A Little Supercross History

My Favorite Races by Davey Coombs

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.

Jett's Press Day Crash

Tough press day for Jett but looks like he will be on the starting line tomorrow.

Brabec and Honda Take Dakar

Ricky Brabec Wins

American Ricky Brabec wins the 2024 Dakar Rally for Honda

Monster Energy Honda rider Ricky Brabec has claimed victory at the 46th edition of the Dakar Rally, the American’s second victory at the iconic race, ahead of Hero Motorsports’ Ross Branch and caps a dominant Dakar for Honda.

Sealing what has surely been Honda’s most dominant Dakar ever, Ricky Brabec closed out the final stage 12 of this 2024 rally in eighth place and comfortably holding off the challenge from main rival Ross Branch to complete the race in a total time of 51hrs30m08s.

The die was cast in the first week where Ricky was among three riders edging away with consistent day results. By the end of the opening week when his Honda team had equally begun to boss the overall standings (they ended up winning eight of the 12 stages in total), the super-tough “48hr Chrono” stage saw Ricky looking like a potential winner barring disaster. 

As the final week unfolded Ricky started to look in control of the tactical games being played out by other riders in contention. He waited and then pulled the pin with a couple of days to go, establishing a comfortable margin between him and main rival, Hero Motorsports’ Ross Branch.

It was a margin Ricky, the 2020 Dakar winner, held through the final stage and he can now call himself a two-time winner of the toughest bike race on the planet.

“It wasn’t easy.” Said Brabec at the finish. “The course was really tough. The competition was tough. Ross and my own team kept me on my toes. It was definitely a fight to the end for everyone. I’m really happy we’re all here and all safe and we can go home.”

All too late, the final stage brought a podium for the KTM Group riders with 2023 Dakar winner Kevin Benavides claiming it ahead of Toby Price and Rally-Raid World Champion Luciano Benavides. But it was all a bit too late for the Austrian gang.

Branch takes best-ever result for Hero

Ross Branch deserves immense credit also for his ’24 Dakar. He has never been luckiest of riders at Dakar but surely one of the bravest and the ever-smiling Botswanan rider claims a very popular and deserved second place on the podium.

“I feel on top of the world.” Says Branch. “It was a really long rally, probably one of the toughest ones I’ve ever done. Hats off to Ricky, he rode an outstanding race. It was really close up until a couple of days when he made a big push and got a gap on me. It was awesome.

“I’m so happy for the team, they deserve to be happy because they’ve put a lot of work in and for such a young team, it’s a great result.”

It always looked inevitable that one of Brabec’s HRC teammates would join him on the podium and in the end it was Adrien Van Beveren who finally got the better of Jose Cornejo after his own Honda had a small but costly mechanical issue yesterday. AVB finishes just under one minute and a half behind Branch and 12:25 off his teammate.

Argentina MXGP Round Problems Could Affect AMA Supercross

Rumors suggest the if the opening round of MXGP in Argentina is cancelled Jorge Prado will show up at Anaheim 2.

Opening round of Motocross MXGP World Championship in doubt less than two months away

On March 9th and 10th, the MXGP of Patagonia Argentina is supposed to kick off the MXGP and MX2 Motocross World Championships. However, there are doubts about the event less than two months from the scheduled dates, as there is still no ‘green light’ from local government authorities. It’s worth noting that Argentina had presidential elections in November, won by Javier Milei, who threatens to cut public support in various areas, including sports.

In a statement, the organization clarified: ‘The race organizer informs that it is waiting for a formal response from the Government of the Province of Neuquén. Naturally, the organization of an international event of the dimension of the FIM Motocross World Championship, which has had regularity in Neuquén since 2015, involves months of work and planning. The organization of the race has maintained a continuous dialogue with the provincial government. However, given the current timeline and the lack of certainties, the race organization has sent a formal letter to the Governor, Rolando Figueroa, and the Minister of Tourism of Neuquén, Gustavo Fernández Capiet, awaiting a response with the aim of the favorable development of a competition that has become a milestone for the sport and the region’.

The note emphasizes the importance of MXGP for Patagonia, considering its positive impact with fans attending the event and the estimated television audience of potential 611 million people worldwide.

Senator Aims to Fix Red Sticker OHV Regs

KTM CEO and MIC Vice Chair John Hinz with state Senator Brian Jones at KTM North America headquarters in Murrieta, California.

California State Senator Brian Jones, a longtime motorcycle advocate and rider himself, recently visited KTM North America headquarters to talk about the powersports business and fixing the red sticker registration rules that could jeopardize the use of competition OHVs on public lands across much of the West Coast.

“On behalf of the motorcycle industry, we were honored to have Senator Jones visit our facility to discuss the importance of critical issues facing motorcycle dealers and our industry in the state of California,” said John Hinz, CEO of KTM North America, Inc., and MIC vice chair. “In particular, the senator has led California in finding a resolution to the red sticker competition motorcycle registration issue through his sponsored bill SB-708, and has our support to pass this legislation in 2024.”

Authored by the senator, SB-708 would create “sanctioned event permits”—starting on January 1, 2025—that would allow California residents to operate competition OHVs at sanctioned events. The new event permit will help facility staff and law enforcement to quickly identify such vehicles at these sanctioned events held on public lands. SB-708 would also restore funds historically slated for important conservation and law enforcement efforts that were lost with the termination of the Red Sticker Program.

Last year, the Motorcycle Industry Council called on all powersports companies to add their names, on their letterhead, to an MIC-drafted letter in support of legislation to allow continued use of competition-model OHVs on public lands in California.

“Without the passage of California Senate Bill 708 in the state assembly, the use of competition OHVs on public land in the state will be in jeopardy,” said Scott Schloegel, senior vice president at the MIC Government Relations Office. “We’re facing this threat because the state’s Red Sticker Program for competition OHVs was terminated by the California Air Resources Board in 2021. We’ve been able to send dozens of letters from across the powersports industry to the committee to try to advance the senator’s important legislation and keep access open for these popular competition machines.”

Bogle on Racing the Stark Varg

Jonathan McCready talks to Justin Bogle at the Belfast Arenacross about riding the electric Stark Varg and how it feels compared to a four stroke doing Arenacross. We also talk about Justin's career, Jett Lawrence and Jeremy McGrath!

Max Vohland injured...Out For San Diego

Today, some photos surfaced of Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Max Vohland after a crash, lying down and not looking well. Vohland, who was gearing up for the San Diego Supercross this weekend, experienced a significant crash during testing. According to Steve Matthes, Vohland injured his hip in the incident. Unfortunately, it appears that Max Vohland’s season could be cut short after just two rounds of the AMA Supercross Season.

Mosiman Previews San Diego

With San Diego on the horizon KTM has two guys in the 450 top ten (Sexton &  Plessinger). Yamaha has two guys in the top ten (Tomac &Webb). Kawasaki has two guys in the top ten (Anderson & Cianciarulo), Honda has two guys in the top ten (Lawrence & Ferrandis). Suzuki has one guy in the top ten (Roczen). GasGas has  one guy in the top ten (Prado and he is returning to Europe after the San Diego Supercross).

Celebrating 50 Years Of Supercross in San Diego

FOX 5's Heather Lake reports from Mission Valley as she speaks to another local, AMA legend, Broc Glover. Glover won at San Diego back 40 years ago, and his knowledge of the sport is just breathtaking. A really cool interview with a really cool guy.

2024 DAKAR RALLY, STAGE 11

2024 Dakar... Brabec and Honda can see the finish line!

Ricky Brabec took a huge step toward winning his second Dakar Rally today. He finished in second place, 32 seconds behind Ross Branch, his chief rival for the overall victory tomorrow. He opened the trail all day, which usually puts a rider at risk for navigation errors and massive time losses, particularly on a long, difficult stage such as today’s. Brabec stayed on track, though, and captured 5 min 45 secs in time bonuses. Overall, the gap between Brabec and Branch remains at over 10 minutes. Adrian Van Beveren is in third, some 14 minutes behind. Brabec will start behind Branch on the final stage tomorrow, allowing the American rider to follow rather than lead.

Stage 11 was a 420 km long stretch through canyons and dry rivers, taking the competitors from AlUla to the final bivouac in Yanbu. The terrain was mostly rugged, with rocks and stones lining up the entire length of the special. On the final day of Dakar 2024, the race will take the competitors on a shorter 175 km long special, devoid of major difficulties.

Ross Branch: “It was a really cool stage today. I had a lot of fun right from the start until the finish. I really enjoyed myself out there – the bike was going amazing, and I made no mistakes today – which is quite important to stay calm in the race. The leader of the race has a significant lead over me, but I’m really happy with where I am at the moment, and I’m looking forward to the last day tomorrow.”

Ricky Brabec: “It’s close. I opened the whole day by myself and I was expecting my team-mate Nacho to catch me, but unfortunately he had a little issue. Then I was waiting for my team-mate Adrien for him to grab some bonus time. I know Ross is pushing hard today and I don’t know what the results are so far from the stage, but I have a feeling that it’s going to be me, Adrien and Ross as the top 3 tomorrow. We’ll see what happens, but there’s still one stage to go. I would say it was my best ride of the rally. On the last 100 km, I went really slowly just to get here and wait for my team-mate, but I made no mistakes today. I put my head down and I got to the finish. The first goal on the Dakar is always to make it to the rest day. Obviously, you have to make it day by day, so the first goal is essentially to make it day by day, but after you make it through the first day, you say I want to make it through the second day and then you want to make it to the rest day. Once you make it to the rest day your next goal is to make it to the finish. If you finish the Dakar, that’s a win. It’s gnarly, the Dakar’s not easy, especially for the bikes because we’re up at three in the morning and we’re riding all morning, we’re riding all day and we’re getting back to the bivouac late. But finishing the Dakar is a win in my book and if you can win the Dakar it’s legendary. We’ll go back to the bivouac, we’ll talk to the team and we’ll push on for tomorrow.”

Jacob Argubright: “Stage 11 was a fun one with lots of rocks and tough terrain. Pretty smooth day finishing P14 but with another penalty putting me back to P21. Guess it’s year of the penalty and mishaps for me but all great learning experiences. I’m healthy and ready for the final stage tomorrow!”