Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. . '. .. ·TIM EREMEMBERED MX in Southern California Carls bad Raceway - home of t he most fam ous first tum In motoc ross. Here, Johnny O'Mara grabs the holeshot in the 250cc Support race at the 500cc U.S. GP in 1982. The upcoming National MX at Glen Helen OHV Park on May 12 marks the return of National motocross to the Southern California area, a one time hotbedfor motocross racing. Ever since the closing of Saddleback Park and other significant tracks in the mid 'SOs, National MX events in Southern California have been frw andfar betioeen. We thought we'd look back at some of the more memorable moments in the rich history of motocross in thesouthern halfof the Golden State. By Eric Johnson Photos from Cycle News Archives " e all kne w th at someone was going t go 0 t and jump it," lamented forme Team Honda factory,j rid er Goat Brek er. "Su ici de Mounta in w as easily one of the most intimidating obstacles I have ever encountered. I th'ink Magoo (Da nny Chari d ler), wHo was m y teammate at the time. jumped it first Then I knew I was go ing to h ave to go out do it as well." WHen tRe i\M A Outdoor Na ion al Motoc ro ss Series roll ed in to South ern California' s infa mous Saddleb ack Park that weekend in April of 1983, no one had any id ea of what was w aitin g for them. Sad d leback, not oriou s for conjuring u p awe-inspi ri ng. omi nous tra ck sections, had a big one up its sleeve this time. Sad dleback Park's "Suicide Mountai n" was one of the most feare d and loathed track obstacles in motocross history. "Su icide Mounta in was bad." said Breker . " It was tw o m assive, terraced jumps - almost shelf-like. And there w as a road running between them . In order to clear it. you had to hit the th ing in fourth gear on a 500. To m akematters worse. there was a telepho ne pole on the immediate left side of the thing and we we re just missin g it. In fact. I clipped my h an d lebars and helmet on it a couple times in practice. You had to be careful no t to overjum p the thing as w el l. It required a lot of tim ing . It was ju st fr ightening. "On ly a handfu l of riders ju m ped it th at d ay. Danny Ch andler, of course . Broc Glover, m ysel f, and a few of th e 250cc guys jumped it. An d I th ink Jeff W a rd a n d Joh n ny (O ' Mara) b oth jum ped it once in the 125cc practice, bu t ana tliat was it for them ." How did Breker fm ish th a t af te rnoon? " I led th e fir- ' -......: t mot before br eaking a spr eke! right at tlie yen: end. I came back and won the second rrioto." Saddleba ck Pa rk an d th aforementioned Suici de Mountain are all Rart of th e fo lk lo re of Sou thern Ca liforn ia motocross. When th e 1996 AMA Glen Helen 125cc/ 250cc Nation al igni tes ext week, it will begin a new chapter in til fab ien, on-again. off-again histor of National Ch ampion shi p motocross in Sou thern California. The lower part of the Golden State has long had a rich tradition of b ig- t im e profe ssiona l motocross racing an d has been the sigh t of many memorable races dating back to the mid 1960's. In 1972. af ter holding a plethora of Inter -Am races, in which the European iron men (w ho were then d ominating the sport) would take on America' s best (w ho were jus t getting u p to speed in th e n ew-found sport). th e American Motorcyclists Association chose Sad dleback Park in Orange, California, and Carl sbad Ra ce w a y in north ern San Diego county as the Southern California ven ues for the ir fledgl ing 250 and 500cc National Championship series. On Ma y 21. 1972. Bra d La ck ey of Northern California won the 500cc class an d Jim Pomeroy of Washington state too k th e 250cc class in th e first tru e AMA MX National to be held in Southern California. Ironically. in the next few yea rs both Lackey and Pom ero y would . m ov e to Europe in order to co m pete with the European s - then th e world 's best by far. Isn' t it iro nic tha t tod ay top .intern ation al pilots like Greg .Alberty n (of South Afri ca) and Mickael Pichon (of pionship series, instead setting their sights on developing th e modern day American Na tional series. On April 14, the AMA circuit visited Moo rpark, California Gust outside of Los Angeles), to wage competition in a combined 250 and 500cc National. Again, Du tch-American Pierre Karsmakers took the 250cc overall, while a yo ung CZ-mounted pri va tee r from Bristol, Pennsylvania, named Tony DiStefano, won the 500cc class (his first-ever National wi n). Encouraged by his success in Southern California, DiStefano wo u ld go on to finish a strong secon d ove ra ll in the 1974 AMA 50 0cc N ational poin t sta n d ings. 1974 wou ld also be th e fir st year the AM A would recognize the 125cc N at ion al Cha mpionshi p d ivision. Stra nge ly eno ugh, the 125cc circuit wou ld no t visit Sou thern Cali fornia until 1978, ins tead racin g at th e old H an gtown cir cuit in Plym outh. California. In fac t, the p r e sent-d a y Hangt own N a tional has b een in existence since 1974 (a lthough th e tr ack m oved to the Ran cho Cordova ar ea in 1979). Marty Smith of San Diego, California - considered by most to be the first real star o f American motocr oss wou ld win the firs t 125cc Natio nal at Plymouth and go on to clinch the inaugurall25cc National Champion ship title. In 1975, 1976 and 1977 the AMA circuit, for one reason or ano ther. swerved cle ar of th e So u the rn Cali fornia area . ;rhat said. the legendary SOOcc Carlsbad .S. GP was a smashi ng success throughout this time period. The U.S, GP p itted the best 500cc riders from Europe against the vastly improved Americans on the sun,.scorch • baked-adore, concrete-hard Carlsbad circuit. During this era, the Ca rlsbad U. , GP (comp lete wi th 6-mon th tape-deJa ed coverage on ABCs Wide World of Spp rts was 'far and away the most imgortant motocro ss race in the Uni ted. StateS. FinallX. o.....A .... 6, 19('8, tHe AMA .... n "l"p ril a t io n a l MX ci rcu it m a d e a gallant e urn to Southern Ca li fornia in th e form of a com bined 125/ 25Occ Nati onal af Trabuco Can y-on (locat d jus t a fe m iles away from Sa d d le ck Park in Orangl Coun ty ). I h a t af ternoon tlie Yamaha one-two puncn 0 250cc p ilot Bob H a nna h and d efen din g 125cc N ati o n al Cham p ion Bro c Glove r smoked the rest of the fie ld . H an nah an d Glover were on a roll as the two had also won the afo reme ntioned Hangtown Nati on al the p revious Sunday. In fac t, th e Trabu co Ca n y on Nat ional w ould end up bein g H annah' s second wi n in a consecutive wi n streak odyssey that would las t eight races long. Han nah wo u ld easily clinch the 1978 AMA 250cc Na tio na l Championship, w hile Glover ro de to his second consecutive 125cc Na tional Championship title . . O n April 1, 1979, a co m bine d 125 / 250cc National took place at Sad dleback Park . Th e now legendary baked-hard, high-speed, Sad dleback circuit, located just ou tside of the growing sub u rban lan d scap e of Irvine, was in stunning form th at afternoon. The day would be quite even tful as Hann ah was m e rcil e ssl y t orme nte d b y a th e n unknown wild man from Northern Californi a named Dann y "Magoo" Chandle r . Ch andl er. aboa r d a pri v at eer Ma ico, w ould go toe-t o-toe with Hann ah during bot h volatil e m ot os. In the firs t moto, Ch andl er d ogged H annah around the intimidating Saddleb ack circuit, actually leading on more than one

• Cover