Throwback Thursday: Johnny O’Mara Holeshots Carlsbad

Larry Lawrence | December 24, 2015

Today’s Throwback Thursday is a classic from one of the iconic motocross tracks of the 1970s and ‘80s, Carlsbad Raceway. The track hosted both AMA Motocross Nationals as well as The Hang Ten US Grand Prix. This shot is from the season-ending round of the 1981 AMA 125cc Motocross Championship. It shows Johnny O’Mara (40) getting the holeshot aboard his Greg Arnette-tuned works Honda and leading the pack. O’Mara went 1-2 that day to win the overall. Mark Barnett, who’d won all the 125 Nationals coming into Carlsbad clinching the title, snapped his collarbone in practice a few days before this race and didn’t attend, ruining his shot of a perfect season. The Carlsbad victory marked the first national win for O’Mara. He finished second to Barnett in the championship that season. Also visible in the shot are George Holland (452), Jeff Ward (12), Mike Preston (911), Jim Gibson (7) among others. You can read about this race and many more by subscribing to the Archives here: https://www.cyclenews.com/cycle-news-archives/ (Photo Dale Brown/Cycle News Photo Archives)