U
nless you were a Yamaha
fan, bleeding bumblebee
black and yellow, the late
1970s were a bleak time for
motocross enthusiasts. Team
Yamaha racers were winning
all of the major championships
in both the U.S.A. and Europe,
and second place was often
not even close. In 1978, Bob
"Hurricane" Hannah snagged
every title he could wrap his
gloves around, with series
titles in those hands before the
last events had even been run.
Dynasties can be good for sport,
but it often seemed as if Hur
-
ricane season was going to last
forever.
The storms carried over into
1979, and the new year looked
to be much like the old year as
Hannah began to dominate both
the Supercross and National
Championship series. And it
would have likely been another
race for second place, but for
a couple of MX veterans who
weren't quite ready to roll over
and play dead.
Both Marty Tripes and Kent
Howerton had established
themselves as MX stars on the
AMA circuit long before anyone
outside of Southern California
had even heard of Bob Hannah.
Howerton had won the 1976
AMA 500cc National Champion
-
ship, while Tripes had scored
two consecutive wins
at the
event formerly known as the
Superbowl of Motocross. But
by 1977, Hannah had been
crowned as the new king of the
hill, and it was going to take a
CNII ARCHIVES
P122
BY KENT TAYLOR
HANNAH,
HOWERTON,
TRIPES
THE THREE AMIGOS
Kent Howerton and
Bob Hannah often had
historic battles in the
mid-to-late 1970s.
