalVet 10/9/2017 7:45pm
10/9/2017 7:45pm


Marty at Carnegie
.. back in HS


Then when I got back into Moto

Chuck Sun at a OTHG/ OT ride day or race at Hangtown

Rodney Smith at sandhill

Blair Brothers at oatfield

Crisp BRAAAP! 10/9/2017 8:14pm
10/9/2017 8:14pm
A couple years back, there was some dude that was just laying waste to everyone in the A practice at Englishtown. No number, no graphics, bike a little beat looking. Just straight shredding, flicking it flat over everything to keep from OJ'ing.

In the pits, I was rolling by and noted that he was super tatted and pitting out of some roached out raper van. I finally noticed the gear digits and figured out it was AJ Catazaro.
Braaaphole
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Braaaphole 10/9/2017 9:05pm
10/9/2017 9:05pm
Back in the late 90s I ran into K-Dub regularly. He was also the first person I ever saw locally that made it pro. I first saw him in probably 94, so he was well on his way to a great career at that point.
Got my ass kicked by some little turd at a local race one time. I was running 125C class then and this kid lines up with us on a KX60. Couple of us laughed and thought there was no way they were letting this little kid race with us. Well this little kid got a top 5 start and checked out. Made us look stupid. Turns out, it was Matt Lemoine.

Not long after, 02, I ran into K-Dub at the track again and he had his friend Travis Pastrana with him. That was a really cool one. Travis was skimming the small pond between 2 sections of the track.

I'm in Houston now and there's quite a few guys here at the pro level that are privateers we see regularly. My kid gets all excited when one of them is at the track. We see Lane Shaw pretty regularly, saw Lance Vincent a couple months ago, Brad Ripple mostly at the RC track lol, Nick Wey was out yesterday for his Answer tour. There's also a couple local kids coming up that have a real shot if they continue to progress. One of them is running the Monster Cup this weekend in the Supermini class.
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x-gamer 10/9/2017 9:44pm
10/9/2017 9:44pm
Billy Clements at Saddleback park 1969 or 1970 midweek with his Ford Van and Husky, He was so nice. I was a Skinny little kid asking Stupid questions just so I could talk to him.
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Sully 10/9/2017 9:59pm
10/9/2017 9:59pm
Falcon wrote:
When I first saw Mike Craig, he was racing YZ80s at Barona Oaks and shredding everybody. He's the first pro I've seen at a local track...
When I first saw Mike Craig, he was racing YZ80s at Barona Oaks and shredding everybody. He's the first pro I've seen at a local track but I'm a SoCal guy, so....

Although in most cases they don't know it, I've ridden with Craig, MC, Steve Lamson, Ryan Hughes, Jeff Emig, Scott Sheak, Tony Amaradio...
My old friends Matt and Mike Brown (not that Mike Brown) used to race out there around that time too. I remember going with them a few times and seeing Craig just light the track up. Same with Tommy Clowers, and before that, Bader Manneh.
FOSSILMOTO
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FOSSILMOTO 10/10/2017 5:51am
10/10/2017 5:51am
Barry Higgins. World 600 MX in Charlotte 1972. Destroyed the pro class.
Lemon100
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Lemon100 10/10/2017 6:55am
10/10/2017 6:55am
Ken Roczen and Xavier Boog when they were teammate to Teka Suzuki.
It was to a track in France , the weather was terrific but he was only 15 or 16 and was flying in the mud....
It's funny to think that this little boy with his blonde long hair and his face full of mud become few years leater the fastest man of a dirt bike....
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NERida173 10/10/2017 7:31am
10/10/2017 7:31am
chrisbuehler wrote:
Doug Henry 1993. He turned a double and a single into a triple that NO FRIGGING WAY was ever designed to be a triple. Really to...
Doug Henry 1993. He turned a double and a single into a triple that NO FRIGGING WAY was ever designed to be a triple. Really to this day the most amazing thing I have ever seen on a track
Central?
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Steve125 10/10/2017 8:19am
10/10/2017 8:19am
Larry Ward battling with local favorites John Dowd and Doug Henry.. Central Village Ct. 1989
PRM31
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PRM31 10/10/2017 8:34am
10/10/2017 8:34am
Arlo Englund, 1980ish?
abn166
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abn166 10/10/2017 11:54am
10/10/2017 11:54am
1972 rocket Rex Staten Corona Raceway. They let go of the rubber band and everyone took off except one rider. He sat there until every went through and then left the first turn. He put the bike in gear and then took off and rode a wheelie all the way to the first turn. The announcer said look at Rex Staten giving everyone a chance. Let's see how long it takes for him to get into first. I forgot how long it took but he quickly passed all of the other pros and won with a huge lead. I was 12 years old watching my first MX race. He seemed like a total bad ass. Less than 8 years later I beat him a few times in the 250 pro class. Felt amazing to beat one of your MX heroes.

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jnickell
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jnickell 10/10/2017 12:52pm
10/10/2017 12:52pm
First ever was with Steve Mertens at Hangtown. Probably 1995 or so. I remember me riding pretty well and thinking he wasn't that fast. Until he was done with his sight lap... I also rode on the same track (Club Moto in Livermore) as Rodney Smith a few times around 2002 - 2004. He never ever looked like he was trying to go fast. Not surprisingly, he was going very fast.
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bayodome 10/10/2017 1:12pm
10/10/2017 1:12pm
First pro was at the first race I ever saw in person, period. One of my best friend's, Jon Ferrante, took me. His parents owned East Coast Kawasaki Suzuki (which just closed this year after 30+ years in business).

Anyways it was LARRY WARD at the NJ State Championship in 1992 at Englishtown (Raceway Park). I think he raced the 125 class and I recall him throwing some mean whips over the staircase. Guy Cooper was there too, and I was a big fan of his, but he was only signing autographs.

Ah the memories.
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peelout 10/10/2017 1:17pm
10/10/2017 1:17pm
Mike Fuckin' Healey

vschaik141
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vschaik141 10/10/2017 3:41pm
10/10/2017 3:41pm
hmm so I went to Lommel
AZRider
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AZRider 10/10/2017 4:54pm
10/10/2017 4:54pm
between 1994-2001 i was roosted by the best all over Socal. Mc on down, ive ridden with them all...and tried to stay out of the way.

This really is unfair for the socal guys
Mit12
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Mit12 10/10/2017 5:10pm
10/10/2017 5:10pm
OW38B wrote:
Not a fair question for us So Cal guys....................
It is if you raced in the 70’s and 80’s. I would like to say that I raced with Ward, Glover, Goat Brecker, Hanson, Burnsworth, Johnny O, etc but the truth is I only started the race with them. The truth hurts. Lol
kzizok
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kzizok 10/10/2017 6:52pm
10/10/2017 6:52pm Edited Date/Time 10/10/2017 7:04pm
Reynard. On a P-dub.




Beyond that, tons of pros over the years as regulars or semi-regulars, called my home track their "home" track, i.e., RR, Guy Cooper, Clifford "Flyin' Hawaiin" Adoptante, Cliff Palmer, Pastrana, Emig, Jake Martin, Canard sometimes, Bogle, Colt Nichols, Forkner, Jimmy Gaddis, and tons more.
Subwaytom
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Subwaytom 10/10/2017 7:38pm
10/10/2017 7:38pm
Mike Tripes in 1980 at Rio Bravo on the night track. He knock himself out and didn’t know where he was, so we took him home with us. He stayed for a month.
Wildeye511
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Wildeye511 10/10/2017 11:37pm
10/10/2017 11:37pm
Mike Healey and Mike Chamberlain at the Dealers Challenge in I think 1992 or 1993. This was at SIR, now called Pacific Raceway in Washington state.

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