How many former motocrossers now make a living in other forms of motorsports

RMT
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6/19/2026 6:31am

I'm really dating myself here but at least its on topic.   

Joe Leonard was multi time AMA grand national champ and Daytona 200 winner that went on to a very successful auto racing career.   He also did some broadcasting after he retired from car racing.         

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Leonard

 

alphado
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6/19/2026 6:56am

Kevin Sherman from Florida.

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Bearuno
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6/19/2026 6:57am Edited Date/Time 6/19/2026 7:02am

Well, since others have strayed from the "Motocrossers to other forms of Motorsport ", I'll put forward  :

John Surtees - 7  Time World Road Racing Champion - 4 of which were in the Premier 500 class, and, 1 time F1 World Champion.

The only man to achieve that, and, I doubt we'll ever see it happen again.

Though, like most MC riders, he started off the Tar - racing Grasstrack, as an early teenager. 

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Kenny Banyan
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6/19/2026 7:19am Edited Date/Time 6/19/2026 7:28am
scott_nz wrote:
Shane van Gisbergen raced quads and won NZ national titles as a kid , and has also done some MX races here while he was racing...

Shane van Gisbergen raced quads and won NZ national titles as a kid , and has also done some MX races here while he was racing V8 Supercars 

Van Gisbergen, currently races in the NASCAR Cup series and has 7 wins on road courses and is considered the best road racer in the series. He also has 5 xfinity series road course wins. I think he’s only been in NASCAR this being his 4th year.

The Shop

englishman
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6/19/2026 7:27am

Alan Morrison was an Irish MX rider who won several 125 GP’s in the ‘90’s and then went on to have a successful career in the British Touring Car Championship. 

 

Jdawggg
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6/19/2026 7:28am

Steve Wise (RIP) Moto, dirt track and road racing at the highest level

3
6/19/2026 8:40am
How could you leave Jeff Ward out of this? He and TP are really the only ones I can think of with serious post moto careers...

How could you leave Jeff Ward out of this? He and TP are really the only ones I can think of with serious post moto careers in another Motorsport.

That stupid truck racing Deegan and McGrath do doesn’t count.

Truck racing is Huge 50 k spectators, they raced at Crandon since 1970. I know people that were at McGrath,s 1st win , he was fired up & Really happy. It might hv been in Bark River, wo left, rt sweeper then a huge launch. 

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Inferno
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6/19/2026 8:58am

Gobert 

10000579581000057957.jpg?VersionId=XNqBQDgVkawNCE0a.qq2oMfhtX
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Dave v3.0
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6/19/2026 9:01am
       Jimmy Ellis, Supercross champ , left for Australia to race the “ NASCAR” type series there. Decided to stay in Oz as far...

       Jimmy Ellis, Supercross champ , left for Australia to race the “ NASCAR” type series there. Decided to stay in Oz as far as I know.

Don, he got divorced a few years back and I believe he's back in New England now.  Dude was an absolute beast.

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6/19/2026 10:01am
Inferno wrote:
Gobert 

Gobert 

10000579581000057957.jpg?VersionId=XNqBQDgVkawNCE0a.qq2oMfhtX

        One of the sadder stories in motorcycle racing. Incredible waste of talent. R.I.P.

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6/19/2026 10:05am Edited Date/Time 6/19/2026 10:44am
Inferno wrote:
Gobert 

Gobert 

10000579581000057957.jpg?VersionId=XNqBQDgVkawNCE0a.qq2oMfhtX

The bottom picture he’s riding a ZX-7RR. Had a ‘97, awesome bikes. Alloy tank, adjustable swingarm pivot, flat slide carbs. 

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Kenny Banyan
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6/19/2026 10:35am Edited Date/Time 6/19/2026 10:39am
HuskyEd wrote:

Jeff Ward raced Indy cars

He was a good driver in Indy Car….

image 3259
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Shredder
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6/19/2026 12:10pm

Former National Number holder Kenny Adams was a prolific sprint car racer

R66
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6/19/2026 12:29pm
Spoonguy wrote:
Ward didn't, he said he made more money in one year of Indy car than his entire MX career. Ward was the real deal in open...

Ward didn't, he said he made more money in one year of Indy car than his entire MX career. Ward was the real deal in open wheel racing, second at the Indy500 is no joke.

My good friend’s cousin worked for the IRL matching up sponsors with teams. We went to the Atlanta race and were on the grid pre-race. I met and talked to Jeff Ward. Before he got in the car I said to him, “Show them what a motocrosser can do.” He just grinned. It was pretty awesome being right there when they fired ‘em up!

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Beagle
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6/19/2026 12:59pm Edited Date/Time 6/19/2026 1:02pm
jg791 wrote:
John Hopkins, aka "Hopper" started in MX, raced with Twitch and Billy Laninovich. He had an offer to ride for Team Green but chose road racing...

John Hopkins, aka "Hopper" started in MX, raced with Twitch and Billy Laninovich. He had an offer to ride for Team Green but chose road racing instead. He ended up in MotoGP, placing 4th in the 2007 championship behind Stoner, Pedrosa and Rossi. Dude has an absolutely crazy life story in general - drugs, parties, women, injuries, etc. His book or the Pipe Dreams podcast interviewing him are worth checking out.

Hopkins battled pain with alcohol | Visordown

Marc Marquez started as a motocross rider in Spain before shifting to road racing and winning (currently) 7 MotoGP titles. The guy absolutely rips on a dirt bike and races enduros as well.

Something about riding a dirt bike that engrains something in all of us. 

In general most great road racers had some type of strong dirt background. Jake Gagne (former California moto guy turned MotoAmerica champ) and Casey Stoner (started in dirt track in Australia) also come to mind. When you take most road racing schools, they strongly encourage you to get on a dirt bike, and from what I've witnessed and experienced, it's much easier for an MX guy to learn road racing than it is for a street guy to learn how to ride MX...

 

Indeed many road racers started on dirt bikes because it was easier to begin as a kid (lower minimum age to race), then transitioned to road racing to try to make a living out of it.

They still love dirt bikes because that's their hobby while MotoGP is their work.

Casey was doing alright on a dirt bike as a kid

17818985181563372940851572279956

And here's Marquez on a Yamaha 

17818989346078300426078176654356

But he was racing anything and anywhere (local championships on go kart tracks, supermarket parking lots) he could as a kid.

17818990873555409345808767096026

Sorry for the off topic.

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agn5008
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6/19/2026 1:29pm
jg791 wrote:
John Hopkins, aka "Hopper" started in MX, raced with Twitch and Billy Laninovich. He had an offer to ride for Team Green but chose road racing...

John Hopkins, aka "Hopper" started in MX, raced with Twitch and Billy Laninovich. He had an offer to ride for Team Green but chose road racing instead. He ended up in MotoGP, placing 4th in the 2007 championship behind Stoner, Pedrosa and Rossi. Dude has an absolutely crazy life story in general - drugs, parties, women, injuries, etc. His book or the Pipe Dreams podcast interviewing him are worth checking out.

Hopkins battled pain with alcohol | Visordown

Marc Marquez started as a motocross rider in Spain before shifting to road racing and winning (currently) 7 MotoGP titles. The guy absolutely rips on a dirt bike and races enduros as well.

Something about riding a dirt bike that engrains something in all of us. 

In general most great road racers had some type of strong dirt background. Jake Gagne (former California moto guy turned MotoAmerica champ) and Casey Stoner (started in dirt track in Australia) also come to mind. When you take most road racing schools, they strongly encourage you to get on a dirt bike, and from what I've witnessed and experienced, it's much easier for an MX guy to learn road racing than it is for a street guy to learn how to ride MX...

 

I smoked pot with Johnny Hopkins. It was Johnny Hopkins and Sloan Kettering. And they were blazing that sh*t up every day!


 😂

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RCB33
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6/19/2026 4:54pm

Jack Miller popped up at an AusMX last year or the year before, can't remember which. Not sure if it counts since it was more of a one time side quest and I don't know his history but I'm assuming he had an MX background at some point to feel comfortable doing that. In any case, remember watching the race on YouTube and thinking it was cool he gave a run at it. Didn't place great but was cool nonetheless.

Bearuno
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6/19/2026 5:13pm

Jonathan Rea - Northern Irish Motocrosser turned Road Racer.

6 time WSBK Champion.

5
jg791
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6/21/2026 4:40am
Inferno wrote:
Gobert 

Gobert 

10000579581000057957.jpg?VersionId=XNqBQDgVkawNCE0a.qq2oMfhtX

Can't believe I forgot to mention "the Go Show", dude was an absolute phenom on 2 wheels. Tragic story.

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