Most injury-free riders in history?

str8line
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str8line
Edited Date/Time 3/7/2020 10:01am
It takes a special rider to have a long career without too many injuries. Skill and risk management need to be supreme. We all know it's a game of luck sometimes but who because of how they've managed to ride have been some of the least injured riders in the sport?

Tomac has had a good run. Dungey definitely comes to mind. RC. Jeff Ward? Mike Larocco? Hannah? Jeremy McGrath?
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crusty_xx 3/4/2020 7:20am
3/4/2020 7:20am
Out of the current riders Jeremy Seewer and Justin Brayton maybe?
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rangot
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rangot 3/4/2020 7:26am
3/4/2020 7:26am
Fred Vialle, Tom's dad. He was a fierce competitor in the 90's and early 2000's, fighting for GP podiums and never had a broken bones. Amazing. Especially with his wild riding style.
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TXDirt
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TXDirt 3/4/2020 7:28am
3/4/2020 7:28am
str8line wrote:
It takes a special rider to have a long career without too many injuries. Skill and risk management need to be supreme. We all know it's...
It takes a special rider to have a long career without too many injuries. Skill and risk management need to be supreme. We all know it's a game of luck sometimes but who because of how they've managed to ride have been some of the least injured riders in the sport?

Tomac has had a good run. Dungey definitely comes to mind. RC. Jeff Ward? Mike Larocco? Hannah? Jeremy McGrath?
If you exclude the season Tomac lost to double shoulder blowouts. I'm not sure I would have him on this list.
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Racer111
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Racer111 3/4/2020 7:35am
3/4/2020 7:35am
Jeremy McGrath
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FerCzD
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FerCzD 3/4/2020 7:39am
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Kevin Windham
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ga_pike
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ga_pike 3/4/2020 7:40am
3/4/2020 7:40am
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be wrong.
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OldPro277
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OldPro277 3/4/2020 7:53am
3/4/2020 7:53am
ga_pike wrote:
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be...
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be wrong.
Good picks, along with Windham,too. It's a very thought provoking question Str8line .Every championship contender I thought of had been banged up and missed parts of seasons. A related Part 2 of your question could be to differentiate and track the percentages of "race missing" or season ending injuries between SX and outdoor Nats . I'm betting the difference is staggering
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gt80rider
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gt80rider 3/4/2020 8:00am
3/4/2020 8:00am
Racer111 wrote:
Jeremy McGrath
this is the correct answer...... during the majority of his title runs he was amazingly injury free... he had a few little things here and there... but the true genius of his riding was keeping it upright and out of trouble...

I remember back around 99'ish at an SX in texas when he tipped over in practice and people started freaking out... just MC tipping over was odd to see back then...... he was nearly always the picture of perfection... and he never got into knock down drag outs with anyone... getting into people Always costs time (not to mention the chance of injury), MC simply knew better....
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SethGator
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SethGator 3/4/2020 8:03am
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ga_pike wrote:
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be...
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be wrong.
didn't Jeremy break his wrist outdoors at some point?
TXDirt
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TXDirt 3/4/2020 8:06am
3/4/2020 8:06am
ga_pike wrote:
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be...
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be wrong.
SethGator wrote:
didn't Jeremy break his wrist outdoors at some point?
I recall he tweaked his foot I thought during the outdoor series. That was the year it came down to the final moto between him and Emig. Had he not hurt himself a few weeks previously to that it was looking like it would be his title. But that injury definitely cost him points, and ultimately the outdoor championship that year.
stremme12
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stremme12 3/4/2020 8:07am
3/4/2020 8:07am
Dungey was pretty solid


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TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 3/4/2020 8:09am
3/4/2020 8:09am
Jeremy's knee(s) may disagree with some of you Laughing
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TDeath21
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TDeath21 3/4/2020 8:14am
3/4/2020 8:14am
Missed a lot of 99 SX and missed the entirety of 04 SX. Other than that just 06 Glen Helen and 06 MXoN.
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rallendude
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rallendude 3/4/2020 8:16am
3/4/2020 8:16am
Jeremy got his heel cut badly at a restaurant or something like that on broken glass. He was definitely on the lower percentage of injuries though.

Windham broke his femur at Atlanta one year in practice and missed a lot of racing.

I don't remember Emig missing a lot due to injury after he moved to 250s.

I'd bet quite a few guys who were not necessarily top three to top five guys week in and week out made it through. I've always found it interesting to see how the first real injury affects riders and their aggressiveness on the track.
dirtworldmx 3/4/2020 8:27am
3/4/2020 8:27am Edited Date/Time 3/4/2020 8:27am
MC is a good answer, but he did break his lower leg in 91 or 92, and his femur and C-7 towards the end of his career. Nobody gets out of this sport unscathed!
RG1
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RG1 3/4/2020 8:27am
3/4/2020 8:27am
crusty_xx wrote:
Out of the current riders Jeremy Seewer and Justin Brayton maybe?
Seewer’s record is astonishing really. Valkenswaard will be his 112th consecutive GP appearance. Crazy, especially when you consider he’s had a few big crashes in that time
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Racer111
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Racer111 3/4/2020 8:48am
3/4/2020 8:48am
Hard to be the King of injury free when McGrath raced longer and never missed a season.

Windham broke his femur in 2002 and missed the rest of the SX and MX season. He also missed the first few rounds of 2006 with a broken arm.
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Racer111
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Racer111 3/4/2020 8:49am
3/4/2020 8:49am
dirtworldmx wrote:
MC is a good answer, but he did break his lower leg in 91 or 92, and his femur and C-7 towards the end of his...
MC is a good answer, but he did break his lower leg in 91 or 92, and his femur and C-7 towards the end of his career. Nobody gets out of this sport unscathed!
Jeremy never broke a femur and he hurt his neck in 2007 at his invitational AFTER he was retired.
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Renner153
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Renner153 3/4/2020 9:08am
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crusty_xx wrote:
Out of the current riders Jeremy Seewer and Justin Brayton maybe?
RG1 wrote:
Seewer’s record is astonishing really. Valkenswaard will be his 112th consecutive GP appearance. Crazy, especially when you consider he’s had a few big crashes in that...
Seewer’s record is astonishing really. Valkenswaard will be his 112th consecutive GP appearance. Crazy, especially when you consider he’s had a few big crashes in that time
If I remember correctly, he has not missed a single GP since he started? Thats incredible.
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davistld01
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davistld01 3/4/2020 9:11am
3/4/2020 9:11am
I'm going with MC as well. But...how many times has Reed been really hurt?
bigjam
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bigjam 3/4/2020 9:20am
3/4/2020 9:20am
Mark Barnett was pretty solid
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AJ565
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AJ565 3/4/2020 9:47am
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Racer111 wrote:
Jeremy McGrath
gt80rider wrote:
this is the correct answer...... during the majority of his title runs he was amazingly injury free... he had a few little things here and there...
this is the correct answer...... during the majority of his title runs he was amazingly injury free... he had a few little things here and there... but the true genius of his riding was keeping it upright and out of trouble...

I remember back around 99'ish at an SX in texas when he tipped over in practice and people started freaking out... just MC tipping over was odd to see back then...... he was nearly always the picture of perfection... and he never got into knock down drag outs with anyone... getting into people Always costs time (not to mention the chance of injury), MC simply knew better....
Was is '98 or '99 in Pontiac that he crashed hard and broke the triple clamp and rung his bell?
BigBoreFan58
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BigBoreFan58 3/4/2020 9:53am
3/4/2020 9:53am
What about Jeff Stanton?
Rotaholic
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Rotaholic 3/4/2020 10:39am
3/4/2020 10:39am
Imagine waking each day with the body of Travis Pastrana, I wouldn't even get out of bed lol
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Sidecar
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Sidecar 3/4/2020 10:42am
3/4/2020 10:42am
Tanel Leok is a 20 year long pro, I don’t recall him being out with injury much...

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DC
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DC 3/4/2020 10:58am
3/4/2020 10:58am Edited Date/Time 3/4/2020 10:58am
ga_pike wrote:
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be...
I feel like Jeff Ward and Jeremy McGrath are good answers. I do not remember either of them getting injured though I very well may be wrong.
I remember that Jeremy broke his leg at High Point in 1992, but that's about all I can remember of his injuries!

Carmichael missed one SX season with a knee injury; he started every national from the last race of 1996 until the first five of 2007, then he did one more and retired. He also missed three SX races when he got a foot peg puncture in his thigh at the '99 San Diego SX.

DC
Racer X
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bigjam
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bigjam 3/4/2020 11:02am
3/4/2020 11:02am
Nick Wey had 19 years also
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str8line
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str8line 3/4/2020 11:02am
3/4/2020 11:02am
Rotaholic wrote:
Imagine waking each day with the body of Travis Pastrana, I wouldn't even get out of bed lol
My god, go to 5:00. Just a partial list of his injuries. Over 25 concussions?! Most talented, nuttiest dude of all-time.

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RichieW13
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RichieW13 3/4/2020 11:14am
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stremme12 wrote:
Dungey was pretty solid [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/03/04/408365/s1200_dungey.jpg[/img]
Dungey was pretty solid


Looks like he missed 5 SX events in 2012. Then he missed 9 MX rounds in 2016.
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