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/1525243
W hen motocross fans take a quick glance at a 2024 MX Sports Pro Racing/AMA race schedule, they may be thinking that they are looking at last year's calendar. Or maybe even the year before that, because the itinerary has become a "second verse, same as the first" kind of experience, with the same promoters and their respective racetracks mak - ing repeat appearances. Every year, the song remains the same, as the outdoor Nationals return to the same venues and fans realize that they will have to stare down several hundreds of miles of windshield time to get to a pro motocross race. Turn back the clock to the early days of MX, however, and you will find a time when the race powers seemed much more will - ing to spread the wealth. Profes- sional motocross was sowing its seeds across the USA, giving race fans in places like Herman, Nebraska; Midland, Michigan, and Olive Branch, Mississippi (home of America's largest Bonsai nursery) a chance to see the budding stars bring the moto circus right to their hometowns. One such track that had a brief fling with the AMA was the Moto-Masters facility, located in Mexico, New York, and just a short drive from the Canadian border. The Moto-Masters held the first of their three profes- sional motocross events on August 18, 1974, and the top teams brought their best riders for the 250/500cc Na - tional Championship race. Both series were winding down and the points' championship in both classes was still within the grasp of many top pro riders. The results section alone provides a motocross history lesson. Racers who would later become champions on Japanese machines competed in Mexico on motorcycles that now belong to the ages. Bultaco, Montesa, Ossa, Can-Am, Maico, and even a Penton were represented in the top 20 in the two classes. From 1975 through 1977, race schedulers kept 250cc and 500cc classes from competing on the same day, meaning the top rid - ers theoretically had a chance to compete for more than one championship. In 1974, however, the riders were forced to make a choice. Thus, the two classes were somewhat watered down. Jim Weinert, Steve Stackable and Gary Semics chose the big bikes. Gary Jones, Marty Tripes and Pierre Karsmakers were doing battle in the 250cc class. 1970s motorcycles were roll - ing experiments; riders and me- chanics were dabbling in weird science as they sought ways to make their machines fast, light- weight, and durable. Lab rats on wheels! It must have been a frus- trating process, as teams sought to both test new ideas and win races on the same day. This was the advent of long-travel rear suspension for dirt bikes. More suspension was good, but shock technology was lagging behind, and performance would dimin - ish significantly over the course of the moto. Reliability was also an issue, with metallurgy often Marty Tripes won the AMA 250cc AMA National Motocross at Moto-Masters Park in Mexico, New York, in 1974. It was the first of three consecutive Nationals that the facility would host. STILL GOING 50 YEARS LATER, THE MOTO-MASTERS PARK MOTOCROSS TRACK IN MEXICO, NEW YORK, WHICH HELD THREE NATIONALS IN THE EARLY TO MID-1970S, IS STILL GOING STRONG. CNIIARCHIVES P136 BY KENT TAYLOR STRONG