ATV Motocross

In the early 1980’s, sales of three and four-wheeled machines shot through the roof as families discovered the joys of working, playing and riding the latest three and four-wheeled equipment. Soon the racing scene took off, and the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) started a separate sanctioning division devoted to these machines - the American All-Terrain Vehicle Association (AATVA).

In 1985, the AATVA launched its new national championship series featuring this new equipment. The series consisted of two distinct championship tours - one for TT-style flat track racing and another for rough and tumble motocross, for both professional and amateur riders. At the end of the season, the points from both series were combined to create the Grand National Champion (GNC). Factory rides and fresh talent poured into this new series, and the sky was the limit.

Unfortunately, safety concerns left over from the three-wheeled machines led to a mass exodus of OEM support from ATV racing in the late 80s. Factory rides dried up, and the manufacturers stopped producing performance-focused race machines. But while those dark days could have sent many scrambling to other sports, the die-hard, committed loyalists of the ATV racing family carried the flame through the 1990s. Stars like Gary Denton, Tim Farr and Doug Gust fought for the GNC titles on machines built almost entirely of aftermarket components - with pride, instead of factory money, as their motivation.

At the dawn of the new millennium, however, a shift in factory attention occurred. ATV racing and riding was growing once again, and in 2002 the GNC Series went through an evolution that split the MX and TT series into two separate championships. This made the titles more accessible to riders who could only afford to specialize in one series or the other. Manufacturers started producing race-ready ATVs again, and production classes opened up the sport to a new generation of talent.