Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Bell's Odyssey , , y o u seek 0 greot fortune ... you sholl find o fortune, though it will not be the fortune you seek." The words of the Pushcort Prophet, token from the film, 0 Brother, Where Art Thou? All Mike Bell ever wanted was an AMA National Motocross Championship title, and after coming just three points shy of winning the big one, the 500cc National Championship, in 1979, the 6'4" LAkewood, Californian nicknamed "Too Tall" was bound and determined that he would get his in 1980. He did, but it was not the one that he thought he would get. "I did have a good 1979," Bell, now 47 and the vice president of marketing and product development for aftermarket parts powerhouse White Brothers, says. "I came really close to winning the 500 championship, I had some good 5upercross finishes and did well in the TransAm [Trans-USA Motocross Series]. So, I made a personal commitment not to take any time off in the off-season. I tested and trained and took each week like it was another race weekend in order to be prepared and put an attack and win a championship that year." Bell and the rest of the competition did catch a bit of a break when the big gun of the time, Bob "Hurricane" Hannah, suffered a broken in leg in a water skiing accident before the start of the 1980 season. Hannah would be out all year, which meant that there would be new champions crowned in the AMA Supercross and AMA 250cc National Championship MX series. Bell wanted that 250cc outdoor title in the worst way. '" never really felt like Bob's reign was over," Bell says. "But in my first season in the 250cc class in 1978, I Mike Bell today. Bell is an executive at White Brothers, and he still rides motorcycles every chance he gets. 86 MARCH 16,2005 • CYCLE NEWS had actually had given Bob a run in a few races, and I had beaten him on a couple occasions. That was a real confidence booster for me. I just took the attitude, 'Hey, I'm going to work harder than anyone else.' It didn't really matter to me who was going to be there." As per tradition, the AMA Supercross Series marked the start of the season. At that stage in motocross history the ""k e Bell (3) spent h' riders and the factories really an AMA $ 's career h ' . , . d Idn t place as much emphasis upercross Ch c oS'n9 Olltd ampionship fori:/s ~ titles and WO d on the Supercross title. Thanks to the indoor heroics of Hannah and tremendous lIb1es. lin lip explosion of fan attendance, that attitude was changing, But Bell had though for the most part supercross was still consid- come to win, and win he did. Before the ered the circus sideshow. The "real racing" was done 1980 season was through, he would win seven of the 17 on the big outdoor tracks. AMA Supercross rounds that year, clinching the title at "Winning a supercross title wasn't the same as win- the penultimate round of the series, the second night of ning an outdoor title then," Bell says. "It was importhe doubleheader in Philadelphia. And when he didn't tant, but I had almost won the 500cc title, and that was win, he was consistent, making every main event and fina big deol. The Trans-Am was still a big deal, too. The ishing off the podium only three times all year. A victory thing was that we raced so much among all the series, at the series finale in San Diego, California, was just the and we just went out every week to win. And don't icing on the cake, with the final points tally showing Bell forget, the supercross season was broken up by the outdistancing Howerton, 395 to 346. outdoors. Supercross started in February, but it didn't While winning the AMA Supercross title was all well and good for Bell back then, he says he would only come end until October." And even without Hannah, there were plenty of to appreciate it much later, not just because it turned out pretenders to the Supercross throne, including Bell's to be the only title he ever won, but because the fact is Yamaha teammate Broc Glover, Team Suzuki's Kent that the AMA Supercross Championship has become the Howerton and Mark Barnett, and Team Honda's most coveted motocross title in the world today. Like a Chuck Sun, to name a few. Before the '80 season was fine wine, it has aged to perfection, making Bell a vintage icon in the sport. Those whose names grace the honor over, all of them _ as well as Daytona Supercross victor Rex Staten - would be race winners. In fact, after roll of the now-defunct 500cc National Championship MX Series wish they had it so good. The situation leaves starting off the series by winning the first two rounds in Seattle, Bell finished I Ith at round three in Bell proud and humbled at the same time. Oakland, California. "When I look back on it now, it is the single great"I twisted my knee," Bell says. "That was pretty dis- est racing accomplishment that I achieved," says Bell, astrous. I had started having trouble with my knees in who retired in 1983. "Five times I finished second in 1978. When you think about it now, if a guy gets I Ith the 250cc and 500cc National Championships. Five now, it's almost all over for him." times I was the bridesmaid, and those all hurt because But that doesn't mean it was any easier then than I was a contender every time, but to have won even now. Besides the level of competition a rider had to face, one championship has meant a lot to me, and it [the there was also a virtual "sudden death" format in super- AMA Supercross Championship] has turned out to be cross to keep the competitors on their toes. the most important one. At the time, I would have ''Another thing that a lot of people forget is that we traded my Supercross Championship for the 500cc had four heat races, and that if you didn't finish your heat National Championship in a second, but now race in... I forget what the spot was, but I think they took absolutely not. It's the one thing that nobody can take the top four to the main, and fifth through 12th went to away from me. My championship is nearly forgettable, the semi," Bell recalls. "If you had a DNF or a crash, or but I can say that I have something in common with you broke a clutch cable or had a chain come off in your Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath. I'm proud of heat race, you were done. You didn't get to ride the that. You know, the Supercross title is something that semi. It was just over. And even with our works bikes, became very big, very fast." Taking that last point into consideration, maybe it's that was a time when chains used to fall off, people not so surprising that Bell won the 1980 AMA would break cables or foul plugs on the starting line. Wheels broke. Those are things that modern-day riders Supercross Championship. After all, he too was very big, can't even comprehend." very fast. eN w;th