JOEL ROBERT

Bailey at the controls of his factory Honda at the 1982 Trophee and MX in Switzerland.

Five-time World MX Champion, Joel Robert, freaked everyone out in the Saddleback Park pits, when he did a bunch of nose-wheelies on a Rokon trailbreaker, circa 1971.   (above)

Even though a few years have passed, the face remains unchanged.

At one time, not too many years ago, David Bailey was considered the fastest motocross racer in the world, and acknowledged a perfectionist in the technique department. Sitting on top of the heap with a factory Honda ride, his trek toward greatness was stopped by a "simple" crash over a low set of doubles that left him without the use of his legs.

For a few years, David searched mightily for a miracle cure, then settled down into the real world of making a living. After a stint at product design with JT USA, he found yet another niche in life suited to his talents: he does race commentary for ESPN. David is very much at ease with the camera pointed at him, and gives a special insight to what’s happening on the track, rather than the typical babble so common from ESPN announcers.

He was fast on two wheels, and now he’s fast on four. Jeff Ward now passes people in an Indy car.

David certainly knows of what he speaks, and it comes across to the viewers. He was a champion on the track, and now he’s a champ in the TV booth.

JEFF WARD

A quiet racer, Jeff Ward let his throttle hand do his talking during his long career.

Jeff Ward started out racing as a freckle-faced kid on an Indian mini-bike, became a sponsored racer on a Honda XR-75, and developed into one of the best motocross racers on the planet. He spent a great number of years on Kawasakis, and retired from full-time competition about ten years ago.

Rather than sit around and watch bird feeders, Ward started a career in car racing. He paid his dues in the competitive Indy Lights, and worked his way up to a full Indy car ride a few years ago, when he led most of the final laps of the Indy 500, only to have to pit for gas. His goal is to win the prestigious 500, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots. You can catch Jeff at the odd fun MX race now and then.

Malcolm Smith got famous riding a Husky in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. He’s shown here riding through a snowy desert on a 1983 Husky.

Every motorcycle rider worth his chain lube remembers the great Malcolm Smith in the classic move, ON ANY SUNDAY. So what’s Malcolm up to nowadays?

Normally, Smith can be seen smiling during a race, but when competing in the Six Days, he was deadly serious. His many gold medals are proof positive of his riding excellence.

After a brief attempt at retirement, he opened up a multi-brand motorcycle dealership in Riverside, California. Malcolm still competes in selected events like the Elsinore Grand Prix, and a few neat industry trail rides, and yes, he’s still fast!

Desert legend, Dan Smith, leaps his open class Husky over Ivan "Ironman" Stewart and his truck. Later, Ivan got to ride Dan’s Husky and Dan got to drive the truck. On that day, Ivan made the prophetic statement: "That Smith guy is fast!"

At one time, Dan Smith utterly ruled in desert and Baja racing. If he finished, he won. Everybody else fought for the scraps. He was sponsored by Husky in their last days of glory, and finished his career on a factory Kawasaki. A crash (during practice) broke his leg badly and healing took a long time.

Since he had a chance to drive Ivan Stewart’s off-road race truck, Dan felt he could make the transition. He teamed up with former ISDT ace, Dave Ashley, and started campaigning a Class 3 Ford Bronco in SCORE racing.

The team has since moved to the ultra-competitive Trophy Truck class, and is sponsored by Fairway Ford and the Ford factory. Dan still pre-runs the SCORE races on a bike, never forgetting his roots.

JOHNNY O-MARA

Known as the O-show during his racing days, O’Mara was known as a high technical racer.

The surprise of the 1984 Stadium Supercross series was "Johnny O". He started the season in January known as the rider that had never won a stadium event.

He won the first race, and was the rider to beat for the series title the rest at the season. O’Mara won the title in the final event, after a season long battle with Jeff Ward and later his teammate, David Bailey.

The San Fernando Valley, California resident also campaigned the 125cc National class all season and finished either first or second every time he was on the track, but lost the title in that class in the final race of the year.

Johnny was faster than world level racers on Open Class bikes.

O’Mara was the big money winner on the circuit for ‘84, as he also took home first place money in the "$75,000 Dash" a special event for past winners, that was held in the Seattle Kingdome early in ‘84.

Johnny has raced and won in many parts of the world since 1982. He’s also a former two-time winner of the International 125cc Grand Prix event, that pits the best in the world against each other.

"The longer the race, the better" is what Johnny O’Mara has often said. He was the most consistent rider in Supercross events in ‘84, finishing in the top ten in EVERY ONE OF HIS FIFTEEN FINALS! Inside the top five, to be more exact, in all but two!