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The Stories of 2022 We’ll Remember
As we look forward to the 2023 American racing season, the motorcycle-racing events of this past year are still fresh on our minds. The question is: What of 2022 will stand the test of time?
Which events that happened over the last 12 months will we look back on 20 years from now and remember exactly when they happened? Fortunately, 2022 gave us at least one story that will certainly stand the test of time. Beyond that one big story, will there be anything else we’ll point to that will make 2022 a year we’ll long remember? Let’s dig into it.
It took Eli Tomac seven years to finally nail down his first AMA Supercross Championship, but he turned around and won his second just two years later. Tomac made things interesting by switching from Kawasaki to Yamaha. What seemed at the time like a major gamble for the veteran rider turned into a positive. The change of scenery seemed to agree with the 29-year-old Coloradan. He won a series-tying best of seven Supercross races en route to winning his second title. Those seven victories also moved Tomac up the all-time Supercross wins ladder. Tomac entered 2022 ranked sixth of all-time and ended the season tied for fourth with Chad Reed with 44-career wins, passing Ryan Villopoto (with 41 wins) along the way. The title was the first for Yamaha in the series since 2009 with James Stewart. Yamaha now stands alone in second among all-time SX Championships by manufacturers with 12 titles, behind only Honda with 15.
Tomac now looks to have a decent chance in 2023 of catching all-time third-ranked Ricky Carmichael, who scored 48-career Supercross wins. Another seven-win season like last year would even move Tomac past Stewart’s 50-win mark and put Tomac second all time. Jeremy McGrath’s record of 72 wins still looks safe.
January 21, 2022, will be a date Chase Sexton long remembers. That night in San Diego, Sexton scored his first AMA Supercross victory. Depending on how successful Sexton is in Supercross in the coming years will make a big difference on how that first win will be remembered. Ken Roczen earned just a single Supercross victory in 2022, but it was a big one because it put the German rider into the top-10 on the all-time AMA Supercross wins list, in a tie with Motorcycle AMA Hall of Famer Jeff Ward each with 20 wins now.
Tomac then moved out of the stadiums and kept his momentum going by scoring his fourth AMA 450cc Motocross Championship. Significantly that moved Tomac into second all-time for 450MX class championships behind just Carmichael (aka the G.O.A.T.) who won seven AMA 450cc Motocross Championships. Tomac scored five wins in the 450MX class this season, that makes 32-career wins in the class, placing him behind just Carmichael (with 76 wins) and Ryan Dungey (39 wins).
Speaking of Dungey, 2022 may also be remembered for Dungey’s return to the outdoor Nationals for the first time in six years. Despite the extended absence the 32-year-old Minnesotan was able to score a slew of top-10 finishes and finish sixth in the final standings.
Jett Lawrence won his second AMA 250cc Motocross Championship in a row and his nine National wins moved him into a tie for eighth on the all-time AMA 250 Motocross wins list with Broc Glover, Marty Smith and Blake Baggett with 14 each. Most reports indicate that Lawrence will stand pat on that number since he’s slated to move up to the 450cc class in 2023.
Over in the American Flat Track Championship it was Indian factory rider Jared Mees winning his seventh AFT SuperTwins (Grand National) Championship. It should be noted that Indian claims his 2022 title was his eighth Grand National Championship, by including his 2009 AMA Grand National Twins Championship (which technically was not the overall AMA Grand National Championship, but that’s a whole other can of worms we won’t open here). So, either way you count them, Mees is closing in on Scotty Parker’s record of nine AMA Grand National Championships, a record that for years was considered untouchable. Mees won this year’s title despite AFT rule changes meant to slow down the dominant Indian FTR750 in order to level the competitive playing field. Will the 2022 AFT season be one long remembered? If for nothing else, it will be remembered for AFT trying to neuter the FTR750 with some success. If Mees wins more titles in the future, 2022 will possibly simply be one of the building-block seasons that constructed a remarkable career that certainly will end with Mees being inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Indian led the way in AFT SuperTwins with 10 wins and 30 podiums, followed by Yamaha with six and 16, while Harley-Davidson and KTM earned one podium apiece. Despite finishing fourth in the championship, JD Beach (Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) led the way with the most victories among the premier-class’ six winners at four.
Jesse Janisch (Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XG750R), and Kody Kopp (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F FE) also won their respective AFT classes—Production Twins and AFT Singles.
In MotoAmerica Superbike it was another championship performance for Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne. Gagne withstood a strong challenge by the factory Ducati effort, featuring former MotoGP rider Danilo Petrucci. After some early season setbacks Gagne proceeded to go on a tear winning 11 of the next 16 rounds aboard the Yamaha R1 Superbike, most of the time in convincing fashion, en route to wrapping up his second consecutive MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
Gagne’s outstanding campaign moved him past Nicky Hayden, Fred Merkel and Ben Spies to move up to sixth on the all-time MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike wins list. His 29 career Superbike wins—in just two seasons, by the way—place him sixth all time behind Mat Mladin, Josh Hayes, Cameron Beaubier, Miguel Duhamel and Toni Elias.
In MotoAmerica support classes veteran campaigner Josh Herrin won the revamped Supersport class on a Ducati; Corey Alexander completed a storybook comeback by winning the Superstock class on a BMW; Blake Davis won SuperTwins on a Yamaha and Cody Wyman the Junior Cup on a Kawasaki. King of the Baggers continued to gain popularity (Tyler O’Hara won that title on an Indian) to the point that the series will expand again in 2023.
The highlight of Americans on the world stage in road racing was the Moto2 victory by Joe Roberts in Portugal. It marked the first win by an American in the middle GP class since John Kocinski won in the old 250 Grand Prix class in 1990.
One other note, in American road racing was a revitalization of the Daytona 200, this year ran under the MotoAmerica banner and attracting the strongest field in years, although the race was not part of any of MotoAmerica’s Championships. Brandon Paasch scored the Daytona 200 victory on a Triumph.
This year will also be remembered for a quartet of legendary riders being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. AMA and World Superbike Champion and MotoGP winner Ben Spies, multi-time AMA Grand National champ Kenny Coolbeth, Speedway World champ Greg Hancock and MX and SX legend and multi-time champ James Stewart were all enshrined this year.
The highlight of Americans on the world stage in road racing was the Moto2 victory by Joe Roberts in Portugal.
On a sad note, we lost several racing notables this year, including motocross legends Jaroslav Falta and Andre Malherbe, and former road racing World champ Phil Read. Daytona 200 winners David Sadowski and John Ashmead both passed away. On the track this year we lost rising flat track star Ryan Varnes and MotoAmerica competitor Scott Briody. A trio of elderly Motorcycle Hall of Famers—Bobby Hill, Preston Petty and Eddie Fisher—also rode west this year.
Finally, the last two big stories of 2022, one we will certainly remember for decades to come and the other which could have lasting implications on the Supercross/Motocross landscape for the foreseeable future.
Firstly, the formation, or more accurately the re-configuration of the Supercross World Championship. We hadn’t much noticed, but the AMA Supercross Series was the “World Championship” sanctioned and recognized as such by the FIM for two decades. But when the FIM international sanctioning deal was not renewed for the 2022 season, the FIM responded with a new Supercross World Championship of its own. Normally that would not warrant much notice from American fans, riders or teams, but this time the new Supercross World Championship was backed by $50 million designated for team and rider support, the money coming from an Abu Dhabi-based wealth fund. Feld (Supercross) and MX Sports (Motocross) responded with the SuperMotocross World Championship. The FIM promptly replied with a news release that stated: “No other sanctioned World Championship exists in the sport of Supercross.” Incidentally, Ken Roczen won the abbreviate two-round, six-race Supercross World Championship in 2022.
How this Supercross skirmish plays out remains to be seen, but one thing is certain, more riders and teams than ever will be benefactors by way of lucrative payout opportunities.
And finally, the one story we know will long be remembered and talked about was the victory in late September by Team USA at the 75th Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations that took place at the historic RedBud Motocross Track in Buchanan, Michigan. Team USA took the win in front of a massive and enthusiastic partisan crowd after an 11-year drought. Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper overcame muddy race conditions to finally hold up the prestigious Chamberlin Trophy after an exciting weekend of racing.
So, we put the wraps on a memorable and historic American racing season of 2022, while looking forward to fresh history being made in 2023. CN
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