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Bullet Ben
Did Watts ever do much outside of West Texas? I can't recall for sure, but he was dang fast.
How about Brian McGary from Andrews? I believe he made several 125SX mains, and even led one for a few laps.
Mine too, he won so much in the early 90s it was crazy. I had I school from him once.
Jim Pomeroy! Jim and were born a few months apart and we first met when we were about 17 years young. Jim came to the west side from Yakima to ride for SeaTac Cycle. I was working there and we became fast friends. Jim rode a Greeves then went to the DT1 and the RT1. He was hard on bikes at that time and eventually ended up at Auburn Motorsports and Don Rhoades became his mentor and introduced him to the Bultaco Factory – of course that story developed!! We often parked together at the local races and our friendship grew. A few years later I received a conscription notice to report to the Seattle AFEES Station! I was drafted. That changed my path for sure, however when I arrived in Germany (after electing to signup for 3 years vs going to Vietnam) I figured out how to race on the German Junior Circuit. While stationed in Germany I hooked with Jim and his entourage at the GP’s many times. However Jim was a busy man.
As the years passed we often just ran into each other at the strangest times. Such is life. His passing in 2006 was a very sad day for sure.
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What year was it that Lauer had a water cooled head and radiator on his RM125? 77?
You are spot on Web. I know this cause i was the fastest 80 rider in canada in 84 and would get absolutely smoked by larry at hannegan on thursday nights...and after that on big bikes when i'd race in washington state all the time. he was just so much better than everybody around at every level.
In British Columbia Canada nobody could touch this guy for over 10 years in the 80's.
Bradshaw grew up an hour from me , but i never got to see him race in person. He never was at Muddy Creek any of the many times I was racing in the 90's. Brownie beat everybody ,every time, and nobody was close. Would have loved to have seen Bradshaw race him there back then. Would have been awesome. I was a big fan of both of them.
Long after I had started racing but this Maryland kid looked pretty fast. Ever hear of him???
https://youtu.be/z0B4PJpoJDM
Yeah thats for sure! I never could make myself pull for wirehead after he punched a 15 yo kid for beating him at a small NC race one time. Ive told the story on here before too. Kid ran him off a berm on a down hill when he passed him. Wirehead hunted him down and punched him through is helmet in the pits and then tried to fight his dad too. lol
But that ol fkr was fast as hell too!
Robby is a cool old MX'r. Built bikes for my cousin back in the 90's and did a couple top end jobs on a RM125 I had too. Saw him last year, he lives near me on Lake Murray in SC now.
He was a local kid on a YZ80 who blew past me in practice so fast I couldn't believe it. He won the 80 expert class every time he rode, and when he moved to 125s, I couldn't believe how fast he went. I figured he was the fastest rider in the whole world, and I wasn't surprised at all when he turned pro. He quickly gained a Factory Yamaha ride and ended up being the guy they put a spotlight on at the San Diego Supercross to "introduce" us to the track, throwing the flattest whip I had ever seen.
Michael "Sting" Ray Craig was my guy in the mid-'80s.
Wow! Hadn't heard that one. Knew he had a temper though. I never saw him punch anyone but, I saw him run over the top of a few! I only tried to speak with him twice. He wasn't a friendly sort. I never beat him. Came within a half bike length two times. At Polk County, he must have been sick or something, I was all over him the whole moto. Chester says, "Why didn't you knock him out of the way? What's the matter, ya scared of him?" I said,,,, Yeah. I don't bring a bodyguard to the track with me!
Can’t believe I forgot Bob Handy from Kenner, La. Think he earned national number 68 or 65 maybe and had a bunch of 125 top 20’s and a few 250 top 20’s. Later in life we became friends and went to a few local races together. Haven’t seen or heard from him in a number of years.
In MD in the early 90's there were a few kids my age that I truly couldn't believe could go so fast on 80's. Aaron Day, Denny Williams and Amber Hughes. Those 3 were just insane to watch on 80's. And obviously I focused on them because we were all roughly the same age. Then one day I show up to Aquasco and there's another little kid on an RM80 with 99 on the plates and Wile E Coyote flapping off of his chest protector. He made them all look like just regular riders, and that totally blew my mind. Long story short Travis Pastrana blew my mind, and still does all these years later. There were some really good riders from MD in the 90's but Travis was just one notch above.
First local hero was Carlos Serrano. We pit with him at Canyon Raceway a lot. Good times those were... In 1980, I had a bike shop ride from Bike City Kawasaki in Kingman, AZ. Riding the 125 pro class at Canyon with a lot a super fast guys, like Drey Dircks and others...
Edit: I think this photo was taken the same day my profile photo was.
1981 - Fort St. John BC, Jeff Malanowich was the man. I remember when, I think, Factory Yamaha riders (Zoli Berenyi jr and ?) came up to do a riding school the day before a local race and stuck around to race with us locals. Jeff kept them honest the whole race. Wicked fast. Other 2 notables were Marty and Shane Eaton in the 80cc Expert class. In 1982, we had the Alberta Championships in Calmar just west of Edmonton, at the River Vista MX track. The Ft St. John MX'rs came down, and cleaned up. I remember 80cc Expert class Brad Holland, complaining about Shane, and saying since he's not from Alberta he shouldn't be provincial champion. At the time I was racing the 80cc B class and was told Daryl Klemola, also from Ft. John was my competition. My highlight was beating him straight up and winning the provincial championship that race. After Jeff, it was Rudi Zasko jr and still is today. I tried to copy his style and speed my whole 45+ years of racing. Now 2024, Rudi still rips, me not so much! Good times!
Cody Gilmore. I think it was 96’ in Yankton,SD. It was my first race and I tipped over in every single corner and almost took out the finish line flagger. Cody was so far ahead that he stopped in the middle of the race, said “you okay?” Then continued to go on and win easily. He was always number 7 back then and showed up in a big black semi rig.
Pit Row
Haha! I know the Equestrian Center is sitting where Polk Co MX used to be. Jonathan Cole , of Interstate Cycles, helped start that track. He died several years ago. He was always terrified of wirehead too. lol. You must have been fast as hell too!! I only made to be B class at my best level. Chester was shady too. Saw him kick a guy mid air at a Wilkes Co Mx night race once. They both went over the lower first turn double at the same time. I guess they came pretty close and Chester was able to get his left leg out and kick the crap out of him. The other dude saved it somehow lol. Plenty of drama back then with the guys you mentioned. I thought it was cool seeing Neese's son racing Brownie at Muddy Creek too. Brownie is a damn energizer bunny too it seems.
I used to work with a guy that would tell that story at least once a year at work. He got as much satisfaction telling it as Damon did winning lol. IDK if its even a true story, he claimed to have been there when it all went down. Said they decided last min to run the track backwards because Brown had such a homefield advantage over everyone else, said Brown got the hole shot and was checking out and Bradshaw finally caught him, they went over a jump, Damon slapped Brown's front fender in the air and gave him the finger pistol and checked out. That's the story he told at least 10 times the years I worked with this guy.
Did you go to those black gold arena cross races in Fort St. John in like 87/88? I race pro night in those. I think Larry ward came up to one of those things.
Buck Murphy
I grew up in the PNW, when the Pomeroy's, Sun, Burgett, Raines etc were here. Of all those guys, Murp[hy was "my guy". I pushed a broom at Cliff's Cycle Center when they sponsored Murphy, and when I couldn't go to the races, my question would always be "how did Murphy do?"
He had a beautiful and powerful style and could run with anyone.
Here he leads DeCoster, Wolsink, Hannah and Semics at Puyallup, and did so for more than just a lap
There was a Friday night SX race at Dade the night before the Winter-Ams in either '96 or '97. They built a stretch of whoops on the straightaway in front of the stands, and I just remember Anthony hitting them WFO and basically floating over the whole section. I can still picture it, & it was the highlight of the night for me.
Being D6 I'll always be a fan of Barry Carsten & most of the pro guys that Mike Rossini helped during those years. RRP was 8 minutes from my house so we spent a lot of time (and money) there.
That his father as his mechanic? I remember reading about him in all the mags in the 70s and then saw him win a small arenacross type event in 1984 in Providence, RI. Indoors and full of mud. Never got to see him race at an NESC event but saw many of the other greats.
Yeah that looks like George . I believe he went on to become the first big rig driver in Moto, piloting the Kawasaki truck (?). *Keep up your stories, we enjoy each and every one. Thanks !
Surprised nobody brought up Mickey Kessler!
I believe so. Maybe a Kawi rig in MX, and a Honda rig in road racing?? Keep up your photos and stories. They keep my moto mind fresh!
First race I ever attended was at a place called Newberrytown, somewhere in D6 PA, when I was 9, in 74. The 500 experts come out, and the field was waxed by a 14 year old Kenny Adams on a CZ. He won the first ever amateur national championship in 75 in the open class. I always pretended to be him when we would ride our bikes and catch a few inches of air, lol. He had a few national numbers later on before switching to sprint cars.
Picture of Mr. Ellis from issue 1 of Inside Motocross.
100% agree.
Tim Worth and Holland in the 80s
Rusty 90’s into the 2000’s
toss in some Casey Hinson and Dustin Pipes in the 2010s
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