CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
T
he last time I
wrote about the
generational argument
of who was the best
motocross racer of all
time, Bob Hannah or
Ricky Carmichael, it set
off weeks of letters going
back and forth with
reactions and arguments
running the gamut. A few
people even accused
me of being a complete
dunce for saying RC
was the greatest, even
though I never said it.
In the article, I was
completely neutral and
simply let others make their respective arguments
for the Hurricane or RC.
While this week's installment of Archives does
not wish to re-fire the RC vs. Hannah debate,
one thing Hannah accomplished RC never
did—because RC came into the sport after the
possibility was a thing of the past and never
had the chance—and that was complete the
Motocross Grand Slam.
In fact, when the AMA discontinued the 500cc
Motocross National Championship after the 1993
season, the era of the Motocross Grand Slam was
done.
The Motocross Grand Slam (or perhaps
more accurately the MX/SX Grand Slam) was
completed when a rider won each of the outdoor
national categories (125cc, 250cc and 500cc)
plus a premier class (then 250cc) supercross
main.
There were just eight riders in history to
complete the MX/SX Grand Slam—in order they
were Marty Smith (1977), Bob Hannah (1977),
Broc Glover (1982), Jeff Ward (1986), Ron
Lechien (1987), Jean-Michel Bayle (1990), Mike
Kiedrowski (1993) and finally Mike LaRocco,
also in 1993.
The remarkable thing that Hannah did that
no one else accomplished was winning the
Slam in a single season. Hurricane Hannah
accomplished that amazing feat during the 1977
season. Hannah won the AMA Supercross
Series that season, and also contested all three
divisions of the outdoor nationals. He didn't win
any of the MX titles that summer (although he
did win Supercross), but he did manage to win
at least a round in all four. Those three outdoor
wins combined with his SX victories gave him the
single-season Grand Slam.
"Boy Wonder," Marty Smith, got the ball rolling
when he completed the Grand Slam with his
victory in the AMA 500cc Motocross National
at St. Peters, Missouri, on July 23, 1977. Earlier
The Motocross Grand Slam
P118
