Larry Lawrence | August 30, 2017
The last time I wrote about the generational argument of who was the best motocross racer of all time, Bob Hannah or Ricky Carmichael, it set off weeks of letters going back and forth with reactions and arguments running the gamut. A few people even accused me of being a complete dunce for saying RC was the greatest, even though I never said it.
In the article, I was completely neutral and simply let others make their respective arguments for Hurricane or RC.
While this week’s installment of Archives does not wish to re-fire the RC vs Hannah debate, one thing Hannah accomplished RC never did – because RC came into the sport after the possibility was a thing of the past – and that was complete the Motocross Grand Slam.
In fact, when the AMA discontinued the 500cc Motocross National Championship after the 1993 season, the era of the Motocross Grand Slam was done.
The Motocross Grand Slam (or perhaps more accurately the MX/SX Grand Slam) was completed when a rider won each of the outdoor national categories (125cc, 250cc and 500cc) plus a premier class (then 250cc) Supercross main.
There were just eight riders in history to complete the MX/SX Grand Slam – in order they were Marty Smith (1977), Bob Hannah (1977), Broc Glover (1982), Jeff Ward (1986), Ron Lechien (1987), Jean-Michel Bayle (1990), Mike Kiedrowski (1993) and finally Mike LaRocco also in 1993.
The remarkable thing that Hannah did that no one else accomplished was winning the Slam in a single season. Hurricane Hannah accomplished that amazing feat during the 1977 season. Hannah won the AMA Supercross Series that season, and also contested all three divisions of the outdoor nationals. He didn’t win any of the MX titles that summer (although he did win Supercross), but he did manage to win at least a round in all four. Those three outdoor wins combined with his SX victories gave him the single-season Grand Slam.
“Boy Wonder”, Marty Smith got the ball rolling when he completed the Grand Slam with his victory in the AMA 500cc Motocross National at St. Peters, Missouri on July 23, 1977. Earlier that season he’d scored his first 250cc outdoor national victory at Hangtown, setting Smith up for the possibility of completing the Slam that summer in Missouri.
And then came the Charlotte AMA 500cc National on Aug. 7, 1977.
Just a few weeks after Smith became the first rider to earn the Slam, Hannah one-upped him by winning the 500cc National at Metrolina Speedway Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, completing the single-season Slam. Before his 500cc victory at Charlotte in ’77, Hannah had already won five Supercross races, a 250cc National in Herman, Nebraska, and three 125cc Nationals.
That day in St. Peters, Hannah went 2-1 to take the overall victory over Tony DiStefano and Mickey Boone.
“That does it,” Hannah’s Team Yamaha mechanic Keith McCarty said to reporters, beaming with pride after Hannah’s St. Peters win. “Marty Smith also won one of each, but not in one season!”
It seemed Hannah and Yamaha took special pleasure in breaking records and winning championships previously held by Smith and Honda and the single-season Grand Slam was viewed at the time as nearly an impossible task before Hannah did it.
Incidentally, Smith was on hand to see Hannah accomplish the feat. He finished fifth overall that day in St. Peters with a 7-7.
A few elite riders went on winning the MX Grand Slam over the next 16 years.
Next up after Smith and Hannah was The Golden Boy, Broc Glover. It was his victory at Saddleback Park in the 250 National in April of 1982, that earned Glover the honor of becoming just the third Grand Slam winner. That was five years after Smith and Hannah’s Slam.
It was another four years on before a fourth rider would accomplish the feat. In August of 1986 Jeff Ward took the 500cc National victory at Washougal, Washington, completing his Slam. Just a year later Ron Lechien came through to become the fifth rider to score the Grand Slam with his 500cc win at Binghamton, New York.
Jean-Michel Bayle accomplished the feat perhaps in the most unusual order when he completed the Slam by winning a 125cc National in Axton, Virginia, in May of 1990. The Frenchman also had the honor of completing the Grand Slam in the shortest amount of time, winning his first AMA National at Gatorback in March of 1989 and completing the Slam just a tad over a year later.
Mike Kiedrowski’s win at the 1993 Daytona Supercross made him the seventh Grand Slam winner. Interestingly, the “MX Kied” was the only rider to complete the slam at a Supercross.
Mike LaRocco was the last rider ever to earn the prestigious Motocross Grand Slam. As August of 1993 began “The Rock” was only halfway to the Slam, but then in a remarkable one-week span LaRocco won both a 250cc National (San Bernardino on Aug. 1st) and a 500cc National (Washougal on Aug. 8th) to suddenly complete the Slam.
The AMA 500cc National Motocross Championship was no more after 1993 and with it went the possibility of winning nationals in four different premier classes. The Motocross Grand Slam is now relegated to the record books, but for 20-year period the record was one to be cherished by the elite few who accomplished the extraordinary feat.
And Bob Hannah, above all, with his single-season Slam, gives him at least one claim to fame in the “Greatest of All-Time” sweepstakes that Ricky Carmichael never had the chance to accomplish.