"When you saw McGrath in person, it was like seeing god"

Ricky for sure. All the way from PC to his retirement. 

I saw McGrath do a Nac Nac and I swear life flashed before my eyes as I thought he was bailing at the apex of a triple

When I was growing up it was Roger Decoster. I got to walk with him once through the high Unadilla grass before practice during one trans-ama year. It was a huge treat to be able to walk with your idol for half an hour and just chat. That's what I loved about pro motocross.

First time I saw MC was in the mid 90's in Atlanta at the GA Dome. He was brought out to the stadium floor in a monster truck, did a hot lap and thru a nac nac in front of us. At that moment in time (I was probably 10yrs old) my life was complete!

Being around the sport since the 70's, 2 idols I've met that had me in awe were Hannah and McGrath.

Rick Johnson and Guy Cooper 

O'Show

Had the same experience at Mount Morris, but when The Man was at the time manager of Team Honda. Talked to him about a lot of things, most interesting of which were his relationship with Heikki Mikkola and Gerrit Wolsink.

Seeing MC at the Honda truck in mid-90's was memorable for my teenage self.  Probably 10-15 people deep surrounding it, all in silence, just staring at MC and mechanics after practice.  One of my dudes swore MC made eye contact with him.  lol

My boy Enzo Lopes mentioning Ayrton Senna made me smile, he was my hero.

(Also, Mcgrath) 

Nice! I got Wolsink autographs on my JT racing gloves that same day.

When I was a kid, I actually wrote a letter to RC. Dropped it in the mailbox along with a poster I had of him and forgot about it. A month or so later my dad is checking the mail and says "Who is R Carmichael?". Of course, I assumed he was joking until he handed me a brown envelope that was sure as sh*t addressed to me from R. Carmichael and whatever the FL address was. I opened it up and he sent me back the picture i sent him, signed, as well as another couple autographed posters. 

As a kid who was totally starstruck, it was honestly probably one of the coolest things that had ever happened to me.

I saw mcgrath at Pontiac in 96. I would have been 11.  I remember he did an opening ceremony lap by himself to George thorogood's bad to the bone, nac nac'ing over the triple. When he came through the rhythm section in front of our seats my 11 year old brain almost exploded.  I had stared at images of this guy in magazines for years and suddenly here he was right in front of me riding that iconic cr250. By the time he got to the corner I couldn't contain myself and my body just stood up and yelled       " YAH JEREMY " some kid my age in front of us turned around and gave me the dirtiest look and I got embarrassed. Awesome moment though! 

My first ever time to RedBud MX in Michigan we pulled up on the road in front of the track and it was glorious of course.  

THEN, I spotted what was LaRocco's Leap and saw MC when he was on a 250 Honda #3 I think, hit the leap and nac nac in practice.

So my first image I saw with my eyes of RedBud is MC doing a nac nac of the leap.  Amazing moment in my books!

Jeremy is obviously King of SX. He won one MX title, I think in '95, and obviously should/would have won again in '96 but for a big get off, was it at Millville?

At any rate, as good as he was, why was he never again in the mix for an outdoor championship?

Rick Johnson was the guy growing up.  He dominated and was a cool dude too!

Hannah and Johnny O'. I was blessed that I got to spend a good chunk of time around both growing up. 

MC actually riding good on the Suzuki at the '97 MX opener in Gainesville but seemingly went into a funk after losing the SX title after that. (Remember Gainsville was in the middle of the SX season). He had a lackluster (for him) results the rest of the outdoor season finishing third in points behind Emig and Dowd.

He was leading the points in 1998 when he dropped out after Mt. Morris due to a broken wrist suffered in a crash during SX.

In 1999 he had really good speed at Glen Helen and led both motos before ultimately being caught and passed by Sebastien Tortelli (who was next level that day). He went SX only in '99, however, so Glen Helen and another one-off appearance at Washougal were his only outdoor races that year.

I saw McGrath at the ranch in the 125c class I believe it was 87. It was not like seeing god. 

But he turned out ok I guess. 

I was lucky enough to have parents who owned a local track that was frequented by some cool people over the years. I got to watch Bubba and KDub on 80s. I got to watch Ricky as an ammy. So I didn't usually get star struck when I got older and met superstars of our sport. I rode with a lot of them and realized they were normal people. 
 

Now, with that being said, the first time I met Jeremy was in New Orleans in the pits. I was 18 and literally couldn't speak. Like legit clammed up. He was a rock star. Made even more mythical by the fact that I grew up in podunk Florida and he lived in hip and cool SoCal. 

McGrath was an enigma in his day. He was a golden god.

"Like seeing God"?   I don't think so.

In no particular order who I most admired...

Bailey, O'Mara, Wardy, Hannah, Glover, Johnson, Bell and Magoo of course.      The greatest era of MX, bar none. 

Magoo and RC for me...both super fun to watch ride. Fast but not always smooth

Dang Benny threw Chad under the bus 

I never idolized James but always appreciated his talent on a bike. I watched him in his AM days at muddy creek when he was riding 125/250 2stks. He smoked everyone all four motos, not even close. He made it look easy.

you're not wrong. I was about 14 and met RJ at the '87 National in San Antonio. Was surreal to have him hand me my shirt autographed. Those were the days!

I remember Dallas SX (not sure of year, but someone here will know) seeing Jeremy in the pits shaking down his Chapparal Yamaha. Had a huge rear sprocket from what I recall. Also stood behind the group of riders (and MC) at the riders meeting. Was pretty cool. 

MC ran Emig down in the 2nd moto at Gainsville. He slid out on a flat slick corner rt in front on me. He was racing with a back up cylinder. The race cylinder locked up testing because there was no oil in the gas. They flew Skip in to ovr see things in Fl. His RM 250 sounded like a 190. 

All the guys I looked up to were locals at Saddleback…. Mickey Dymond, Doug Dubach, Mike Beier, Jim Tarentino, Clint Hardick, and Ron Turner. But I went from racing 80’s in 1980 to 250 pro in 1982, so I didn’t have much time to admire them before I was racing with them. 

Most of the guys from the mid-late 80s were my guys. RJ JW Bailey O’Mara, then not really idolized but was in awe of Bradshaw MC and Emig. I don’t know why but I was never on the RC bandwagon. 

I saw James in person 2001 before he turned pro at Muddy Creek on a 125 and although he’s much younger than me, blew my Fing mind. It was an off weekend for the nationals and Brownie and a few PC guys were suppose to race that Sunday, but rumor has it, they rode with James on Saturday practice and decided not to race on Sunday 😂. Been a fan ever since!
 

Chad hurt his feelings. Benny’s still pissed.

He kind of burned James as well. Only became a JS fan because Chad stiffed him.

Fun stuff.