Posts
1369
Joined
10/21/2012
Location
Cypress, TX
US
Edited Date/Time
6/17/2024 6:23am
Only 5 Texans have AMA Pro Motocross/Supercross National Wins.
Priddy - 1972
Howerton - 1974 to 1983
Stackable - 1976 & 1977
Wise - 1976, 1979 & 1980
Masterpool - 2024
Amazing that there has been over a 40 year gap between wins.
For the record, Shorty has some national wins but before he moved to Texas and Blake Wharton has some Regional Supercross wins.
Also, Kent and Ty were not born in Texas but moved there as young boys and did most of their racing from Texas.
I'm not sure Howerton was born in Texas. Not sure about Masterpool
Howerton born in Kansas, raised in San Antonio.
They started in the Reno Tahoe area then moved to Texas when Ty was pretty young.
Really surprising that Blake Wharton didn't win one. But a quick look at the vault confirms he never won an outdoor, just supercross.
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Kyle Regal got 2 podiums in the 450s outdoor, as a privateer. Noteworthy I think.
Have Tommy or Will Hahn never won an outdoor race?
Regal grew up in Michigan
They're from Kansas. I think Wil was still on 85's when they got here though.
Can't remember what Tom was riding.
Definitely noteworthy, but there have been numerous riders from Texas that have podiumed, only 5 have scored National wins. And as noted, Regal is from Michigan.
Why is that? It's hard to imagine there are a lot of places that have more moto than Texas. I see fast kids coming from Colorado, NM, Kansas, OK, Louisiana and Arkansas just for local races to find competition. Not to mention the Winter Series.
There are several training facilities and a lot of tracks in North and East Texas. You can ride red dirt, sand, deep ruts and hard pack all within 1 hr of each other. There's year round riding.
What is missing? Where do mot top level riders come from? California, Florida, Carolinas...
my guess
The miserable summer heat makes kids burn out quicker, and when it's not blazing hot, the weather is unpredictable. I feel like Texas (at least my area) is really good about finding a way to rain on the weekends.
I also think the fast kids are untouchable regional-wise, and solid at a national level, but, it's hard to go from a big fish in a small pond, to a small fish in a big pond. Kind of sucks knowing you put everything in to be the best in your area, and you are a 5-10 (or worse) guy on a national scale.
Last but not least, Texas has a "fuck you, were better than you" mentality that I think makes it difficult for the riders/parents to get along with the team - flame on.
The Rhinestone Cowboy.
I've always wondered that myself, great moto scene here but not many top riders. These days the fast guys come from all over:
250 Top 10: California, Idaho, France, Washington, Japan, Texas, Florida, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina
450 Top 10: AU, Illinois, AU, New York, Ohio, New Mexico, New York, France, Florida, Sweden
And they sold Underground and moved back too.
Wharton brothers are native Texans I believe. Kyle Cunningham, native? I think so.
The Hahn brothers moved to Decatur, TX (north of Decatur,) but hail from KS.
Regal from Michigan. Freckle, Mitchell Oldenburg came from MN I believe, his dad owned Oak Hill for years.
John Short, and Ryder Floyd are native TX I believe.
Matt Lemoine lived in the Pilot Point area which is where the Whartons and John Short live, but he came from Louisiana I believe. At one time when Hunter Hewitt (son of Bobby Hewitt) turned pro, he was also living in Pilot Point,TX
It really is odd that a state with around 31 million people doesn't have some racers in the top 3 year in and year out. Or that have won in the 250f or 450 class. I mean, there's a town in little Iowa called Fort Dodge that has put out factory rider and Daytona 450 Supercoss winner Justin Brayton, Gavin Faith, fast as hell and (muti time arenacross champion), Teddy Maier, ( 2 time Canadian National champion) Izahi Clark, and back in the day, factory rider Chad Pedersen. That's 5 riders from a town of less than 25,000 residents who've arguably had more success than 31 million residents from the state of Texas.
"That's 5 riders from a town of less than 25,000 residents who've arguably had more success than 31 million residents from the state of Texas."
That statement above is apples to oranges. I was mentioning riders from Texas that have won a MX or SX National. Iowa has 1. I can think of about 20-30 riders from Texas that have been consistent podium to top ten finishes.
Justin Brayton won Daytona 450 SX. Chad Pedersen won the Tampa 125 SX
That's from the "state" of Iowa. That's 2 wins from a town of less than 25,000 residents
From Texas? Or moved to Texas from somewhere else? Like i was pointing out, fast riders like Masterpool, Lemoine, Regal, the Hahn brothers, the Flying Freckle Oldenburg aren't from Texas.
I mean Andrew Short called Texas home but he's from Colorado
Pit Row
Riders from Texas or that grew up racing in Texas. Here is a list of 11 that have competed for a podium, top 5 or top 10's. Then of course there is the now 5 riders listed above that have won a MX/SX National.
While riders like Dumuth, Shorty, Bisceglia, Hackley and the Hahn's moved to Texas after they started racing, we consider Masterpool a Texan because he has lived in Texas most of his life. Kinda like the greatest Texan of them all, Kent Howerton. Kent was born in Kansas but moved to Texas as a young boy and grew up racing in Texas similar to Ty.
Jeff Dement
Dennis Hawthorne
David McClain
Dan Conway
Grayson Goodman
Billy Whitley
Jason Langford
Charlie Bogard
Blake Wharton
Danny Storbeck
Kyle Cunningham
There are another 10 or so that I can think of that were top 20, similar to Teddy Meier or Gavin Faith.
Random non-scientific scatter-shooting bits I've heard informally during casual conversations over a great many years' around the Texas pits, 1) The AMA influence and opportunities down here are not nearly as powerful as they are in the upper midwest rust belt and SoCal. There's plenty of racing, and super-fast guys here. Just not as many AMA-sanctioned week in, week out races. 2) That's led to not as many keen on chasing the AMA district points, as just doing well in multiple locally-organized series here. Of course, they all still chase LLs 3) Harder to get noticed to chase the factory-ride dream from this remote outpost, for those two reasons. Cali or the upper Midwest has much stronger AMA ties with hotly-contested district series across all classes. Here, it more 'Meh. Let's go race the Lone Star Night Series. 4) Some view the Arenacross series having a much better ROI. Lower costs to run a team (suitable for privateers) and relatively decent weekend payouts. Hawthorne, Demuth, Regal, etc are examples that drifted in that direction.
On the other hand, our central location is a great place for a working pro to base operations from. Basically a 3 hours plane ride from almost anywhere. Not to mention training in this climate. Hence the number of relos from other states to Texas by national-circuit pros. Regal, Hahn's, Short, etc.
If you pledge allegiance to the Lone Star flag, you're a Texan, no matter where you started!
Must be the gypsum. I grew up 70 miles from the old track down by the river in Fort Dodge. There have always been lots of fast guys there.
Short is not from Colorado, he moved there from somewhere else too.
Ty is great...sure hope he goes on a win streak although it looks like he will have to pick it up a lot to compete with Danger Boy.
Masterpool rides more aggressively than Chance I think. He can probably go to another level.
Born in Tulsa.
Which of those are true Texans and have been consistent top 10 and/or podium finishers?
I always wondered that about Texas also. Huge MX scene at the local level in the Houston and DFW area but hasn’t produced much that feeds into the top level. Weird.
Most will not understand the last part unless you are born in Texas lol.
Blake Wharton.
I got that but he gave a list of 11 that I don’t think his statement rings true.
As or maybe even more bizarre, there are have been nearly the same amount of national winners from the state of Minnesota which has a population of 5.7M and 5 month winters.
Donny Schmit, Alex Martin, Jeremy Martin and Ryan Dungey. Honorable mention to Tom Benolkin whos best finish was a 2nd place outdoors for Factory Kawasaki in the 125 class in 1981.
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