by Davey Coombs
This Week in Yamaha History: The First Supercross
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 | 2:05 PM
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PrintSupercross as we know it began on a July evening of 1972. Southern California concert and race promoter Mike Goodwin had an idea to "take motocross downtown" by building a track within a stadium. In this case it was the venerable Los Angeles Coliseum, which was built for the 1932 Summer Olympic Games. The building was also home to the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, as well as USC football. The unique race, which Goodwin dubbed "the Superbowl of Motocross," would also be held under the lights. (And he used the unique spelling of "Superbowl" to avoid a trademark problem with the NFL's Super Bowl.)
Goodwin made the race part of the Inter-Am Series, which used to attract some of Europe's best riders to the United States during the summer months. Torsten Hallman, the multi-time world champion from Sweden, led a large contingent into the Coliseum, but it was a just-turned-16-years-old Yamaha rider that would steal the show. Marty Tripes, a superbly talented teenager on a yellow Yamaha, was barely old enough to have a driver's license (he turned 16 just ten days before the race). Over the course of three motos, Tripes would finish 2-2-2 to score the best overall finish of the night. In doing so, he set a record for the youngest AMA Supercross winner ever, a standard that will likely never be surpassed (James Stewart took all of 16 years and 21 days to win his first SX, but that was in the 125cc class, let alone the premier division).
Tripes would go on to win the Superbowl again the following year, making him the first repeat winner of the sport's history. By 1974 Goodwin's idea of a "downtown motocross" worked well enough that a series was built around it, dubbed "The Yamaha Super Series of Motocross." Within a year people were calling it by a different name: Supercross. And history will always recall the first and youngest winner ever as a Yamaha rider.
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Thanks DC!
Brings back great memories. I remember buying that issue of popular cycling off the rack at the grocery store. I was 11 and had the bug to race really bad. I somehow got my parents to relent and I started racing the next year on an XR-75.
And that very first race was sponsored by Olympia Brewing Company.
Marty Tripes was big news after that, he never seemed to take it as serious as some of the big names, yet to a man, they all said when Marty wanted to win, he would! Last time I saw him ride was at Lake Whitney, on an orange Harley Davidson 250 MX. Can still see him standing on the pegs, wide open around bermed corner making it look so easy!
Mike Goodwin might have been a good promoter. He is doing time for the murder of another promoter, Micky Thompson and his wife.
I had heard before that Marty was even younger and lied about his age to race that event.
"Mike Goodwin a real great man of the history of motocross" - When you said that, I hope you were unaware of his involvement in the death of Mickey Thompson and his wife. It took them 19 years to jail him for it, so it's easy to forget. They've been running a documentary about the case on cable recently. I've heard a few industry people imply that he was wrongfully convicted, but after watching it, I don't think so at all. He's where he belongs.
This article was about the history and I am not going into the debate about Goodwin and Thompson. I remember 1972 as my first race was July 12th in 72 on a Yamaha 100cc Enduro.I still have that Popular Cyclin mag. AS a coincedence I got my first fist place with a 2-2-2- finish when I got a MX 100 Yamaha that fall. Yes those were good memories.
Motodog, I am fully aware of Mr. Goodwin's crimes and his prison sentence. We have written about it repeatedly over the years. We even did a feature story on it once. I am not dodging the heinous nature of what happened to the Thompsons here; I was writing about the first Superbowl of Motocross and how it affected Yamaha's history in the sport.
Not every story about OJ Simpson mentions his crimes and time in jail. Sometimes it makes sense to assume that most people know what lay beneath the surface, so its not necessary to dig up every single time his name or his invention is mentioned....
Regardless, thanks for reading.
DC
MX Sports
I doubt this article was to glorify Mike Goodwin, but talk about the history of Supercross and how it began. We all know what Aldof Hitler did too, but that doesn't stop people from discussing history or World War 2. Nothing like being a kid and picking up a copy of your favorite moto mag back in the early 70's.
I was there that night and I will be at Dodger stadium Saturday night too.
The fact is that Supercross is worth so much money that people will kill to get a piece of the action.
Now Davey, How about an article about how the big bucks get distributed from the series. From the ticket scalpers to the beer vendors, from the promoters to the riders. How is the massive pot divided?
Rough numbers would be perfectly acceptable thank you.
p.s. Marty is promoting a run what you brung 100cc series here in So.Cal. for all you vintage and nostalgia fans
Sorry, I hope I didn't imply we should wipe Goodwin's name from MX history, just that he was not a "great man", or anything even close. No doubt, he's widely credited for inventing SX (some may say Daytona was first), and that won't change.
Marty's looking pretty slim in that photo. Tripes and Keller were the last of the "big men" that had national-winning speed (There could be others. My memory is suspect). Tripes rode like an artist and the track his was canvas. Great fun to watch.
Goodwin deserves to be behind bars.. I still have a brand knew t-shirt from 1972 super bowl of motocross..I was there, i was 12 years old..The shirt is a kids medium...It has been framed and matted..it is mint condition..
You guys all know for sure Goodwin did it? If your up on it? You have to wonder.