Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Grove (a Yama ha /Suzuki dealership in Ill inois), wh o were ou t fo r a dealers meetin g, or someth ing. I did pr ett y good up there and th e next th ing I knew, I go t a phone call from Down ers G rove th e da y we got home fro m Mammoth. T hey flew us back to Bu chanan , Mi chigan, for th e 250cc Nati on al a t Red Bud. I got 10th the re and after that they ga ve us a few bi kes for Ponca Cit y and Loretta Lyn n 's and helped us fin an cially for the 500cc Nation al s." Foll o wing Red Bud , Lamson decided to co ncentra te on the six-race 500cc Nationa l Champio nship MX Series. " We sat dow n and talked wit h Downers Gro ve abo u t riding th e 500cc Nationa ls and we event ua lly wor ked something o ut. They ga ve us (La mso n and h is dad ) a Yam aha YZ250 and supplied us wi th the ' necessary parts to convert it into a 360. They also gav e us expense money to help us o ut on the road. It co vered ga s and motels and all tha t stu ff. That worked out pretty goad. "My dad, J ohn, did most of th e work o n the bike - he did all. th e porting and mot or work. Pro-Circuit did all my suspension and pipes an d silencers. My dad is a roofer and does porting on the side right here at th e house. But now he's getting a lot of business - through Down ers Grove and peo p le around California - and he can almos t do porting fu ll-time now. " We go t the bike working really good. Compared to Ward's or Johnson 's bikes - they're in a class of their own beca use they 're so fast but agai ns t normal .500s, my bike Inte"iew: Motocrosser Steve LamsoD "I want to beat all those factory guys" By Kit Pa lmer Photos by Donn Maeda and Palmer " At first I was Dervous sittID e Den to Rick JObusOD, J elf Ward aDd o t her factory r i der s aD the s tartiDe liDe b Dt alt e r awhile, I ,"ut it out of my h ea d aDd OCared that they w ere just other guys a D t h e liDe," said 18-yea r-ol d Stev e LamsOD_ But not on ly did La mso n ignore th e fact that he was now racing against some of th e wor ld's best motocrossers, he ended up beating all but five of those "other g uys" in th e 1989 500cc Nati onal Ch ampion sh ip MX Seri es, which estab lished him as th e top privateer in th e class. Not bad for so m eone w ho h ad previou sl y r aced o n ly 'th ree Nat ion al s - non e in the 500cc c1assl "T here's no slacking off when you race the Na tionals, " says La mso n. " You 've go t to be o n it the who le time or you're going to be in the back of the pack." Until his sudden rise in the 500cc Natio na ls, Lamson was a rela tivel y unkn own racer, wor king his way up through the mi ni ra nks at loca l race tracks in northern California. Lamson was born in Los Ange les, th en moved to Sacrame nto when he was two yea rs old: Last year, Lamson and his family moved out of the Sacramento area to Pollack Pin es, California, where he now resides. " My dad used to race in the desert and do flat tracks a long tim e ago ," sai d Lamso n. " We j us t go t into raci ng mot orcycles. I started riding o n so me li ttle Yam aha, or someth ing. I started racing in 1980 wh en I was 10, o n a Yam aha 80. I ro de it fo r a year, then started racing Kawasakis unt il 1985. T hen I went back to Yam aha." By 1985, Lam son had reac hed Expert sta tu s in the 80cc cla ss and began com peting in the NMA Minicycle Grand Na tional Championsh ips at Pon ca City, O klaho ma, and the AMA Youth Ama teur MX Ch am pion ships at H ur ricane Mills, Tennessee (Lo retta Lynn 's). " I did prett y good at Ponca City and Loret ta Lynn 's. I was ru nning fou rt h in th at st u ff - top five usuall y. I never did win anythi ng really big there, but I was righ t th ere. My last year in the 80cc class was in .1986, then I moved up to the 125s a nd rode the Intermediate class. My first Int ermediate race was th e 1986 Trans-Ca l Series." Lamson spent the ent ire 1987 season honi ng his skills in the competitive Int ermediate class , getting primed for a move to the Pro class th e foll owing year. " My first major pro race was the 1988 ColdenStare Nationa ls, a nd I later rode two Nationals tha t year Hangt own a nd Washougal. I also rode Ponca Cit y, Lore tta L yn n 's, th e World Min i GP in Las Vegas and the Trans-Cal Seri es. That was abou t it." Li ke m a ny up -and-co ming MXers, Lamson was co mpe ting in as man y races. as he cou ld, hoping for that lucky br eak that might open the door to the major leagu es. Tha t lucky break came a t the 1989 Mammo th Mo unt ain MX in California. " I was raci ng at Mammo th Mountain and a friend of o urs in traduced us to som e people from Do wn ers Lamson (top) leads J e ff W a r d (5) and Rick Johnson (1) a t the W a sh ou gal 5 0 0 cc National in 1989. In 19 90, Lamson (below) will ride a Suzuki in th e 12 5 cc Nationals and West Coa s t Camel Supe rcrosses. would p ull wi th th em easily. We spen t hour s working on the bike. Being a small-bore (36Occ) it had its adv antages a nd disadvantages: T owards th e end of the motos, th e bike was so much lighter (than a . typical 500), it made it a li ttle easier. Bu t you' re givi ng away horsepower

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