Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

getting going in the U.S., and the (Trans-AMA) series took place at the tail end of the year. Many of the top European rid ers would come over just for the fu n of it after com peting on the GP circuits, but some o f them ca me over to do well and hop efully ea rn facto ry rides for the following year. "The European riders were far superior to us . They would lap us three times! But as we got better, they would lap us tw ice, then only once. The big thing back then was being the top-placing American; tha t's how Gary (lones) and I got our titles. Nobody even thought about beating the Europeans." The first-ever round of the AMA National Championship 500cc MX Series - or National Cup Series, as it was referred to back then - took p lace on April 16, 1972, in Atlanta, Georgia, and was won by CZ-mounted Barry Higgins. In that first year, eight races were held, and Brad Lackey walked away with what would be his only National Championsh ip title . He won five round s in the inaugural se ries, four aboard a CZ and one - the last - on a Kawasaki. The following year, Lackey headed to Eu rope to compete in the World Championship 500cc MX Series, and ni ne yea rs later, in 1982, he finally gave the U.S. its first a nd so far on ly 500cc World Championship MX title. Unable to land a factory ride for the following season, Lackey retired . Since that first 500cc National MX in Atlanta , a grand total of 167 500cc National rounds have been logged in the record books, and 15 different riders have b een cro w ned champs, the most recent, the quiet rider from Indiana - Mike laRocco. Broc Glover will go down in history as the rid er having recorded the most 500cc Na tio nal overall wi ns wi th 18; David Bailey is next in line wit h 15, and Rick Joh n son is third with 12 wi ns. Only one rider, Glover, has earned the 500cc title m o r e than twice - t h e Californian did it three times (1981, '83 and '85). Fo u r riders have won two 500cc titles: Jimmy Weinert (1974-'75), David Bailey ('84-'86), Rick Johnson ('87-'88) and Jeff Ward ('89-'90) . Though th-e National MX Series are aimed at determining America's top riders, two foreigners have earned the 500cc title - Dutchman Pierre Karsmakers in 1973 a nd French man Jea n-Michel Bayle in 1991. Th ro ughout m uch of the '70s, the 500cc class was th e prem ier class in AMA competition, mainly due to the fact that many manufacturers were pumping out quality 500cc motocross bikes, 's tgn iftca n tly better than th e "under-powered" 250cc machines of that time. Husqvarna, CZ, KTM and Maico built top-rate Open class MXers, as did some of the Japanese factories. But the speciall y built "works " Japanese 500cc MXers, ridden by factory-backed riders such as Kawasaki's Jimmy Weinert, Honda's Marty Smith, Suzuki's Bill Grossi and Yamaha 's Glover, were comi ng of age. Even H a rley- Da vid son go t in on the action fo r a w h ile, bu il d ing a resp ect abl e O pen-elass MXer which was ridden by Rex Staten. Plain and simple, it was the hot class back then. The 500s we re it. By the late '70s, most of the Japanese man ufacturers were beginning to produce big ger and be tter Open class machiner y, and soon had the market corne red . The last rider to win a 500cc National rou nd on a European motor- Brad Lackey earned the AMA Na tional Championship 500cc MX Series title in 1972. He went on to become Ameri ca's first and, so far, only 500cc MX World Champion. 500cc AMA National MX Champions 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 cycle was Denny Swartz, on a Ger ma n -b u ilt Maico in 1980. Before that it w as Steve Stackable, who al so rode a Maico to victory in 1977. The trend to build bigger and more powerful Open class bikes continued to snowball into the mid-'80s, and by 1985 Open class production bikes being offered by the Japanese manufacturers as well as the European ma ke rs pro d u ce d m indblowi ng h ors ep o w e r . So much so that the bikes were sim p ly too much for most peo ple to h a n dl e . Only a handful of riders could even come close to using the machines' full potential, and this resulted in less-exciting and more processional racing on the 500cc National circuit. Meanwhile, 250cc production MXers, as well as the quarter-liter " w o r ks " bikes, had im p r o ve d immensely, and the smaller engines were soon developing more than enough h o r se p o w e r to satisfy th e w eek end racer. Plus the bi kes were lighter, and thus handled better. (Not to mention that they were also less expensive.) But the bottom line was simple: the 250s were more fun to ride. In addition, the racing action was getting close and exciting again on the National circuit. Because of all of th is, 250cc MXers began to out-sell the Open class bikes by a large margin . "I feel the technical advan cements and power increases cau sed the (500cc) class to shrink," said Blackwell. "Open bikes got to be just dragsters - a race from tu rn to turn . You couldn't go around a corner on Open bikes anymore. I bet yo u tha t the produc tion 125cc MXers of today can probably outrun th e big-bore Husky I rode when I won the champ ionship in '71. A 250 now would trounce it. As the horsepower increased, fewer and fewer people could ride them, and the competition got less exciting." In the mid- '80s, dwindling interest in th e 500cc class a nd slumping sa les Mark Blackwell Brad Lackey Pierre Karsmakers Jim Weinert Jim Weinert Ken t Howerton Marty Smith Rick Burgett Danny LaPorte Chuck Sun BrocGlover Darrell Shultz BrocGlover David Bailey BrocGlover David Bailey Rick Johnson Rick Johnson Jeff Ward Jeff Wa rd Jean-Michel Bayle Mike Kiedrowski Mike laRocco Husqvarna CZ/Kawasaki Yamaha Kawasaki Yamaha Husqvarna Honda Yamaha Suzuki Honda Yamaha Hond a Yamaha Honda Yamaha Honda Honda Hond a Kawasaki Kawasaki Honda Kawasaki Kawasaki figures prompted Suzuki to quit producing the RM500, which began life as the RM370. Shortly thereafter, Yamaha, for the most part, quit updating its aircooled and outdated YZ490, although they continue to offer the same basic machine today. The YZ490's roots go back to the Yamaha MX360 of the early '70s. As you can see, the displacement of Open class bikes g rew considerably in the first 15 years of the series. By the late '80s, those who still competed in the 500cc Na tionals had basically only two brands of motorcycles to ch os e from - Honda or Kawasaki. While some of the other manufacturers still built competitive Open class machinery - KTM and Husqvarna, mainly - they really weren't in the same league as the state-of-the-art Honda CRSOO and Kawasaki KX500s, especially in the capable hands of the few factory-backed aces. The last manufacturer other than Honda or Kawasaki to win the 500cc National Champions hip wa s Yamaha, thanks to the title winning performance of Broc Glover in 1985. The la s t European -manufactured motorcycle to be ridden to the championship was a Husqva r na, by Kent Howerton in 1976. When 34 of the . ikes in a field of 40 are either Hondas or Kawasakis - as was the case at the final 500cc National at Steel City, and jus t abo ut every other 500cc National since th e mid-'80s - need less to say, much of the excitement and flare of the class is lost. After all, racing is not only a battle among riders, bu t among bran d s as we ll. With just a few manufactures fielding tearns in the 500cc Nationals, only a small number of riders have been cap able of w in ni ng th e championsh ips. Take th is yea r for example. Just fo ur riders - all factory-backed - had realistic shots at the title at the start of the abbreviated four-race series. It was a given that the title would go to either defending champion Mike Kiedrowski, Mike LaRocco, Jeff Stanton or Steve Lamson. The rest of the field was, for all intent and purposes, battling for "top privateer" honors. It wasn't uncommon for the fifth- or sixth-place rider to finish nearly an entire lap behind the winner. Some have said that the 500cc class separates the men from the boys. If th a t is indeed true, the n there are far more of the latter tha n the former . Perhaps a nother facto r that he lped pave th e way for the demise of the 500cc class was exhaust noise, or, to be more specific, the lack of it. The increased horsepower means tha t the "big bikes" don't need to be revved as much as the screaming and highrevving 125 and 250cc bikes. The result? To many race goers, the 500cc machines sound like they are idling around the track. But for wha tever reason, the fact is that the 500cc National MX class is now history in this country. A thing of the past. But at least the 500cc div ision will be remembered as the class that started it all. It produced some of th e bes t motocross racers who have ever twisted a throttle - riders Brad Lackey, Jimmy We in ert, Kent Howerton and Danny laPorte. Even Rick Johnson the winningest rider in AMA National MX,history - ha s left his knobby tra cks on many a course in the big-bore class. The 500cc National Championship MX Se ries might be gone, but it will never be forgotten. 0\" All-Time 500cc NationalMX Race Winners 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 6. 8. 9. 9. 9. 12. 12. 14. 14. 14. 17. 17. 17. 17. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 32. 32. 32. 32. 32. BrocGlover David Bailey Rick Johnson Jeff Ward Pierre Karsmakers Brad Lackey Jeff Stanton Chuck Sun Mike Bell Rick Burgett Jim Weinert Danny Chandler Danny laPorte Jean-Michel Bayle Kent Howerton Gary Semics Goat Breker Mike Hartwig Darrell Shultz Mike Kiedrowski Mike laRocco Tommy Croft Tony DiStefano Bob Hannah Barry Higgins Ron Lechien Gaylo n Mosier Mike Runyard Marty Smith Steve Stackable Rex Staten Bill Gross Alan King Wyman Priddy Denny Swartz Eric Eaton 18 15 12 11 9 8 8 7 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 19

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