by Aaron Hansel
Bench Racing Ammo: Every Rider Who Has Won a SX
Thursday, April 26, 2012 | 10:30 AM
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PrintThe sport of supercross has been around for quite a while now, since 1974 to be exact, and during that time we’ve seen the gate drop on well over 500 premier class main events. While the number of riders that have lined up to do battle over the years is staggeringly high, the percentage of them that have emerged victorious is amazingly small. If fact, as the 39th season of AMA supercross draws to a close, there have only been 55 racers who have managed to get to the finish line first, with Andrew Short gaining entrance to this exclusive club with his win last weekend in Seattle. With that in mind, we decided to do a little research and put together a list of every rider that has ever won an AMA supercross. For kicks, we’ve also included the year and venue in which that rider’s first win took place.
Short joined an exclusive club last weekend in Seattle.
Garth Milan photo
Rider Venue Year
Marty Tripes, Los Angeles, 1972
Pierre Karsmakers, Daytona, 1974
Jim Pomeroy, Houston, 1974
Jaroslav Falta, Los Angeles, 1974
Jimmy Ellis, Dallas, 1975
Tony DiStefano, Daytona, 1976
Jimmy Weinert, Houston, 1976
Marty Smith, Pontiac, 1976
Bob Hannah, Atlanta, 1977
Mike Bell, Los Angeles, 1978
Gaylon Mosier, Anaheim, 1978
Steve Wise, New Orleans, 1979
Mark Barnett, Los Angeles, 1979
Kent Howerton, Anaheim, 1979
Chuck Sun, Atlanta, 1980
Rex Staten, Daytona, 1980
Broc Glover, Houston, 1980
Darrel Shultz, Seattle, 1981
Donnie Hansen, Anaheim, 1982
David Bailey, Anaheim, 1983
Ron Lechien, Orlando, 1983
Johnny O’Mara, Anaheim, 1984
Jeff Ward Seattle, 1984
Rick Johnson, Seattle, 1984
Rick Ryan, Daytona, 1987
Jeff Stanton, Atlanta, 1989
Damon Bradshaw, Anaheim, 1990
Larry Ward, Seattle, 1990
Jeff Matiasevich, Las Vegas, 1990
Jean-Michael Bayle, Dallas, 1990
Mike LaRocco, Las Vegas, 1991
Doug Dubach, San Jose, 1991
Jeremy McGrath, Anaheim, 1993
Mike Kiedrowski, Daytona, 1993
Mike Craig, Tampa, 1994
Doug Henry, Dallas, 1995
Jeff Emig, Las Vegas, 1995
Greg Albertyn, Los Angeles, 1997
Damon Huffman, Atlanta, 1997
Ezra Lusk, Orlando, 1997
Kevin Windham, Charlotte, 1997
Sebastien Tortelli, Los Angeles, 1998
John Dowd, Charlotte, 1998
David Vuillemin, San Diego, 2000
Ricky Carmichael, Daytona, 2000
Nathan Ramsey, St. Louis, 2002
Chad Reed, Anaheim, 2003
James Stewart, Dallas, 2005
Davi Millsaps, Atlanta, 2008
Josh Hill, Minneapolis, 2008
Josh Grant, Anaheim, 2009
Ryan Villopoto, Seattle, 2009
Ryan Dungey, Phoenix, 2010
Trey Canard, Houston, 2011
Andrew Short, Seattle, 2012
As you can see, Anaheim has seen more first-time winners (nine) than any other venue, which isn’t surprising, since it has hosted more supercross races than any other stadium in the world. Tied for second with six apiece are L.A., Daytona and Seattle. Interestingly enough, Rice-Eccles Stadium has yet to produce a first time winner, although with several of the sport’s fastest riders currently sitting on the sidelines, that could change this weekend.
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Roxzen to be 56!!!! this weekend
Mmmm... 14 new winners in the 70's, 12 new in the 80's, 17 new in the 90's, 9 new in the 00 years and now 3 in the 10's.. the most new winners in the years MC dominated...Mmmm...wonder who finished 2nd the most times with out a supercross win....guessing Cooper with 7 seconds no wins...Guy's glad I brought that stat up...lol
What I find interesting is the periods from 1984 to 1987 and 2005 to 2008 had no new winners. It makes sense, 84-87 had dominant riders like RJ, Ward, O'Mara and Bailey. And 05-08 had RC, Reed and JS7 doing the damage.
And interesting that in the MC years there were still a lot of guys breaking through to get their first wins.
@ BD25 Yes a good stat on Cooper, he is a good man. Now I guess Racer X needs make The Vault for Supercross also----Hint?? The Vault is great I have spent too much time checking it out!
Also Attention All !!!!!!! Tommorow is Travis Pastrana's Nationwide stock car race, He said his goal is to just finish on the lead lap and not crash or break. Good game plan!
There were no new winners in '73, '85, '86, '88, '92, '96, '99, '01, '04, '06 & '07.
Somebody refresh my memory, who were the dominating riders during these years? Looks like 1990 was the most competitive with four first-timers.
Something stupid and about a guy nobody cares about, with some hatin laced in my stupid comment.
Glad that is out of the way.
These stats are interesting if you break then out by decade/era. 32 of the 55 1st time winners were pre-McGrath.
They make the case that SX was much more competitive in the 70's and 80's and that it was a little silly for Weege to declare 2011 as the greatest SX season ever.
By era;
18 riders: '72 - '81:
14 riders: '82 - '91: (includes RJ and Bradshaw)
13 riders: '92 - '00: (McGrath years)
3 riders: '01 - '07 (RC years)
7 riders: '08 - '12 (after RC)
@BD25 - guess we were thinking the same way. I debated how to break it up but we're coming to similar conclusions.
I think it has to do with the grops of fast guys that seem to come up at the same time. Some years you have 1 guy who has an impact but other years 4 or 5 guys have an impact. Once the top guys are established they tend to have a few years with not many if any new winners before the "next" group breaks thru..
oh what a night it was for Nate Dawg on that beautiful night under the dome. It could of been supercross magic for timmy ferry that night, instead he is nameless in a sea of legends. Somewhere Matthes hangs his head in shame.
I didn't remember that Dubach won a SX. That wasn't the night where most of the top riders boycotted the event because of the poor lighting, was it? Not to take anything away from him, but there were quite a few riders in that era that had him covered.
@MX Bob - I think Duback won the San Jose SX where lighting was from construction style light rigs.
MXBOB the lighting issue was in 95' when Emig won his first
Correction for 2002. Nathan Ramsey won in Pontiac. It was not at St. Louis.
@MXBob I think that was Emigs first win on that night.
@fred, MX Bob
Doug Dubach won the San Jose Supercross in Spartan Stadium on 15 June 2011 for his only 250 SX win. Bradshaw finished 2nd. Emig won 125W that night.
http://vault.racerxonline.com/1991-06-15/250SX/spartan-stadium
I may be mistaken about the bad lighting conditions although I thought that was at the same race.
@ Fred. MustardDog - brain fade on my part. Emig's first win was the event with bad lighting, but it was Vegas in 1995. (thanks Google)
http://motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=318
"In 1995, [Emig] got his first AMA Supercross win, but it was a bit tainted. It was the season finale at Las Vegas and many riders decided to boycott the round after a power outage forced the promoters to run the race with temporary lighting. Emig felt he’d raced at plenty of night tracks with worse lighting and he decided to race. His first supercross victory was not popular with many of his fellow riders."
Dunes back in the day on Friday nights- the back part of the track was totally dark.
A lot of Americans on that list.
The more technical the tracks, the less competitive the racing. And more injuries.
Rumor has it, on that night in Vegas, after the lighting issues had delayed the nights program, not only were they a safety concern but it was cutting into the start time of a party for the champ...supposedly ..he was gone and at he party by the time Emig took the checkers...but ya didn't hear it from me...
Doug Dubach won San Jose in 2011 !!!!! I need to start paying closer attention.
@chromob - yeah, screwed that up. 1991
just kidding, couldn't resist.