ASK THE MXPERTS: “WE HEAR THIS ALL THE TIME”

Dear MXperts,
There is an old guy who goes to my church who says that he was a famous motocross racer back in 1997 and that he won several championships. I’ve only been riding for three years, so I don’t know enough about racing from 27 years ago to refute his assertions. Can you help?

Probably not. There are all kinds of local and regional championships that your pal from church could have won that nobody ever heard of. You told us his name, which we edited out for his sake, but we have never heard of him (and we have heard of everybody). To help you narrow it down, here is a list every important motocross champion from 1997.

1997 MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONS

AMA 125 Champ…Ricky Carmichael
AMA 250 Champ…Jeff Emig
AMA 250 SX Champ…Jeff Emig
125 West…Kevin Windham
125 East…Tim Ferry
AMA Rookie of Year…Brock Sellards
FIM 125 World..Alessio Chiodi
FIM 250 World…Stefan Everts
FIM 500 World…Joel Smets
World Sidecar MX…Krister Sergis/Artis Rasmanis
MXDN…Team Belgium (Bervoets, Everts, Smets)
Japanese 125…Shunji Takami
Japanese 250…Jeff Matiasevich
Canadian 125…Blair Morgan
Canadian 250…Blair Morgan
Australian 125…Troy Carroll
Australian 250…Craig Anderson
AMA Arenacross…Buddy Antunez
World Four-Stroke…Shaun Kalos
Over-30 World Vet…Doug Dubach
Over-40 World Vet…Ron Turner
Over-50 World Vet…Alan Olson
Over-60 World Vet…Zoli Berenyi, Sr.
Women…Traci Fleming
Commotion by the Ocean…Ryan Hughes
Paris Supercross…Jeff Emig
GFI Supercross…Steve Lamson
REM Number One…Alan Olson
Mammoth 80…Justin Buckelew
Mammoth 125…Steve Lamson
Mammoth 250…Casey Johnson
Mammoth Four-Stroke…Lance Smail
Mammoth Over-30…Willy Musgrave
Mammoth Over-40…Rex Staten
World Mini 80 Stock…Justin Buckelew
World Mini 80 Mod…Justin Buckelew
Ponca City 80 Stock…Justin Buckelew
Ponca City 80 Mod…Justin Buckelew
Branson 80 Stock…Adam Mennenga
Branson 80 Mod…Adam Mennenga
Loretta Lynn 80 Stock…Justin Buckelew
Loretta Lynn 80 Mod…Justin Buckelew
AMA Athlete of Year…Jeff Emig
Edison Dye Award…Roger DeCoster