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/1319485
CN III ARCHIVES BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU Y ou seek great fortune ... you shall find a fortune, though it will not be the fortune you seek. Those are the words of the Pushcart Prophet, taken from the film, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" All Mike Bell ever wanted was an AMA National Motocross Champi- onship title, and after coming just three points shy of winning the big one, the 500cc National Cham- pionship, in 1979, the 6'4" Lake- wood, 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 says. "I came really close to winning the 500 Champion- ship, I had some good Super- cross finishes and did well in the Trans-Am [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 com- petition did catch a bit of a break when the big gun of the time, Bob "Hurricane" Hannah, suffered a P154 MIKE BELL: BELL'S ODYSSEY Supercross Series marked the start of the season. At that stage in motocross history the riders and the factories really didn't place as much emphasis on the Super- cross title. Thanks to the indoor heroics of Hannah and tremen- dous explosion of fan attendance, that attitude was changing, though for the most part, supercross was still considered the circus side- show. The "real racing" was done on the big outdoor tracks. "Winning a Supercross title wasn't the same as winning an outdoor title then," Bell says. "It broken in leg in a water-skiing ac- cident 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 Nation- al Championship MX series. Bell wanted that 250cc outdoor title in the worst way. "I never really felt like Bob's reign was over," Bell says. "But in my first season in the 250cc class in 1978, I had actually given Bob a run in a few races, and I had beaten him on a couple oc- casions. That was a real confi- dence 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 Mike "Too Tall" Bell celebrates the win at the Houston Supercross doubleheader in 1980. He went on to win the championship that year.