VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P115
All the country's top riders
came to the original Anaheim I
"Supercross" in 1976, including
Kent Howerton, Tony DiStefano,
Mike Bell, Gaylon Mosier, Danny
LaPorte and Jimmy Weinert, to
name a few.
The 30,569 fans that nearly
filled the stadium loved it. The
non-stop racing format was fast
and furious, the racing itself was
excellent, and the one rider that
the fans, and indeed the organiz-
ers, wanted to see win the most
did win—local hero from nearby
San Diego, Marty Smith, the
most popular motocross racer in
the country at the time. The fan
favorite took the checkered flag
leading the way as he had done
earlier in his heat race.
Smith's distinctive fire-engine-
red Honda and his iconic red/
white/blue jersey were chased
across the finish line in the main
event by fellow Honda rider
Pierre Karsmakers, who said the
Anaheim track was the "best
stadium track ever."
Husqvarna-mounted How-
erton, who had slipped his way
past DiStefano less than 100
yards from the finish line, filled
out the podium. The four heat-
race winners—Smith, Karsmak-
ers, Howerton and DiStefano—
made up the top four in the main
event.
Maico-mounted Gaylon
Mosier finished sixth, and
another notable top-10 finisher
was Marty Moates, who rode a
Spanish-made Ossa.
Weinert rounded out the top
five that night and was the year's
official AMA Supercross Cham-
pion.
Anaheim Stadium has been
a Supercross mainstay since
Smith's big win in 1976. "The
Big A" has been one of the most
popular venues for Supercross
ever since. It was so popular that
organizers started holding two
Supercross races per season
at the stadium in 1999. A third
Anaheim race was introduced
in 2001 which lasted through
2011. The Anaheim triplehead-
ers ended the year when Dodger
Stadium in Los Angeles hosted
its first-ever Supercross race.
This year's Anaheim 1 will
mark the 79th time a Supercross
race has been held at The Big A,
the most of any venue. Anaheim
Stadium has also hosted the
opening round of the Supercross
Championship 31 times, not
including this year's race, out of
the championship's 49-year his-
tory. Of those 31 races, only six
A1 winners have gone on to win
the Supercross Championship
that same year. Ryan Villopoto
was the last rider to win Anaheim
I and then go on to take the gold
that same year, which happened
in 2012.
CN
FINALS:
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Marty Smith won the very first
Anaheim Supercross.
