Rick “The Lumberjack” Burgett, the 1978 AMA 500cc Motocross Champion, will be honored tomorrow, July 25, at the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross National at Washougal. As part of the Legends & Heroes Tour, the former factory Yamaha star will be acknowledged for his accomplishments during opening ceremonies, and former rivals Broc Glover and Chuck Sun will be on hand to help present Burgett with a Rockwell Time Piece from the Washougal podium.
The following is a release from the Legends & Heroes organization:
It took some larger than life characters to handle 500cc 2-strokes back in the day! Rick “The Lumberjack” Burgett came from the Oregon woods to chop the monster motorcycle down to size, taking the 1978 AMA 500cc title and ushering in the era of the Factory bikes in the process. From his first trophy at age 11 to his two uncles letting him race their 250s at age 12, Rick developed a knack for racing bigger bikes early on. Although banged up knees shortened his pro career somewhat, Rick is still playing in the dirt, but these days it is an earth moving business rather than digging furrows with a open class-powered knobby!
From 1976 through 1983, Burgett battled with the biggest names in motocross, from Pacific Northwest rival Chuck Sun to SoCal speedster (and later 250cc GP world champ) Danny LaPorte to “The Man” himself, Roger DeCoster. Being 50 pounds heavier that some of the flyweights like his 135-pound teammate Bob Hannah, meant Rick wouldn’t give up an inch on the track to anyone, making him perfectly suited for the 500cc works bike that Yamaha built for him.
So where did the “Lumberjack” tag come from?” It was at the 1976 Florida Winter Series when I was first riding for the factory Yamaha Team with Bob Hannah,” Rick recollects. “Mechanics Brian Lunnis and Bill Bushka came up with the nicknames of Bob “Hurricane” Hannah and Rick “Lumberjack” Burgett. I was always falling down at the back of the track and Brian said I must be back there cutting trees down.”
Based on the nucleus of the Hurricane and the Lumberjack, Yamaha added heroes Mike Bell and Broc Glover (who went on to win three 500cc titles after Burgett was out of the picture) to the “dream team.” In 1978, highlighted by Burgett on the premiere class 500cc machine, the powerhouse Yamaha Factory team won all four major titles: 125, 250, 500 and Supercross (Hannah also won the Trans-AMA series against the Europeans that year as well). This cemented the legend of “The Lumberjack” and lead to the infamous “Three Good Reasons To Buy A ’79 YZ” ad campaign starring Burgett, Hannah and Glover.
Speaking of Glover, the six-time National MX champ and former teammate will be joined by Burgett’s early arch-rival and fellow 500cc AMA champ Chuck Sun to present The Legends and Heroes Tour award this weekend at Washougal. The Legends and Heroes award presented by Dunlop and a Rockwell Time Piece will be given to Rick on the Lucas Oil podium Saturday during opening ceremonies.
For more information on the Legends & Heroes Tour, contact Alex Moroz or visit www.LegendsAndHeroesTour.org. You can also visit Legends & Heroes on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LegendsAndHeroesTour.
