I miss the Golden State Nationals

oldblood
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oldblood
Edited Date/Time 12/5/2021 6:34am


Bring it back I say.

Any stories, photos, memories?
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gnarwhip
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gnarwhip 10/21/2018 11:34pm
10/21/2018 11:34pm
I was there. The pits used to be so packed because everyone in SoCal was there it was epic.
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BikeGuy321
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BikeGuy321 10/21/2018 11:38pm
10/21/2018 11:38pm
No photos, but I'll never forget the Bounty Hunter Supercross race that CMC put on in Salinas, Ca circa 2005. It was the same year that Mike allessi turned pro, and he was riding a very trick 450 Honda tuned by Tom Morgan if I'm not mistaken. His main competition was none other than Jeremy McGrath, who was riding a stock piped CR250 with A-kit suspension. The races were an absolute dogfight between Alessi and Mcgrath! Alessi would pull away a bit on the main straightaway and out of the 180 bowl turns, but Mcgrath would reel him back in, through the rythm sections. They exchanged the lead mulitple times per race, but Alessi won both main events. It was a really good race and will probably go down as the best race ever at the Salinas Rodeo Grounds.
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Sully
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Sully 10/21/2018 11:45pm
10/21/2018 11:45pm Edited Date/Time 10/22/2018 12:11am
Minis at '87 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals.


125s at '87 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals.


125s/500s at '88 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals.
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oldblood
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oldblood 10/22/2018 12:10am
10/22/2018 12:10am
Sully wrote:
Minis at '87 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals. [embed] https://youtu.be/L6I4rQ1pKJ4 [/embed] 125s at '87 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals. [embed] https://youtu.be/qg5UMsCxN2A [/embed] 125s/500s at '88 Carlsbad Golden State...
Minis at '87 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals.


125s at '87 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals.


125s/500s at '88 Carlsbad Golden State Nationals.
Pure gold, thanks!
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F150Motocrosser 10/22/2018 7:05am
10/22/2018 7:05am Edited Date/Time 10/22/2018 7:05am
I was born in 1983 and on the East Coast... so fair to say I missed the CMC days..... but man I love listening to Matthes podcast interviews with older racers and mechanics who talk about how competitive those CMC series were back in the day. Off season? What off season???
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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 10/22/2018 7:23am
10/22/2018 7:23am
I miss them too. After 10+ years of helping my dad run the starting line and racing, I really miss it. Golden State. Trans-Cal, all of it.
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Bry145
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Bry145 10/22/2018 7:51am
10/22/2018 7:51am
Is local moto dead?

We had a booming scene here in District 5 back in the late 90s and early 2000s.

We had to qualify for 125C back then.

Any chance of getting local moto back to where it was? Or have demographics and economics changed, leaving many unable or unwilling to participate?

Moto96
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Moto96 10/22/2018 8:04am
10/22/2018 8:04am
mattyhamz2 wrote:
I miss them too. After 10+ years of helping my dad run the starting line and racing, I really miss it. Golden State. Trans-Cal, all of...
I miss them too. After 10+ years of helping my dad run the starting line and racing, I really miss it. Golden State. Trans-Cal, all of it.
Some of those were televised also.

Moto is dead in comparison to back then.
Trickamoto
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Trickamoto 10/22/2018 8:05am
10/22/2018 8:05am
That Rader guy is fast. Strange I've never heard his name before?
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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 10/22/2018 8:09am
10/22/2018 8:09am
mattyhamz2 wrote:
I miss them too. After 10+ years of helping my dad run the starting line and racing, I really miss it. Golden State. Trans-Cal, all of...
I miss them too. After 10+ years of helping my dad run the starting line and racing, I really miss it. Golden State. Trans-Cal, all of it.
Moto96 wrote:
Some of those were televised also.

Moto is dead in comparison to back then.
That was all before me. I was born in 1990. I have seen one of the Carlsbad races posted above a ton though!
mx12boy
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mx12boy 10/22/2018 8:57am
10/22/2018 8:57am
I miss those races. You could go there and see the factory guys tearing it up. But that was back in the 80's.
endurox
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endurox 10/22/2018 9:04am
10/22/2018 9:04am
Raced some of the series in 1982 as a 250 novice. Got to visit new tracks to me back then such as Huron, Sand Hill(favorite), Madera and local tracks that were part of the series including Saddleback and Carlsbad.

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Motoxdoc
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Motoxdoc 10/22/2018 10:05am
10/22/2018 10:05am
I got 5th O/A in the 250 pro class in 1984 behind Micky Dymond, Johnny O'Mara, Gary Semics and somebody else. I didn't do that good in any individual race, but the SX series started before the end of the Golden State Series and a lot of the top guys missed the last 2 rounds, so I moved up to 5th in the O/A standings!.....I battled with Bob Hannah at the Lake Huron track (one of his 1st races back after an injury...not sure if that was his gnarly water skiing tib/fib accident or something else)....and Billy Liles took me out at Saddleback.....Then I was the top privateer in the 250 class at the last Saddleback national a few months later....That's all I got...
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moore433
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moore433 10/22/2018 10:07am
10/22/2018 10:07am
Use to love watching those on Wide World of Sports...
PTshox
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PTshox 10/22/2018 4:23pm
10/22/2018 4:23pm
Mike allessi turned pro, and he was riding a very trick 450 Honda tuned by Tom Morgan

That 450 engine was built with Ron Hamp. That is the parts.. porting, piston, cam.... Not Tom Morgan I believe.
Johnny Depp
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Johnny Depp 10/22/2018 4:32pm
10/22/2018 4:32pm
And the Florida Winter Am's and the Texas series etc. The good old days always seem the best in the rear view mirror I guess.
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oldblood
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oldblood 10/22/2018 5:19pm
10/22/2018 5:19pm
Did Roger ever race the GSNS ?(pics?).
How many of the top pros raced it back in the day?
byke
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byke 10/22/2018 5:19pm
10/22/2018 5:19pm
gnarwhip wrote:
I was there. The pits used to be so packed because everyone in SoCal was there it was epic. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/10/21/297695/s1200_E4F28ADC_2A3E_4888_A528_B91ECA8ABE02.jpg[/img]
I was there. The pits used to be so packed because everyone in SoCal was there it was epic.
That's my era too! Think the '97 north/south showdown was at Gorman..? Battled with ol' Lou Lopez the entire series, thems was the days.
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zehn
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zehn 10/22/2018 5:21pm
10/22/2018 5:21pm
I recently dug out my dad's old CMC Pro card Tongue

I'll try to get a pic
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cmotodad
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cmotodad 10/22/2018 5:27pm
10/22/2018 5:27pm
Just sent a photo the other day to a vintage buddy. It was the CMC TransCal jacket I won back in 1988. I loved the R&D Racing tuned CR250 I had back then.
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oldblood
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oldblood 10/22/2018 5:48pm
10/22/2018 5:48pm Edited Date/Time 10/22/2018 6:00pm
cmotodad wrote:
Just sent a photo the other day to a vintage buddy. It was the CMC TransCal jacket I won back in 1988. I loved the R&D...
Just sent a photo the other day to a vintage buddy. It was the CMC TransCal jacket I won back in 1988. I loved the R&D Racing tuned CR250 I had back then.
Let's see it! The jacket and the bike!
Sounds cool!
MarkF
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MarkF 10/22/2018 6:04pm
10/22/2018 6:04pm
Early eighties trans cal races were my first taste of real competition.


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dirtbikemike 10/22/2018 7:39pm
10/22/2018 7:39pm
Dug this out of the moto trunk. I raced quite a few Golden State Series events when I lived in California from 77-81. Always a good Pro turnout.







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UpTiTe
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UpTiTe 10/22/2018 8:20pm
10/22/2018 8:20pm
MarkF wrote:
Early eighties trans cal races were my first taste of real competition. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/10/22/297867/s1200_cmc.jpg[/img]
Early eighties trans cal races were my first taste of real competition.


I was at that race, loved the Golden State races, a guy could make good money between the purse and contingencies.fast guys would show up in every class. Fast guys in every class.

So many fast socal guys in those results of guys that I knew. And Johnny Whelchel and Pete Snortland (RIP) ? They were bad socal locals for years.
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gnarwhip
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gnarwhip 10/22/2018 9:21pm
10/22/2018 9:21pm
byke wrote:
That's my era too! Think the '97 north/south showdown was at Gorman..? Battled with ol' Lou Lopez the entire series, thems was the days.
Yeah I think youre right, that was right when Hungry Valley first became known as a big time track, they had that huge step down in the back that only a few guys were doing if I remember correctly. I have the '95 sticker too when it was sponsored by VelveTouch
G-man
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G-man 10/22/2018 9:55pm
10/22/2018 9:55pm Edited Date/Time 10/22/2018 9:57pm
The Golden State Nationals were so awesome!


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G-man
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G-man 10/22/2018 10:02pm
10/22/2018 10:02pm
I can't believe it was 41 years ago, where did the time go to! Woohoo


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