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/944493
THE SUPERCROSS EXPERIENCE P98 Feature motocross, from a promoter's perspective, was the simple logistics. Before supercross, if you wanted to see a motocross race you had to be a die-hard fan to even know about them. Races were seldom, if ever, advertised, and the tracks tended to be long hauls out into the boonies, where you suffered in either freezing cold or blistering heat, making due with under-cooked hamburgers and overworked port-a-potties. Pierre Karsmakers of the Neth- erlands. In the 44 years since, supercross has grown into a significant racing series that con- tinues to sell out stadiums across the country. Looking Ahead I'd watched enough supercross on TV with Wyatt to establish sev- eral favorite riders. Since Ryan Dungey's retirement, Ken Roczen had taken the mantel as his new hero, the German rider having earned equivalent superhero status along with Wyatt's Ironman and Batman action figures. My status as a journalist writing for Cycle News (and with the good graces of Feld Motorsports) granted me the opportunity to get Wyatt a media pass, and the good people at Jonnum Media arranged a private tour of the Team Honda transporter. Wyatt was silenced when Roczen, fully geared up, came into the rig prior to his heat race. Wyatt looked as if he were seeing one of his superhero action figures come to life. He then got to stand next to Roczen's number 94 Honda. Each of these little touches took me back to my magical memories at the Superbowl of Motocross in 1972, when I was just a chain link fence away from Marty Tripes and his factory Yamaha. Sitting in the stands at Oak- land, caught up in the excited responses of the seven-year old beside me, I was transported back to my first supercross race, when the sounds and smells of On the contrary, stadiums are easy to find, are in the center of a city, and unlike wandering around in the dirt and dust of a motocross ven- ue, offer an opportunity for a spectator to plop down in a seat and have a beer and a hotdog as they watch the races under the cool of night. The following year, in 1973, Tripes defended his title, winning the second Superbowl of Moto- cross, this time aboard the new Honda Elsinore and in front of a larger crowd of 32,000. With shades of boardtrack racing, promoters rec- ognized the cash cow of stadium races and by 1974 the first official championship series—which was comprised of just three races—was won by The sport of supercross racing has come a long ways since Marty Tripes won what is generally accepted as the very first supercross race—dubbed the Superbowl of Motocross—at the L.A. Coliseum in 1972. More than 30,000 fans checked it out.