Posted February 5, 2006

ATVA Hall of Fame

By Doug Morris

If you were at the ATVA National Motocross banquet, or if you read the lead article in this issue of ATVA News, you know that AMA Pro Racing will recognize ATV MX racing along with their other Pro championships.

This is big news for ATV racers and riders all across the country.

We are all excited about the future possibilities for our ATV Pro riders, but while we're on a roll, let's expand that thinking just a little more.

Let’s imagine the possibilities for the future. Hmmm, maybe an ATV Hall of Fame? That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Where would we start? I don’t want to focus on the sticks and bricks kinds of things, so let’s kick around some ideas about who and what we all would want to include in this imaginary ATV Hall of Fame.

When it comes to Pro racing champions to include, my first thought would be to look back to 1985. At that time, Marty Hart was the very first Pro 250cc two-stroke, three-wheeler champion. Curtis Sparks was first in the Pro 200cc four-stroke class, and Steve Wright was first in Pro 200cc two-stroke.

Like Hart, Wright and Sparks were on three-wheelers.

The next year, 1986, saw the first Pro 250 four-wheel champion: Rodney Gentry. Marty Hart was the 250 Pro three-wheel champion.

In the early 1980s we crowned an MX Pro champion and a TT Pro champion. To become the Grand National Championship series champ, a rider needed points in both MX and TT.

Gary Denton rode his Suzuki 250 two-stroke to claim the very first four-wheeler Pro GNC Championship title in 1987. Denton was unstoppable for the next eight years, which puts him in the lead for most consecutive GNC championships.

Now that we've looked at some of the men who should be in our imaginary Hall of Fame, let's look at some machinery.

After all, what good would a Hall of Fame be without ATVs to look at and say "I use to have one of those?"

My choice for one of the first ATVs for our imaginary Hall of Fame would be Honda's ATC 90. Honda started the wheels rolling, all three of them, with the introduction of the 1979 US 90, (three-wheeler). Later the name was changed to ATC 90 (all-terrain cycle). The ATC 90 was raced at many tracks around the country, but never earned Pro Championship status.

My next choice of ATVs would be the first ATVs to take Pro riders into the history books: the Honda ATC 200X (four-stroke) and the Honda ATC 250R (two-stroke). They were the machines that Sparks and Hart used for their race wins in 1985.

The first four-wheeler on my list would have to be the Suzuki 250. This is the machine that Denton started his string of wins riding.

Many of the new up-and-coming Pro racers we see at the Nationals today—either the ATVA National MX series or the Extreme Dirt Track ATVA Nationals—and the machines they ride will hopefully one day earn their spot in the ATV Hall of Fame.

Have we listed all the riders and machines who should be in the Hall of Fame?

No! Not even close.

We would like to hear from you and your ideas for our imaginary ATV Hall of Fame. Send your ideas to editor@ATVAonline.com.