Pro Moto Nicknames - A Comprehensive List

aeffertz
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La Crosse, WI US
Edited Date/Time 2/15/2026 9:45am

Let's put together a list of the "well known" nicknames of the top racers. I will edit this post to add the ones that come from the comments. Initials + their race number doesn't count. I also want to add a list of the most noteable riders that never established a nickname for themselves. I will start with just the few I can think of off the top of my head but this is very much a group project! Grinning


Jason Anderson - El Hombre
Blake Baggett - El Chupacabra
David Bailey - Little Professor
Gary Bailey - The Professor
Justin Barcia - BamBam
Mark Barnett - Bomber
Mike Bell - Too Tall
Damon Bradshaw - The Beast from the East
Scott Burnworth - Burner
Ricky Carmichael - GOAT
Danny Chandler - Magoo
Mike Craig - Sting Ray
Roger De Coster - The Man
Haiden Deegan - Danger Boy
John Dowd - Junkyard Dog 
Ryan Dungey - The Diesel
Jeff Emig - Fro
Tyler Evans - One Punch
Tim Ferry - Red Dog
Broc Glover - Golden Boy
Bob Hannah - Hurricane Hannah
Donny Hansen - Holeshot
Jeffrey Herlings - The Bullet
Jim Holley - Hollywood
Ryan Hughes - Ryno
Ricky Johnson - The Bad Boy
Mike Kiedrowski - MX Kied
Brad Lackey - Bad Brad
Grant Langston - Zulu Warrior
Mike LaRocco - The Rock
Ron Lechien - The Dogger
Ezra Lusk - Yogi
Alex Martin - Troll
Jeff Matiasevich - Chicken
Andrew Mcfarlane - Sharky
Davi Millsaps - The Duke
Jeremy McGrath - Showtime, The King
Phil Nicoletti - Filthy
Mitchell Oldenburg - Freckle
Johnny O'Mara - O'show
Zack Osborne - Wacko
Travis Pastrana - Wonder Boy
Ross Pederson - Rollerball
Aaron Plessinger - The Cowboy
Christophe Pourcel - The Crafty Frenchman
Alex Ray - Sketchy
Chad Reed - Skippy
Jo Shimoda - Sushi, Wasabi
Andrew Short - Smiley Face Assassin 
Jeff Stanton - Six-Time
Rex Staten - Rocket
James Stewart - Bubba, FMOP (Fastest Man on the Planet)
Malcolm Stewart - Mookie
Ivan Tedesco - Hot Sauce
Mike Treadwell - Iron Mike
Eli Tomac - Beast Mode
David Vuillemin - The Cobra
Jeff Ward - Flying Freckle
Jimmy Weinert - Jammin'

Most established riders without a 'real' nickname:

Ryan Villopoto
Cooper Webb
Chad Reed
Jett Lawrence
Hunter Lawrence
Marvin Musquin (No, the leopard seal is not a real nickname)
Davi Millsaps
Trey Canard
Chase Sexton
Adam Cianciarulo

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The Wolf Man
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2/15/2026 1:30am Edited Date/Time 2/15/2026 1:55am

A few alternatives:

El Homebray (thanks RC)

DumDum

Donger or Diaper Boy

Additional comments:

The Cowboy is a ridiculous contrived name

Beast Mode sounds strange. It's not a nick name, it's an adjective to describe Eli's riding at certain times e.g: 'he went Beast Mode'. 

Other names:

RJ - Bad Boy

Emig - Fro

Bradshaw - The Beast from the East

DeCoster - The Man

Webb - Burger Boy

DV - The Cobra

Herlings - The Bullet 

Hannah - The Hurricane

Lechien - Dogger

Stanton - Six Time

Mcadoo - Whackers

Sexton - Changers (pron: rhymes with Clangers)

Reed - Um

Zack Osborne - Wacko

Nicoletti - Filthy

29
-MAVERICK-
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Ontario CA
2/15/2026 2:18am Edited Date/Time 2/15/2026 3:01am

Chad Reed - Skippy

Davi Millsaps - The Duke

Mike Treadwell - Iron Mike

Mike Kiedrowski - MX Kied

Jeremy McGrath - Showtime 

Johnny O'Mara - O'show

Brad Lackey - Bad Brad

Danny Chandler - Magoo

Gary Bailey - The Professor

Jeff Ward - Flying Freckle

Mark Barnett - Bomber

David Bailey - Little Professor

Ross Pederson - Rollerball

Jimmy Weinert - Jammin

John Dowd - Junkyard Dog 

Ryan Hughes - Ryno

Tyler Evans - One Punch

Mike Bell - Too Tall

Jo Shimoda - Sushi/Wasabi

Donny Hansen - Holeshot 

Broc Glover - Golden Boy

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2
2/15/2026 2:27am

"Rocket" Rex Staten

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1
motorick5052
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2/15/2026 2:31am

Tim Ferry - Red Dog

7

The Shop

jps256
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2/15/2026 2:41am

I thought Chad was the thunder from down under

3
Whitey
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2/15/2026 3:31am

Jim Holley - Hollywood

Mike Craig - Sting Ray

Scott Burnworth - Burner

 

5
davis224
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2/15/2026 4:11am

Michael Byrne - Byrner (not sure if a play on names counts, does Shorty count for Andrew Short?)

Andrew Mcfarlane - Sharky

Didn't we call Broc Hepler Iceman for a bit?

Grant Langston - Zulu warrior?

Can we lump both Musquin and Pourcel under "the crafty frenchman"?

 

4
mvmx
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2/15/2026 4:33am

Tim Ferry - Red Dog

Dirty Dog -  from his time in Dirty Jerzz with RRP 

2
mvmx
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2/15/2026 4:34am

Andrew Short - Smiley face assassin 

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truck
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Alex Ray - Sketchy

4
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Nairb#70
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2/15/2026 5:05am

John "wellen" Dowd was from the early '90's.

1
1
3strokemx
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2/15/2026 6:26am

Jett Lawrence - the Rocket Man.   *credit Leigh Diffey

9
motorick5052
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2/15/2026 7:58am Edited Date/Time 2/15/2026 8:00am
Nairb#70 wrote:

John "wellen" Dowd was from the early '90's.

Hahaha thats a great nickname for a dude named Dowd! 🤪

Speaking of Dowd… I always like the Junkyard Dawg for him too, don’t think that one is listed above! 😎 👍❗️

(***EDIT: my reading comprehension let me down here! Maverick already noted JYD! 😝)

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2/15/2026 12:00pm
davis224 wrote:
Michael Byrne - Byrner (not sure if a play on names counts, does Shorty count for Andrew Short?)Andrew Mcfarlane - SharkyDidn't we call Broc Hepler Iceman...

Michael Byrne - Byrner (not sure if a play on names counts, does Shorty count for Andrew Short?)

Andrew Mcfarlane - Sharky

Didn't we call Broc Hepler Iceman for a bit?

Grant Langston - Zulu warrior?

Can we lump both Musquin and Pourcel under "the crafty frenchman"?

 

Pourcel is the only one "crafty frenchman".

2
1
2/15/2026 12:06pm Edited Date/Time 2/16/2026 12:56am

Some french riders:

Bayle : JMB

Musquin: Marv'attack

Pichon : Rocket

Tortelli : Dyno

Roncada : Ronron

Sorby: Zooby

Demaria: Téfli 

Maschio: Mickey

Boniface: Bonyfast

Thain : Hot Rod

Aubert : Johnny Au'

I can't remember any concerning Ferrandis... Same for Vialle (Tom).

4
2
SLAPAHO
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2/15/2026 12:44pm

Mike Healey- The Gunner

John Desoto - The Flyin Hawaiian 

Billy "Sugarbear" Grossi

 

5
1
2/15/2026 2:08pm

I thought AC went as Baby Jesus for a while. Until he had the growth spurt?

2
AJ565
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2/15/2026 2:59pm

Phil Lawrence - Factory Phil

7
Kenny Banyan
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2/15/2026 3:09pm

Chase Box a chocolates Sexton! 
Cause you never know what you’re gonna get. 

2
3
Beta480RX
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2/15/2026 3:52pm Edited Date/Time 2/15/2026 4:00pm

Guy Cooper - Air Time

Larry Ward - Big Bird

Stephane Roncada - RonRon

Ernesto Fonseca - The Fonz

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Rjk31
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2/15/2026 6:07pm

Chase "settings" sexton e5c00be2-51bf-40e8-94ac-392da4def66f-1 all 75909 0.png?VersionId=.P3h6ENaw6anWIU90velcix0NR5nN

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2
SEEMEFIRST
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2/15/2026 6:13pm

Darrell Shultz - Shu

2
Leemur891
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2/15/2026 6:23pm

Doug Henry never went by anything other than, right?

egg449
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AU
2/15/2026 6:54pm Edited Date/Time 2/15/2026 6:57pm

I remember Cooper Webb being known as "Mini Coop", but in his younger days.
Was Tyler Bowers known as "The Bear", or something like that?

1
Nairb#70
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2/15/2026 7:03pm
Leemur891 wrote:

Doug Henry never went by anything other than, right?

Doug's nickname was "Underdog" in the early '90's when he rode on the DGY team.

1
donman
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2/15/2026 7:29pm

Chase went with TAFKAP montra for a name.... 🤨

 

2
JoeyNovice
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Location
Toledo, OH US
2/16/2026 5:58am
aeffertz wrote:
Let's put together a list of the "well known" nicknames of the top racers. I will edit this post to add the ones that come from...

Let's put together a list of the "well known" nicknames of the top racers. I will edit this post to add the ones that come from the comments. Initials + their race number doesn't count. I also want to add a list of the most noteable riders that never established a nickname for themselves. I will start with just the few I can think of off the top of my head but this is very much a group project! Grinning


Jason Anderson - El Hombre
Blake Baggett - El Chupacabra
David Bailey - Little Professor
Gary Bailey - The Professor
Justin Barcia - BamBam
Mark Barnett - Bomber
Mike Bell - Too Tall
Damon Bradshaw - The Beast from the East
Scott Burnworth - Burner
Ricky Carmichael - GOAT
Danny Chandler - Magoo
Mike Craig - Sting Ray
Roger De Coster - The Man
Haiden Deegan - Danger Boy
John Dowd - Junkyard Dog 
Ryan Dungey - The Diesel
Jeff Emig - Fro
Tyler Evans - One Punch
Tim Ferry - Red Dog
Broc Glover - Golden Boy
Bob Hannah - Hurricane Hannah
Donny Hansen - Holeshot
Jeffrey Herlings - The Bullet
Jim Holley - Hollywood
Ryan Hughes - Ryno
Ricky Johnson - The Bad Boy
Mike Kiedrowski - MX Kied
Brad Lackey - Bad Brad
Grant Langston - Zulu Warrior
Mike LaRocco - The Rock
Ron Lechien - The Dogger
Ezra Lusk - Yogi
Alex Martin - Troll
Jeff Matiasevich - Chicken
Andrew Mcfarlane - Sharky
Davi Millsaps - The Duke
Jeremy McGrath - Showtime, The King
Phil Nicoletti - Filthy
Mitchell Oldenburg - Freckle
Johnny O'Mara - O'show
Zack Osborne - Wacko
Travis Pastrana - Wonder Boy
Ross Pederson - Rollerball
Aaron Plessinger - The Cowboy
Christophe Pourcel - The Crafty Frenchman
Alex Ray - Sketchy
Chad Reed - Skippy
Jo Shimoda - Sushi, Wasabi
Andrew Short - Smiley Face Assassin 
Jeff Stanton - Six-Time
Rex Staten - Rocket
James Stewart - Bubba, FMOP (Fastest Man on the Planet)
Malcolm Stewart - Mookie
Ivan Tedesco - Hot Sauce
Mike Treadwell - Iron Mike
Eli Tomac - Beast Mode
David Vuillemin - The Cobra
Jeff Ward - Flying Freckle
Jimmy Weinert - Jammin'

Most established riders without a 'real' nickname:

Ryan Villopoto
Cooper Webb
Chad Reed
Jett Lawrence
Hunter Lawrence
Marvin Musquin (No, the leopard seal is not a real nickname)
Davi Millsaps
Trey Canard
Chase Sexton
Adam Cianciarulo

I think I remember Ralph trying to stick Millsaps with "The Magic Man" during his run in 2013

2
1
Falcon
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Location
Menifee, CA US
2/16/2026 9:38am

I thought the standard nickname for everyone was in the format: "AA##." You know, like JS7, ET3, DW15, RC4, etc...? Creativity is forbidden. 

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Mossy940
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2/16/2026 12:30pm
Rjk31 wrote:
Chase "settings" sexton

Chase "settings" sexton e5c00be2-51bf-40e8-94ac-392da4def66f-1 all 75909 0.png?VersionId=.P3h6ENaw6anWIU90velcix0NR5nN

That’s fucked.


I love it.

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brandonshaw
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Location
Murray, KY US
2/16/2026 12:50pm
Rjk31 wrote:
Chase "settings" sexton

Chase "settings" sexton e5c00be2-51bf-40e8-94ac-392da4def66f-1 all 75909 0.png?VersionId=.P3h6ENaw6anWIU90velcix0NR5nN

Mossy940 wrote:

That’s fucked.


I love it.

Long live King Tuck!

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