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/1457907
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 10 MARCH 8, 2022 P133 'Let's tape up your foot and give it a try in practice!' I did and felt pretty good!" Like today's Daytona Super- cross, the Daytona Motocross was decided via a single main event, where Blackwell ended up going toe-to-toe with Jones for the win. "In the main event, I got a poor start and worked my way close to the front of the pack. Gary was leading on his Yamaha. I locked up the rear brake in a hairpin corner, killed the engine and went to the back of the pack with only a few laps to go. I got going again and charged toward the front. I caught and passed Gary by jumping over a pit that they had dug on the front straight, and when I did, the crowd in the stands cheered so loudly I nearly fell off the bike—we had never experienced this! This was about four months before the inaugural Los Angeles Superbowl of Motocross, but Supercross was already starting to happen. "Anyway, it was a great victory for me, and I won the Florida Winter AMA Series. I raced with Malcolm Smith in the Mint 400 one week later, where I crashed while leading overall on a 250 and knocked myself out. But I got up, and Malcolm and I won the 250cc class and finished fourth overall. "The next week, I left for Europe to compete in the 500cc GPs and finished on the podium in Germany at one of the interna- tional races between with Adolph Weil and Ake Jonsson. It was an important time in the early days of motocross in America." Unfortunately, later that year at a muddy GP in Luxemburg, Blackwell suffered an eye injury that would derail his rac- ing career for good. Although he did race again, Blackwell was never the same rider because of the injury and would soon retire from full-time racing. However, he spent much of the rest of his career in the motor- cycle industry, which included acting as Suzuki's Motocross Team Manager during one of the brand's most prosper- ous times ever in the sport of motocross and Supercross in the late '70s and early '80s when he guided superstars such as Kent Howerton, Mark Barnett and Dan- ny LaPorte. Since then, he's held executive positions at Husqvarna, Suzuki, Arctic Cat, Polaris and Victory Motorcycles. Blackwell looks back proudly at his racing days. "That period was the pinnacle of my riding before I left for Europe to compete in the 500cc GPs. I remember riding up next to guys and thinking, 'Dude, do you have two flat tires? Let's race!' Not a big ego, I just remember at that moment, my 1972 Husqvarna felt magical, and Rolf had us in such good shape. I felt like I was playing with the other riders. But later that year, I would learn the hard stuff with crashes and loss of confidence in Europe, in the rain, mud, strange food, different currencies, foreign languages, etc. In retrospect, I am sure those experiences made me a better team manager and leader later in my career. I had more understanding and empa- thy when the riders were going through hard patches and tough times. I especially remember how it helped me coach Kent How- erton back to greatness." Blackwell was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000. He's also a member of the Trailblazers Hall of Fame and re- cipient of the Edison Dye Lifetime Achievement Award. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives Blackwell describes this photo: "I am pretty sure this is Orlando. But it typifies the battles Gary and I had every week."