IN
THE
WIND
P20
Motocross Legend Marty Smith Passes
T
hree-time AMA National
Motocross Champion Marty
Smith and his wife Nancy were
killed when their dune buggy
overturned at the Imperial Sand
Dunes (Glamis) in Imperial Valley,
California, April 27. Smith died at
the scene; Nancy died after be-
ing airlifted to a hospital.
Two friends of the Smiths, Lee
Ramage and his wife Tammi,
were also in the buggy but were
uninjured.
Smith was a legend in the
sport of motocross. At just 17
years of age, the San Diegan
signed a factory contract with
Honda in 1974 and won the
inaugural AMA 125cc National
Motocross Championship that
same year. He successfully de-
fended the title in 1975 and went
on to win one more champion-
ship in 1977 in the 500cc class.
He won all of his championships
with Honda but finished out his
career with Suzuki before retiring
in 1981.
"Marty Smith set the pace for
all of us, everyone in the sport,
and especially the second gen-
eration of riders from San Diego,"
told former motocross and super-
cross champion Rick Johnson to
the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Like Smith, Johnson was born
and raised in San Diego. "Marty
is a motorcycle legend. He was
the total package. He was a great
rider and a great person. He
helped put our sport on the map
because of who he was as much
as what he did. As a rider, he was
fast and technically far ahead of
the sport. And he was a great
person.
"He was articulate, strong
and good looking. Other riders
looked up to him. And to people
watching the sport for the first
time, Marty was a young rider
they could respect and learn
from.
"His death is incomprehensible
to me. Marty was the king of the
dunes. It makes no sense that he
would die in a buggy accident; he
was that good."
In 1976, Smith competed in
both the AMA and FIM 125cc
MX Championships, flying back
and forth between the U.S. and
Europe, where he eventually
finished fourth in the FIM Cham-
pionship. He won one European
GP and two U.S. GPs, both at
Mid-Ohio.
After retiring, Smith started the
Marty Smith Motocross Clinic and
was a motocross team manager.
Smith was inducted into the
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in
2000.
He is survived by his siblings,
Todd and Jeanette; his children,
Tyler, Jillyin and Brooke; and
seven grandchildren. CN
Three-time
AMA Motocross
Champion Marty
Smith and his
wife Nancy were
killed in a dune
buggy accident.
