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/1541867
I f the old saying "his- tory is written by the victors" is true, then there is an American mo - tocross story that needs to be told to every MX fan in the country. There are the books of Eli, Jer- emy, Ricky and Bob—sur- names are superfluous here because these men of motocross are well- known to all. To this list of legends, let us also add the name "Salvatore Joseph," better known as "Sonny." And for this purpose, the inclusion of the last name "DeFeo" will be added, but hence - forth unnecessary, for all should know this story, as it is a tale of a victor whose record will stand for all time. On April 15, 1972, a motocross race was held at Flowery Branch, Georgia. What is known is that there were classes for 250cc and 500cc riders, the winner received the Bel-Ray Oil Trophy, and it was very dusty, with Cycle News penning that "riders looked like vague shadows moving through a cloud." But what Cycle News didn't know, or at least did not report, was that this race was the very first official 250cc AMA Na - tional Championship event. The sport had a recognized 500cc National Champion (Mark Black- well) from 1971, but the 250cc class was late to the champion- ship game. It would be two more years before a 125cc class title was added. There were three motos for both classes on this day, and while the CZ-mounted DeFeo didn't win any of them, the 19-year-old New Yorker was a steady and consistent runner-up in each leg. DeFeo's 2-2-2 topped Swedish transplant Gunnar Lind - strom's 5-1-1. "DeFeo," wrote CN, "is a talented rider, and it showed." Flip through the results of AMA MX events and the name DeFeo pops up early and often, some - times "Sonny" and sometimes "Sal," but they are both referring to the same skinny kid who learned how to ride and wrench on bikes while growing up behind the counter at Ghost Cycles in Port Washington, New York. Ghost Cycles was the realized dream of Sonny's father, also Salvatore, who was born to Italian immigrants and even fought in WWII. After the war ended, the U.S. Army wanted to keep him in uniform, but "Dad," recalls Sonny, "wanted to come home and start selling motor - cycles. "The name of the shop actually came from the cops. Dad was a street racer. He raced around on the street on an old white '48 Harley-Davidson panhead. And he could ride, too! He would chirp that old Harley in every gear. The cops couldn't catch him, so they nicknamed him "the ghost." Ghost Cycles opened for busi - ness in 1951 and over the years imported European brands like BMW, BSA, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Maico, NSU and Norton. "People came from everywhere in the country for parts," remembers Sonny. "On Saturday, there would be a line out the door. If my dad didn't have the part they needed, he would take it off a new bike." CNII ARCHIVES P116 BY KENT TAYLOR SALVATORE JOSEPH BETTER KNOWN AS SONNY DEFEO. In the early 1970s, Sonny DeFeo was a promising young motocrosser from New York.