The List: Notable Debuts
Thursday, August 18, 2011 | 4:00 PM
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PrintAuthor: Davey Coombs / Jason Weigandt
Justin Bogle logged two superb motos over the weekend in his pro debut at Unadilla, which reminded us of some other notable first pro races. This bench-racing list is long, as riders like Jason Lawrence, Matt Goerke, Trey Canard, Blake Wharton, and Ryan Sipes went very fast in their first races. And Kevin Windham leading most of a moto at High Point is memorable—but it wasn't actually his first pro national!
Here's our List of notable debuts. Feel free to argue about in the comments!
10. Mike Alessi in '04: This one is memorable for all the wrong reasons. Alessi was overly hyped going into his first pro race, and the kid struggled on his CRF450R at Millville under the pressure of great expectations. "Believe the Hype" backfired, but Alessi proved not only be resilient but truly fast as well: at his next national at Steel City, he ended up on the podium!
9. Marty Smith, Hangtown ’74: Technically, Marty Smith should be near the top of any rookie list since he won the first AMA 125 National he entered, in 1974 at Hangtown. But that was the first AMA 125 National ever—most of the riders were rookies, technically! (Contender Tim Hart did finish sixth in the 250 series the year before, but the great majority of riders were new). Still, Marty certainly earned his spot in history. He won the next race in Utah, and the championship later that year.
Alessi struggled in his pro debut at Millville.
Photo: Simon Cudby
8. Jeff Emig, Washougal ’88: 'Fro may have been a Team Green standout in the amateur ranks, but back then you didn't step from Team Green into a powerful Pro Circuit Kawasaki ride like the kids do now. Nope, Emig and his dad basically took a box van to Washougal and raced on their own—Emig says that basically, when you turned pro, no one even knew who you were, regardless of what you did as an amateur. So what did he do? He led his first pro moto for a while. The thirty-minute moto eventually got to him and he faded a bit. He was so tired afterward that he laid in the grass and told his dad he couldn't even get up for the second race. He did race it, though, ending up fourteenth overall. (Honorable mention here to Josh Grant, who also led his first pro moto at Hangtown in 2004, but stalled the bike and couldn't get it restarted.)
7. Justin Bogle, Unadilla ’11: The Oklahoman’s fifth overall via 6-6 scores would have lit the internet on fire if two of his GEICO Honda teammates, Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac, hadn’t reset the standard with their sparkling debuts in 2009 and 2010. But one notable difference: Bogle was racing at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch as an amateur seven days before Unadilla. Barcia and Tomac had an entire winter and spring to focus on nothing but their pro debut, and they started at the motocross season opener when their competition was still adjusting from supercross. Bogle jumped in when everyone was in midseason form.
6. Damon Bradshaw, Millville ’88: Like Emig, Bradshaw completely shocked everyone when he scored fourth overall at his first pro national. Amateur kids just didn’t do this back then. Amateur kids weren't household names at the time—you were supposed to toil as a privateer for a few years, pay your dues getting butt-whippings from the stars, and then maybe get a factory ride after awhile. Bradshaw was arguably the first "factory" amateur, and after his superb debut, which stood as the all-time high-water mark for debuts for quite some time, everyone knew who he was.
Barcia shined in his pro debut at Glen Helen.
Photo: Simon Cudby
4. Ernesto Fonseca, ’99/Trey Canard ’08: Ernie came out swinging in his first season as a professional, winning the first four 125 SX races he entered while riding a Yamaha of Troy YZ125. The Costa Rican set all kinds of records for a successful start to his career, as he would also add the East Region SX crown. He did, however, race one 125 National at Steel City at the end of the 1998 season. Similarly, Trey Canard won his first three Lites SX races in 2008, but he raced a handful of Lites Motocross rounds at the end of 2007. So okay, it wasn't their first pro race, but you’ve gotta give a kid credit for dominating right out of the gate in supercross!
3. James Stewart, Anaheim 1 '02: At just 16 years and 14 days of age, James Stewart made his debut at Anaheim 1 on January 5, 2002. He promptly crashed several times, yet he persevered and kept moving through the pack. He ultimately landed in second at the checkered flag, with only Travis Preston leading him. One week later he would win the San Diego SX. He remains the youngest rider to win in the Lites class.
Stewart finished second in his pro debut.
Photo: Simon Cudby
2. Eli Tomac, Hangtown '10: His first pro race has been his best so far. Tomac sat out all of the 2010 AMA Supercross tour before turning pro for the American Motocross series-opening Hangtown Classic. Tomac led both motos on the #243 GEICO Honda CRF250R, icing the deal with a second-moto win and becoming the first rider to win an AMA Motocross round as his first professional race.
1. Marty Tripes, Superbowl of Motocross: Here's a record that will probably never be broken. At the age of 16 years and 10 days, Marty Tripes won his first official professional race—the first modern supercross race—at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Tripes went 2-2-2 in the three-moto format to win Mike Goodwin's first "stadium motocross" race in the premier class. It would be the equivalent of a kid winning Anaheim 1 in the 450 Class, less than two weeks after his sixteenth birthday!
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Didnt Robbie Reynard win his debut at Steel City on the #593 ?
Jeff Emig's pro debut was in 1988....not 1989.
He also recently talked about it:
http://www.allisports.com/alli/moto/feature/jeff-emigs-frocast-on-unadilla
Marty Tripes is the yougest ever to win a supercross race, just so you tards all think its Stewart, ITS NOT!!!
Marty Smith is and always will be number 1. We talked to him at unadilla this year, and still a great guy. He said unadilla was his favorite track.
I guess we now know where Dungey's love for Barcia comes from.
How about Branden Jesseman at High Point?
no wonder dungey was pissed last weekend, it brought back memories!
Lechien in 1983 and Bradshaw in 1988 (Osaka 250 sx) are the two amazings pro debuts imo
i think dave strijbos won his first gp at 16 (and take the 125cc gp lead), why not a "where are they now?" with the great euro hope of the mid-eighties ?
Boys, which one is it? You claim that Marty Smith and Eli Tomac are the first to win his first AMA pro race.So I guess Tomac is actually the 2nd to win his first.Just saaaying.
Will Barcia be the one to finally make Dungey crack? No wonder the dunge was so pissed last weekend, he got rookied twice by the same guy!! Barcia is awesome, hes a throwback to the rough and tumble days of mx
My first National was Unadilla '77. Winner? Marty Smith, eventual 500 champ that year, over Bob Hannah.
After taking a look at this link: http://www.vitalmx.com/videos/member/A-Day-With-Justin-Barcia-on-450-at-Unadilla,4119/GuyB,64
I now see that dungey clearly went wide before the table, knowing Barcia used his same line for 40 minutes while he was eating his roost, and put himself in a bad place. Dungey is not hard to crack, we all know this. Just tap a doghouse.
@trend killer
I'm pretty sure Robbie Reynard's Pro Debut was at High Point in '93. I don't remember his exact finish there, but I believe he was injured for a time shortly after that race, then came back at Steel City later that year for his first win.
Pastrana's debut was easily more hyped than ernie's, and I like ernie. I'm very surprised to not see 199 on the list.
NO, NO, NO, NO, YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG!!! I DON'T KNOW ABOUT WHAT OR WHY AND I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M USING ALL CAPS BUT, I FEEL SOMEBODY SHOULD BE ARGUING ABOUT SOMETHING!!!!!!!
OH YEAH, I REMEMBER, EVERYBODY ALWAYS ARGUES THESE LISTS. I'M JUST TRYING TO DO MY PART!!!!
Bang, When you are at 10/10ths, stuff happens. Passion usually follows.
I gotta agree w/ the Tripes vs. Stewart comment; Tripes went up against the big boys right out of the gate whereas Stewart was racing in the Lites/Regional SX class. Beating the Euros in the 70's was a really big accomplishment, and if you think about it the talent pool was a LOT deeper than Stewart experienced. Now is JS7 a talented rider? Certainly, but...if he was sixteen and lined up against RC, Lusk, KW 14 and those other cats from the get go and won, it would have been even more impressive IMO.
@ Carlsbad,Now that was funny.
Windham???
Keith Bowen ran pretty good at Millville. Not sure about the finish.
ANYBODY knows where RC is and what he is doing now. Last time I checked he wasnt racing those truck series. Its funny how we are forgeting the sports greatest. He is definately not on Nascar either and how come Pastrana is allowed str8 into nascar and not RC?
YOUR No1 ON MY LIST CAUSE YOUR ALL GAY!!!!!!!!
Does anyone have any details on where to find a "Believe the hype " t shirt ?
That is the coolest retro shirt ever
Oh, and your all GAY
Thanks for reading, gang. Windham's debut was Gainesville '94, not High Point, and he barely cracked the top twenty. Jesseman had a great moto at his debut at High Point but not as good as the guys on this list (same goes for Ryan Sipes). I don't think Emig turned pro until '89, at Washoual, one year after Bradshaw's first race at Millville the year before (I will check). And those Japanese SX races don't really count here, though what Bradshaw did there was amazing, because those races were star-packed back then. RC went 16-6 at Steel City in '96. And Stewart was 11 days older than Tripes when he won San Diego '02 in the 125 class.
DC
MX Sports
I remember RC's first race it was the day of the Emig Mcgrath throwdown for the championship. It was so foggy that morning my buddie and I walked in without seeing anybody to pay. Sory Dave .
How did Mike Kiedrowski do at his debut?
Bob Hannah won his first race on a 125 at Hangtown Plymouth track, you should have known dude.
Didnt Robbie Reynard win his first pro race at Millville?
Great write up. Tripes was one of the most talented riders I ever saw. At over 220 lbs, he was perfectly smooth. He had some amazing rides at Unadilla when it was actually rough and technical. Took the '78 250 USGP and walked on everybody (including Hannah and Howerton) in the 1st moto at the '79 250 USGP. Unfortunately for him, he was never in good enough shape. Great guy in the pits. Always friendly and joking around.
@you should have known - Haanah raced a few125 nationals in 1975 winning none, earning #39 for the 1976 season where he won the opener. He almost died from heat exhaustion at the last '75 national in New Orleans, which in turn led to his crazy workouts that kept him on top between '76 and '80.
Yeah how about pastrana wrecking on parade lap doing a heel clicker? St Louis 2000, right? Think he ended up 4th? Lot of hype on that one.
I agree that Robbie Reynard deserves a mention here. He did win his at Steel City in 1993. I know he is the youngest rider to ever win an AMA Outdoor National, and I think Steel City was the first Outdoor National race he ever competed in.
Technically I think he made his "professional debut" in Arenacross earlier that year, but does arenacross really count as a pro debut?
Austin Stroupe had a great debut as well. Travis Pastrana.
Who was it that Henry passed on the last lap for the win at his first race? Mind is blank right now.....
Fred, on your Marty Smith vs. Tomac first to win first pro race question: They did not say it was Marty's first pro race, but his first race in the 125 class. Not sure if Marty raced in the 250 or any other class as a pro perfore then. Maybe that is the difference? Or maybe marty won an SX race before that, so his first pro race win was not a MOTOCROSS first race win?
I have to tip my hat to Marty Tripes- he was the "chunky-monkey", (and I mean this with respect), he kicked ass in his first race and several others later. He probably would have a few championships had he stuck with 1 team and maybe "applied" himself. Bob said so- maybe that's why he wound up on the rocks- ouch I shouldn't have said that!
RR's first national or SX was High Point, not Steel City, and he finished something like 8-7 in two motos. He is the youngest rider ever to win a national, but that wasn't until the end of the summer at Steel City, which I believe was his second national.
Marty Smith rode "pro" 125cc races before 1974, but they did not count as nationals or SX races because the class was not recognized by the AMA until 1974.
And even Marty Tripes entered a race before his LA Superbowl of Motocross win, but he was later DQ'd when it was discovered he was too young (15) to even have a license!
DC
MX Sports
Robbie Reynard had an awesome first pro race - I would argue that he is one of the fastest racers in the world - WHEN HE IS ON - He is also a good role model for kids. very nice , would give u the shirt off his back.
I believe Robbie Reynard won the arenacross title when he was 15 . Then turned pro at Steel City, PA. and won at least one moto there.
im with every one that said robie reynard, do these guy's ever do any research.
if memory serves blake bagget rode real well at his first national in late 09 maybe steel city in his all black fox helmet #590 or something
u should not have put alessi up there he sucks
Emig raced in 88 at Washougal his number was 747..
My pro debut was 10th Seattle SX in 1986 I was 16 and had only been racing for 3 years.. Defiantly not on the list but I wanted to blow my own horn..lol