CN
III ARCHIVES
BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU
I
n racing, there are superstars
and there are many others who
make them so by racing against
them and putting in solid support-
ing efforts. Without sportsman,
there are no stars, and without
stars, there are no superstars.
You might say that Southern Cali-
fornia motocrosser Rich Eierstedt
is a solid supporting star from the
'70s decade of motocross.
As a factory Honda rider,
Eierstedt, won two Trans-AMA
250cc Support titles and placed
well in several AMA Nationals,
but he never really got the type of
recognition reserved for the elite
troop of legends in the sport. In
fact, no mention is even made
of Eierstedt's Trans-AMA titles in
the AMA media guide—only the
500cc class titlists are men-
tioned. Eierstedt is only credited
with winning two AMA 500cc Su-
percross events, one at Houston
and one at Pontiac, Michigan, in
1976, and even these were sup-
port events, unlike the 1974 and
1975 seasons, which crowned
AMA National Championship
titles to the winners of the 500cc
Supercross class.
"I'm probably more well known
for the mechanics I had," Eier-
stedt jokes. "Roy Turner was my
mechanic with Honda, and then
P116
RICH EI ER ST EDT:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
he became a motocrosser.
"We used to go out in Riverside
off of Arlington and camp," Eier-
stedt recalls. "My mom and dad
would hunt, and I didn't like guns,
so I rode."
Eierstedt didn't ride his first
motocross race until he was 16
years old.
"It was at Saddleback Park,"
Eierstedt says. "Jim Wilson was
my hero at the time. He was the
top guy in Southern California in
he ended up being the Honda
team manager, and then he was
the Kawasaki team manager
forever. Then my other mechanic
was Dave Arnold, and he ran
Team Honda forever; and then in
between them my mechanic was
Steve Whitelock, and I think you
know who he is. [Former AMA Pro
Racing Manager]."
Growing up in Southern
California, Eierstedt began riding
motorcycles, like most others
from his era. Unlike today, there
was no fast track to stardom via
high-profile minicycle events. Ei-
erstedt was just a trail rider before
Rich Eierstedt was a member of the
might factory Honda team in 1976.
(L-R, Marty Smith, Pierre Karsmakers,
Eierstedt and Tommy Croft.
