Changing gears, I was asked recently by our friends at NBC and Peacock to give them some suggestions of the best/most important SX races of the last 50 years to include in the big 50th celebration for Monster Energy Supercross. Since I wasn’t actually at last week’s race in San Fran, and as a result don’t have much insider knowledge to share here, I thought I would share my personal list of the greatest races over the last five decades. They are not in any particular order, and they are limited to the premier class—let me know how they compare to yours, and I didn’t include San Diego ’05 but after listening to the Re-Raceables Podcast, I probably should have!
-The 1986 Anaheim Supercross battle between David Bailey and Rick Johnson is arguably the greatest race ever, as a 70,000-seat sold-out stadium watched the new Honda teammates put on a show for the ages.
-In the first-ever Atlanta Supercross (1977) Bob Hannah passes Jim Pomeroy in the last corner at Fulton County Stadium to win his first SX and begin his reign as the first superstar of supercross, winning three straight titles on his Yamaha.
-Rick Johnson comes from dead last, after a first-turn crash, to win in the 1987 Los Angeles Coliseum race, taking Guy Cooper’s best shot at a win away in heart-breaking fashion.
-Doug Henry shocks the world by winning the 1997 Las Vegas SX aboard a four-stroke Yamaha prototype, ushering in a whole new era in the sport, as it was the first time a four-stroke had ever won in series history.
-Jeremy McGrath wins his first of 72 supercross races at the ’93 Anaheim SX aboard his Honda. One year later he will debut his signature nac-nac move and become the biggest star in the history of the sport.
-The 1990 Battle of Atlanta: Jeff Ward, Rick Johnson, Guy Cooper, and Johnny O’Mara all battle until the last lap in Atlanta, with Ward winning one of the all-time great races.
-Ricky Carmichael comes from behind and bests Jeremy McGrath at the third Anaheim SX of 2001, effectively ending Jeremy’s reign and beginning a new one himself.
-The 2005 “perfect storm” race at Anaheim—the only one in history where Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed, James Stewart, and Travis Pastrana all lined up together—ends with a surprise as Kevin Windham masters the mud to win.
-Ryan Dungey survives a wild night in Las Vegas to win his fourth AMA Supercross title and then announces his retirement from the sport.
-Jeff Stanton wins the 1992 title in a surreal moment when Damon Bradshaw freezes in the final race of the series at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
-Jeff Emig ends Jeremy McGrath’s run at a perfect season when he holds McGrath off at the 14th round of the 1996 series at St. Louis, stopping McGrath winning streak at 13 in a row.
-Ricky Carmichael’s last SX race—the 2007 Orlando race—sees him lose in an epic last battle with James Stewart, the day after RC’s twins were born in a Tallahassee hospital, with Ricky arriving just before practice in a helicopter.
-The popular veteran Justin Brayton holds off Eli Tomac to win Daytona 2018—his one and only supercross victory of his career.
-In the closest championship fight in series history James Stewart wins the last round of 2006 at Las Vegas over Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed, with Carmichael clinching the title with two points to spare over both Stewart and Reed (and Stewart claimed the concurrent FIM title). It was confusing as hell with the dual AMA/FIM sanctioning situation but what a crazy season.
-Ryan Villopoto ends his AMA Supercross career by clinching a fourth straight title in 2014 and winning the last four races in a row (Houston, Seattle, East Rutherford and Las Vegas… Okay, maybe that’s not one race but it’s what I remember most about RV’s incredible career)
-And I might have finished with Jean-Michel Bayle’s incredible St. Petersburg race in 1992 when he went from fourth to first in barely two turns, but the fact that he was quitting so soon still bums out.
Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 1:07PM 
