TEN YEARS AGO AT THE 2013 WORLD VET CHAMPIONSHIP—THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY AGED

Travis Preston almost won the World Vet in 2012. Now, he can drop the almost because he won the premier Over-30 Pro class in 2013. 

Photos by Dan Alamangos & Mark Chilson
(this is an archived story from MXA back in 2013)

If you were 16 years old in 1968, you stood on the cusp of the Golden Age of Motocross. It was the perfect sport for the teenage internal combustion commandos that lusted after cars, bikes and planes. Motocross was unknown, unheard of and uncharted in the late sixties. It was the perfect sport for kids who grew up in the bland 50s. It offered them unfettered individuality. There was no one to tell them how to do it—no coaches, no teams, no structure, no adults. In 1968 motocross was the ultimate youth sport because it was unformed and unregulated. The kids parents had no idea about motocross and that meant that it belonged solely to the youth of the time. It could be whatever a kid wanted it to be.

Coming out of Talladega in the first moto, Mike Sleeter (111) leads Tony Amaradio (130), Tyson Taylor (255), Kevin Barda (852) and Travis Preston (11). It took Preston less than a lap to get into the lead. 

A teenage boy, who discovered the joys of motocross on a CZ, Bultaco, Ossa, Maico or Montesa back in 1968 would have been 61 years old at the 2013 World Vet Championship. Not many of those 1968 teenagers are still racing today, but every snot-nosed kid kid born in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s owes a debt of gratitude to that 61-year-old guy pitting next to him. Without that old fogie’s dedication to the sport, there wouldn’t be one—it would have died on the vine in 1969.

OVER-30 PRO
1. Travis Preston (Yam)…….1-1
2. Mike Sleeter (KTM)………..2-2
3. Roman Jelen (Yam)………..5-3
4. Tony Amaradio (Yam)…….3-6
5. Tonni Anderson (KTM)….6-5
6. Jesse Bath (Yam)…………….4-10
7. Kris Keefer (Kaw)…………….7-8
8. Jorgen Huvell (Hon)………..10-9
9. Shawn Wynne (Yam)……….8-12
10. Tyson Taylor (Kaw)…………18-4
Other notables: 13. Dennis Stapleton (17-7); 14. Ed Foedish (13-13); 17. Kevin Barda (12-21).

This is the corner after the massive Talladega first turn. As you can tell, the Over-30 Pro pack is still tightly bunched.

So, the next time you see an old guy, plodding around the track, coming up short on tabletops, picking the smooth line through the whoops, wedging his gut into size 36 pants and playing old Beatles tunes on his eight-track, doff your hat. That old man should be your hero. We don’t care if he is slow, fat, bald or feeble—he is the reason that motocross exists today—and in many ways he, and his ilk, are the reason the sport still enjoys enough sales to stay afloat today.

This basic looking corner was a brain teaser for many riders. It looks simple, but it claimed many victims with its uphill triple apex design. 

Every current motocross star is a byproduct of the teenagers of 1968. These rebellious youth had an undying curiosity about the sport, a willingness to try new things and the nerve to risk financial ruin in the name of racing. What you wear, the lingo you speak, the techniques you use and the machinery you ride owe their existence to the teenagers of the four decades ago.

OVER-40 PRO
1. Doug Dubach (Yam)………..1-1
2. Gordon Ward (Yam)………..2-2
3. Billy Mercier (Kaw)………….3-4
4. Julian Cerny (Kaw)………….4-5
5. Terry Bostard (Hon)………..5-6
6. Shawn Wynne (Yam)……….6-7
7. Kim Olsen (Suz)……………….10-8
8. Jorgen Huvell (Hon)…………9-9
9. Todd Mitchell (Suz)………….7-13
10. Kevin Barda (Suz)………….11-11
Other notables: 13. Tony Amaradio (24-3); 14. Darrin Hoeft (8-20); 20. Phil Lewis (17-21).

MXA’s Dennis Stapleton was running fourth in the Over-30 Pro class when a rock derailed his chain. Stapleton came back in the second moto to end the day with a 17-7. 

In the timeline of motocross, Ryan Villopoto, James Stewart, Ryan Dungey and Davi Millsaps are newcomers to motocross. They stand on the shoulders of the racers that came before them. Those old coots puttering around the tracks of America were in on the ground floor of motocross development—and no one else can ever say that.

Doug Dubach has won double classes before at the World Vet, but typically it has been in the Over-30 and Over-40 class. This was his first time to doubled up in the Over-40 and Over-50 classes. As you would expect, Dubach’s mechanic, Alan Olsen (holding the pit board) is a nine-time World Vet Champion himself. 

Once a year these old duffers have a race that they can call their own.  It was especially design for riders over 30 years old, all the way up to 60 + years old. These old men, who were once boys, followed in no one’s footsteps. Veni, vidi, possedi antiquis—they came, they saw, they aged.

Willy Musgrave (422) and Pete DeGraaf (151) fought over what Doug Dubach had left in the wake of his Over-50 Championship. Lapped traffic on the last lap resulted in photo finishes for the MXA test rider and Canadian in both motos, but Musgrave prevailed for in both motos for second overall. 

OVER-50 EXPERT
1. Doug Dubach (Yam)……………..1-1
2. Willy Musgrave (Kaw)………….2-2
3. Pete DeGraaf (Hon)……………..3-3
4. Pete Murray (Yam)……………….4-4
5. Willy Simons (Yam)………………6-5
6. Jon Ortner (Yam)…………………5-7
7. Dan Berg (Hon)…………………….8-6
8. Isao Ida (Hon)……………………….7-9
9. Rob Engel (Kaw)………………….10-8
10. Bob Weber (Hon)………………9-10
Other notables: 11. Ed Guajardo (12-11); Serge Gregoire (11-13); 16. Clark Jones (16-16).

Swede Jan-Einar Oxelmark actually passed Gary Jones in the first moto of the Over-60 Expert class. Unfortunately, Oxelmark overcooked the next corner and crashed off the track. He managed to get up and finish third, but his best chance to beat eight-time Vet Champion Gary Jones was gone. 

After winning four 250 National Championships as a young man (1971-1974), Gary Jones never stopped racing. He won the Over-30 Pro class in 1987, then won the Over-40 title in 1992-1993, backed that up with three Over-50 crowns and won his second Over-60 Championship this year. 

OVER-60 EXPERT
1. Gary Jones (Hon)…………………1-1
2. Jan-Einar Oxelmark (KTM)..3-2
3. Dave Easkin (Hon)……………….2-3
4. Chris Hall (Hon)…………………..4-4
5. Mike Marion (Kaw)……………..5-5
6. George Kohler (Yam)…………6-6
7. Lyle Sweeter (Hon)……………..8-7
8. Dwight Catalano (Yam)……..7-9
9. Mic Rodgers (Suz)……………..10-8
10. Alan Kent (Hon)……………….9-10
Other notables: 11. Jody Weisel (11-11); 12. Vic Curti (12-12), 13. Gary Chase (13-13).

Slovenia rider Roman Jelen made the podium in the Over-30 Pro class with a 5-3. 

All of the Swedish riders at the 2013 World Vet gathered for a group photo, but it wasn’t until after the photo was taken they they realized that Spanish rider Kim Sunol (yellow shirt far right) had slipped into the photo as a joke. They threw him out and had the photo reshot.

OVER-70 EXPERT
1. Bart Kellog (KTM)………………1-1
2. Lars Larsson (KTM)……………2-2
3. Ron Dugan (KTM)………………3-3
4. Gary Anderson (Hon)………..5-4
5. Erik Guenkel (Yam)……………..4-5

The MTA-sponsored World Vet is all about having fun, good racing and making memories. Gary Jones (88) has been racking up World Vet titles since 1985.

Ryan Hughes won the World Vet Championship in 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Ryan couldn’t go for four-straight wins because of an injury.

John DeSoto was honored with the 2013 Edison Dye Lifetime Achievement Award during halftime ceremonies at Glen Helen. John and wife Patty (right) were a fixture on the American motocross scene in the early 1970s.