The Fox 50: Minnesota
Thursday, November 4, 2010 | 11:00 AM
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PrintFor this week’s installment of The Fox 50, we head north to the state dubbed "The Land of 10,000 Lakes," Minnesota. The fastest man on the planet right now calls Belle Plaine his home, but there are quite a few other top shelf pros who were born and raised here. Vote on your top three fastest riders ever from Minnesota at the bottom of the page. (Special thanks to Bob Chase at MXBob.com for all of his help.)
Tom Severson - Tom is widely considered the first Minnesotan to give pro motocross a try.
Alex Martin – Hard-charging pro privateer going into this third season as a professional racer.
Gary Gengel - Gengel was on the cover of MXA Magazine in 1977. He qualified for several nationals in the late '70s. Later on, he won many Snocross races for Arctic Cat.
Tom Benolkin - Tom raced raced on the national circuit in the early '80s as a Kawasaki factory rider. He won several pro class championships at the Florida Winter-Am Series as well as finishing on the podium at the Mid-Ohio 125 USGP and several nationals.
Gary Bronikowski - Factory rider for Can Am in the early ‘80s.
Bruce Gates - He also had the longest time span between his first and last Millville national.
Donny Schmit – His resume includes 125 SX and National wins, 125 and 250 GP wins, and three major championships—including two world championships.
Cory Keeney – Fast pro rider in the nineties for the PJ1 team alongside Jimmy Button.
Heath Voss – Highly respected privateer legend and the 2004 World SX Champion, he still wears AMA #13.
James Povolny – Longtime pro privateer. Held a national number for well over a decade and now runs his own motocross park in Kentucky.
Tucker Hibbert – Snocross icon who also held a national number for a couple years, he's the Ryan Dungey of snowmobile racing.
Ryan Dungey – Reigning AMA Motocross and AMA Supercross Champion, plus a two-time winner of the Motocross of Nations. Dungey won 19 races in 30 starts in 2010, including the MXoN.
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Donny Schmit
photo: Courtesy of MXBob.com
Tommy Benolkin
photo: Courtesy MXBob.com
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Donny Schmidt, Ryan Dungey, Heath Voss.
I get the feeling the new school will oppose the old school here too. Holey Schmit!
I can think of way more people than that....Scott Jendro.....Nate Broughton.......Mike louma....Scott Stienle....Lee Thies.....Brett Ohland and we cant forget MIKE EVENSON!!!!
I dont think they are looking for EVERYONE that is from MN, just the cream of the crop, and I beleive they have done that.
agreed mxmofo
oh come on.....Tony Blake had his hay days too :-P
Minnesota has produced MANY very fast riders for only being able to ride 8 months out of the year. its amazing
Per capita,, Iowa blows MN away...
Really???? Really???? I remember when D23 used A, B, Expert system all the Iowans would drop down a class. Johnny Spaw was the fastest I've seen from IA!
Iowa blows yes... but mn away idk about that. but hey u deffinitly have more corn per capita! did any one see the video on youtube of donny schmit ridding in the snow.. and when i say ridding i mean clearing triples and blitzing whoops... NUTS!
mnvet134,, a little news flash for ya,, Johnny "Lightning" Spaw was fast,, but not the fastest from Iowa.. I guess I really dont remeber the Iowans dropping down a class.. What I do remember is all the MN boys never came and raced in Iowa, to scared.. The Iowa boys had to go there..
Where is Craig Decker on this list?? Certainly his resume is more impressive than anybodys aside Dungey and Schmdit. His career was cut short due to inury, but he was on his way to be the next supercross and motocross champion.. beating Ryan Hughes and Huffman before injury. I don't know any other Minnesota natives that have eleven amateur national titles. He derserves credit and respect for his success and definately should be on this list...Barring injury, Decker was certain to have the career that Donny Schmidt had. How was he left out???? Dungey, Schmidt, and Decker.. I am going with Bruce Gates also who has most impressive stood the test of time and is an animal.
hey d.c. what about my wife shelly kann harens or is the 50 just for men
Unfortunately,Tom Severson passed away a couple years ago,We used to ride together along with alot of other fast minnesota guys of which I wasnt one of them) I miss talking to Him, He was one of the good guys.
They probably didn't include Decker because most (all?) of his career took place outside of Minnesota. That and I didn't have any details on him (I've been meaning to fill in some of the blanks on that page). You can tell that the older riders are at a disadvantage in this poll. I like Heath Voss. He's a nice guy and has had a solid career, but in direct comparison, Tom Benolkin was the faster rider IMO. He finished (when the bike didn't break) regularly in the top 5 or better against guys like Barnett, O'Mara, Glover, Ward, and other multi-time champions. His pro career was short and included a higher percentage of mechanical DNFs than almost anyone. My top 3 would be Dungey, Schmit (spelled w/o D), and Benolkin.
Shelly kann harens , you couldn't help but cheer for her at Mezzepa. She helped open doors for many girls. Schmidt and Dungey are both the kind of racers that a parent can feel good about, when their kid idolizes them.
From Tom Severson's family: So mamy motocross memories, Tom where do we begin? We will never forget running around the track and hearing people yell, "That's Severson! That's Tom Severson!" You were such an amazing rider. You are missed by many. We wish you were still here with us. But, we know you're up there watching over us. The stories you told had us laughing uncontrollably and we're sure you and Jeff have lots of stories to tell us when we all meet again! We all love and miss you lots! By the way, you were the fastest in the state and you kicked ass!!
---MXBOB.COM HALL OF FAME,1975 MINNESOTA MOTOCROSS CHAMPION, THOMAS SEVERSON: http://www.mxbob.com/hall/bioseve1.htm
Excellent list, thank you MXBob. I would trade one snowcross legend for Shelly because she has a stronger list of moto accomplishments. Gates takes the award for fastest for the longest. I don't race him, but I do because with a (A & B) double drop he and Decker will steal a lap if your not on it!
Didn't Carey Hart come out of Minnesota??
tom severson is my father and because of him i have something to put my mind to...motocross. he is the fastest of his time in the 1970s and he introduced me to motocross and ill keep racing till i cant race anymore.