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8/9/2022 8:20pm
The top 5 best AMA riders who never won a major title in my opinion. I'm not including regional sx titles.
5. Brian Swink. Brian was about as fast as they come, but injuries and inconsistent results prevented him from taking home any major titles.
4. Ezra Lusk. One of the few riders who could at least give McGrath a run for his money. Lusk was incredibly talented. Unfortunately, he raced in the McGrath era and never won a title.
3. Donny Schmit. Donny doesn't have the AMA wins that the other riders do on this list, but Donny was able go across the pond and win 2 World Titles. With that alone, he could arguably be number one on this list, but he doesn't quite have the AMA stats for me to put him at number 1. But it is a testament to how great a rider Donny really was.
2. Damon Bradshaw. The Beast from the East was a child prodigy and set to be the next RJ. He had a ton of wins, but the titles never happened. In 1992, Damon won the most races in the sx series and was clearly the fastest guy out there, but he still lost the title to Jeff Stanton.
1. Kevin Windham. KW has finished second in a series 10 times. Like Bradshaw, Kevin has a lot of wins to his name, but no major titles. But racing during the RC era doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room, and for Kevin (along with several others) that meant second or third place.
I don't know a lot about the riders from the 70s or very early 80s since I started following moto in 83. I know people will say Marty Tripes, Goat Breker, and Magoo should be on here. Also, if we are considering GP guys, there is Kurt Nicoll, Rob Herring and the like. So feel free to add riders and share your opinions.
5. Brian Swink. Brian was about as fast as they come, but injuries and inconsistent results prevented him from taking home any major titles.
4. Ezra Lusk. One of the few riders who could at least give McGrath a run for his money. Lusk was incredibly talented. Unfortunately, he raced in the McGrath era and never won a title.
3. Donny Schmit. Donny doesn't have the AMA wins that the other riders do on this list, but Donny was able go across the pond and win 2 World Titles. With that alone, he could arguably be number one on this list, but he doesn't quite have the AMA stats for me to put him at number 1. But it is a testament to how great a rider Donny really was.
2. Damon Bradshaw. The Beast from the East was a child prodigy and set to be the next RJ. He had a ton of wins, but the titles never happened. In 1992, Damon won the most races in the sx series and was clearly the fastest guy out there, but he still lost the title to Jeff Stanton.
1. Kevin Windham. KW has finished second in a series 10 times. Like Bradshaw, Kevin has a lot of wins to his name, but no major titles. But racing during the RC era doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room, and for Kevin (along with several others) that meant second or third place.
I don't know a lot about the riders from the 70s or very early 80s since I started following moto in 83. I know people will say Marty Tripes, Goat Breker, and Magoo should be on here. Also, if we are considering GP guys, there is Kurt Nicoll, Rob Herring and the like. So feel free to add riders and share your opinions.
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MM25 finished 2nd in 450 mx in 2017 and 2018, and 2nd in sx in 2018.
I'm really interested in some opinions on non AMA riders since I am not as familiar with them. One rider who you probably think had tons of potential was Jeff Leisk (who raced AMA and the GPs later on). I would agree; he had a solid AMA career but never put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Pit Row
Fun fact: Tim Ferry won the 1997 East SX title with zero race wins.
The difference IMO is the first three were destined to win, favourites, or at least a likely candidate. Windham was never the favourite to win going into a season. He would get a win or two in a season but never had the speed of the fav (RC, MC etc). Tortelli was faster than anyone - incl RC in about 50% of the outdoor races. He had bad luck and too many crashes, but was a beast when healthy from 1999-2001.
John Dowd was pretty damn good and never won a major title.
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