Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127869
TIME REMEMBERED By Eric Johnson ~ ~ I t was one of those days tha t a rider has once in his lifeti me," beams Marty Moates, at his home in San Diego, regarding an afternoon th at stands undisputed as the most glorio us moment in American motocross history. "It was like I had screws in my tires and I was just flowi ng so well - it was th e best day I ever had :" Marty Moates epitomized the American jou rneyman racer: Fast, detennined and resourcefu l, Moat es was a racer who alwa ys flirted with success and the opportunity to procure fabulous weal th and fame from the factori es. H owever, som ehow, along the way, the stars never quite lined up, and Moates plodded o n, ekin g o ut a living th rough a se ries of modest rides that included minor European-based factory teams , privateer operations, and support outfits . Racing more ou t of passion than from any attempt to pull off a ge t-richquick scheme, Moates was a love-o vergo ld type of racer who toured the worl d in onder to make a living doing what he loved . Then, on a shimmering, bak ing-hot afternoon in june of 1980, and against aU odds, Marty Moates pulled off the greatest upset in motocross history - an upse t so big that the motocross world actually stood still as the wonderful Cinderella story played itself out like a Frank Capra movie. The morning of that glorious june day, Carlsbad Raceway, set in a bakedhard valley in San Diego 's north-county area, teemed with excitement. The Un ited Slates Grand Prix of Motocross was in town, and more than 35,000 spectators roamed the hillsides - dragging along their coo lers, lawn chairs and little b rothers - in an effort to find just the right vantage point for the day's events. Me a nwh ile, th e p ro d uctio n crew of "A BC's Wid e Wo rld of Sports" (o nce they were d o ne wi th th eir dough nuts and coffee) began positioning their cameras, pull ing a nd ar ra ngi ng cable, ge tting the helicopter warm ed up, and ge tting their commentator three-time FIA Formula O ne Wo rld Champion jackie Stewa r t (w ho is, to th is day, a majo r mo tocross ent husiast) - briefed and rea dy for action. S ince 1973, Ca r lsba d had bee n tapped by the FlM as the us. stopover for the prestigious 500cc World Champio nship Series. Every spring, infa mou s and intimidating European-based riders - with names like Wolsink, DeCoster, Bauer, Mikkola, Wei!, I oyce and Carlqvist - would show up to school the young, wild, long-haired Yankees on > H t3 a ~ r-, 0\ 0\ .-. o .-. ... (J) ..0 ,... ยท 0 (J) u (J) o 14 Marty Moates just how the sport was done. However, in the late 19705, the Americans began to figure it all out, and d esperat ely wanted to bea t the Euro peans at their own ga me. In fac t, j im Pomero y and Brad Lackey - both Gra nd Prix veterans - had man aged to wi n motos a t the U.S. GP, but no o ne had been able to pull off the overall win. Then came 1980 and Martv Moates but before we ge t into that part of the story, let' s backtrack and find ou t what events in the racing career of the San Diegan local had led up to the da y that shoo k the world. A frien d of mine named Richard and I went to a shop called the 'Fun Bike Center' to bu y dirt bikes," says Moates with a lau gh. "I set ou t to buy a dirt bik e, but th ey talked me into buying a street bike. Eventuallv, I went to race it at South Bay Speedway in a IT race and ended up falling off and sca ring myself pretty good, a nd I w alked away from racin g . I then went to go see '00 Any Su nday,' a nd tha t changed everything for me. M v mom told me to save some mo ney and she'd help me buy a bike. I think I saved abou t 98 cents. Eventually, my mo m ended up bu ying me a Bultaco, and it was my first real bike. My first true motocross race was at Carlsbad in November of 1971 and, like anvone that races for the first time, I was just terrified . I kept faUing at the ledge and was sca red to death. I was just terrible. I went back the next week and kept improving, and within th ree or four mon ths 1 had moved up to intermediate, and by the end of the year I was an expert. "We raced every weekend at Carlsbad , Saddleback and Irwindale in the CMC races . Back then, there were always races going on , and you could compete on Wed nesd ay, Thu rsd ay, Friday, Saturday and Su nday:' he recalls. "There were a number of us fro m Sa n Diego; s uc h as To m my Croft, Mar ty Smi th, Mar ty Tripes, and a guy nam ed Billy Irvine that ro d e a Puch, th a t raced agai ns t eac h o ther, and we were all real It competitive." Interestingl y , and as a testam e nt to just how young and inno cen t the sport wa s back then, Moates and his racing colleagues had no idea tha t there w as a big , w orldwid e race scene bloo m i ng ou tside o f thei r little, su n-filled Southern California world. "At tha t stage:' explains Moates, "I didn't know tha t there w a s anything else out there but Saddleback and Carlsbad , and I though t the whole world ra ced there. I didn't know anything